First Time Trekking in Nepal: 18 Things Worth Knowing

Nepal is an unusually forgiving place to take a first long walk. The trails are well used, the lodges are friendly, the food is good, and nothing about a teahouse trek is technical. But there are a dozen or so things that almost every first-timer works out somewhere around day four, and knowing them in advance makes the first three days better.

These are in rough order of how much difference they make.

On the Trail

1. Walk slower than feels natural. Your guide's pace will seem absurdly slow on day one and exactly right on day six. At altitude, if you cannot hold a conversation, you are going too fast.
2. Start early. Mornings are clear, afternoons cloud over, and the best lodge rooms go to whoever arrives first. Most trekking days begin between 7 and 8 a.m.
3. Let porters and mule trains pass on the inside, away from the drop. A loaded mule will not give way.
4. Take your layers off before you sweat, and put them on before you cool. Damp clothing at 4,000 m is genuinely dangerous, and the stop-start rhythm of managing it is part of trekking.
5. Use poles on the descents. Knees, not lungs, are what most people complain about on day eight.
6. Eat and drink more than you want to. Appetite falls at altitude while energy demand rises. Four litres of water and a big dinner are performance decisions.

About Altitude and Your Body

1. A headache on the first night at 3,400 m is normal; ignoring it is not. Tell your guide when it starts, not at dinner the next day.
2. You will sleep badly above 4,000 m. Broken sleep and vivid dreams are part of acclimatisation, not a sign something is wrong. Do not take sleeping pills.
3. Acclimatisation days are not rest days. You climb several hundred metres and come back down. It is the most useful walking you will do.
4. Fitness does not protect you. Read our altitude sickness guide before you fly — it is the most important thing on this site.
5. Almost everyone gets the dry cough. Cold dry air at altitude irritates the airway. Lozenges and a buff over your mouth help.

Money, Power, and Connectivity

1. There are no ATMs above the road head. Withdraw Nepali rupees in Kathmandu or Pokhara for the entire trek, in small notes. Budget roughly USD 10–15 a day for extras plus tips.
2. Charging costs money and gets slower as you climb. Bring a power bank, keep it warm overnight, and put your phone in flight mode.
3. A local SIM beats lodge Wi-Fi. Ncell or NTC data is cheap and covers most villages on the main trails. Buy it on your first day in Kathmandu.
4. Tell people at home you will be out of contact. Signal drops for days at a time on many routes, and silence is not news.

Culture and Etiquette

1. Walk clockwise around chortens, mani walls, and stupas, and do not move or sit on prayer stones.
2. Ask before photographing people, and accept no as an answer. Inside monasteries, ask the monk on duty.
3. Greet people with namaste and a slight bow rather than a handshake. It works everywhere in Nepal.
4. Dress modestly in villages — shoulders and knees covered, particularly at religious sites. Bare chests are not acceptable in lodges.
5. Use your right hand for giving, receiving, and eating. The left is considered unclean.
6. Remove your boots before entering a lodge's living quarters, a home, or a temple.
7. Do not give sweets or money to children on the trail. It encourages begging and damages school attendance. Donate to a school or a community fund instead — ask your guide which.

Expectations Worth Adjusting

• The plan will change. Weather, a flight, a lodge, someone's stomach. The itinerary is a sound intention, not a contract with the mountain, and the flexibility to adapt is exactly what you are paying a guide for.
• You will not be alone on the main routes in October. If solitude matters more than the famous view, ask us about Khopra Danda, Pikey Peak, or the Mundum trail instead.
• It will be colder indoors than you expect. Lodge bedrooms are unheated above 3,500 m. Your sleeping bag, not the building, keeps you warm.
• The mountains are bigger than the photographs. Every guest says some version of this, and it is the reason the cheapest trek in this catalogue is still worth the flight.

If you are choosing a first route, our difficulty grades guide sets out what each level demands, and the seasons guide will tell you whether your dates suit the trek you have in mind.