By Hiking Friends Travel Nepal | Last updated: 5 September 2026
A message from our team first
On the morning of 26 August 2026, a catastrophic flash flood tore down the Bhote Koshi River along Nepal’s border with Tibet, sweeping away everything in its path — the Rasuwagadhi border post, entire settlements, bridges, hydropower plants and stretches of the only road linking Kathmandu with the Tibetan plateau. More than a week later, the bodies of more than 1,200 people have been recovered, over 4,000 are still missing, and thousands of soldiers, police and volunteers are still working along the riverbanks, in the gorges and inside hydropower tunnels, searching for survivors.
Like everyone in Nepal’s trekking community, our team at Hiking Friends Travel Nepal is grieving. Rasuwa and Nuwakot are not just names on a map to us — they are the home villages of friends, colleagues, guides and porters. Many of you have travelled with us through these valleys; many more have written to ask how you can help.
We have written this blog for two reasons:
- To share an honest, factual account of what happened and the rescue and relief work that is still going on.
- To answer the question every traveller is asking us: Is Nepal safe to trek this autumn? The short answer is yes — every trekking region except one small corridor is completely unaffected, and there is a beautiful, safe alternative route to the sacred Gosainkunda lakes.
How the Bhote Koshi disaster happened
The Bhote Koshi (“river from Tibet”) plunges off the Tibetan plateau through one of the steepest river gorges on Earth before joining the Trishuli River near Syabrubesi in Rasuwa district. It is a river fuelled by glacier melt, and its catchment begins far upstream, inside China.
On the morning of 26 August 2026, at around 8:37 am, a massive ice–rock avalanche crashed down from the high mountains on the Nepal–China border and blocked the Lhende Khola, a glacial stream that feeds the Bhote Koshi. A natural dam of ice, rock and debris formed, and the river began pooling behind it. Minutes later, the blockage failed — and a wall of water and debris was unleashed down the narrow gorge.
The timeline shows how little warning anyone had:
- 8:37 am — the avalanche dams the Lhende Khola.
- 8:50 am — the flood destroys the Bhote Koshi river gauge at the Syabrubesi hydrological station. The official alert reached downstream communities roughly 38 minutes after the dam gave way — minutes in which the water was already racing through the first settlements.
Nothing built along a Himalayan gorge can withstand such a surge. Within hours, the flood had:
- Swept away the Rasuwagadhi border post and its customs facilities, and destroyed the crossing to Kerung (Gyirong) in Tibet;
- Devastated the settlements of Timure, Betrabati and riverside wards of Rasuwa and Nuwakot, including Syabrubesi, the gateway town for Langtang treks;
- Destroyed dozens of bridges and large sections of the Pasang Lhamu (Galchhi–Syabrubesi) highway, cutting off the entire Rasuwa corridor;
- Damaged or destroyed hydropower projects along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli, with hundreds of workers unaccounted for;
- Knocked out telecom towers, leaving whole valleys unreachable in the critical first hours.
The floodwater then rolled into the Trishuli River and surged downstream through Nuwakot, Dhading, Gorkha, Tanahun, Chitwan and Nawalparasi — destructive for hundreds of kilometres, with victims recovered as far downstream as the Narayani river. Scientists and the UNDP have been quick to point out what mountain people already know: with glacier retreat and climate change, these avalanche-dammed flash floods are becoming a growing risk across the Himalaya. This disaster is a stark reminder of why early-warning systems and climate adaptation matter.
The scale of the loss
The figures below change daily as search and verification continue. As of 4 September 2026:
- More than 1,250 bodies recovered, with over a thousand still to be formally identified (DNA profiling is underway with forensic teams from India, China and Singapore supporting Nepali authorities);
- More than 4,200 people still missing — including around 590 foreign nationals from nearly 40 countries, hundreds of hydropower workers, tourism workers, 83 security personnel, customs and immigration officials, and local representatives;
- Nearly 12,000 people rescued alive;
- Around 1.6 million people affected across 62 districts;
- Preliminary loss estimates above Rs 387 billion (roughly USD 2.9 billion).
Among those caught in the disaster were Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims travelling overland through Rasuwagadhi — late August is peak season for the pilgrimage — along with border-area residents, road and hydropower workers, and trekkers and tour operators in the corridor. Behind every number is a family, and much of Nepal is in mourning.
Rescue and relief work is still going on
Nepal has mobilised on a scale few expected, and the operation continues day and night:
- More than 21,000 security personnel — from the Nepali Army, Nepal Police and Armed Police Force — are deployed in the flood-hit districts.
- The Nepali Army has flown nearly 700 helicopter flights, airlifting over 4,000 Nepalis and 273 foreign nationals to safety, with private helicopters joining the effort. Whole communities cut off by destroyed roads — including villages in the Langtang Valley above the road head — are being supplied and evacuated by air.
- Rescuers are still entering flooded hydropower tunnels where workers were trapped. Against all odds, survivors are still being found: one man was pulled alive from a tunnel nine days after the flood. As one rescuer put it, miracles do happen.
- Relief is flowing through four collection centres and dozens of distribution centres in Rasuwa and Nuwakot: food, safe water, tents, tarps, blankets, medicines and psychosocial support, delivered by truck and by helicopter. The Nepal Red Cross Society activated its Emergency Operations Centre and has teams in the worst-hit communities, supported by the IFRC’s global network.
- Life is slowly being restored: electricity has returned to parts of Rasuwa including Dhunche, most telecom towers are back online, roads severed by the flood are being reopened one by one, and the government has prioritised temporary Bailey bridges to reconnect Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading.
- The international community has stood with Nepal — with rescue equipment, forensic teams, relief material and funding from India, China, Japan, the United States, the UAE, South Korea, Switzerland, Australia, Qatar and others.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah has called this one of the region’s largest disasters. The rescue phase is still running, but the harder, longer phase is already beginning: caring for the displaced, and rebuilding and resettling the communities along the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli. That is where Nepal will need help for months and years to come — and where you can make a difference (see the donation section below).
What this means for trekking in Nepal — autumn 2026
This is the part most of our readers are asking about, so let us be absolutely clear.
The flood came down one river, in one district. Nepal’s trekking regions sit in many different river basins, and only the routes accessed through the Rasuwa (Bhote Koshi–Trishuli) corridor are affected.
The only two of our treks that are affected
Of all the trips offered by Hiking Friends Travel Nepal, only two are currently suspended:
1. Langtang–Gosainkunda Trek — suspended (access damage)
The walking trails of the Langtang Valley and the Gosainkunda lakes were not in the flood path — the valley trek follows the Langtang Khola, a different river, and the lakes sit high above the damaged corridor. What is broken is the way in: the road beyond Dhunche, down to Syabrubesi and on to Rasuwagadhi, is still under repair, and Syabrubesi itself took heavy structural damage. The Langtang Valley floor — the trail through Lama Hotel, Langtang village and Kyanjin Gompa — is therefore paused until that access is restored, and we have suspended the full Langtang–Gosainkunda combination until it reopens safely.
2. Tamang Heritage Trek — suspended (directly affected)
Of all trekking routes in Nepal, this was the exposed one. The Tamang Heritage circuit runs north from Syabrubesi through Gatlang, Tatopani, Thuman, Timure and Briddim — and several of those overnight stops lie inside the Bhote Koshi corridor. Timure was directly hit by the flood. This beautiful route, its villages and its people have suffered terribly, and it will remain suspended until the communities there have recovered and the trail infrastructure is rebuilt.
If you are already booked on either of these treks with us, please contact us — we will gladly rebook you free of charge on the alternative below or on any of our other trips, in autumn 2026 or any later season.
Our recommended alternative: the Gosainkunda Helambu Trek (12 days)
If your heart was set on the sacred alpine lakes of Gosainkunda, good news: you can still trek to them this autumn — on our Gosainkunda Helambu Trek, 12 days.
This is the classic sacred-lakes journey, re-routed so that it uses only open roads and unaffected trails. The Kathmandu–Dhunche road has been repaired and reopened, so the trek runs on its traditional gateway: a jeep drive to Dhunche (1,960 m), the headquarters of Rasuwa district and the ridge-top gateway of the Langtang region — safely above the flood-damaged gorge. From there you climb on foot through the Tamang villages of Thulo Syabru and Sing Gompa (Chandanbari) — with its famous monastery and yak-cheese factory — to the sacred lakes of Gosaikunda (4,380 m), with a full rest and acclimatization day beside the kundas and the optional sunrise climb of Surya Peak (5,145 m), the finest viewpoint of the whole trek. Then you cross the spectacular Lauribina Pass (4,610 m) and descend through the rhododendron forests of Ghopte into the Helambu region — Melamchi Gaon, Tarkeghyang and Sermathang, with their ancient monasteries and warm Hyolmo and Sherpa hospitality — before a gentle walk out to Melamchi Bazaar and a short drive back to Kathmandu on the unaffected Melamchi road.
Why this route is safe after the flood:
- Drive in: Kathmandu → Dhunche on the reopened Pasang Lhamu Highway — confirmed open and usable.
- Trek: Dhunche → Thulo Syabru → Sing Gompa → Gosaikunda → Lauribina Pass → Helambu — all of it above and east of the flood path. The trail never enters the Bhote Koshi gorge, Timure, Syabrubesi or the Langtang Valley floor.
- Drive out: Melamchi Bazaar → Kathmandu — a completely unaffected road on the eastern side.
Only the Langtang Valley floor section remains on pause until the road beyond Dhunche is rebuilt — everything else, from the sacred lakes to the Helambu ridge, is fully open. And when the valley road does reopen, we will restore the complete Langtang–Gosaikunda–Helambu itinerary for those who want the full classic.
The route at a glance:
| Day | Stage | Altitude |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arrival in Kathmandu, trip briefing | 1,350 m |
| 2 | Drive Kathmandu → Dhunche (~117 km, 5–6 hrs) | 1,960 m |
| 3 | Trek to Thulo Syabru, Tamang villages (5–6 hrs) | 2,250 m |
| 4 | Trek to Sing Gompa — monastery & yak-cheese factory (5–6 hrs) | 3,330 m |
| 5 | Trek above the tree line to the sacred lakes (5–6 hrs) | 4,380 m |
| 6 | Rest & acclimatization at Gosaikunda — optional Surya Peak sunrise hike | 4,380 m / 5,145 m |
| 7 | Cross Lauribina Pass → Ghopte (6–7 hrs) | 4,610 m → 3,530 m |
| 8 | Trek into Helambu to Melamchi Gaon (6–7 hrs) | 2,530 m |
| 9 | Trek to Tarkeghyang, ancient monastery (4–5 hrs) | 2,590 m |
| 10 | Ridge walk to Sermathang (4–5 hrs) | 2,610 m |
| 11 | Walk down to Melamchi Bazaar, drive to Kathmandu | — |
| 12 | Departure | — |
Quick facts: 12 days / 11 nights · Moderate to challenging · Highest point Lauribina Pass 4,610 m (optional Surya Peak 5,145 m) · Best seasons: autumn (September–November) and spring (March–May) · Langtang National Park permit and TIMS card included, with licensed guide and porter · Quieter trails than Everest or Annapurna, and a perfect combination of nature, culture and spirituality.
You get the same sacred lakes, the same Tamang and Hyolmo Buddhist culture, rhododendron and fir forests, and views of Langtang Lirung, Ganesh Himal and Dorje Lakpa — the very best of the region, without a single kilometre of affected road or trail.
Everything else we offer is completely unaffected and safe
Every other trekking region in Nepal lies in a different river system, untouched by the flood:
| Region | Trips | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Everest / Khumbu | Everest Base Camp, Gokyo, Everest View treks | Running normally |
| Annapurna | ABC, Annapurna Circuit, Poon Hill, Mardi Himal | Running normally |
| Manaslu / Tsum Valley | Manaslu Circuit, Tsum Valley | Running normally |
| Mustang & far west | Upper Mustang, Dolpo, Rara | Running normally |
| Helambu & Gosainkunda (Dhunche in, Helambu out) | Gosainkunda Helambu Trek, 12 days | Running normally — our recommended alternative |
| Langtang & Tamang Heritage (via Rasuwa corridor) | Langtang–Gosainkunda, Tamang Heritage | Suspended |
Kathmandu and Pokhara were never in the flood’s path and are operating completely normally — hotels, flights, tours, everything. The autumn 2026 trekking season (October–November), the best time of the year to be in the Nepal Himalaya, is going ahead.
One practical note: a short section of the Kathmandu–Pokhara highway is under repair following monsoon damage. Where it affects an itinerary, we simply use the alternative road or the 25-minute flight to Pokhara — it does not affect the treks themselves, and our office monitors road conditions daily.
And one more thing worth saying: travelling to Nepal this autumn is itself a form of help. Tourism is the backbone of mountain livelihoods here. Every trek you take with a local company keeps guides, porters, teahouse owners and farmers of the unaffected regions earning — while we all work to bring the affected valleys back.
How you can help: rebuild and resettle Rasuwa
If you would like to help the people of the Bhote Koshi and Trishuli valleys — the families who lost everything, the villagers who must rebuild and resettle — we recommend donating to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund (Pradhan Mantri Daivi Prakop Uddhar Kosh), the Government of Nepal’s official channel for this disaster.
Why this fund, and why you can give without worrying:
- It is the single official channel the Government of Nepal has designated for this disaster — all flood-relief donations are being routed through it, so your contribution is consolidated, tracked and deployed where it is needed most.
- The Prime Minister’s Office publicly discloses every contribution received from within Nepal and abroad, and the fund is legally mandated to spend every rupee on rescue, relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction — nothing else. Nepal has already entrusted it with more than Rs 5.87 billion and USD 3.19 million (as of 1 September), with donations growing daily and every deposit published.
- The fund is now shifting with the government’s priorities from rescue to exactly what the affected region needs next: temporary shelter, resettlement of displaced families, and rebuilding homes, bridges, schools and livelihoods.
How to donate:
- Online (easiest): the official portal — https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np — accepts Nepali and international cards, connectIPS and Fonepay QR payments.
- By bank transfer: through the fund’s designated accounts at Nepal’s major commercial banks (Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Bank, ADBL, Everest, Global IME, Nabil, Standard Chartered and others — the official list is published by the Prime Minister’s Office).
- From abroad: a dedicated US-dollar account at Himalayan Bank (account no. 01905631210046, SWIFT: HIMLNPKA) serves international donors; please verify details on the official portal before transferring.
Please donate only through these official channels — sadly, fake QR codes and bogus appeals appear after every disaster. If a collection is not the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund or a registered organisation you can verify, treat it with caution.
Every amount, small or large, helps a family bury their dead, feed their children, and eventually return home and rebuild. Nepal has always risen from disaster because its people — and its friends around the world — refuse to let it fall.
Frequently asked questions
Is Nepal safe to travel to right now?
Yes. The disaster affected one river corridor in Rasuwa, Nuwakot and downstream riverside areas. Kathmandu, Pokhara and every trekking region except the Rasuwa corridor are completely unaffected and operating normally.
Is the Langtang Valley trek open?
Not the valley-floor section. The trail through Lama Hotel, Langtang village and Kyanjin Gompa is paused until the road beyond Dhunche (toward Syabrubesi) is rebuilt. The sacred lakes of Gosainkunda are fully open, however — reached safely on our 12-day Gosainkunda Helambu Trek, which starts from Dhunche and exits through Helambu.
I’m booked on Langtang–Gosainkunda or the Tamang Heritage Trek. What now?
Contact us — we will rebook you, free of charge, on the 12-day Gosainkunda Helambu Trek or any other trip, in any season.
Are Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu and Mustang affected?
Not at all. They lie in entirely different river systems (the Dudh Koshi, Modi, Marsyangdi, Budhi Gandaki and Kali Gandaki). All trips are running as scheduled for autumn 2026.
Where can I donate to the flood victims?
Through the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund at https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np or its officially published bank accounts, including the Himalayan Bank USD account for donors abroad.
Final thoughts
The Bhote Koshi has always been a fierce river — its name means “river from Tibet,” and it falls thousands of metres in a hundred kilometres. On 26 August 2026 it took more from Nepal than anyone could have imagined. But if you have travelled in these mountains, you already know the people here. The same villagers who lost their houses are already carrying relief supplies on their backs to their neighbours. Langtang was buried in 2015 and its people came back and rebuilt; they will again.
Nepal will rebuild the bridges, the road and the villages. Trekkers will walk to Timure and Tatopani again. Until then — come trek the safe regions, spend your tourism rupees in Nepal, and if you can, give generously and without worry through the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund.
If you have questions about a booking or an upcoming trip, contact Hiking Friends Travel Nepal — our team is in Kathmandu and answering every message
WhatsApp +9779740846157
Email info@hikingnepaltrek.com
