Ama Yangri is a 3,771-metre peak above Tarkeghyang in the Helambu valley, about 85 kilometres from Kathmandu. It is the guardian deity of the Hyolmo people who live below it, and on a clear morning the summit gives you Langtang Lirung, Dorje Lakpa, Gauri Shankar and Ganesh Himal in one turn of the head.
You can leave Kathmandu on Saturday morning and be back Sunday evening. Here is how to actually get there.
How to reach Ama Yangri
The short version
| Distance from Kathmandu | About 85 km |
| Drive time | 5 to 6 hours to Tarkeghyang |
| Road surface | Paved to Melamchi, rough and unpaved after |
| Bus from | Aama Hyolmo Bus Park, Jorpati Road, Gokarneshwor |
| Departures | 7:00–7:30am · fare NPR 750–1,250 · book ahead |
| Trailhead village | Tarkeghyang, around 2,550 m |
| Base camp | Chomothang, roughly 3,200 m, reachable by jeep |
| Summit walk | 3 to 4 hours from Tarkeghyang, about 3 hours from base camp |
| Peak elevation | 3,771 m |
Option 1: By public bus (the cheapest way)
Buses leave from Aama Hyolmo Bus Park on Jorpati Road in Gokarneshwor, northeast Kathmandu. On Google Maps it is at plus code P99M+22P. The counter number is 01-5223131.
Departures are between 7:00am and 7:30am, and the fare runs NPR 750 to 1,250.
Book your seat in advance. This is the part that catches people out. In season the buses fill days ahead, and turning up on the morning with no booking usually means no seat. If you have not booked and you are going anyway, be at the bus park by 5:00am and take your chances.
If the buses are full, there are jeeps at the same bus park. Ring the counter rather than assuming a seat will be there.
The ride takes five to six hours, out through Gokarneshwor and Sankhu, down into the Melamchi valley and up to Tarkeghyang. The road is sealed as far as Melamchi and rough after it.
The bus drops you in Tarkeghyang and you walk from there. One thing to plan around: buses return to Kathmandu in the morning, usually before you would be back down from a sunrise summit. So a bus trip is realistically two nights, or one night plus a jeep seat down. Ask at your lodge the evening before.
Fares and times checked 2026-04-15. Ring 01-5223131 to confirm before you travel.
Option 2: By jeep (the fastest way)
A jeep can drive past Tarkeghyang, up six kilometres of rough motorable road, to the base camp at Chomothang. That turns the summit into a short morning walk instead of a long one.
This is why most people who want a two-day trip take a jeep. You drive up on day one, sleep at base camp, walk three hours to the summit for sunrise, and drive back the same day.
You can hire a private jeep in Kathmandu, or find shared jeeps running the Melamchi to Tarkeghyang section. Operators quote wildly different private-jeep prices, so get more than one quote.
Chomothang resort at base camp sells a one-night, two-day package covering the jeep from Kathmandu, dinner, bed and breakfast, priced in rupees rather than dollars. That package is the simplest option for a first visit.
Option 3: By motorbike
Popular and genuinely rewarding, with one condition: the road after Melamchi is off-road, and you need a bike with real ground clearance. A dirt bike or an adventure bike handles it. A scooter does not.
Fill up in Melamchi. Fuel beyond it is unreliable.
Signage past the Melamchi river is poor to nonexistent. Ask locals rather than trusting your map app.
The routes
Three approaches reach the same place, and all take roughly the same time.
Via Sankhu (the usual one). Kathmandu → Gokarneshwor → Sankhu → Jarsing Pauwa → Melamchi → Timbu → Tarkeghyang. This is what the buses run.
Via Banepa. Kathmandu → Banepa → Melamchi → Sermathang → Tarkeghyang. Slightly longer, and Sermathang is a nice stop.
Via Nagarkot. Kathmandu → Bhaktapur → Nagarkot → Melamchi, then as above. The prettiest of the three and worth it if you are driving yourself.
From Tarkeghyang to the summit
From Tarkeghyang, the walk to the summit takes three to four hours, climbing through rhododendron and pine forest. Fit walkers manage it faster; take longer if you are not walking regularly.
From base camp at Chomothang it is about three hours and around two and a half kilometres to the top.
Most people start in the dark, between 3am and 4am, to be on the summit for sunrise. Take a headtorch and expect it to be cold at the top whatever the season.
Where to stay
Tarkeghyang has the most lodges, teahouses in a Hyolmo village with shared bathrooms and dal bhat.
Chomothang base camp has a small number of family-run lodges plus the resort. Sleeping here is what makes a comfortable two-day trip possible, but it is basic and there are few beds. Call ahead in season.
Melamchi has guesthouses if you get a late start and want to break the drive.
When to go
October to November and March to May give the clearest mountain views. October is the most reliable.
Winter is fine and often crystal clear, but it is genuinely cold at 3,771 metres before dawn, and there can be snow on the upper trail.
Avoid the monsoon, June to August. The road after Melamchi is rough in the dry and unpleasant in the wet, and you will see cloud rather than mountains.
What it costs
Done independently by bus, this is one of the cheapest hikes near Kathmandu: bus fare each way, a night or two in a lodge, and meals. Guided packages run far higher, and the difference is the guide, the private vehicle and the itinerary.
If the mountains are the point, go on a clear-weather forecast rather than a fixed date. That single decision matters more than anything else you can buy.
(Also near Kathmandu: other short hikes. Going further into the region? See our Helambu trek guide.)