Rolwaling Valley: A perfect place to find solitude

Fed up with the monotonous routine and also to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life, I along with three other friends planned for a trek to find solitude and to get recharged in the lap of nature. So, after holding discussions for a week to explore the unexplored place for a new taste, we decided to go on a trek to Rolwaling Valley, a beautiful valley with great Himalaya trails. The excitement was in the air. The main attraction of this trek is the Tsho Rolpa Lake and the Dudhkunda Lake.

Situated at an altitude of 4, 580 m from sea level, Tsho Rolpa lake, located at the Gaurishankar Conservation Area Project (GCAP) in Dolakha district, is one of the biggest glacial lakes of Nepal. Though the lake is popular for its beauty and serenity, it has not been fully explored.

“Tsho” means lake and “Rolpa” means Rolwaling Valley. The name Rolwaling means ‘valley carved by a plough’. Similarly, Dudhkunda is one of the highest altitude lakes of the country surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges. With exhilaration, we prepared a complete itinerary, hoping to quench the thirst of traveling. On October 1, we took a taxi early in the morning to the bus station in Jadibutti. It may sound strange, but we got stuck in a traffic jam in Koteshwor for almost four hours. At one point, we got frustrated and even planned to abort the journey. But we tried to console ourselves, saying good times always come with a cost. We witnessed the traffic jam as hundreds of people were leaving their hometown to celebrate Dashain festival, the biggest and longest festival of Nepal. The bus left the station at 10 am. After a seven-hour drive, we reached Singati at around 5 pm. From there, we hired a Jeep to Chetchet, the place from where we had to start the trek. We luckily found a room with four beds as the lodges were packed with trekkers. We changed our dress and went to the kitchen for dinner. We prepared everything for tomorrow and went to bed. The following morning, we were greeted by a huge and beautiful waterfall right in front of the guest house. We got thrilled to see the cascade which we were not expecting at all. In the meantime, a local suggested us take a short and old route through Righu, the place which was not in our itinerary. After trekking for three hours from Chetchet, we reached Uttise at around 10 am. We decided to settle down there to have noodles as breakfast to muster the energy to climb up. Walking for almost three hours by the banks of Rolwaling river and through a dense forest hearing the sounds of birds chirping, we stopped for lunch at Surmuche. We had not expected that we would be served with local organic food. It was unbeatable. After resting for some time, we headed towards Dongang, the first station of our jaunt. Walking past numerous waterfalls and bridges for around three hours, we reached Kyalche. We saw a board mentioning the distance between Kyalche to Dongang (1:30 hour). Not long after we reached Dongang, the evening set in. We checked into the hotel. The weather was cold. So, we quickly put on jackets to keep ourselves warm. The view from the hotel to the riverside was astonishing. We went directly to the kitchen to sit around the fire. While we waited for our dinner, we ordered Tongba (millet-based alcoholic drink) to keep ourselves warm. After having dinner, we ushered into the rooms. The next day, we woke up at around 6 am and packed all our stuff and went to the kitchen for breakfast and bid adieu to Dongang. We started to walk around 8 am. At times, the group split owing to the varying walking pace. I, along with a guy, a solo traveler who joined our group in Kathmandu, met a group of four people on the way to Thangding. We introduced each other and had a short tete-a-tete. After walking around half-an-hour, we were blessed with beautiful Mount Gaurishankar which was smiling at us. The view of the clouds moving over the mountain was priceless. We took photos of the breathtaking vista and spent a moment there. After walking around two hours we reached Thangding. The trek from Dongang to Thangding took us through dense woods and uphill climbs. The route offered us an alluring and changing landscape. We stayed there for around an hour basking in the warmth of the morning sun, having noodles and sipping mint tea and enjoying nature. The mint tea was the best ever. It worked as an energy drink for us. After being completely refreshed and recharged, we headed towards Beding. Soon after we left Thangding, we walked past a holy temple of Lord Shiva. The day was sunny and we were enjoying walking in the forest rich in biodiversity. We were slowly leaving the forest area behind. Now, the main exciting part of the journey began. The route became easier. We were walking on the river bank, watching several beautiful waterfalls on the other side. Due to the autumn season, leaves on the trees have changed the color from green to yellow, orange, red and brown. The spectacular gigantic mountain ranges were right in front of us. The view was royal. After an hour-long trek, we came across a suspension bridge from where we saw a small village. We thought the village was Beding. So, we decided to spend some time on the bridge taking photos. Soon we reached the village, we realized that it was not Beding, instead a school and monasteries. Beding was around one hour far away. So, we increased our walking pace as we were already late for lunch. We reached Beding at around 2 pm. We stopped for lunch at Gaurishankar Hotel. We were served with a delicious lunch. After walking for around an hour towards Na village, the weather suddenly became cloudy. At one moment, the surroundings were covered by the fog and the atmosphere abruptly became cold. So, we put on jackets and woolen hats to beat the cold. By the time we reached Na village, it was already dark. As there was no room in the Na View Point Hotel, we were advised to go to another hotel. The hotel had not even the most basic facilities. There was only an old lady to cook dinner for us. We were asked to help her. We had no option but to help her as we were starving to death. Without complaining, we had dinner and went to the room which was 100 meters away from the kitchen. The next morning, when we woke up, we saw Mount Gaurishankar standing tall. It was a heavenly experience. But it did not last even for half-an-hour. A layer of cloud covered the mountain tops and could see nothing. After having breakfast, we headed towards Tsho Rolpa Lake, two hours from Na Village.  The route was easy at the beginning. But it became difficult and we had to go through steep stairs for around an hour to reach the lake. The moment we reached the lake was surreal. But it started raining minutes after we reached the destination. We had to admit that lady luck was not with us on that day. The weather took a toll. We had seen mountain ranges surrounding the lake in the pictures, but we hardly saw one. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the view and walked around the lake to take photos. The different kinds of good experiences. Then, we walked towards another destination, Dudhkunda Lake. The way to Dudhkunda, situated at an altitude of 4, 700 meters, was quite technical and tough. It is hard to reach Dudhkunda without a guide. There is no proper trail. We crossed a river and two to three hills to reach there. When we reach Dudhkunda, it was still raining. After around 20 minutes, the weather became clear which brought smile in the hangdog faces for a time being. The view was incredibly beautiful. The lake was blue and saw some mountain ranges, a respite for us. After spending around one hour, we walked back to the hotel where we had kept our belongings. It was raining all the way to the hotel. Though we had raincoats in our bags, we forgot to carry them on that day. All the excitement and energy soaked up by the time we reached the hotel. We put on raincoats and headed towards Beding the same day. We all were soaked to the bones when we reached the hotel in Beding. While having dinner, we heard the news that it will rain for some more days. But still we decided to climb down as we had to reach Kathmandu on time to put Dashain tika. The next day, we woke up early in the morning, had breakfast and walked towards Simigaun, the place which we had escaped earlier. We had no alternative but to take the route of Simigaun as the torrential rain had washed away the walking trail. The route was quite difficult. We walked for almost one hour down the stairs to reach Chetchet. It was already dark when we reached the guest house. We went to bed after having dinner to give rest to our tired muscles. The next day, we took a jeep and headed towards Kathmandu. Untouched by modernity, the Rolwaling Valley, which lies close to the Tibetan border, is one of the go-to destinations of Nepal. The Rolwaling trek is an audacious trek that offers you a taste of pristine wilderness, glorious mountains and many more. Photos: Achitra Thieng and Anjali Thing