Mardi Himal is a trekking peak standing at 5,587 metres (18,330 ft) in the Annapurna region of Nepal.
Practical guides to trekking in Nepal — permits, costs, seasons, altitude and packing — written by the guides who walk these trails.
The closest high valley to Kathmandu and the least flown — a morning to Kyanjin Gompa at 3,870 m, with about thirty minutes on the ground at the last village in the valley. The quietest of Nepal's helicopter days.
Three to four hours on foot through the lanes between Ason and Indra Chowk, stopping at eight or nine family stalls that have been doing one thing for three generations. Newar food specifically, ordered in Newari — which changes both the food and the price.
The best day walk within reach of Kathmandu — four hours on old village trails from a Newar hill town to one of the three holiest Buddhist sites in Nepal, with lunch at the monastery and a return through the untouched town of Panauti.
Ten minutes from Thankot to a ridge at 2,551 m, with a clear-day view running from Dhaulagiri through Annapurna, Manaslu and Langtang to Everest. The easiest mountain view in Nepal to reach, with no walking required at all.
Two of Nepal's most charged religious sites within a few kilometres of each other on the southern valley rim — a Kali shrine where sacrifices are made twice a week, and the cave where Guru Rinpoche is said to have attained realisation. The contrast is the point.
Two working Newar villages ten kilometres south of Kathmandu — the birthplace of Rato Machhendranath and the valley's mustard-oil town — with no entry fee, no tourist quarter, and an old paddy-field path between them.
Three very different hill communities in six days — the Gurung ridge at Ghalegaun, the restored Newar trading town of Bandipur, and the Magar homestay village of Sirubari. Designed so no single village stands in for all of hill Nepal.
Two Gurung villages on a Lamjung ridge at 2,100 m, facing the whole Annapurna range across the Marsyangdi. Forty households on a rota, a community fund, no hotels — and a view from Manaslu through Lamjung Himal to Machhapuchhre.
The first organised homestay village in Nepal, and still the best-run. Fifty Magar houses on a Syangja ridge, two and a half hours from Pokhara, with a formal welcome, a strict host rota and a community forest the village has protected for decades.
Ten days covering Nepal's principal Hindu shrines in one journey — Pashupatinath, Janakpur, Barahakshetra, Devghat and Muktinath at 3,760 m. Built for pilgrims rather than sightseers, with time for darshan and puja at every site.
Eight days from Lumbini, where the Buddha was born, through Kapilvastu where he grew up, to the living tradition at Boudhanath, Swayambhunath and Namobuddha. A route about origins and continuity rather than monuments.
Nepal's two cities in one week — three royal squares, two great stupas, a Himalayan sunrise from Nagarkot and dawn over the Annapurnas from Sarangkot. No trekking, six nights, and for most first visits the right shape of trip.