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.
A blue lake at 2,990 m in Nepal's smallest national park, surrounded by pine and juniper forest in the far-western hills. Monsoon-viable, almost unvisited, and a completely different Nepal from the trekking corridors.
A low-altitude trek through the tea country and cloud forest of Ilam and Panchthar, in some of the best red panda habitat in Nepal, with Kanchenjunga on the skyline and homestays the whole way.
A new homestay trail through the Khotang and Bhojpur hills, built around Kirat Rai culture and the Mundhum oral tradition, with an Everest-to-Kanchenjunga panorama from Tyamke Danda and almost no foreign trekkers.
Eight days, 4,065 m, no mountain flight, and a summit panorama running from Dhaulagiri to Kanchenjunga with Everest in the middle. Reportedly Hillary's favourite Everest viewpoint, on a trail almost nobody walks.
A walk up one of the least-visited valleys in the Himalaya to the base camp of the world's fifth-highest mountain, through rhododendron forest and a glacial gorge with Everest, Lhotse and Makalu at the head of it.
Three weeks in far-eastern Nepal to both base camps of the world's third-highest mountain, over a 4,792 m pass, through country where the permit costs USD 20 a week and you may not see another group for days.
Four weeks in the most remote inhabited region of Nepal — Shey Gompa beneath the Crystal Mountain, passes above 5,000 m, camping throughout, and a USD 500 permit. What it takes, and who it is for.
A circuit linking Phoksundo Lake with the high Tibetan village of Dho Tarap over two passes above 4,400 m, in a region where the permit costs USD 20 a week. The best-value remote trek in Nepal.
A turquoise lake at 3,611 m in Dolpo, the deepest in Nepal, reached by a narrow cliff path above the water. The cheapest way into Dolpo country, with Bon and Buddhist villages and monsoon-viable weather.
Each May, monks at Lo Manthang perform three days of masked dances enacting the defeat of a demon and the driving out of evil for the year. What happens, when it falls, how to attend respectfully, and how to plan a trek around it.
A walled medieval capital at 3,840 m in a desert behind the Himalaya, with cave complexes, ochre cliffs and Tibetan Buddhism largely unchanged. Permits, route, the Tiji festival, and why July is one of the best months to go.
Eight regions of Nepal need a restricted-area permit, a licensed guide and a group of two. Every region, every current fee, the paperwork timeline, and the practical consequences for solo trekkers and flexible itineraries.