16 days Tilicho Lake Trekking with Thorong-La pass

Name Tilicho Lake Trekking with Thorong-La pass / Tilicho Lake Trekking
Transportation options Flight/Private vehicle/Tourist Bus/Local Transportation as per requirement & budget.
Maximum Altitude Thorong –La pass (5416m)
Best Season March-May & September-November
Meals Breakfast in Kathmandu & Pokhara Brakfast, Lunch and Dinner during Trekking
Accommodation Hotels in Kathmandu & Pokhara Tea Houses in Trekking
Trekking hours Approximately 6-7hr a day
Protected Area Annapurna Conservation Area
Major Attractions Mount Dhaulagiri (8167m) Mount Annapurna (8091m), Annapurna South (7219m) Machhapuchre/Fishtail (6993m) Mardi Himal (5587m)& numerous snow capped peaks.Mixed ethnic community dominated by Gurung

Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass is a side-trip to Annapurna Round trekking. The trekking explores one of the few deepest snowline section of Annapurna. Trekking to Tilicho Lake at the height of 4919m is itself a thrilling, adding Thorong-La pass (5416m) makes this trekking complete package for any adventure seekers.

Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass starts by the bank of Marshyangdi valley on tropical region takes you gradually to subtropical, lower temperate, upper temperate, sub-alpine region and finally alpine region of the trekking. Trekker has option to start Tilicho lake trekking with Thorong-La pass at variable place after construction of road in Marshyangdi valley. Importantly, trekker needs to be careful of Acute Mountain Sickness before choosing the place to start a trek.

From Manang, instead of heading towards Thorong, the Tilicho lake trekking with Thorong-La pass diverges towards west to Siri Kharka. Trekker gradually treks to Tilicho base camp and finally to the lake. After exploring beautiful Tilicho lake and surrounding trekker re-joins to famous Annapurna round trekking at Yak Kharka. From Yak Kharka, follow regular trekking itinerary of Annapurna round towards Thorong and end the trekking at Jomsom of Kaligandaki valley.

However, the trekking has only few tea-houses in the region, so trekker needs to remain informed if they are open or not. No permanent tea houses and human settlement around the region makes Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass highly unpredictable itinerary during off-season trekking. As well, the landscape is very fragile and needs to pay extra attention during trekking.

The trekking has no dense or particularly permanent settlement around the region. There are no specific community of group, culture and ethnic community. People on lower trekking region follows Hinduism. Brahamin, Chhetri, Gurung are the major cultural community. People of Upper trekking region, especially around Pisang, Ngawal, Braga, Manang, Kagbeni and Jomsom follow Buddhism similar to Tibetan culture.

There are numerous trekking itineraries to and from Tilicho Lake. However, the famous one is Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass. Crossing Mesokanto-La pass that joins Jomsom is demanding and challenging. Joining Tilicho lake trekking with Thorong-La pass after completing Nar Phu valley trekking can be another good option.

Climbing Chulu- far East peak and including Mesokanto -La is the highest grade of adventure. Plus the trekking equipment used in peak climbing can be handy, useful and efficient to cross Mesokanto-La pass since most of the time Mesokanto pass requires good equipment. Retracing same path down to Besisahar after exploring Manang valley and lake can be other good option. Importantly for those who have limited time and do not want to attempt any of the passes in the region.


Outline Itinerary

Day 1 International Arrival in Kathmandu (1300m)
Day 2 Drive from Kathmandu to Syange (1315m)
Day 3 Drive from Syange to to Chame (2710m)
Day 4 Trek from Chame to Pisang (3300m)
Day 5 Trek from Pisang to Manang (3520m)
Day 6 Acclimatization day in Manang (3520m)
Day 7 Trek from Manang to Siri Kharka (4060m)
Day 8 Tre from Siri Kharka to Tilicho Base Camp (4140m)
Day 9 Trek from Tilicho Base Camp to Tilicho Lake(4950m) and return to Tilicho Base Camp (4140m)
Day 10 Trek from Tilicho Base camp to Yak Kharka (4210m)
Day 11 Trek from Yak Kharka to Thorong phedi (4640m)
Day 12 Trek from Thorong phedi to Muktinath(3800m) Via Thorong –La pass (5416m)
Day 13 Trek from Muktinath to Jomsom (2700m)
Day 14 Fly from Jomsom to Pokhara (850m)
Day 15 Drive/fly to Kathmandu from Pokhara
Day 16 International Departure

Note: This is a standard itinerary proposed for general trekkers which can be modified until then, that do not violate our business ethics and norms. We will always seek verification from our field experts before approving your itinerary.

Detailed Day to Day Itinerary

We will drive you straight to your hotel in private vehicle as soon as you land at Tribhuvan International Airport of Kathmandu. We will give you short briefing on our final agreed program. And if you are the first time traveler in Nepal we will give information about restaurant, ATM, money exchanges and other useful information until we meet for next day.


After your breakfast, we drive to Westside of Nepal on zigzag hilly road by the bank of Trishuli and head north following Marshyangdi river to reach Besisahar from Dumre. It takes 6 hr drive to reach Besisahar a well developed town from where most of the economic and administration works are handled. The ancient and classic trekking used to start from Besisahar but due to road access most of the trekkers drive on jeep to escape trekking on dusty road and save some extra trekking days. Dense tropical forest, numerous waterfalls, terraced paddy fields and towering hills make the driving fun and thrill.


Again we drive from Syange to reach Chame in jeep following the Marshyangdi river. We pass by numerous villages and tea houses while driving in jeep. The landscape gradually changes from tropical forest to lower temperate forest of chir, pine,maple broken by upper temperate forest. Though the road is bumpy, narrow, zigzag but the scenic view of mountain that gradually appears on horizon namely Manaslu, Lamjung Himal, Annapurna II and AnnapurnaIV makes a drive little excited. Chame is beautiful large village from where all governmental administrative work is handled and our trekking officially starts.


Leaving behind chortens and mani walls in Chame we trek on rocky and steep canyons for few hours in deep and narrow valley to reach Bhartang.We cross a suspension bridge and climb steep slope in between pine forest for about 2 hour and then the trail becomes more gentle and easy to reach Pisang ; village surrounded by Chulu and Pisang peak.The day becomes clearly interesting as trekking path from Upper temperate region enters to sub alpine region with wide valley accompanied by shallow vegetation.


There are two different routes to reach Manang from Pisang.The ideal route would be upper trail through Gheru and Ngawal since this route offers you the unrestricted parallel view of mountains. Though you need to climb steep for an hour to reach Gheru it is highly recommended for the scenic views of Gangapurna, Pisang peak, AnnapurnaII AnnapurnaIII and Chulu peak on horizon and Marshyangdi valley at deep bottom.Due to poor rainfall and cold weather the sub alpine vegetation seems dry and significantly different with sparse pine trees .The trekking path is easy with small up-downs in between pine trees to reach Ngawal from where it takes about 2 hr hour to reach Manang


In order to adopt our body with new environment ,humidity,temperature and altitude it is highly important to acclimatize yourself. Manang would be wonderful place to have a rest day in overall considering the altitude and beauty of this region. The forthcoming days are really challenging part of this trek since we have got pass ahead and we will be gaining more altitude. It is always better to have a easy short hike around rather than staying ideal to avoid altitude sickness. The major mountains that can be noted down today would be Annapurna II, Annapurna III (7,555 m), Gangapurna (7,454 m ) to the South, Tilicho (7,132 m) , Chulu West (6,583 m), Chulu East (6,059 m) to the North .


We descend down the west of Manang valley and cross the river and again climb uphill to reach Khangsar which normally takes 2 hr from Manang. The Khangsar valley is really beautiful landscape with small juniper bushes broken by coniferous forest and some terraced crop fields while you can enjoy beautiful sight of Chulu peak on the horizon. We pass by an old Gompa to reach the lodge on Siri Kharka and spend a night.


The barren rocky and narrow slope is the worst and dangerous section due to unpredictable rock falling but the huge naturally eroded rock boulder looks really beautiful. After winding up the landslide area we reach Tilicho base camp from where we can see massif icy ridge that stretches from Khangsar peak to Tilicho Peak with huge glacier on the left side. We spend overnight either on lodge or tent depending upon the availability.


The path stretches further west north in middle of steep slope broken by grassy meadows and rocky pebbles. The Tilicho lake just lies on the foothill of Tilicho peak which remains frozen for the most of the year. You have enough time to explore around the lake and enjoy the spectacular and interesting landscape that surrounds the lake. After spending quite a splendid moment at Tilicho lake we head back to Tilicho base camp for overnight.


We retrace same path back to Siri Kharka. Possibly, the most dangerous section of Tilicho lake trekking. Yet beautiful landscape. After steady climb to Khangsar and reaching a ridge, trekker can see a magnificent Marshyangdi valley. Descend down to Thorong khola, cross a bridge. After short ascend trekker joins to Yak Kharka. A more lively and happening place after such a isolation around Tilicho lake.


You climb gradually up towards the head of Valley to reach the Thorang Phedi which takes around 4 hr trek from Yak Kharka. After crossing the suspension bridge, the winding narrow path continues with the Thorong Khola deep in Thorang Valley. The landscape becomes much more hostile and fragile with steep slopes which have been eaten by ancient glacier and vulnerable to dry landslide. Thorang phedi welcomes you with chorten ,you may relax on your own or can hike up to high camp.


We start early morning since you will have long and relatively hard day. Most importantly, the weather could dramatically change in high altitude. One hour climb from Thorang phedi leads you to High Camp (4830m), where you can take a short tea break to warm yourself. The path seems easy and gentle but the altitude and low oxygen level makes the trekking slower and tiring. After 2 hr walk from High camp, prayer flags could be seen from far away at Thorong-La pass (5416m) which offers the magnificent view of Thorong peak, Yakwakang peak, Chulu west. After congratulating and picture session we trek down about 4 hr to reach Muktinath enjoying the vast Kaligandaki valley.


Muktinath is holy site equally important to Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims. It is worthy to visit the Muktinath temple in the morning before descending Jomsom. You can see lot of Hindu and Buddhist people taking bath in icy cold water. You can see massive Mount Dhaulagiri(8167m) and Nilgiri ranges dominating the wide,barren,dusty and windy Kaligandaki valley. While trekking down you can notice the fraction of Trans Himalaya zone. The region is primarily inhabitant of Thakali people. Jomsom and Marpha is the landmark for apple production as well Jomsom is government administrative hub of the region.You can enjoy the last trekking dinner with your guide and porter as tribute to their hard work for making your trekking successful.


In the morning after taking breakfast you will take a short flight from Jomsom to Pokhara. On reaching Pokhara you can relax on your own walking around lake side or can ask your guide to arrange short sightseeing trip around Pokhara


From Pokhara either you can take a short flight or take a private transportation to Kathmandu in accordance to the agreement we made before the start of trek.


Our office representative will be in your hotel 3 hour prior your flight time to drop you in Tribhuvan International Airport.


what's included?

  • All Airport Transfers.
  • Accommodation in Kathmandu & Pokhara with Bed and Breakfast.
  • Tea House Accommodation during Trekking.
  • 3 Meals in Trekking Breakfast Lunch & Dinner.
  • Air and Road transportation as per the agreement made.
  • All the necessary trekking staffs and porters for the trekking including 1 English speaking guide.
  • All the paper works and documents required for the trekking including all the permits.
  • Sleeping Bag.
  • Salary, wages, food, accommodation and transportation of all the Nepalese staffs during trekking.
  • Insurance of all the Nepalese staffs during trekking.
  • First Aid Kit Bag(specially for Nepali staffs).
  • All local taxes and fares.

What's not included?

  • International Flight Fare.
  • Visa fees.
  • Travel Insurance (mandatory) of all the clients that needs to cover medical and Helicopter evacuation.
  • Expenses of Personal nature (Laundry bill/Telephone bill/Equipment Charging Bill/Bar bill etc).
  • Expenses incurred due to the unexpected situation (Strike/Natural calamities).
  • Tip to trekking staffs.
  • All Expenses not mentioned on Cost Includes section.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass?
Tilicho lake is situated at the height of 4950m in Annapurna trekking region. A side-trip to famous Annapurna Round trekking. After completing Tilicho lake trekking, trekker rejoins to Annapurna Round cross Thorong-La pass to reach Kaligandaki valley.

2. How can I go to Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass?
You can drive on local or private vehicle to any section of Annapurna round trekking and start trekking to Manang. From Manang, trekking heads westward of the Manang valley.

3. What is the landscape features of Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass in general?
The trekking that starts from tropical region with dense forest, terraced crop fields through Marshyangdi valley heads to one of the hostile, unfavorable yet beautiful landscape of Tilicho Lake. Rejoins to famous ThorongLa pass( 5416m) and descends to Kali Gandaki valley.

4. Why Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass is not so popular?
The trekking is beautiful, yet trekking to Tilicho lake is not a cup of tea for every trekker. Few temporary basic lodges in the region is the number one reason. Trekking number of days in high altitude does not appeal many trekker in the region.

5. What kind of weather and temperature can I expect during trekking?
The weather and temperature is highly unpredictable on mountain but generally during March April May (spring) and September October November (autumn) you can expect clear and warm day while evening will be cloudy and cold. The temperature is freezing in morning and evening in upper trekking region while lower region has tolerable cold.

6. What equipments do I need to trek to Tilicho lake trekking with Thorong-La pass?
Good pair of trekking boots, thermal wear, fleece jacket, Down jacket, light weight wind cheater, trekking pants and shorts, long sleeve and short sleeves T-shirts, rug sack or duffle bag, personal day bag, gloves, enough pair of socks, sunglasses, headlight, woolen beanie caps, water bottle, personal toiletries , gadgets and books depending on number of days.

7. I am amateur trekker in Nepal, is this trekking suitable for me?
We do not recommend this trekking for amateur trekker. However, this particular itinerary is one of the easiest one.

8. How flexible is Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-la pass itinerary?
The number of trekking itinerary joins to Tilicho lake trekking especially if that trekking itinerary has Manang. The longer the trekking itinerary the more flexible. This itinerary is not really flexible to reduce the number of days. However, there is plenty of room to increase the number of days.

9. What if I finish Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass before schedule date?
We strongly advise you to follow the agreed final itinerary since we do not refund the trekking money, but somehow if you finish earlier we will always try our best to adjust the reservation of your accommodation and flight but cannot be guaranteed.

10. What permits and documents do I need to trek to Tilicho lake with Thorong-La pass?
Annapurna Conservation Area Permit (ACAP) and Trekking Information Management System (TIMS) card is required to trek on this region.

11. What kind of food and Room can I expect during Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass?
Generally the food is fresh, tasty and can choose wide range of dishes from menu cooked by moderately professional cooks. You will get comfortable and clean common twin bed room throughout trekking. Particularly in Tilicho lake trekking, few countable tea houses do not provide great luxury trekker finds in Annapurna round.

12. What about drinking water during trekking?
Plastic water bottle are available in tea houses but it is highly recommended to avoid plastic bottles and use boil water instead, as well you may buy high grade water purification tablets on your home country or in Nepal.

13. What can I expect from Nepali staff?
Guide speaks good English so there will be no any problem for communication while porter might or might not speak English but you can always speak with your guide to know more about the porter. Nepalese trekking guide are friendly and responsible with good sense of humor so you can open up for any conversation you like.

14. Do I need to buy Medical and evacuation Insurance?
Yes this is mandatory. You can purchase the insurance policy on your home country or we can assist you to buy the policy in Nepal.

15. Do I need special vaccination or Medical assessment before starting Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass?
Generally any kind of vaccination is not required. But,if you have long term health problem and under regular surveillance of your doctor it is recommended to consult your doctor. Though we provide basic medicines to our Nepalese staff but for you we advise to bring the general medicine from your own country.

16. Is there risk of Acute Mountain sickness (AMS)?
Yes there is always risk of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) especially for amateur trekkers if you choose random trekking itineraries and do not follow the standard itinerary.But we always provide you the best and safe itineraries to avoid this deadly situation.

17. What should I do if I get Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)?
We are always concerned with your safety. We suggest talking with your guide ASAP and descend to safe altitude. And if the situation doesn’t get any better we evacuate you immediately with helicopter. Hence, take you for further medical examination on designated hospitals and clinics.

18. What is the price of Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass?
We have provided you various options on our website homepage to know approximate price regarding the trekking in Nepal; however there is always room to reach final agreement through private emails if there is any. And we assure you there will be no any extra cost once we reach the agreement.

You are always welcome to send us private messages for the information that you could not find in this section regarding Tilicho Lake trekking with Thorong-La pass. We will always provide the accurate information within 12 hours upon receiving your messages.

CANCELLATION

Free cancellation up to 60 days prior departure, after which the deposit becomes non-refundable.