Guides · Topic

Planning & Preparation

Longer notes I have written for people planning a walk in Nepal: permits, seasons, altitude, and how to be a good guest. Rules change, so each one says when I last checked it.

33 guides in this topic Free to read, no sign-up For everyone, whether or not you walk with me

Planning & Preparation

Best Time to Trek in Nepal: The 6 Seasons Explained (2026)Best Time to Trek in Nepal: A Local Guide's Guide to the Six Seasons "When should I come?" After "Do I need a guide?",… 12 min readChecked Sep 2026 Read Nepal Trekking Packing List: What to Bring (and What Not To)Every season I meet trekkers carrying far too much. Three jackets, five books, a full-size towel, and a bag so heavy that the first… 9 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read How Fit Do You Need to Be to Trek in Nepal?Almost every person who writes to me asks the same question, often a little nervously: "Am I fit enough?" Here is my honest answer,… 8 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read How to Choose Your Trek in Nepal: A Local Guide’s Honest WayNepal has hundreds of trekking routes. Some are famous, some are almost empty; some take three days, some take a month. When people write… 7 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Teahouse Life in Nepal: What a Night on the Trail Is Really LikeAt the end of a long walking day, a teahouse feels like the best place in the world. You take off your boots, sit… 7 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Everest or Annapurna? An Honest Comparison From a Local GuideIt's one of the questions I hear most: "Should I trek to Everest or around Annapurna?" Both are beautiful. Both are among the most… 6 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Short Treks Near Kathmandu and Pokhara: 1 to 5 Days in NepalNot everyone has two weeks for Everest or the Annapurna Circuit. Some people come for business, some for a family visit, some for a… 6 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Is This Walk for You?How to read the honest sections on every walk on this site, and decide before you book whether a walk really suits you. 3 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Off the Beaten Path Treks in Nepal: Quiet Trails Beyond the CrowdsEvery October the trail to Everest Base Camp is busy. So is Poon Hill at sunrise. They are beautiful walks, and I love guiding… 7 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Camera Gear for Trekking in Nepal: What to Carry and How to Care for ItAlmost everyone who walks with me carries a camera of some kind: a phone, a small compact, or a heavy bag of lenses. And… 7 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Altitude Sickness on Nepal Treks: A Local Guide’s Honest AdviceThe warning signs, how slowly to climb, when to rest, when to go down, and the danger signs that mean descend now. 5 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read How to Choose a Trekking Guide in Nepal: Honest Advice from a GuideChecking the licence, the questions to ask, fair pay, guide fee or package, porters, and the red flags to avoid. 6 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Packing List for Trekking in Nepal: What a Local Guide Tells You to BringClothes in layers, sleeping bag, boots, what to rent in Kathmandu, what changes by season, and what to leave at home. 6 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read Gokyo Lakes or Everest Base Camp? How to ChooseTwo walks in the Everest region, side by side: the views, the height, the crowds, and which one suits you. 4 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Food on a Tea-House Trek in Nepal: What You Eat and WhyDal bhat, momos, porridge and ginger tea: what tea houses serve, why prices rise with the trail, and how to eat well up high. 4 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Village homestays in Nepal: what a night with a family is likeWhat happens when you stay with a family in a Nepali village: the room, the food, the evening, and how to be a good guest. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Chitwan, Bardiya or Shuklaphanta? Choosing a national park in the lowlandsNepal's lowland parks side by side: which is easiest to reach, which is quietest, and where you are most likely to see what. 3 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read A private guide or a group trek? An honest comparisonWhat really differs between walking with your own guide and joining a group: pace, dates, company, freedom and cost. 2 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read How climate change is changing Nepal’s trekking seasonsLater monsoons, less snow, glacial lakes and sudden storms: what is changing in the Himalaya, and how to plan a trek with it in mind. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Kala Patthar or Everest Base Camp: where you really see EverestWhy Everest itself is hidden from Base Camp, what you see from Kala Patthar instead, and how to plan the two days at the top of the walk. 3 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Annapurna Base Camp or the Annapurna Circuit?Two great Annapurna walks side by side: the sanctuary of peaks or the long loop over Thorong La, and who each one suits. 3 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read What a camping trek in Nepal is really likeTents, a cook, cold nights and wild places: what a day on a camping trek looks like, who comes with you, and what it costs compared with lodges. 3 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Reaching the Everest region by road: Jiri, Salleri and PhapluHow to reach the Everest trails without the Lukla flight: the old walking route from Jiri, the jeep road through Salleri and Phaplu, and how many days each adds. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Pokhara to Jomsom: the flight, the road, and walking downThe three ways between Pokhara and Jomsom in the Kali Gandaki valley: the short morning flight, the long road, and the trails that avoid it. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Quieter base camps in Nepal: beyond Everest and AnnapurnaSeven base camps that few people reach, from a meadow under Ama Dablam to the foot of Kanchenjunga, with how high, how long and how hard each one is. 3 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Nepal’s high passes: which one is for you?The passes walkers cross in Nepal, from the busy Thorong La to the glacier passes of the Dhaulagiri Circuit, and what each one asks of you. 3 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Treks in Nepal below 3,500 metres: big views, gentler altitudeFor walkers who worry about altitude: treks and walks that stay below about 3,500 m and still show you the Himalaya. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read How hard is the Everest Base Camp trek? Days, distance and heightThe honest numbers of the classic Everest Base Camp trek: how many days, how far, how high, the hardest days, and who finds it hard. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read Ten treks in Nepal, from famous to quiet: a guide’s honest listTen treks I would suggest in Nepal, from the famous ones to the quiet ones, with one honest line on what each is really like. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read The ways to Everest Base Camp: classic, by Gokyo, by road or over three passesFive ways to reach Everest Base Camp, from the classic route from Lukla to the Gokyo lakes and the Cho La, the old road from Jiri, and the Three Passes. 2 min readWritten Oct 2026 Read

Charging on Trek

Charging Your Camera and Phone on a Trek in NepalYou can charge almost everywhere on the main trails, but the higher you go, the more it costs and the less you can count on it, so carry your own power. 5 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read

Permits & Practical Info

Flying a Drone in Nepal: Permits and Rules for VisitorsYou can fly a drone in Nepal, but only with paperwork that takes weeks, so start before you travel, or leave the drone at… 5 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read

Photography

Best Sunrise and Viewpoint Spots in Nepal: A Local Guide’s ChoiceWhere to watch the sun rise over the Himalaya, from Nagarkot and Sarangkot to Poon Hill, Kala Patthar, Gokyo Ri and Kyanjin Ri. 6 min readChecked Oct 2026 Read

How I write these

From the trail, and from the rules.

Every guide is written by me, from walking these places and from the government's own rules. Where a figure comes from an official source, the guide names it at the end.

When a rule changes, I update the guide and its date. If you find something out of date, please tell me.

Reading is a good start. A question to me is often quicker.

Write to me Questions people ask How I walk