Mera Peak Climbing - 19 Days

After Breakfast at a hotel in Kathmandu, we take you for a cultural sightseeing tour of Kathmandu Valley. You’ll be visiting UNESCO-declared world heritage sites such as Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swayambhunath Temple, Pashupatinath Temple, and Boudhanath Stupa. The history, culture, and religion of each of these places are noteworthy. The ancient Nepalese architecture-rich Kathmandu Durbar Square was once a royal palace. You can watch the cremation procedures at the well-known Hindu temple Pashupatinath, which is devoted to the god Shiva. Similarly, Swayambhunath temple, also known as Monkey Temple, and Bouddhanath Stupa, the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal, are important Buddhist pilgrimage locations.

You will have some free time to purchase your trekking or climbing equipment in Thamel in the evening if you've forgotten to buy any at home. We take care of your trekking and climbing permits while you're out and about in historic Kathmandu.

A 35-minute scenic flight takes us to Lukla, from where we begin our hike to Paiya. Walking through the beautiful trail, we arrive at Surke Village. After a short break, our hike resumes, and we make our way to Chutok La Pass and finally to Chutang.

From the Chutang village, we head towards Thuli Kharka. A few hours later, we will arrive at Zatrwa La Pass, which separates the Hinku and Khumbu Valley. From here, we will descend for a few more hours, passing settlements like Chattre before reaching Thuli Kharka.

After having breakfast at the lodge, we start our trek toward Kothe. You begin your hike with a steep descent to Taktho and then a series of ups and downs in the hills. En route, you’ll pass forests of juniper, rhododendron, oaks, and other local vegetation that are common at this altitude. You’ll enter Hinku Valley today. The views you can enjoy here are of Mera Peak, Nauleku Peak, and many other mountains and peaks soaring high in the Himalayan sky. Kothe is a beautiful place one uphill ascent away from Hinku River, where you’ll spend today’s night at a tea house. 

Just like yesterday, you’ll be hiking along the Hinku River’s riverbed today. Walking on a gradually ascending river-bordered trail in the shadow of Mera Peak for some hours, we’ll reach Gondishung. You can enjoy the views of Kusum Kanguru Peak and other famous mountains on the way. You can visit Lungsumgba Gompa, a Buddhist temple with a two-century history, a short distance from the Gondishung. From here, the trail to Thangnak is somewhat easy with amazing beauty surrounding the area. Thangnak is a summer pasture with some teahouses accommodating the trekkers throughout the year. 

After having breakfast at the Thangnak tea house, we start our trek towards the mountain. As the trail swings to the east and leads up to Khare, we will pause to climb up the moraine for a view of the unspoiled Sabai Tso glacial lake. A drop in lake level, caused by a recent rupture of the natural dam that held the lake, is clearly visible. Today's hike is a little challenging as you must navigate the treacherous moraine trails. To reach Khare, you have to climb a steep hill, which is more difficult than the previous ones. After 3 to 4 hours of uphill climb, you’ll be welcomed to Khare with the beautiful north face of Mera Peak in plain view and Mera Glacier spilling steeply down into the valley.

Finally, after 5 days of continuous trekking, we have a rest day at Khare for acclimatization. You must take this acclimatization day seriously to better prepare yourself for the actual climb of Mera Peak. This day has been set aside to give us enough time to acclimatize completely, which is very important for any high-altitude treks and climbs. You run a higher risk of getting altitude sickness if you don't acclimate before the summit day. Your body must adjust to the higher altitudes over time. So, you will explore the nearby areas and rest the entire day as a part of the acclimatization.

After having breakfast at the tea house in Khare, we begin today’s trek to the Mera Peak Base Camp. The climb is initially steep but flattens out as you reach the crest of the Mera Glacier. It is a short hike, but the high altitude of over 5000 meters makes it difficult to ascend. Once you reach Mera Peak Base Camp at 5350 meters, your crew will set up a camp where you’ll be sleeping tonight. From here, the views are truly awesome, and crevasse fields gently stretch out in front of the pass. You are now literally enclosed by a ring of jagged peaks and blue-green glaciers and the remaining route up to the summit of Mera Peak is clearly visible.

Today, we climb to high camp, which is the last stop before climbing the summit. After breakfast at the camp, you will trek a gradually ascending path almost covered by an ice glacier all the way to the Mera High Camp. You will negotiate a long flat path on top of the glacier as you make your way to the pass, called Mera La (5,415 m). The views from the high camp leave you breathless as you get to enjoy Everest, Makalu, Baruntse, Kusum Kanguru, and many other mountains and peaks all arrayed in an amazing panorama that delights the soul. Moreover, you feel ecstatic by the magnificent views of Mera Glacier. You’ll again spend the night in a tent in the high camp.

Early in the morning, at around 2 a.m., the climb to the summit of Mera starts gradually, and much will depend on snow and general weather conditions. The central summit will soon appear above the head of a wide glacier flanked by two ridges. We climb the center of this over open snowfields and avoid crevasses. The route then swings southeast, eluding below and to the east of the left-hand ridge before turning back right towards the main summit ridge of Mera Peak. Mera is an amalgamation of three summits: North, Central, and South. Our goal is the highest, Mera Central Peak.

We reach the summit by following a classic snow ridge just below the final wall that guards the top. This short steep snow slope is easily climbed, but a big push is required to climb the last 50 metres. Your reward, however, is a feeling of rapturous triumph as you survey the brilliant panorama from the summit. The glorious vistas of Mt. Everest, Mt. Makalu, and Mt. Cho Oyu from the Mera Central summit will bedazzle you to the core.

After putting our video cameras on overdrive & getting the best pictures on offer, besides enjoying the lovely views, we descend by the same route back to our campsite at Khare.

There is no guarantee that the day of the anticipated summit will have favorable weather. We can reach Mera Peak's top on the designated day if the weather is good. However, if the weather doesn't cooperate, we'll use this spare day to reach the peak. Unfavorable weather conditions like high winds, snow, or rain may be to blame for this. Other health problems like altitude sickness might also be at fault. With this backup day, we have the flexibility to maximize our chances of success. 

After breakfast, we begin our hiking day from Khare back to Kothe. You’ll hike along a gradual descending path passing through Thangnak. It is a small village we’ve previously stayed in and you find yak settlements hereabouts. To reach Kothe you follow the same familiar route. On the way, you pass forests covered with fir, rhododendrons, and local vegetation. This tells us we are now getting down to lower altitudes. Since most of the path is downhill, walking on downhill trails is simpler and faster. It will only take 4 to 5 hours to complete the trek today.

Today’s trail is more challenging than yesterday’s straightforward downhill trail, as it involves many ups and downs. As you move towards the western side of Hinku Valley, you will pass along routes through the forests and green hills with a lot of greenery all around. It takes about 5 to 6 hours to trek from Kothe to Thuli Kharka. You’d be familiar with the place as you’ve already stayed here during the ascend. If you’ve missed any views previously, take this time to admire the mountain peaks surrounding the hamlet. 

After having breakfast at the lodge in Thuli Kharka, we start our trek for today. The trail first involves an ascending path, and then you trek onto a descending path to reach Chutang. En route, you come across a route that’s rocky & pretty rough. Through ascends and descends, you’ll reach Chutang, where you’ll spend the night at a mountain lodge.

Today is the final trekking day on your Mera Peak Climbing journey. You trek through forests of fir, rhododendron, oak, junipers, and local vegetation of different kinds. The trail you walk along moves downhill all the way to the little airstrip of Lukla, and you get to enjoy the views of Numbur Himal, Kongdi Ri, Karyolang Peak, and many other known mountains once again. This day marks the end of our expedition on these enormous mountains that have been home to us all of these days.

It's now time to celebrate our success of summiting Mera Peak with our Sherpa crew who have now become close friends. We talk about the wonderful experiences we shared together & take some pictures before we crash out for the night in the wonderful bliss of sleep & an odyssey well accomplished.

After an early morning breakfast, we hop on an early flight back to Kathmandu. We’ll drive you from the Kathmandu airport to your hotel and the rest of the day is free. You can do some shopping or write a few postcards home by sharing your wonderful experiences or just take a break from traveling and rest all day.

Today is also a spare day in case of bad weather in Lukla. If we miss our Lukla - Kathmandu flight due to bad weather on the scheduled date and time, we wait for another day to board the flight. If you’ve already made it to Kathmandu, we can organize a day tour in or around Kathmandu, a shopping tour, etc. You can also choose to have a relaxing day at a spa before flying back home. We’ll host you a farewell dinner in the evening today.

You'll be driven to the airport on the final day of your tour so you may head back to your adoring home. We sincerely hope that as you look back on your time in this wonderful nation, memories of us will come to mind. Have fun on your return trip.

If you want to take other tours in Nepal such as Chitwan Jungle Safari, Bardia Jungle Safari,Pokhara Tour or Lumbini tour then you can start from today and do let us know if you want to take any tour as we also arrange those tours.