The Tsum Valley is one of the last genuinely hidden valleys in Nepal - a high-altitude river valley in Gorkha District north of the Buri Gandaki, closed to foreign visitors until 2008 and still requiring a restricted area permit that keeps annual visitor numbers in the low hundreds. The Tsumba people who inhabit the valley have maintained a form of Tibetan Buddhist culture and social organisation that, in most of the Himalayan world, has been transformed beyond recognition by the past fifty years of development. In Tsum, because there were no roads and until recently no trekkers, these transformations simply did not occur. The valley you walk into when you cross from the Buri Gandaki is functionally the same valley that existed three hundred years ago.
The Route - Buri Gandaki to Upper Tsum
The standard Tsum Valley trek begins at Soti Khola (710 m) - the roadhead northeast of Gorkha - and follows the Buri Gandaki north before turning east into the Tsum valley at the Lokpa junction. The approach through the Buri Gandaki gorge is itself extraordinary: a slot gorge through the Himalayan foothills with subtropical forest, massive Himalayan cliffs, and cascading waterfalls. Entering the Tsum valley at Chhokangparo (3,010 m), the landscape transitions abruptly from the forested gorge to a high-valley plateau with broad, flat terraced fields at 3,000 m and the glaciated peaks of the Ganesh Himal rising above the northern valley head.
The Sacred Sites - Milarepa Caves and Ancient Gompas
The Tsum Valley is embedded in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition as a sacred landscape associated with the great 11th-century yogi Milarepa - the saint who meditated in caves throughout the high Himalayan valleys. Several caves in the upper Tsum valley are identified as Milarepa meditation sites, and the annual pilgrimage circuit around the valley includes these cave sites alongside the ancient monasteries. Rachen Gompa - the valley's largest monastery, housing approximately 100 monks and nuns - is the spiritual centrepiece of Upper Tsum. The monastery prayer hall contains thangka collections and ritual objects of considerable antiquity. Mu Gompa (3,700 m), higher on the valley wall, provides the finest panoramic view of the upper Tsum landscape and the Ganesh Himal range.
The Restricted Area Permit
The Tsum Valley requires a restricted area permit costing USD 40 per person per week. This permit must be arranged through a registered Nepali trekking agency - independent trekkers cannot obtain it. Adventure Peaks Nepal includes all Tsum Valley permits - the restricted area permit, the Manaslu Conservation Area permit (USD 30 per week), and the TIMS card - in our trek package pricing. Total permit cost for a standard 10-day permit period is approximately USD 130-170 per person.
Best Season
Spring (March-May) and autumn (September-November) are both excellent for Tsum. The valley sits partially in the rain shadow of the main Himalayan chain, which means even the monsoon is manageable in Tsum - the village of Nile in July receives far less rain than Kathmandu. October and November provide the clearest mountain views and the most stable walking conditions. The high-altitude section above Nile toward the Ngula Dhojhyang pass (5,093 m) is snowbound from December through February.
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