Melamchi Pul Bazar: Ganja La and Helambu exit village guide

Melamchi Pul Bazar, at 870 metres in our itinerary, is where our 12-day Langtang Ganja La Pass trek comes off the trail. Day 11 ends here after a 5 to 6 hour walk down from Sermathang, and day 12 is the drive back to Kathmandu, which our plan puts at about five hours. It is also the road end that Wikipedia and our own Helambu guides name for the Helambu circuit. This page gives our numbers, the outside figures I could set beside them, the permits, what I know about the 2021 flood, and a plain list of what I could not confirm about the bazaar itself.

Where is Melamchi Pul Bazar, and why does a trek end here?

It is the low, road-connected end of the Melamchi valley in Sindhupalchok District. Wikipedia describes Helambu as a region of highland villages about 80 kilometres from Kathmandu that "begins at the Lauribina La pass and descends to the Melamchi valley", and says the Helambu trek finishes at Melemchi, where you can take a bus back to Kathmandu. Our day-11 text says the same thing in its own words: you reconnect with your transport here because the bazaar is linked to the road.

On our route the walk down is the last stage of a crossing that starts in the Langtang valley. Our itinerary puts the Ganja La pass at 5,130 metres on day 7 and Melamchi Pul Bazar at 870 metres. That is 4,260 metres of height lost between the pass and the road, over four days on foot. The subtraction is mine, from our own figures.

A search of OpenStreetMap, the volunteer map database, on 4 October 2026 found a town called Melamchi (Melamchi Municipality, Sindhupalchok) but no place called Melamchi Pul or Melamchi Bazaar. I am assuming our "Pul Bazar" is the market area of that town, and I could not confirm it. I also could not find a source that explains the word "Pul" in the name, so I will not invent a meaning for it.

Which days of our Ganja La trek end around Melamchi Pul Bazar?

These are the last five days of our 12-day Langtang Ganja La Pass trek, copied from our day-by-day plan. Our rows give walking hours only for day 11, so I have left the other cells as "not given" rather than guess.

Day	Route	Night	Walking or driving
8	Keldang 4,270 m to Dhukpa 4,040 m	Dhukpa, tent camp	not given
9	Dhukpa 4,040 m to Tarkeghyang 2,600 m	Tarkeghyang, lodge	not given
10	Tarkeghyang 2,600 m to Sermathang 2,590 m	Sermathang	not given
11	Sermathang 2,590 m to Melamchi Pul Bazar 870 m	Melamchi Pul Bazar	5 to 6 hours
12	Melamchi Pul Bazar 870 m to Kathmandu	Kathmandu (hotel not included)	about 5 hours by road

The villages before it are covered in our guides to Tarkeghyang and Sermathang. The pass itself is in our Ganja La pass guide, and the start of the trek is in the guides to Syabrubesi and Langtang village.

How high is Melamchi Pul Bazar?

Our itinerary gives 870 metres (2,854 ft). The table sets our figures beside the closest outside ones I could find. Where the outside number is a satellite reading, it is the Copernicus elevation model read through Open-Meteo at an OpenStreetMap point, which can be off by tens of metres and may not be the exact spot where we sleep.

Place	Height in our itinerary	Another source
Ganja La pass	5,130 m	5,106 m, Wikipedia list of mountain passes (Langtang Helambu region); our Ganja La guide says "over 5,100 metres" and, in one paragraph, 5,122 metres
Keldang (Kheldang)	4,270 m	none found
Dhukpa	4,040 m	none found; no OpenStreetMap place
Tarkeghyang	2,600 m	2,552 m, satellite model at the OpenStreetMap hotel point
Sermathang	2,590 m	2,566 m, satellite model at the OpenStreetMap hamlet
Melamchi Pul Bazar	870 m	844 m, satellite model at the OpenStreetMap Melamchi town point

The outside readings sit within 50 metres of ours at the three villages I could check, which is as close as I can expect from a satellite model. The one real disagreement is the pass: 5,130 in our plan against 5,106 on Wikipedia's list. I use ours when I describe our trek and I tell you about the other number, so you are not surprised if you read it elsewhere. Our Ganja La guide gives yet another figure, 5,122 metres, in one paragraph. All three are above 5,100 metres, and it is the highest point of the trek.

What is the walk from Sermathang down to Melamchi Pul Bazar like?

Our itinerary says 5 to 6 hours, and the height change is 2,590 minus 870, which is 1,720 metres of descent. That is my arithmetic, not a measured profile. It works out at roughly 290 to 340 metres lost every hour, so expect it to be hard on the knees even though there is no altitude problem left. Our day-11 text describes rice fields and wide green meadows, villages named Kakani and Thimbu, then a change into subtropical vegetation, and finally a few bridges and small communities with chortens and mani walls before the bazaar.

Wikipedia's Helambu page puts the trek's exit at Melemchi and says you can take a bus from there. I found no published figure for the walking distance of this stage, and I did not find a reliable outside source for the hours, so the 5 to 6 hours is ours. It is a long descent, and I would not plan an evening flight on the day you reach Kathmandu.

How long is the drive from Melamchi Pul Bazar to Kathmandu?

Our day-12 text says about five hours. It describes a dirt road first, then the Arniko Highway, with Dhulikhel after roughly an hour on the highway, then Banepa and Bhaktapur before Kathmandu. Wikipedia's Arniko Highway page says Dhulikhel is about 30 kilometres from Kathmandu. Read our guides to Dhulikhel and the Kathmandu travel guide for the end of the day.

Here is a disagreement I should be honest about. Two of our Helambu guides, the Helambu region guide and the Hyolmo community guide, say the bus from Melamchi Bazaar to Kathmandu takes two to three hours. I could not find an outside source for either figure, and I cannot tell you why the numbers differ. I plan on five hours, which is the one in the package, and I would be glad to be early.

The vehicle depends on the tier. Budget uses local transport, Standard a shared tourist-standard vehicle, and Luxury a private vehicle, all as listed in our package.

What do I know about the 2021 Melamchi flood?

Because this is a road-end on the Melamchi river, you will see the flood come up in any search. Wikipedia's page on it says a flash flood hit in June 2021, after a landslide dam on the upper Melamchi River burst, and that it struck the bazaar at night. It also says roads, bridges and electricity lines were damaged. Wikipedia's page on the Melamchi Water Supply Project says that on 15 June 2021 the project's headworks were blocked by monsoon flood and temporary structures and bridges were swept away. The Melamchi Water Supply Development Board's own website carries a photo gallery called "Melamchi Headworks after flood", dated by the Nepali calendar to June 2021, with no written details.

I am not going to state the road or bridge position today, because it would be out of date within days, and I did not find an official current notice. What I will say is that this trek also starts with the drive to Syabrubesi, so the 2026 situation on that side matters more. Read Is the Langtang Trek Affected by the Rasuwa Flood? and Which Treks in Nepal Are Open After the Rasuwa Flood?, and message me with your dates before you pay anything.

What is in the bazaar, and where do we sleep?

Our day-11 row lists tea houses or local lodges, and day 12 is the drive, so the night of day 11 is spent here. I could not confirm which lodge, how many beds there are, whether there is hot water or charging, or whether there is an ATM or a bank. I would not rely on any of those. If you need cash for the last days, change it in Kathmandu before the trek, and read our guide to ATM limits and fees for ATM limits and fees on foreign cards.

One more mismatch between our own pages. Our day-11 text calls Melamchi Pul Bazaar a traditional Sherpa settlement, while our other Helambu guides describe the villages above it as Hyolmo. I could not confirm who lives in the bazaar, so I have not described the people there.

Do I need a permit, and which ones?

Our package lists the Langtang National Park entry fee, the TIMS card and a Shivapuri National Park permit as included, along with all government taxes. The Nepal Tourism Board's published park fees, read on 4 October 2026, are NPR 3,000 for foreigners and NPR 1,500 for SAARC citizens at Langtang, and NPR 1,000 and NPR 600 at Shivapuri-Nagarjun, each per person per entry. The TIMS card is NPR 2,000 for foreigners and NPR 1,000 for SAARC citizens. I could not confirm which part of this route, if any, lies inside Shivapuri-Nagarjun, so I will not claim it for the bazaar or the villages above it. The package lists the permit as included and I leave it at that.

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 list names the Ganja La pass trek, and a licensed guide is included on all our trips. Permits need at least 48 hours in government working days, so we ask for passport details early.

When is the best time to do this trek?

Our package page says the trek can be done year-round. Our Ganja La guide says spring and autumn give the most stable conditions and that heavy winter snow frequently blocks the pass. Both are ours and they do not quite agree, and I did not find an outside source for the monsoon or winter detail. The pass is the deciding point, and the guide makes the call on the day. If your dates are in the middle of winter, ask me first, and read Langtang in November and December for the valley side.

What does insurance need to cover?

Buy it at home. Our package says it must cover medical costs and emergency helicopter rescue up to 6,000 metres. Treks with a high point above about 4,500 metres need that 6,000 metre figure, and this one does. I do not recommend insurance bought in Nepal. Our 6,000 metre cover guide explains the wording, though it was written for Everest.

How much does it cost?

Our current prices for the 12-day trek, per person, are USD 725 Budget, USD 999 Standard and USD 1,999 Luxury, for one traveller or more, with groups of up to twenty. Budget has no meals and no porter, in shared rooms, and tents where there is no lodge. Standard has all meals, twin rooms and one porter for every two trekkers, so a solo traveller has the guide carry up to 10 kg instead. Luxury has all meals with extras and a dedicated porter each. 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 balance is paid on arrival in Kathmandu, in US dollars or euros, 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.

Who should skip this trek?

Our package grades it Very Strenuous. Our Ganja La guide calls it strenuous, so our own pages differ by a grade, and I would take the harder word. The pass is above 5,000 metres, there are no lodges for the camping days between Kyanjin Gompa and Tarkeghyang according to our package notes, and the pass day can mean snow and a long walk. If you have never trekked above 4,000 metres, or you have had altitude trouble before, tell me before you book, and read our altitude sickness guide and how difficult the Langtang valley trek is first. If you only want Helambu and its villages without a pass, our Sundarijal guide and the Kutumsang and Ghopte guides are the gentler way in.

The short version

Melamchi Pul Bazar is the 870 metre road end where our 12-day Langtang Ganja La trek finishes on day 11, with a 5 to 6 hour descent from Sermathang, followed by a drive to Kathmandu of about five hours on day 12. Permits are included and we arrange them, and a licensed guide is required and provided. What I could not confirm is the lodge, the facilities and the people of the bazaar, so I have not made them up. To talk through this route 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.