Routes, teahouses and high passes across Nepal. Practical accounts from trekkers who did the work before writing about it.
Trekking
Langtang Lirung is the god of the place. In Tamang religious tradition, the yulha, the deity of a valley and its protector, lives in the mountain that defines the landscape. For the people of Langtang, that mountain was Langtang Lirung, at 7,234 metres the largest peak visible from the
Trekking
The first thing you notice above Soti Khola is the change in the plants. Below the trailhead the hillsides hold banana trees and the kind of undergrowth that suggests the lowlands are not far. An hour of walking and the vegetation shifts. The rhododendron starts. The ferns grow taller. The
Trekking
At Thorung Phedi, before 3 AM, trekkers pull on down jackets over everything they own and step into the dark. The climb to Thorung La Pass at 5,416 metres takes three to four hours on switchbacks cut into frozen scree. As one trekker reported on Nomadic Boys, they found
Trekking
Kanchenjunga does not reveal itself quickly. From Taplejung to base camp, the mountain appears in stages - and the trek is cold, remote, and quietly exacting in a way that Everest and Annapurna are not.
Trekking
Annapurna Base Camp is no longer quiet. The teahouses from Chhomrong upwards run at near capacity in October. What that has done to the trail - and what the trek still delivers that the Everest circuit doesn't.
Trekking
The teahouse menu looks identical from Lukla to Thorong La. What's behind it - how the food gets there, what the kitchen conditions are, and why dal bhat is the only thing you should order above 3,500 metres.
Mustang
The restricted area permit for Upper Mustang is non-negotiable. A licensed guide used to be. In 2026, the regulations have shifted and the ground rules are different from what most trekking agencies will tell you.
Trekking
Mardi Himal follows a ridge above Pokhara that most trekkers walk straight past on their way to Annapurna Base Camp. Five days, 4,500 metres of high camp, and the point where the clouds finally clear.
Trekking
The problem with altitude sickness is that the early stages feel like tiredness or a bad night's sleep. By the time it is clearly something else, you are already in difficulty.
Trekking
The permit system for trekking in Nepal changed significantly after 2023. What you need to carry depends on where you're going - and the answer is different for every circuit.
Trekking
Nepal's largest lake sits at 2,990m in a district most travellers never reach. In October, Rara turns a colour that no photograph has ever accurately captured.
Trekking
Every EBC guide starts at Namche. The problem is the trek starts at Lukla, and the first two days - Phakding to Namche - are where most people make their only irreversible mistake.