Jumla is the district headquarters of Jumla in Karnali Province, a bazaar town at about 2,370 m in a broad valley on the Tila river. It has an airstrip with flights from Nepalgunj, a road link that takes two days from Surkhet, two old pagoda temples in the centre of town, and the only cluster of shops, banks and beds for several days walk in any direction.
Two ways in, and they are not equivalent
The flight is the civilised option. Jumla airport takes fixed-wing flights from Nepalgunj, around forty minutes in the air, and shorter hops from Surkhet. Like every airstrip in the Karnali it is weather-dependent and morning-only, so keep a spare day in hand at each end.
The road is the Karnali Highway, which runs north from Surkhet through Kalikot. Buses do it in about two days with an overnight stop, and the phrase used most often by people who have done it is that they are glad they did it once. It is a genuinely spectacular route above the Karnali gorge and a genuinely rough one, and it closes for stretches in the monsoon. Choose it for the journey, not to save time.
Jumla at a glance
| District and province | Jumla, Karnali |
| Town elevation | About 2,370 m |
| Airport | Jumla, flights from Nepalgunj (about 40 minutes) and Surkhet |
| Road | Karnali Highway from Surkhet, about two days by bus |
| Walk to Rara | 3 to 4 days over the Ghurchi Lagna |
| Sinja Valley | A day or two north-west of town |
| Temples in the bazaar | Chandannath and Bhairabnath |
| Local crops | Marsi red rice and apples |
| Best season | March to November |
What there is to see in the town
Jumla bazaar is a working district town rather than a heritage site, and it is better for it. The two temples, Chandannath and Bhairabnath, sit together above the main street in tiered pagoda form, and the compound is busiest at dawn and at dusk. Our Chandannath temple guide covers the shrine and its festivals in detail.
Otherwise the interest is in the ordinary. The market is where the district buys and sells, and the herb trade is a real part of it: the high pastures north of town supply Himalayan medicinal plants, and prices here bear no relation to what the same material costs by the time it reaches Kathmandu. The valley floor grows Marsi, the local red rice, at an altitude that puts it among the highest paddy cultivation anywhere, and the surrounding slopes are apple orchards. Both are worth buying.
Sinja, and why this valley matters
An hour or two by jeep, or a day and a half on foot to the north-west, is Sinja, the valley that was the seat of the Khas Malla kings between roughly the twelfth and fourteenth centuries. What survives is modest on the ground: the Kanakasundari temple, stone inscriptions, terraced fields where a capital used to be. What it represents is not modest at all, because the language spoken in this valley is the ancestor of modern Nepali, and the kingdom ruled ground from western Tibet across to the Gandaki.
Nothing about the site announces this, so read before you go. Our articles on the lost Khas Malla kingdom and on Sinja Valley and the origins of Nepali supply the context the ruins do not.
The gateway to Rara
Most foreign visitors are in Jumla on the way to Rara Lake, and the town is the natural staging post. The classic approach walks north over the Ghurchi Lagna and takes three to four days, through Chere Chaur, high pasture and pine forest, with the last stretch dropping to the lake through Rara National Park. It is one of the more pleasant multi-day walks in Nepal precisely because it is unremarkable trekking country rather than a spectacle: forest, meadow, villages and a good deal of solitude.
A rough road now runs towards Talcha, the airstrip nearest the lake, and jeeps use it in the dry season, which has taken pressure off the walking route. Either way, see the Rara Lake page for what waits at the far end and the Rara National Park ecology guide for the park itself.
Practicalities and season
Jumla has banks and an ATM, guesthouses of the simple district-town kind, and enough shops to restock a trek. It is the last town with any of them going north. Nights are cold from October, snow falls in the town in winter, and the walking season runs March to November. High summer is warm and green in the valley but the passes north are cloudy and the flights unreliable; October gives the clearest air of the year.
Two nights here before walking on is not wasted time, both for altitude and because a district town at 2,370 m is a more interesting place to spend a day than most people expect. The Jumla district guide covers the wider district.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get to Jumla?
By air from Nepalgunj in about forty minutes, with shorter flights from Surkhet, or overland on the Karnali Highway from Surkhet, which takes roughly two days by bus with an overnight stop.
How long is the walk from Jumla to Rara Lake?
Three to four days over the Ghurchi Lagna, through Chere Chaur and the forest country north of town. A dry-season jeep road towards Talcha airstrip is now the faster alternative.
What is there to see in Jumla town itself?
The Chandannath and Bhairabnath temples above the main street, the district market with its herb trade, and the surrounding valley of red rice paddy and apple orchards. It is a working town rather than a monument.
Is Jumla the old capital of the Khas kingdom?
The seat was at Sinja, a valley a day and a half north-west of the modern town, where the Kanakasundari temple and stone inscriptions survive. Jumla is the district centre today and the base for visiting it.
Do you need a permit for Jumla?
No. Jumla is not a restricted area and needs no special permit. A national park entry permit applies only when you continue north into Rara National Park.
What is the best season to visit?
March to November. October gives the clearest air and the most reliable flights; spring is green and warm in the valley. Winter brings snow to the town and closes the northern passes.