Best Nepal trek

[dryad]

What is the best Nepal trek for a first-time visitor?Khumbu/Everest basecampAnnapurna circuitOther

Details: I have about a month to spend, I don't have any mountaineering objectives, and would prefer to travel independently rather than with a big camping expedition.

[Lambone]

dyrad, with a month you could feasibly do both treks. Skip Everest Bascamp and hike up Kala Patar, it is just a scramble.

 

If you had to chose 1, don't turn down the chance to gaze apon the talest mountain in the world. Just my .02$

 

Also, you have probably heard this before, but i would discourage you from Trekking alone.

[Winter]

I suggest going to Mustang or Manaslu and getting off the beaten track if you want the best trekking experience, although it depends on what you want. I've done Annapurna and found it social, crowded and extremely enjoyable. We did not get to experience wilderness or solitude and did not have enough meaningful interaction with the locals. It may be different now that the Maoists are killing royalty.

[Lambone]

It kind of depends if you want to see the biggest peaks, or the less westernized people...depends on priorities I guess.

[Winter]

If you want the biggest peaks then you go to base camp. Annapurna won't give you that. You could also try Kachnechunga. I hear that is supposed to be a nice area and not quite as populated by tourists.

[chelle]

Given the time of year you are going both will be an adventure and pretty cold cause it is winter there. Stay in teahouses and you should be fine. If you skip going up the Gokyo valley on the Everest trek you would have enought time to do both E and Annapurna treks. Annapurna does have a hisotry of avalanches in some of the towns, so that is something to consider as well.

[Pencil_Pusher]

Trek alone??? I always thought you had to have some stupid e$cort. Do they allow foreigners to travel alone there?

[Dru]

a friend of mine trekking alone on the annapurna circuit was robbed and murdered in 1996. and he was of iranian ancestry so i dont think they were targetting stereotypical whitey either but would rob anybody rich looking. i would suggest doing some checking for recent incidents of this type before solo trekking through the area.

[Lambone]

Pencil_Pusher said:

Trek alone??? I always thought you had to have some stupid e$cort. Do they allow foreigners to travel alone there?

 

Technicaly no, but you can get around most anything there with some traveler savy.

 

I wasn't going to mention this, but when we were in Lang Tang we saw many signs posted by the British embassy about a Brit solo treker who was mugged and stabbed to death, they found his body in the river. Pretty sad...

 

Not that it isn't possible, but you take your chances, same with going through the slums of New York in the middle of the night. You just have to smart about what you do, and the situations you put yourself in. Personaly I would feel uncomfortable alone, if I were female I would be double worried about it.

 

On a bright note, Spring is a great time to be there! After May you get some awsome weather! And some rain/snow

 

Edited December 3, 2003 by Lambone

[rat]

jiri to everest area. poach a few trekking peaks until you get sick of the euros. hike out east via gudel/bung(hole) to the arun river valley--the best part. taxi/bus back to kathmandu. very few westerners when we did it. locals in bung(hole), made infamous in one of shipton or tilman's stories, spit on westerners and their outhouses hang over the pig sties. am sure it's changed a bit since we were there but i hope the locals still spit on trekkers. bacon, anyone?

[MysticNacho]

trek to annapurna base camp is pretty scenic as well.

[Winter]

Last time I was there it was actually quite easy and legal to trek alone on the Annapurna Circuit.

[dryad]

From what I read, both the Annapurna and Everest regions have well-established lodge/teahouse tourist infrastructures and are suitable for independent trekking (meaning not with a big camping organized tour group, not necessarily alone). For pretty much all the less popular treks (ie. Mustang), you need special permits that are only given to tour groups, and the associated tons of camping gear, porters, etc etc.

[chelle]

Unfortunate things happen all over the world to people who are in a position to be taken advantage of or overpowered. Most all countries have sketchy places. You just have to travel smart and possibly pay a little more to go guided on a trek or tour off the beaten path. In Railay/Pranang where several women have disappeared (locals and non-locals), people shouldn't go out alone at night in sketchy areas and don't ever get on a longboat taxi at night or near dark if there are no other passengers going where you are headed. Most of the longboat drivers there are drug addicts and there is a lot of shady stuff that goes on in the south of Thailand right underneath the beauty that tourists see.

 

I don't think Dryad is going to be alone per se. It may be more deserted this time of year, but there are other travelers I am sure she can make friends with. I did a solo trip in Nepal in 98 before all the Maoist bs started and travelers weren't being attacked. I made a few friends with other travelers and I had a guide on my trek. I also stayed in tea houses where I could lock my little room when I slept, or I put my sleeping bag near the guys I'd met when we were in bunkhouses. Creepiest person I met on my Nepal trek was a lama who lurked around a tea house in Pangboche. I saw him one night at the top of the stair near the sleeping rooms just sitting there watching people in the dark. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

[Lambone]

dryad said:

From what I read, both the Annapurna and Everest regions have well-established lodge/teahouse tourist infrastructures...

 

Yeah, all you need is a light sleeping bag and a hardy gut. You'd have no problem finding a trekking companion in the tourist district of Kathmandu. I'd stay away from the guiding agencies, most of them are pretty shadey buisnesses. You could easily be selfsufficient...I was just meaning that it'd be smart to have a friend to trek with.

[dryad]

Ehmmic is right in her assumption. I have no intention of ever being entirely alone. Hence I don't plan to go anywhere very far off the beaten track. The expedition-style trekking kinda turns me off but I'd be fully in favor of grouping up with 1 or 2 other folks I meet in Kathmandu and maybe hiring a private guide.

[Ursa_Eagle]

I'm not sure how the solo-trekking conditions are, but have you considered the Langtang region? (And I'm assuming you have, or have seen this book)