Travellers' Checks | Tour of northeast Nepal – 17 days in stunning, seldom-seen scenery
Adventure-travel firm Whistling Arrow’s latest offering takes visitors from the flower-studded floor of the Arun Valley to the lofty heights of a 450-year-old Buddhist gompa
Away from it all Hong Kong-based adventure travel specialist Whistling Arrow will lead what looks like being a spectacular 17-day tour through part of the seldom-visited northeast of Nepal this Easter.
“The remote route will first trek through the lush, cardamom-coated Tamor Valley before ascending to the ancient Tibetan village of Olangchung Gola and traversing the exposed, snowy heights of the 5,200-metre Lumbasumba Pass,” expedition organiser Adrian Bottomley tells me. “On the other side, the upper Arun Valley awaits: a largely undiscovered sanctuary covered in large swathes of beautiful, primordial forest that overflows with cheerful birdsong and multicoloured rhododendrons.”
It all sounds very Lost Horizon, and James Hilton’s 1933 novel would surely be a worthy travel companion. Highlights include a visit to the 450-year-old Deki Chholing Gompa, which houses a trove of sacred Buddhist texts and ancient thangkas, and a concluding two-hour private helicopter flight.
