Eastern Himalaya - Pikey Pick Expedition

A country packed with more of the planet’s highest peaks than anywhere else on earth, Nepal lures first-time visitors with its impressive natural and cultural gems and keeps trekkers and photographers returning for more of its astonishing mountain scenery and rich traditions.

Our expedition starts in Kathmandu, where we spend the first day exploring UNESCO-heritage sites, learning about the city's exquisite Buddhist architecture and captivating history.
We then fly to Phaplu, a remote mountain village far from the traditional tourist circuits. We’re welcomed into the Happy House, an ancestral Sherpa family home and a cosy abode where Everest explorers including Sir Edmund Hillary and Count Guido Monzino loved to stay. Our group alone has the house to enjoy: we unwind with home-cooked meals by the fire, go on mountain bike excursions around the village, relax with spa and massage treatments, take part in singing bowl and yoga sessions. Day hikes take us to Thupten Choeling Monastery, an important centre of Tibetan Buddhism, to Chiwong Monastery (where we can meditate with monks), and to Junbesi village, the cradle of Sherpa culture.
We break away from The Happy House long enough to enjoy a relaxed trek to Pikey Peak, eschewing the crowds of more celebrated climbs. By day we trek through lush valleys and rhododendron forests, passing alpine villages, monasteries, terraced fields, tumbling waterfalls, sacred mani walls, jaw-dropping Himalayan views, and at night we bed down in well-equipped camps set up under the stars. With clear skies, our efforts culminate in a sunrise view from the 4100-meter summit of Pikey Peak—said to be Hillary’s favourite view of Mount Everest—gazing out at all eight of Nepal’s 8000-meter giants.
The little-travelled Solu Khumbu region brings us to the Nepal we dream of: jaw-dropping Himalayan scenery, mountaineering lore, Sherpa traditions, and very few other travellers.