Tukuche Peak Climbing

As your flight lands at the international airport in Kathmandu, we will be waiting for you at the terminal to welcome you to our home country and ultimately escort you to your designated stay.

Unlike most countries, Nepal offers visas on arrival to most international tourists, so you do not have to apply for a visa online before taking the flight. Upon your arrival, you will be requested to fill out your tourist visa application, which should not take long.

After everything is done, you will have to pay a fee to the airport officials which is based upon the duration of your stay. Note that this is your personal expense, and our trek package will not cover any of those expenses.

What we will cover is your accommodation at a 3-star hotel for the rest of your nights in Kathmandu. In total, you will be staying for four nights in Kathmandu at a 3-star hotel, which the Tukuche Peak Climbing package covers. We will be responsible for providing breakfast each morning; the rest of the meals will be your personal expenses during your stay in Kathmandu.

We understand that you might have jet-lagged from a long flight from home, and we want you to rest as much as possible because we will begin our trek on the 3rd day of the Tukuche Peak Climbing journey. If you are feeling well-rested, you can spend some time exploring Kathmandu.

Kathmandu has a lot of attractions and activities that you can indulge in. But we recommend that you do not do any physical activities that could make you tired or potentially harm you or sprain your joints. It would be so anti-climactic if you were to be injured just a day before the trek.

Instead of physical activities, you should enjoy the different historic and religious sites. These temples and buildings have a unique look; they have wood carvings all over, and the architecture is too good not to take a picture.

Besides sightseeing, you will have to attend a meeting with the guide, who is going to debrief you on the trip you are about to take; he will make sure that you understand where you are going and how you will be traveling (routes, food, accommodations, etc.) You will also be introduced to the porters who will be carrying your luggage all the way to the top and back.

We will also take you to the Department of Tourism, where you will be officially briefed about the Tukuche Peak Climbing journey.

As per the laws of Nepal, you are required to get a permit if you are going to climb any peaks. The same rule applies to Tukuche Peak climbing; you will need a TIMS card to climb this peak. Along the route, you will also have to get local permits, which are a type of fund collection for the betterment of the local communities and villages.

On the third day of the Tukuche Peak climbing, we will move towards the beautiful city of Pokhara. A 25-minute flight from Kathmandu will take us to Pokhara, where we will head towards Jomsom.

The town of Jomson is the most popular town in the Mustang district, mainly because it is the market hub and the gateway to the upper Mustang regions and all the trekking destinations in the area.

Being the commercial center of the region, Jomsom sees a lot of activity throughout the day and offers trekkers a place with all the necessary and additional amenities. But we will not be staying at Jomsom. After landing, we will promptly get on the road to Marpha.

Marpha is a beautiful little village famous for its apple brandy, apple juice, dried apples, and stone houses, which are traditional to the Thakalai people. This village is an important site for tourism, and it also has a Tibetan Refugee Camp.

The name Marpha translates to “hard-working people”; Mar means “hard-working” and Pha means “people.” It’s a scenic village, which is probably why it was made a part of the Annapurna Circuit Trek.

Jomsom to Marpha is just 5.5 km, which should take us about 2 hours to reach. We will be staying at Marpha for the night. One of the main reasons for choosing Marpha over Jomsom is the fact that Marpha is just too aesthetic. Sure, Jomson offers a few extra accommodation options and amenities, but it has none of Marpha’s appealing characteristics.

During the entire trekking days, we will be responsible for providing you with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You are free to choose anything from the menu of the lodges where we will be staying. Accommodation and food-related expenses will be covered by the Tukuche Peak Climbing package.

The best thing you can do on a Himalayan trekking journey is to acclimatize yourself and keep your body well-hydrated. This will save you a lot of trouble, as altitude sickness is really inconvenient and might even make you quit the trek under rare circumstances.

We will be staying at Marpha for two days. You can use these two resting days to explore the village.

Start off your morning by joining the morning prayers at the local monastery. You can see a panoramic view of the Gandaki River valley from the monastery, and the morning sun rays hit you differently in the Himalayas.

You can visit the Apple Farm there, which was established in 1966. This organization helped to pool all the apple production in the region, giving birth to a major production farm that produced on a small-industry level. This farm was the first to export the apple products of this region to the cities of Nepal.

The distillery is another place you can visit. The apple brandy produced in Marpha is the best apple brandy made in Nepal. You will be given a sample of their apple cider to taste, and with permission, you can pluck the apples off the tree. These apples of Marpha are delicious; after they are exported to other cities, their prices skyrocket and triples.

Another thing you can do is climb the Marpha hill, the view of the village from the top of the hill is amazing, to say the least. In addition to that, ascending a couple hundred meters from where you are staying is a great acclimatization trick that seasoned trekkers use. This lets your body feel more relaxed when you eventually descend back to your accommodation.

While in Marpha, you should also try out the Thakali Khana set (lunch/dinner) and Thakalai Khaja Set (supper), both of which are traditional dishes. Other things include sun-dried apples, apple pie, apple cider, apple brandy, Thukpa (a bowl of dumplings and noodles with soup), etc. But if you want to have some Western fast food, you can go to a modern restaurant in the village where you should be able to get burgers and pizza at the least.

The people of Marpha are very welcoming, especially towards international tourists, since most of the Thakalis there can not communicate in English, and they hope that smiling at tourists makes them feel more comfortable and welcome.

You will also be spending your 5th day of the Tukuche Peak Climbing at Marpha. There’s so much to do in Marpha, so you should not be bored anytime soon. We will get moving the following day and for the time being, you can continue to explore the village.

The name Yak Kharka translates to Alpine Pasture for the Yaks (Kharka means Alpine Pasture). Long before this place was a village, the people of this region used this place as a pasture land for their Yaks. At present, Yaks still graze the grounds of this village.

Yaks are like bison; they are huge, hairy, and friendly-looking, but Yaks are unpredictable and temperamental; we recommend not getting close to any Yaks for photos.

Yaks are the prime mammals of this region; they produce milk, which villagers use to make cheese, curd, and other dairy products. Though it is not that often, Yaks are also reared for meat. Their meat is the complete opposite of tender, but you should use what you have in this region, not complain.

After 3 to 4 hours of trekking, we will reach Yak Kharka from Marpha. We will start the trek after breakfast and have our lunch on the way or after we reach Yak Kharka.

We will be moving slowly for this trek; there is no use rushing our way to the top. Rushing will only make us sick and unable to continue the trek.

Another thing to remember, after Yak Kharka you are likely not going to get any network coverage on your phone. If you need to make a call, you can use the landlines that tea shops and lodges have. They will charge you for it by the minute; this is your personal expense, which the trek package will not cover.

Since you have plenty of time to kill, you can just explore the village, climb a hill, and watch the locals.

After a lovely morning breakfast IN Yak Kharka, we will start our trek to Tukuche Base Camp. We will be trekking for a total of 4 to 5 hours to reach the base camp.

There are no lodges or tea houses in the base camp, so we will be sleeping in tents for the night. We will provide you with down jackets and sleeping bags which are to be returned after the trek has ended

On the 9th day of your Tukuche Peak Climbing journey, you will finally start climbing the Tukuche Peak. On the first day of climbing, our guide will make sure that you are familiar with all the climbing equipment and how they work. As a part of the package, we will provide you with Climbing Rope, Ice Screw, Snow Bar, Ice Hammer, Camping Tents, and cutleries.

We will slowly and methodically work our way up the peak while our guide instructs you on how to climb certain passages. On the fifth day of the climb, we will finally reach the top of the peak, from where we can see a gorgeous view of the entire Annapurna Himalayan range and the Dhaulagiri I peak.

After spending some time at the top, we will descend back to the last campsite and ultimately get down on the 17th day of the Tukuche Peak Climbing.

On the 18th day, after more than a week of living in Tukuche Peak, we will start descending to the village of Marpha. As we descend to Marpha, we will feel warmer, and the air starts to thicken.

The following day, we will descend further to Jomsom, where we will be spending the night. This will be your last night in the Himalayas.

After lunch, we will take a flight from Jomsom to Pokhara. Your accommodation at Pokhara will be covered by the Tukuche Peak Climbing package, along with a morning breakfast. Lunch and dinner will be at your own expense.

Since you are in Pokhara, you can indulge in the flashing, vibrant nightlife by the lake or have a calming dinner at a scenic restaurant. Pokhara offers many activities so we are sure that you won’t be bored staying there for a night or two.

The following day, a flight to Kathmandu awaits you. We will likely move after having lunch in Pokhara.

On the 22nd day, you are free to roam the city of Kathmandu, buy some souvenirs or gifts for your loved ones, visit popular places, etc.

After everything has been sorted out, we will escort you to the international airport in Kathmandu where we will say our last goodbye for the time being.

Congrats on successfully completing the Tukuche Peak Climbing journey. We will provide you with a certificate and a farewell dinner at a reputed restaurant.