The name Kanchenjunga in Tibetan means the 'Five Treasures of the Great Snow' and refers to five summits that make up the Kanchenjunga massif. It encompasses 16 other peaks over 7,000m spreading from north east Nepal into Sikkim in India. The Kanchenjunga main at 8586m is the third highest in the world and was considered the tallest before the discovery of Mount Everest in 1856. In 1997, the region surrounding this mountain range was turned into Conservation area which extends into protected areas in Sikkim and Tibet forming a beautiful, unspoilt wilderness. It is home to many significant plants such as rhododendrons and orchids, and to endangered snow leopard, Asiatic black bear, red panda, Himalayan musk deer, blood pheasant and chestnut-breasted partridge. Abundant rainfall during monsoon season has made this region rich in biodiversity with thousands of flowering plants and more yet to be discovered. The mountain holds an important place in the mythology and religious ritual of the local people and its slopes were no doubt familiar to herdsmen and traders for centuries before a rough survey of it was made. It was first climbed by a British expedition on 1955, but in deference to local sensitivity they stopped short of the summit. Every climber or climbing groups that have reached the summit since have followed this noble tradition.
This part of Nepal is home to the Kirat people who once ruled Kathmandu itself and Kanchenjunga is in the heartland of Kirati Limbus. The landscape is more rugged but covered with lush vegetations and well cultivated terraced fields. The people in the middle hills live in isolated family homestead rather than villages and at higher altitude, it is sparsely populated and inhabitated by people of Tibetan origin. Our treks in this area offer the challenging trek to the Kanchenjunga Base Camps at Pengpema and Ramze and a more moderate trek to the rhododendron forest of Milke Danda.
