Trekking in Nepal Information

Nepal is naturally beautiful. Eight of the top ten highest mountain in the world lies in Nepal. You can reachable on foot, trekking in Nepal is one of the life experiences of Asia. At the arrival of Kathmandu the capital city of Nepal. After that, you can do the trek with your proper trekking equipment from Kathmandu. Another famous hub to do trekking in Nepal is starting from Pokhara city. This city is the second tourist destination in Nepal. It’s is also an adventurous hub where you can do paragliding, sky diving, bungee jump, ultra flight and else more activities like boating in the Phewa Lake, sightseeing in the Pokhara.

To do trekking in the Everest region, you do have two different choices, you can fly from Kathmandu to Lukla or drive to Jiri. Classical trekking routes start from Jiri. It’s a world classical Everest base camp trekking routes which were followed by Sir Edmund Hillary and his team during the time of Everest summit. Langtang is also anther famous trekking destination of Nepal. Trekking in Nepal especially in the Langtang region is quite short and you can do it in your designated time. In the region, you will get an opportunity to learn about the Tamang culture and their lifestyles. Along with one of the oldest monastery Kyanjin Gompa, Langtang Lirung glacier and the Kyanjin Ri viewpoint (4600m) which is in the Langtang region. The sacred Gosaikunda lake is also in Langtang.

 

Trekking History of Nepal

Trekking in Nepal is a brand activity those each year thousand of trekkers do trek in the Himalayas of Nepal. In 1960s Col Jimmy Robert’s organized the first commercial trekking in Nepal. There are short and long trekking routes in Nepal. That might goes from a few days to a couple of months. Everest region and Annapurna region trekking are the signature trekking destination in Nepal. These trekking destinations are very famous for trekkers. Likewise simultaneously Langtang, and Kanchenjunga region. One of the challenging treks is “The great Himalayan Trails” start from the east Kanchenjunga to west Humla and Darcula of Nepal. At the time of trekking, trekkers will follow the rivers, gorges, beautiful landscapes, remotes villages, and mountains which are known as the Himalayas of Nepal. Nepal offers diversity in terms of landscapes, cultures and local authenticity and species. The lowest part in Nepal is 59m and the highest point is 8848m from the sea level. 

Kathmandu valley is the first place where you are going to land in the Tribhuvan international airport. The city of temples is also known as Kathmandu. In Kathmandu valley, there are three famous palaces- Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square. At history stand behind to remain Nepal as tall as the Himalayas of Nepal like Mount Everest. We highly recommend booking your trekking and tours with the respective travel and trekking agencies of Nepal. There are lots of benefits to booking your trip directly with the local companies. You are going to do a trek with your local guides where they are very well known about the trails and the places you are going to visit. The best part is you are not going to pay any commission to the middle person. At the last result, you are helping to be sustained for the local tourism entrepreneurs and the communities of Nepal. At the end of the day, everyone will raise together and they are going to be treated better. 

Nowadays it’s been far improvements rather than doing trekking in Nepal in the 1960s. Now you can find the mountain teahouse; we also called it a lodge or guesthouse. Most of the trekking routes of Nepal you can find good accommodation, food and find other trekkers on the way. To make your trail easy, by the national parks, conservation areas and the local authorities have posted the signboard about the direction and the information of the trails and locality. 

The local lodges are maintained well. You can get the facilities of charging your batteries and even you can check your emails in some of the trekking trails of Nepal. In the higher elevation, you might not get such kinds of facilities. Most of the trekking routes have been shorter than before because of the internal flights and the roadway. Sometimes it might be problematic because of the weather that affects the flight schedules as well as the roadway due to the roadblocks.

Some of the popular trekking destinations like the Everest region, Annapurna region, Langtang region where you can find mountain teahouses. Else in the new routes and the far remote areas like Upper Dolpo, Far-west Nepal requires camping treks.

Nepal has six distinct and diverse vegetation zones ranging from tropical below a 1000m through subtropical 100m-200m, lower temperate 1700m-2700m, upper temperate 2400m-3000m, sub-alpine 3000m-4000m and alpine 4000m to the snowline. Above the snowline, it’s the Himalayas which is the habitat of elusive snow leopard, Himalayan Thar, Musk deer, and the rare species.

Nepal is open for all seasons. You can do trek all the time. However, some routes like The Great Himalayan Trails lie in the shadow, a dry area on the leeward side of the mountain namely Mustang to the north of Annapurna and Manaslu, Dolpo to the north of Dhaulagiri and the far west of Nepal to the north of Saipal Himal. Post monsoon the weather is clearer. Winter is good to do a trek but the days are shorter. Spring can be affected by seasonal rains and snowstorms. Summer is short and quickly followed by the monsoon. Monsoon trek is usually in the dry Manang and Mustang areas.

To can make your plan as your choice. However, the rain will not take place for 24 hours a day. Some like to do an adventurous trek in the monsoon season too. All the seasons are great. It depends on your choices and doing travel styles.

When to go

The best season for trekking in Nepal is the dry and warm season (March-June and September-November). During this time, the temperature is bearable and the skies are normally clear. In the rainy season, skies are foggier. Season start from May-June. It is possible to do trek out of season, but sometime you might get slippery and might get the leeches at your trails. In the winter season, at the higher elevation, it will be too cold and trails and passes can be a block of heavy snowfall. 

In the monsoon season usually, rain falls at night time and days are cloudy with less rain. The north side of the Himalayas is in rain shadow, it means that the mountains block the rain. Annapurna circuit, Manang and Mustang region are in rain shadow. You can see the skies cloudy and occasionally it rains. But in the morning time, skies may be clearer, the views are still nowhere as good as during the trekking season. 

Experiences and Fitness

There are various kinds of treks in Nepal that suit a wide range of experiences and physical fitness. You can do trek for a short hour and take a rest in a mountain teahouse. For longer treks, crossing the high passes and into remote regions demands a higher degree of endurance. For trekking peaks, i.e. submitting a mountain of 5650-6500m, it is desirable to have some alpine climbing experience. 

Equipment

We appreciate your preference for equipment, but please do check the following before flying to Nepal. You can hire the following equipment at a reasonable price, even if you arrive late in the evening, you can hire them in Thamel. The shops are opened till 10 p.m., and our guide will assist you.

1. Accessories

• Duffel Bag
• Backpack
• Sleeping Bag
• Gloves
• Pole Stick
• Water bottles (3 liters capacity)
• Sunglasses, sunscreen, lip balm
• Headlamp, spare batteries
• Toiletries, and a small washcloth (bandana can serve as a washcloth)
• Camera

2. Footwear

• Hiking boots
• Hiking socks
• Sandals

3. Headgear

• Brimmed sunhat and bandana
• Warm hat

4. Clothing

• Rain shell, waterproof/breathable jacket
• Warm top, such as a long-sleeved sweater
• One or two cotton shirts
• Long pants
• Fleece jacket
• Rain pants, waterproof/breathable pant

It is ok if I have never trekked in Nepal before

Most of the time, we have the first time trekkers, and they are doing good. So, you do not need to have any experience to do a trek, but we do recommend you jogging, swimming, and walking before coming to Nepal for it. Previous experience will be a plus point.

Independent treks

As the rules and regulations of Nepal trekkers can do trek independently. You can do trekking in Nepal by hiring the guide through the trekking companies. It depends on your choice. We suggest you do a trek with your local guide from a local register trekking agency. Trekking in the group with a registered company is a good idea to do safe trekking in the Himalayas of Nepal. 

Guided treks

Guided trekking in Nepal is a good way to do trek and tour in the Himalayas of Nepal. You will get the experienced and professional trekking guides who are registered in the Nepal government. It is good for your safety. Sometimes trekkers do a trek with the trekking guide but this might be bad ideas when they got the obstacles in the trip during the time in the Himalayas. This is not legal. Beware of the middle person, street brokers. Be clear that it’s good to do the trek with the registered trekking agencies of Nepal. By doing the trek with the trekking agencies consider for your safety. It is legal and registered in TAAN (Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal) and the other government bodies and the local authorities. 

At the time of trekking in Nepal, while doing camping treks, I would like to suggest you do group camping trek if you are single, you can join with the other groups at the seasonal time. At the time of camping, there will be good camping facilities like you are doing a trek with your local trekking guides and leader, cook and the local porters who will carry your bags. It depends on your budget. Don’t think that you are getting budget treks cheaper, be clear that each trip that you are doing depends on your budget. If you pay less amount of service will be offered as your budget. Service qualities depend on your budget. 

 

Required permits

You need to show your permits and necessary documents in the check post during the time of your trekking and visit in Nepal. Don’t think that you can escape or take it easy. You might be in double charge if you don’t have the proper permits. Normally at all the time, there will be two or three permits. That belongs to conservation or national parks, TIMS (Trekkers Information management system) Card and the last one is restricted area entry permit. 

Trekking in Annapurna, Everest and Langtang region

Treks in the areas only require a “TIMS (Trekkers’ Information Management System) Card” and a national park entry permit. There are two types of TIMS cards: green (for independent trekkers, NPR 2000) and blue (for trekkers who are doing trekking with the trekking company with a guide, NPR1000). TIMS Card can get from the Nepal Tourism Board offices in Kathmandu and Pokhara and the Trekking agents’ offices in Kathmandu and Pokhara. For more information on how to get the TIMS Card can be found at TIMS Nepal. For the conservation area of Annapurna Conservation Area entry tickets is NPR3000 and Sagarmatha National Park entry tickets are NPR3390. The entry of Langtang National Park entry tickets is NPR3000. All these permits are available in the Nepal Tourism Board office in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Make sure that you have required insurance documentation and passport-sized photographs when applying. 

Trekking in restricted areas

Restricted areas such as Dolpo, Upper Mustang, Manaslu, Tsum Valley, Nar-Phu and Kanchenjunga require “trekking permits”, which are obtainable only through local trekking agencies of Nepal. As long as you holding a special restricted trekking permit. You are not allowed to do the trek alone in these areas of Nepal. There must be at least one guide or porter when trekking. 

Trekking Peaks

There are 33 mountain peaks in Nepal of 5,650 m to 6,500 m, classified as trekking peaks. They can be climbed within 1 or 3 days and lie in the heart of the region from where you can see all the mountains. To climb these peaks, you have to start before the sun rises. Some of them are difficult to climb because of crevasses, while others are easy. Trekking peaks are also warm-up peaks because some climbers climb these peaks before they climb 7000 m or 8000 m peaks. You can check the permits fees in this link.

As a trekker, you can do different types of trekking in Nepal, and they have been given below.

1. Tea House Trekking (Guesthouse/Lodge Trek)
2. Camping
3. Home Stay 

TMG Adventure listed different types of trekking experiences or styles. 

You can find it on our website. To make it easier here are the bunch of lists. Treks can make customize or private depends on your interests. It can be short and long treks. Some of the trekking destinations have the standard itinerary else more it depends on how you are going to do it. During the time of your trekking, you will pass through the remote traditional villages of Nepal, dense forests, gorges, lakes, spectacular views of mountains, and the world’s highest base camp. We also can do combine treks with meditation or yoga treks, trekking and wildlife safari, trekking and tours. It all depends on your time and interests. 

• Popular treks
• Restricted treks
• Charity treks
• Lake treks
• Service treks
• Tailor-made treks
• National Parks treks
• Off the beaten treks
• Short treks
• Camping treks
• Family treks
• Luxury treks
• Medical treks
• Teahouse treks
• New routes treks

Accommodation

A few of the common accommodation options while trekking in Nepal are Tea Houses (Lodges) which can be found at various points on the trek. They offer dorm room accommodation and simple basic meals reflective of what the local people in the area eat. Although many tea houses and hotels in the hills and mountains are reasonably comfortable, some may not be comfortable, so it makes sense to bring a sleeping bag even for teahouse treks. 

Camping is another option for trekkers and it can be conducted almost anywhere in the country. Camping treks can be fully organized and supported by a team of guides, cooks, and porters to accompany you.

Home-stays in local villages can also be organized in a few treks.

Experience & Fitness

The treks in Nepal are suitable for a wide spectrum of experience and physical fitness. If you can walk uphill for a few hours each day, then you can find a suitable trek in Nepal. An easy trek with Nepali support (guide/porter) and teahouse accommodation is quite attainable for anyone who is reasonably fit. A longer trek, crossing high passes and into remote regions demands a higher degree of endurance. For Trekking Peaks, i.e. summiting a mountain of 5650-6500m, it is desirable to have some alpine climbing experience.  

Altitude sickness

Please read up extensively on Altitude sickness. Be familiar with the symptoms and do not ignore them. Be sure to keep to a conservative ascent schedule and drink plenty of fluids. If you or anyone in your party begins to experience symptoms of acute mountain sickness (AMS), do not ascend any further, and if they do not improve, then descend to a lower altitude. Carry some Diamox (acetazolamide) pills, easily found in pharmacies in Nepal. Diamox forces the kidneys to excrete bicarbonate in the urine, therefore making the blood more acidic, which stimulates breathing, increasing the amount of oxygen in the blood. But note that Diamox is not an immediate fix for acute mountain sickness; it speeds up part of the acclimatization process which in turn helps to relieve symptoms. This may take up to a day or two, and requires waiting without any further rapid ascent. It is often advisable to descend if even mild acute mountain sickness is experienced. If serious sickness is encountered or symptoms of high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) or high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) occur, descent with another trekker is A MUST. Please consult the pharmacist when purchasing Diamox and do your research. One major thing to remember is that the body requires large amounts of water at altitude to counteract sickness so be sure to drink more than you are used to!

Safety considerations

Always carry a head torch/lamp, water, some food, and a mobile phone with helicopter evacuation number, local police station and nearby health post in case of emergencies.

Rescue insurance

Before the departures check that your travel insurance covers trekking activities and the conditions. Be aware that some insurance companies view even walking in the mountains as “mountaineering” and will not provide coverage. Most reputable trekking agencies will require proof of rescue insurance before you start on your trek. It would be very costly to pay a helicopter rescue at 5000 meters. Some insurance policies, in fact, most, will not cover you over 4000m.

Responsible trekking

Tourism is the main source of income for the guides, porters, and hotel owners in Nepal, so we believe that the Himalayas should be protected not only for this generation but also for the future generation. Every trek that TMG runs focuses on taking care of the ecological aspects and works with the Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP). Trek legally. If you trek independently, you are not allowed to take any staff by law. You need for this a Trekking Agency, the sole authorized to employ staff for foreign trekkers. Do not hire staff or “independent guides” through hotels, unless they have a Trekking Agent license or offer this service through an affiliated Trekking Agent.

Please make sure you take all of your trash, including bottles and cans from goods consumed in restaurants, to the nearest dustbins. Pollution and lack of trash management in the villages on the treks – including trash-clogged rivers and mounds of discarded beer bottles.