Ridge walk from Kaluk up to Rinchenpong

Start from Kaluk bazaar after an early tea, ideally by 6:30 am from October to April. The route follows the road and short-cut footpaths up the ridge for about 3 km, gaining roughly 150 m. On clear mornings the Kangchenjunga range is in front of you most of the way, with Kangchenjunga itself at 8,586 m in the centre. Locals walking to school or to fields use the same paths, so ask anyone if a turn looks unclear.

There is no single sight on the way; the pleasure is in the morning light, the farmhouses with orange trees and the prayer flags at the bends. Allow about an hour up at an easy pace, more with photo stops. In Rinchenpong, take breakfast at a tea stall, then continue up the lane to Rinchenpong Monastery, founded around 1730, to see its Ati Buddha image, and look at Bikh Pokhari, the Poison Lake of local memory, on the way.

Return the same way on foot, or take a shared jeep or a car back down to Kaluk. The road has light traffic but no footpath in places, so walk in single file and keep to the hill side on bends. Carry water and a light jacket; the ridge is windy. From June to September cloud usually hides the range and paths get slippery.