A tour to Kalinchowk Dolakha

Some moments we experience while traveling end up completely blowing us away in ways we’d never have expected. They stay with us forever and years later we still smile at the fond memories. For me, a 3-days trip to Kalinchowk-Dolakha provided astonishing moments of pure joy.

The Kalinchowk tour is in high traffic especially in the Jan-March So it’s best to book hotels well in advance, but last-minute travelers need not despair as standby hotel rooms are often available but it’s a matter of luck. Also, you need to take a bus ride to Jiri which in my case was Kathmandu to Jiri to reach Kalinchowk, or if you have reserved a Jeep then it’s best for 8-10 people. The bike ride is also fun if you are a good rider and fond of biking.

To all those who want to travel without a travel package. Buses from Kathmandu – Jiri leave from 6:00 am onward till 2:00 pm. Then you’ll have to reserve a Jeep (best) to reach Kalinchowk. The Bus fare is around Rs. 300. Jeep reservation cost from Jiri to Kalinchowk depends on your bargaining skills roughly it’s somewhere around Rs 3500.

Day 1 - Kathmandu to Kalinchowk

It was a special tour in the month of January. Four of us boarded the bus at 7:00 o’clock in the morning from Ratnapark Buspark. It was 6 hour and 30 minutes long ride to Jiri. We were on public transportation, it was exciting to meet commoners traveling to Kuri and we enjoyed together singing and chatting with each other. The journey continued with the stunning view of the high Hills along the jungle and across the river banks. We had junk food on the way, At MUDE we took the local hotel-made meals (Dal/ Bhat/ Dhido/ Tarkari). Mude is the junction point for getting to two destinations Dolakha and Sailung. Like Mude, you will encounter beautiful scenarios of landforms (Hills and the Himalayas).

After we had eaten delicious Nepali food (Dal/Bhat) we headed towards Jiri-Dolakha. Soon after, the landforms started changing, the color of the soil was different, and the vegetation was different but always the fresh air was representative of the whole country’s hilly regions.

We reached Jiri bazaar at around 1:30 pm where we took some junk food. We immediately started searching for a jeep for reservation, and luckily found one. Again the journey began for the ultimate destination Kuri Village, Kalinchowk. It was a thrilling journey (a lot of chills on the way 😁). One hour had just lapsed and my friends rave, ”See !! the snow, wow!! “. We got out of the Jeep took some photos and then started walking down to Kuri Village. The road was slippery in some places because of snow and mud, it was difficult for vehicles to go through.

Let’s take a shot 

More cool photos

We arrived at Kuri after a 1 hour 3o minutes Jeep ride. I still remember I could not stop myself from staring at the stunning beauty of Kuri Village. The diversity in its vegetation and landform was amusing with Rhododendron trees, Pine trees, Steep Hills and the Snow covered plateaus having added grandiosity to the beauty of the place. Picking up the snow, playing with it, and sightseeing, while moving on to find a shelter was all we did in the time left. 

Kalinchowk and snow fun begins

We started searching for hotels by inquiring the locals since we had not pre-booked one. Luckily, we met a hotel owner whom we had contacted earlier that day just to ask for the rooms. Though he had already told us that there were no rooms left at Kuri Village that day, we insisted on for help, after some calls he managed our rooms at one HomeStay situated some distance uphill of Kuri village.

It was already evening and extremely cold outside so we decided to move on. We started walking uphill at around 6 PM. It was terrifying as nobody was there on the road – all snow-covered and just the sound of our footsteps. Mobile phone networks did not work properly at Kalinchowk and finding a charging source was also difficult So most of us had our mobile phones run out of battery. We kept moving and finally after a 45-minute long walk, we saw some lights nearby, took a deep breath, and ran to reach there. Finally, we found our HomeStay, it was easy to search as there were only a few houses in the village

People were kind and generous at the Homestay. We had a warm meal, and a campfire, and talked with the owners (an old man and woman) at the HomeStay about the Kalinchowk temple’s transformation and the religious background of the temple.

Day 2 - Kalinchowk sightseeing

The next morning after getting ready to worship the Goddess Kalinchowk Bhagawati, we visited the Kalinchowk temple situated on the hilltop.That day, we had a lot of fun exploring the Kuri village and Kalinchowk temple area. We stayed that night at “Hotel Highland and Guest House” run by Mr. Yam Pakhrin ( 9861216392, contact for pre-booking). 

Clouds down the hill

Playing with snow

Day 3 - Leaving from Kalinchowk

Early morning, after breakfast, we packed our bags and and returned back to Jiri on a Jeep (reserved). We had our lunch and ascended to bus leaving for Kathmandu at around 11:00 AM. We reached to Kathmandu at around 5 PM.

Having created memories for a lifetime, we returned to Kathmandu the following day. As, the journey of life is continuous we got back to our regular routines planning for the next adventure trip.

There must be something interesting here that you have read thus far. I hope this also helps with the information needed for the tour if you are planning one. I would not hesitate to answer your queries. Feel free to message me for suggestions and queries. Thank you! Keep exploring