Ghopte: Gosainkunda and Helambu Village Guide, Day 10 of Our 13-Day Langtang Trek

Ghopte is where our 13-day Langtang and Gosainkunda trek spends its tenth night, at 3,530 metres, after the longest walking day of the route by hours: over the Laurebina pass at 4,610 metres and a long descent of 1,080 metres on the other side. It is a stop on the trail, not a village with a written history, and there is almost nothing about it in English beyond trail notes. So this page sets out what our own itinerary says, what I could check in outside sources, and what I could not confirm and have left out.

Where is Ghopte and what is it?

It is a night stop on the ridge side of the Helambu trail, below the Laurebina pass. Our itinerary spells it Ghopte, and it says the pass leads "into the more remote and beautiful Helambu region". Wikipedia agrees on the geography in general terms: its Helambu page says the Helambu region begins at the Lauribina La pass and descends to the Melamchi valley, and that Helambu is a region of highland villages about 80 kilometres from Kathmandu and the home of the Hyolmo people. Read our guides to the Helambu region and the Hyolmo community for the people and villages further south.

I could not find Ghopte on Wikipedia or Wikidata. A search of OpenStreetMap, the volunteer map data, turned up several places called Ghopte or Ghopte Kharka in other parts of Nepal, but none on this route, so I cannot give you a map point, a population, a ward or a municipality for the Ghopte of our trek. You may see it spelt differently on other maps and in other trekking notes. I only checked the spelling we use. If a form asks you where it is, ask your guide.

Which day of the trek is Ghopte?

The night of day 10 of our 13-day Langtang Gosainkunda trek. These are the days around it, copied from our day-by-day plan. Distances and hours are ours.

Day	Route	Distance	Walking	Ends at
8	Thulo Syabru to Cholangpati	8 km	5 to 6 hours	3,654 m
9	Cholangpati to Gosainkunda lake	11 km	5 hours	4,380 m
10	Gosainkunda to Ghopte over the Laurebina pass	12 km	7 to 8 hours	Ghopte, 3,530 m
11	Ghopte to Kutumsang by Tharepati	10 km	5 hours	2,470 m

Every night of the trek, including these, is listed as a tea house or lodge. The first days drive to Syabrubesi and go up the Langtang valley; our guides to Syabrubesi and Gosainkunda lake cover those.

How high is Ghopte?

Our itinerary gives 3,530 metres (11,581 ft), and uses that figure on both day 10 and day 11. I could not cross-check it. Our other checked villages were measured with the Copernicus satellite elevation model read at an OpenStreetMap point, but for this Ghopte there is no OpenStreetMap point to read, so I have no second source. I did check the start of the day: the model gave 4,395 metres for the Gosainkunda lake outline on OpenStreetMap, which is close to the 4,380 metres in our itinerary and in our lake guide. Wikipedia's Gosaikunda page also gives 4,610 metres for the Lauribina La pass, the same figure as ours.

What is the walk from Gosainkunda to Ghopte like?

Our itinerary says 12 kilometres in 7 to 8 hours, and a total elevation change of 1,080 metres. That 1,080 is the drop from the pass (4,610) to Ghopte (3,530), which is the subtraction I would expect. The lake sits at 4,380, so the day opens with a climb of about 230 metres to the pass before it goes down. The net change from lake to Ghopte is 850 metres. Those two are my arithmetic from the itinerary's own heights. On 12 kilometres in 7 to 8 hours, that is about 1.5 to 1.7 kilometres an hour, which is slow, and it is meant to be.

Point on day 10	Height in our itinerary	Another source
Gosainkunda lake (start)	4,380 m	4,395 m, Copernicus model at the OpenStreetMap lake outline
Laurebina pass	4,610 m	4,610 m, Wikipedia (Gosaikunda page)
High Camp	4,240 m	none found
Ghopte (night stop)	3,530 m	none found

As our itinerary describes it, you pass three or more smaller alpine lakes on the way up, and reach a pass marked with a stone stupa and prayer flags. From there you descend into a large, open valley, first to High Camp at 4,240 metres. Then the trail becomes rockier and steeper down to Phedi, where you cross a narrow footbridge over a mountain stream, and then you arrive at Ghopte at the end of what the itinerary itself calls a long day.

What is it like to stay in Ghopte?

Our itinerary lists a tea house or lodge, with breakfast, lunch and dinner on the tiers that include meals. Beyond that, I have not found a source I trust for how many lodges there are, how many beds, whether there is hot water, charging or a signal, or what the settlement is called by local people, and I do not want to invent any of it for you to plan around. Our package says mobile signal can be patchy at altitude and that our lead guide stays in daily contact with all trekking teams.

What I can say from the numbers is that you sleep at 3,530 metres, which is about 850 metres lower than the night before at the lake.

Is the Ghopte side inside Langtang National Park?

I could not confirm it, and I will not claim it either way. Wikipedia says Gosainkunda lake is inside Langtang National Park, and the DNPWC (the national parks department) says Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park extends from Chisapani in the east to Kaknisam in the west, so Chisapani is that park's eastern edge. I found no source that draws the line between those two parks and the villages in between, so I do not say where Ghopte falls.

What I can tell you is our permit policy for this kind of route. On any Helambu route that goes north of Chisapani, we arrange the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park entry (NPR 1,000 for foreigners, NPR 600 for SAARC citizens), the Langtang National Park entry (NPR 3,000 for foreigners, NPR 1,500 for SAARC) and the TIMS card (NPR 2,000, or NPR 1,000 for SAARC). These are the Nepal Tourism Board's published figures, read on 4 October 2026. Our package lists all three permits as included on every tier, and permits need at least 48 hours in government working days, so we ask for passport details early. The Shivapuri park's own site also says a nature guide must accompany foreign visitors. I have not confirmed how that applies on this route, so ask me about it before you book.

A licensed guide and agency-issued TIMS card are required on most trekking routes under the Nepal Tourism Board rule from 31 March 2023; the Everest (Khumbu) region does not enforce it locally, but we always trek with a licensed guide. The Tourism Board's TIMS page lists both a Langtang Gosaikund trek and the Helambu and Goshaikunda treks.

What goes wrong on the pass day, and what do we do?

It is the longest walking day in our itinerary by hours (7 to 8; day 6 is longer in kilometres at 21, in 5 to 6 hours). It starts at 4,380 metres after a night at the lake and crosses the pass, which our itinerary calls the highest point of the Langtang-Gosainkunda-Helambu trail. Our package also lists an optional Tserko Ri viewpoint of about 4,984 metres as the highest place you can reach on the whole trek, which is why it asks for insurance to cover helicopter rescue to 6,000 metres.

If weather turns, or someone is not well after the night at the lake, the decision belongs to your guide on the morning, not to the schedule. I will not describe a snow, wind or cloud rule that I cannot source. Wikipedia says Gosainkunda is frozen for about six months, October to June, which is why I would not sell the crossing in deep winter; read Langtang in November and December before choosing late dates.

What is the position after the August 2026 flood?

I am not going to state a status here, because it would be out of date within days. Our 13-day trek starts with the drive to Syabrubesi, so the road position matters for the whole route. Read Is the Langtang trek affected by the Rasuwa flood? and which treks in Nepal are open after the flood first, and message me with your dates before you pay anything.

Can you reach Ghopte without doing Gosainkunda?

I could not confirm a route to Ghopte from the Helambu side in any source, so I will not describe one. What Wikipedia does say is that the usual Helambu trek starts at Sundarijal and goes past Chisapani, Kutumsang, Magin Goth and Tharepati, in eight days or as few as five or six, with a maximum height of about 3,650 metres. Ghopte is not in that list. Our own route goes from Ghopte through Tharepati to Kutumsang on day 11, and that night is covered in our Kutumsang guide. If the pass worries you, ask me about the gentler ridge from Sundarijal, and read about Tarkeghyang and Sundarijal.

How much does it cost?

Our current prices for the 13-day trek, per person, are USD 750 Budget, USD 999 Standard and USD 1,999 Luxury, for one traveller or more, with groups of up to twenty. Budget does not include meals or a porter, and trekkers carry their own bags in shared rooms. Standard includes all meals, private rooms and one porter for every two trekkers, so a solo traveller on Standard has the guide carry up to 10 kg instead. Luxury includes all meals with extras and a dedicated porter for each trekker. Kathmandu hotels are not included in any trek tier. An extra porter is USD 25 a day, with 13 per cent VAT and a 3.5 per cent bank charge on top.

The deposit is 10 per cent, and the rest is paid in Kathmandu in US dollar cash or by card, which carries a 3.5 per cent charge. If you cancel, the deposit is not refunded, but you can reschedule free of charge with at least 72 hours' notice to any date within a year. If we cannot run the trip, we refund what you paid less taxes, bank and card charges and any money already spent on permits or flights. Buy your insurance at home; see our insurance guide for what it must cover.

Who should skip this section?

Our package grades the whole trek Moderate. The pass day, with its 7 to 8 hours and 1,080 metres of descent afterwards, is the hard part, and I think it deserves more respect than the label gives it. If your knees dislike long descents, if you have had trouble at 4,000 metres before, or if you want a short easy walk, choose a shorter Helambu trek from Sundarijal instead. If you want a hotel room with a view every night, this stretch is not that.

The short version

Ghopte is the night stop at 3,530 metres on day 10 of our 13-day Langtang Gosainkunda trek, after a 12-kilometre, 7-to-8-hour day over the 4,610-metre Laurebina pass. Permits are included and we arrange them, a licensed guide is required and provided, and some things, such as exactly which park it falls in, village facilities and a second source for the height, I could not confirm, so I have not made them up. To talk through whether this route suits you, or the flood position for your dates, message me on WhatsApp on +977 9810351300.

Written by Shreejan Simkhada, CEO of The Everest Holiday, from a family of three generations of family guides. TAAN Member #1586.