Last Word of Gosainkunda Trek

Extraction from Rough Guide

Gosainkund can be trekked on its own in as little as four days, but because of the rapid ascent to high elevation - 4380m - it's best done after acclimatizing in Langtang or Helambu.  Combined with either of these, it adds three or four days; a grand tour of all three areas takes sixteen or more days.

From either Dhunche (served by three buses daily from Kathmandu's Gongabu Bus Park, leaving in the early morning) or Thulo Syabru (on the Langtang trek), trails ascend steeply through mossy rhododendron forest to the monastery and cheese factory of Sing Gompa at 3250m.  The climb from Dhunche is particularly brutal.  Above Sing Gompa, the trail ascends through tall fir stands before emerging above the tree line for increasingly panoramic views of the high peaks (Laurebinayak is a beautiful place to stop) and finally entering the barren upper reaches of the Trisuli River, where glacial moraines and rockslides have left a string of some half-dozen lakes (kund).  Several lodges sit by the shore of Gosainkund, the most sacred of the lakes and renowed among Nepali Hindus.  A famous legend recounts how Shiva, having saved the world by drinking a dangerous poison, struck this mountainside with his trisul to create the lake and cool his burning throat.  During the full moon of July-August, Janai Purnima, a massive Hindu pilgrimage is held at Gosainkund,  In good weather you can climb Surya Peak (5144m), on the northeast side of the Laurabinayak La - the pass two hours southeast of Gosainkund; the views are superb.

No regret to take this trip!