Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Rendezvous at the group hotel in Delhi. Complimentary airport transfers are provided on this day. KE group package services begin with a tour of the city. Overnight in Delhi.
Day 2: Transfer to the domestic terminal for the onward flight to Gauhati in Assam. We meet our vehicles here and drive (3 hours) across the border at Samdrup Jongkhar. We check in to our hotel.
Day 3: We drive through the wooded Himalayan foothills to the small town of Trashigang below an imposing fortress monastery (dzong). Here we will stay in a basic lodge or camp.
Day 4: We drive for approximately 20 miles to the town of Radi which is famous for its silk, and a little way beyond we start the trek in this recently opened area. We trek through rich forest to our first night's camp at Charbaling.
Day 5: We cross the Thumbursa La (3273m / 10,735ft) and make a steady ascent to the village of Merak (3400m. / 11,155ft.). Camp.
Day 6: A longish day today, crossing the Nyakchung La, (4300m. / 14,108ft.) to reach Sakteng. We make our camp in the fields of the village. 6 - 7 hours.
Day 7: A day to look around the village, its gompas and environs. The local people will no doubt be just as interested in us since this place was closed to foreigners until 2009. We spend our second night in the village.
Day 8: Leaving Sakteng our route takes us steadily down valley. We have to make a climb to negotiate a 3000m. / 10,000ft pass before dropping to the village of Jyonkhar (1767m. / 5800ft.) and our camp.
Day 9: We continue easy trekking for around 2 hours and then with a final climb of 1 hour we arrive at the end of our trek at Phong Me where our transport will be waiting. We drive via Ranjung to Trashigang where we will either camp or use a basic lodge.
Day 10: We make the return drive down to Samdrup Jongkhar on the border with Assam and check into a hotel.
Day 11: After a short (3 hour) drive to Guarhati we check in for the flight to Delhi. Arriving at Delhi's Domestic airport we transfer to a nearby hotel where we have the use of shared 'day rooms' to freshen up before dinner and transfer to the international airport where KE group package services end.
