Details:

Type: Trekking

Cost: 

Group Size: 4 to 12 people

Dates: Fri, Oct. 16 – Wed, Oct. 28th, 2015 (13 days)

Difficulty: ♦♦♦♦ (less challenging)

Highest Elevation: 10,780 ft./3,286 m

Partner: Crooked Trails

Description:

The Sherpa People are known throughout the world for being excellent high elevation mountain guides, but few tourists have the opportunity to get to know their guides on a personal level.  This trip brings us to Sibuje Village, the home of our guide Karma Geljen Sherpa, so we can learn about Sherpa life and culture from villagers themselves.  To begin our trek we start in the village of Phaplu, far from touristed areas, and trek north toward Makalu-Barun National Park where towering mountains can be seen as we ascend ridges that separate valleys dotted with small villages.  En route to Sibuje we meet Rai, Sherpa, Bahun, Chhettri, and other ethnic groups, and see different ways of life, different religious practices, and different architecture.  We also visit Buddhist monasteries and have the opportunity to participate in a meditation.  Once in Sibuje we stay in the homes of local people, and learn how to cook traditional foods and do work on a subsistence farm.  We visit the homes of many villagers, with whom we drink butter tea and chat with the help of Karma as translator.  After our stay we continue back along a different route, with more views of giant Himalayan peaks before taking a short flight back to Kathmandu.