Guerilla Camping Trek

A new trekking route from Myagdi to Rukum follows trails used by the Maoists during the war.

Now, trekkers can retrace the footsteps of the guerillas and imagine what it must have been like to hike and fight in this kind of terrain. The trail starts in Beni, skirts Baglung, passes the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve and goes on to Rukum and Rolpa, takes up to 13 days. All along, there are spectacular views of the Dhaulagiri range from high ridges and large meadows fringed by pine forests. The trail has a historic attraction, but there are also challenges of infrastructure and making locals aware of how they can benefit from tourism.

Difficulty Level: Moderate
Duration: 12 Day Trek
Access: 8 hour drive.
Starting Altitude:  1,180 m or 3,870 feet
Peak Altitude: 3900m or 12,870 feet

Itinerary in detail

See the Overall Tour Summary for details on itinerary for before and after your selected trek.

Day   21 Beni to Takam 1665m (6hours)
From the Myagdi district headquarter you follow a gravel road for 24km to Darbang and start walking. Takam is a three hour walk away with Gurjal Himal towering overhead.

Day   2: Takam to Lamsung 2250m (6 hours)
This is where the scenery starts getting even more dramatic. This is what Nepal used to be like before the trekkers got here. Locals are not used to foreigners and have a lot of stories to tell about the war.

Day   3: Lamsung to Gurjaghat 3020m (7 hours)
Climb through dense pine forests, with musk deer darting in the undergrowth. The meadows on the ridge offer 180 degree views of Dhaulagiri the entire range up to Churen Himal in the west.

Day   4: Gurjaghat to Dhorpatan 2860m (5 hours)
You cross over from Myagdi to Baglung and into the former Tibetan refugee camp which was  serviced by an airfield built by the Swiss in the 1950s. This is also the entrance to Dhorpatan, a Hunting Reserve, where you can spot mountain goats and blue sheeps(Bharal).

Day   5: Dhorpatan to Nisi Dhor (5 hours)
This is a paradise for birds. Watch danphes pheasants, and other migratory species that you have seen only in bird guides. Hard to imagine that people fought a war here. There are cow sheds in the monsoon, but in the winter these high pastures are deserted.

Day   6: Nisi Dhor to Tallo Sera(7 hours)
Cross over from Baglung to Rukum into Magar country and enter the former Maoist base area. There are dense forests all the way, so it must have been easy to hide here from the helicopter patrols. The villages are picturesque and there is always some kind of Magar festival going on.

Day   7: Tallo Sera to Rujhikhola(6 hours)
Walk to Lukum in Rukum, a village populated only by Magars and Dalits(low cast). This is about as medieval as it gets in Nepal nowadays.

Day   8: Rujhikhola to Thabang(5 hours)
Thabang is the cradle of the Maoist revolution. It was damaged in army attacks and parts of the town were flattened by ‘tora bora’ mortar shells dropped from helicopters. There has been some development of infrastructure after the war ended, and the people are eager and friendly.

Day 9: Thabang to Jaljale(5 hours)
The highest point in Jaljale is Dharampani (3900m) and there is a great view from Apisaipal in the west to Dhaulagiri in the east.

Day 10: Jajala to Jelbang(6 hours)
Now we’re moving down from the high mountains and the village are ethnically mixed.

Day 11: Jelbang to Suliochaur(6 hours)
This is where we finally get to Rolpa and the roadhead. Rolpa was also a rebel base area and for many of the ten years of war under total Maoist control. You can eat at one of the many commune restaurants run by Maoist cooperative, where staff are relatives of those who were killed in the fightings.