About Nepal

Nepal is outstanding: the rice terraces, the jungles, the wild-life, the white-water rivers, the 5'000 passes, the gigantic peaks. Corruption, poverty, turmoil, civil war and the incapable "elite" are even more prominent. Nepal was in the news the last two years for all the wrong reasons, but after the Maoists joined the government things looked (sounded?) better, though will the lives of ordinary Nepali really become better?

 

Upper Dolpo is a difficult to reach region in western Nepal where local tradition is still vivid. Few people live in the harsh climate. Monasteries and settlements are rare, though well worth the effort of getting there.route in 2008, route in 2000 Upper Mustang is a desolate and arid place with snow-capped mountains and barren hills reaching deep inside the vast Tibetan plateau. Ancients forts watch over the canyons, the royal family still lives in the walled capital. Manaslu offers the best combination of pleasant low-land trekking and high-altitude scenery. It has escaped tourism and is a stunning trek that offers all the diversity that makes Nepal so unique. Olungchungkola is a fascinating valley system that was just opened for tourism. Kangchenjunga is the dominant mountain range, though equally stunning mountains form the penetretable border to Tibet. Kangchenjunga north  in the far east features the 3rd hightest peak on earth, and even more stunning tributaries. The start in the middle hills make it a diverse trek. Chitwan in Nepal's south seems like a world away from the snow. Wildlife roams in the dense jungles.   Everest Solu Khumbu is the most popular trekking area for a reason: gigantic mountains and cozy lodges - a combination of great nature and relative luxury in cozy lodges.