11 Sele-La
A 22-day Teahouse Trek from Sukhetar to Kanchenjunga S-BC and then via SeleLa pass to Kanchenjunga N-BC and back to Taplejung in Eastern Nepal.
Trek Day - 11 Trek from Tseram to Sele-La Camp
KS at Sinelapche Bhanjyang .. on way to Sele-La, with Kanchenjunga (leftmost M, C, S) and then Kabru Ridge and last Mt Rathong (at 9:20AM)
Trek Day - 11 Trek from Tseram to Sele-La Camp
On 25th Oct 2015 - After breakfast we were ready to start the Day's Trek at 7:00AM. Today is a "big climbing" day as we have to climb and long trek over the cross-over passes from S-KBC to N-KBC side. There are 3-4 passes to go over on today's route.
After an hour's climb ... looking down to see Cheram Teahouse
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The Route Map Image below (and opposite column) shows today's high-pass cross-over route. We will be going from the South (green) Track to North (green) track via the Connector (red) track. Starting from Tseram (on S-BC route) to go to Gunsa in N-BC Route via Sele-La Camp on Red route. We will be doing it in two days. The Map gives detail of the tough terrain we go through and the three passes (with confusing names**) we will cross to reach there.
Zoomed-In : Image of cross-over track of SeleLa Pass - Click to Enlarge
When you click on the Image you will see that I have marked the 3 pass names with a (?) mark ... this is because there is a lot of confusion in various source maps about these Names. I have kept the Dengates' name Versions though somewhat different with published Maps. Also the exact GPS location of each pass too varies between sources.
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The 2nd Lake with Rathong reflection ... at 9:50AM
25th Oct 7:00AM .. Ready to start Trek from Cheram .. climb to Sela-La
View towards head of Valley & Kanchenjunga Range at 9:20AM
Zoomed-Out Image of cross-over track of SeleLa Pass - Click to Enlarge
Passing the 1st Lake at 9:45AM
Manzey arrives in cloudy weather ... at 11:20AM
Nearing 2nd Pass Mirgin-La at 11:08AM ... Mingma on rock ahead
At the 3rd Pass ... Prayer flags - 1:00PM
At the 2nd Pass ... Mirgin La prayer flags - 11:30AM
Dinesh (Guide) finds a mask lying on the trail and tries it on - 2:40PM
It was long walk even after crossing the SeleLa pass at 3:20PM. On the descent from the pass we found a lot of snow lying around but not much on the trail per se. So still the distance was way too long. Even after 4:00PM teh SeleLa camp could not be seen. The others in our group had moved way ahead and only Manz and Me were lagging way behind.
At one point I started wondering if we had missed the Teahouse along teh way and moved ahead beyond the Camp. Manz assured me that we have still long way to go. Finally only at 5:10PM we spotted the Sele-La Camp Teahouse and some Orange tents, still some way ahead and down.
We reached the Teahouse at around 5:30PM and totally tired out after an exhausting 10 hour walk today. I went straight to my allotted bed-spot in the very basic Huts here, opened out my Sleeping Bag and rested for 30-45 mins before going out to the kitchen, for a cup of Lemon Tea. It was an awesome trek day today!
Album of all Pics of this Trek Day - 11:
Our Day-wise trek details are in the sub-Menu links
We pass the Lion Rock at 1:30PM
Finally the "real" Sele-La pass at 3:20PM
Finally at 5:10PM we sighted the SeleLa-Camp ahead and down
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Itinerary :
A 22-Day Kanchenjunga Base Camp Trek - first to South Base Camp (Oktang) and then to North Base Camp (Pang-Pema) via the SeleLa pass crossover .... as per following schedule:
7-10th Oct 2015 Kathmandu - Preparation, Purchases and Permits
11th Oct 2015 Bus Kathmandu to Birtamode
12th Oct 2015 Bus Birtamode to Taplejung
13-14th Oct 2015 Rest Days in Taplejung
Day-1 Thu 15th Oct > Taplejung - Sukhetar - Kunjari
Day-2 Fri 16th Oct > Kunjari - Yanglang
Day-3 Sat 17th Oct > Yangland - Mamanakhe
Day-4 Sun 18th Oct > Mamankhe - Yamphudin (Sherpagaon)
Day-5 Mon 19th Oct > Yamphudin - Lasiya Bhanjyang
Day-6 Tue 20th Oct > Lasiya Bhanjyang - Tortong
Day-7 Wed 21st Oct > Tortong - Cheram (Tseram)
Day-8 Thu 22nd Oct > Acclimitization Day in Cheram
Day-9 Fri 23rd Oct > Cheram - Ramche
Day-10 Sat 24th Oct > Ramche - Oktang (South-BC) - Ramche
Day-11 Sun 25th Oct > Ramche - Selela Camp
Day-12 Mon 26th Oct > Selela Camp - Gunsa
Day-13 Tue 27th Oct > Gunsa - Rest Day
Day-14 Wed 28th Oct > Gunsa - Kangabachen
Day-15 Thu 29th Oct > Kangbachen - Lohnak
Day-16 Fri 30th Oct > Lohnak - Kangabachen (PangPema-NBC skipped due to bad weather)
Day-17 Sat 31st Oct > Kangabachen - Gunsa
Day-18 Sun 1st Nov > Gunsa - Thangyani
Day-19 Mon 2nd Nov > Thangyani - Sukhetham
Day-20 Tue 3rd Nov > Sukhetham - Chiruwa
Day-21 Wed 4th Nov > Chiruwa - Gadi Danda
Day-22 Thu 5th Nov > Gadi Danda - Taplejung
6th Nov 2015 Bus Taplejung to Kakarbitta
7th Nov 2015 Rest Day in Kakarbitta
8th Nov 2015 Kakarbitta - Bagdogra Airport (and flight home)