Makalu Barun Trek

Autumn (late September to November) and spring (March to May) are the two reliable windows for the Makalu Barun Trek. Autumn delivers the clearest skies after the monsoon and is the most popular season for the Barun Valley, with settled weather for the Shipton La and Keke La crossings. Spring is warmer at lower elevations, with rhododendron in full colour, though the passes can hold snow into April.

Winter (December to February) is feasible for strong, well-equipped trekkers on the lower sections, but snow can make the passes dangerous and cold is extreme at Shersong and base camp. The summer monsoon (June to August) brings heavy rain, leeches and trail damage in the lower subtropical valleys, and the upper Barun becomes wet and slippery. The season cards above give a month-by-month picture of conditions.

The Makalu Barun Trek passes through Makalu-Barun National Park, so the primary permit required is the Makalu-Barun National Park Entry Permit. Unlike the Manaslu or Kanchenjunga regions, there is no restricted-area permit for Makalu-Barun, and trekkers do not need to travel in a guided group of a minimum number by regulation, though the remoteness makes a licensed guide and porter strongly advisable in practice. A TIMS (Trekkers Information Management System) card is also required.

Permit fees are set by the Nepal government and subject to change; Swotah confirms the exact current rates before your departure date and arranges all paperwork once you provide a passport copy and passport-size photos. National park fees and TIMS are obtained in Kathmandu before the flight to Tumlingtar. Keep copies of all documents; they are checked at park entry checkpoints.

Accommodation on the Makalu Barun Trek is a mix of teahouse lodges in the lower and middle sections and camping in the upper Barun Valley. Lodges are available in Num, Sedua, Tashigaon, Khongma and Mumbuk, though comfort and menu choice reduce significantly with altitude. Above Mumbuk, through Yangle Kharka, Merek and Shersong to base camp, accommodation shifts to tents, with Swotah providing a full camping kit for those sections.

At the lower elevations through Rai and Sherpa villages, lodges are basic but welcoming, with shared bathrooms and simple cooking. A four-season sleeping bag is important even in the teahouse zone because nights above 3,000 m are cold, and the Shersong and base camp nights require a bag rated to at least -15 degrees C. Kathmandu offers comfortable hotels at the start and end of the trip.

Food in the teahouse zone from Num to Mumbuk is the standard Nepal trekking menu: dal bhat (lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables) is the staple, filling and refillable, alongside noodles, potatoes, eggs and Tibetan bread. The menu narrows significantly above Mumbuk, where the camping cook carries provisions for the upper Barun section.

Swotah includes three meals a day throughout the trek. For water, aim for 3 to 4 litres a day to counter altitude sickness, and treat all drinking water: boiled water is available at lower lodges, and purification tablets, a filter or a UV pen all work for stream water in the Barun. Do not drink untreated water. Carry a reusable bottle, and pack a second small bottle for the days without a lodge stop.

The standard access to the Makalu Barun Trek is a 45-minute flight from Kathmandu to Tumlingtar Airport (526 m) in the Arun Valley, followed by a jeep drive of 3 to 4 hours to Chichila or Num, the trail head. Tumlingtar flights operate on small aircraft and are subject to weather delays, so the itinerary builds in flexibility at the start. Swotah books the flight and arranges the vehicle transfer.

On the return the same route reverses: trek out to Num or Chichila, jeep to Tumlingtar, and fly to Kathmandu. The Arun Valley road is rough, particularly after the monsoon, and the drive can take longer than expected. A private jeep handles the terrain better than a shared vehicle and allows stops at the correct pace.

Makalu-Barun National Park, established in 1992, covers 1,500 sq km and is one of Nepal's most biodiverse protected areas. Its altitudinal range from about 900 m at the Arun River to 8,485 m at the summit of Makalu means it holds subtropical, temperate, sub-alpine and alpine ecosystems in a single corridor. The park is known for rare wildlife including the snow leopard, red panda, clouded leopard and more than 440 species of birds.

The Barun Valley at the heart of the trek is a glacially carved trough running south from Makalu's base. The valley floor holds high-altitude wetlands, glacier-fed streams and moraines, and the views northward to Makalu's south face, Baruntse and Chamlang are among the most dramatic in the Nepal Himalaya. Conservation rules apply inside the park: no open fires above the treeline, all waste carried out, and wildlife disturbance prohibited.

Makalu at 8,485 m is the world's fifth-highest mountain, first climbed by a French expedition in 1955. It is one of the most technically demanding of the 8,000 m peaks, and its pyramid shape dominates the skyline from the upper Barun Valley. From Shersong and the base camp plateau the south pillar and east face of the mountain rise directly overhead, a view that few trekkers anywhere in Nepal experience at such close range.

The surrounding peaks are almost as impressive: Chamlang (7,319 m) to the south-east, Baruntse (7,129 m) to the west, and Peak 6 (7,168 m) on the ridge between Makalu and Baruntse. The base camp area at around 4,870 m is the closest non-technical approach point, and the glacier and moraine landscape here shows the scale of the Makalu massif from a ground-level perspective.

A licensed trekking guide is strongly recommended on the Makalu Barun Trek and effectively necessary above Mumbuk, where the trail becomes unmarked, the distances between shelters are long and the upper Barun receives very few trekkers. Swotah's guides hold Ministry of Tourism licences, carry a pulse oximeter and first-aid kit, and know the Shipton La and Keke La crossings in all weather conditions.

Porters are assigned at a maximum load of 20 to 25 kg, and Swotah provides a free duffel bag for the porter-carried load so you trek with a light daypack. In the upper Barun camping zone a cook is also part of the support crew. Tipping is customary at the end of the trek; a common guideline is 10 to 15% of the trip cost, shared among the guide, cook, porter and driver.

Mobile and internet coverage on the Makalu Barun Trek is limited. Nepal Telecom (NTC) gives the best signal in the lower valleys around Num, Sedua and Tashigaon, but coverage drops out above Khongma and is absent in most of the Barun Valley. Swotah provides a tourist SIM on arrival in Kathmandu, but treat the upper trek as entirely off-grid from the communication standpoint.

Wi-Fi exists at a few lower lodges for a small fee and is absent above Mumbuk. Electricity for charging is available at teahouses in the village zone and costs a few rupees per device, but there are no power points at the camping sites in the upper Barun. A power bank with enough capacity for 5 to 6 days is essential, and a small solar charger is useful insurance. Cold nights drain batteries fast, so keep electronics in a sleeping bag overnight.

Responsible trekking in Makalu-Barun means respecting both the park's conservation rules and the Rai and Sherpa communities along the route. No open fires above the treeline inside the national park; all waste, including plastics, must be carried out of the upper Barun. Carry a reusable bottle and treat your own water to avoid buying plastic. Ask before photographing people at home or at religious sites, and remove footwear before entering temples or gompas.

Tipping is customary and meaningful in a region with few alternative income sources outside of trekking. A common guideline is 10 to 15% of the trip cost, divided among the guide, cook, porter and vehicle driver at the end of the trek. Tips go directly to the seasonal workforce, and booking with a registered operator like Swotah also ensures proper porter load limits, staff insurance and national park permit compliance.