Rupina La Pass Trek

Welcome to Nepal. You land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu (1,400 m), where our representative meets you in the arrivals hall and drives you to your hotel in Thamel.

Your guide joins you for the briefing. Because this is a camping trek the kit check is thorough: we go through your sleeping bag rating, boots, and layers, and explain the routine of a supported camp — how the crew moves ahead, when meals happen, and what the toilet and washing arrangements are. Anything you are missing can be bought or hired within a few minutes' walk.

The rest of the day is free. Overnight in Kathmandu.

A long drive west and then north into the Gorkha hills. The Prithvi Highway takes the group as far as the Gorkha turning, and from there a hill road climbs steadily through terraced farmland with the Ganesh Himal appearing over the ridges.

The last two hours are rough and slow, switchbacking up to Barpak (1,960 m), a large Gurung village spread across a hillside at the head of the Daraudi valley. Barpak was the epicentre of the earthquake of April 2015 and lost almost every house; what stands now was rebuilt by the community in stone and slate, and the village is once again one of the most substantial in the middle hills.

Around 8 hours including stops. The evening is a homestay with a Gurung family. Overnight at Barpak.

A short first walking day over the ridge between two valleys, useful for finding your legs before the climbing starts.

The trail leaves Barpak and climbs through terraced fields to a pass on the ridge at around 2,500 m, marked with prayer flags and a clear view back over the village. On a good morning Manaslu (8,163 m), Himalchuli (7,893 m) and the Ganesh Himal are all visible from here at once.

The descent drops through pine and rhododendron to Laprak (2,100 m), a Gurung village on a very steep hillside. Laprak was also destroyed in 2015 and part of the community was resettled on the ridge above at Gupsi Pakha, so the village now exists in two places — the old terraces below and the new houses above.

Around 4–5 hours. Overnight in a homestay at Laprak.

The last village behind you, and the start of four days without a shop, a lodge or a road.

The trail turns north out of Laprak and climbs steadily into forest — oak first, then rhododendron and finally fir — following an old grazing route rather than a trekking trail. It is narrow, sometimes indistinct, and your guide leads rather than follows a sign.

The forest is exceptional through this section. In spring the rhododendron is in flower for hours of walking, and the birdlife includes danphe, Nepal's national bird, which breaks cover in a flash of metallic colour.

The camp is a summer pasture in a clearing at around 3,000 m, with water nearby and room for the tents. In spring and early summer there will be herders here with buffalo and goats, and the exact clearing the crew uses depends on who is grazing where. Around 6 hours. Overnight camping in the Rupina valley.

A short day by design, to gain height slowly and put the group in position for the pass.

The trail climbs out of the forest and onto open hillside, and the change is abrupt: within an hour you go from closed canopy to unbroken views south over the Gorkha hills and north to the wall of the Himalaya. The path follows a stream up a broad grassy valley grazed by yaks in summer.

Rupina La South Camp (3,500 m) is a flat area of grass and rock beside the stream, with the pass visible above as a notch in the ridge. It looks close and it is not — the climb tomorrow takes three to four hours.

Only four hours of walking, so there is time in the afternoon for a short acclimatisation walk up the moraine and back. Your guide runs through the pass plan over dinner. Overnight camping at Rupina La South Camp.

The crossing, and the reason for the trek.

We leave camp before first light to be on the pass while the snow is firm and the weather is settled. The climb is a steady grind up grass, then scree, then usually snow for the last section, with the group moving together and slowly. It takes three to four hours.

The Rupina La (4,720 m) is a narrow saddle strung with a few faded prayer flags. The view north is the payoff: Manaslu, Ngadi Chuli and Himalchuli across the Budhi Gandaki, the Ganesh Himal to the east, and not a building or a road anywhere in the frame.

The descent north is steep and loose down snow and scree to the camp at 3,990 m. It is hard on the knees and poles make a real difference. Around 7–8 hours in total. Overnight camping at Rupina North Camp.

A long descent out of the high country and back into inhabited valley.

The trail drops through alpine scrub into birch and then rhododendron forest, losing height steadily all morning. Water becomes plentiful again, the air thickens, and you notice the smell of woodsmoke long before you see a house.

The forest opens onto terraced fields and the trail joins the main Manaslu route at Nyak (2,300 m), a village on a shelf high above the Budhi Gandaki. After four days without meeting anyone, arriving among lodges, mule trains and other trekkers takes some adjusting to.

This is where the camping ends and the crew's job gets easier. Around 6–7 hours. Overnight at Nyak.

A steady day down the Budhi Gandaki on a properly maintained trail — a novelty after the pass.

The route descends through Pewa and along the west bank of the river, with the gorge tightening below and long sections of trail cut into the rock face. Suspension bridges cross and recross the water, each one a good deal higher above it than the last one you remember.

Philim (1,570 m) is a substantial Gurung village on a wide terraced shelf, with a school, shops and lodges. The fields around it are among the most productive in the valley, and after a week in the high country the sheer greenness is striking.

Around 5–6 hours. Overnight at Philim.

A short day through the tightest part of the gorge, where the trail is at its most spectacular.

From Philim the path drops to the river and enters the canyon, running along ledges bolted and cut into the wall with the water white below. In a couple of places the trail is a staircase carved out of the rock. It is exposed but well built, and the group moves through it steadily.

The route crosses to the east bank at Sirdibas and follows the river down to Jagat (1,340 m), a tidy village of flagstone streets where the restricted area permits are checked out.

Around 4–5 hours, arriving early. The afternoon is free, and the lodges here have hot showers — the first for a week. Overnight at Jagat.

The last walking day, following the Budhi Gandaki down to the roadhead.

The trail loses height steadily through subtropical country — banana, bamboo and terraced rice — with the river widening and slowing beside it. There is a stop at the hot springs at Tatopani, where water runs warm out of the rock into a stone tank beside the trail, and it is worth the twenty minutes.

Below Khorlabesi the valley opens and the first jeeps appear on the track. Machha Khola (870 m) is where the road ends and the walking finishes.

This is where the porters and cook crew leave the group and tips are given. Around 5–6 hours. Overnight at Machha Khola.

A long day in the jeep back to the capital, retracing the gorge road to Arughat and Dhading Besi.

The first three hours are the rough section, a single track above the river with the driver leaning on the horn at every blind corner. From Dhading Besi the road is paved and the rest of the run into Kathmandu (1,400 m) is straightforward, with a lunch stop en route.

Around 8–9 hours in total. You arrive in the late afternoon and transfer to your hotel.

The evening is free — a hot shower, a meal that did not come out of a mess tent, and Thamel for anything you want to take home. Overnight in Kathmandu.

Your last day in Nepal. If your flight leaves later in the day there is time for Boudhanath, Pashupatinath or the old town at Bhaktapur with your guide.

Our representative collects you from your hotel and transfers you to Tribhuvan International Airport around three hours before departure.

The Rupina La is one of the quietest crossings in the Manaslu region and you will have had it more or less to yourselves. If that is the kind of trekking you are after, the Ganesh Himal and Ruby Valley routes next door are the same character, and the Tsum Valley adds the culture. Safe travels.