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Has anyone been to Nepal? We are looking to visit for 2-3 weeks this May-June.
We are more interested in trekking to villages and experiencing the culture than we are going to Everest Base Camp.
Family of 4. Daughters are 16 and 19 and the strongest members of the family.
It sounds like we’ll be too late for prime weather season, hoping May isn’t too wet. Our window starts around 5/18 so getting late in the month
Anyone have any recommendations?
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Yep, I lived in Kathmandu for 6 months & spent another month traveling around the Khumbu. May will be wet, there's no doubt.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tech Tonics
Skiing now but shoot me a dm and I'll give you my number.
I think about going back to Nepal every day
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I've been twice- once in the 80s for 4 months as part of a school program and once for a month about 10 years ago for a service trip. You are definitely on the right track with your priorities! Go somewhere that is not on the way to a big tourist destination like Everest base camp or similar. You'd get alot out of hiring a guide/porters, although I don't have anyone to recommend at this point, but I bet looking around can get you to an outfit that would get you what you're looking for (my last time was to Chamtang in eastern Nepal but I think the road has been completed to there by now). Re porters, you might feel weird now about having other people carry your stuff but the folks there really appreciate you hiring them and the porters make way more carrying our paltry stuff compared to portering way heavier goods and construction materials that they'd otherwise be hauling. And having the language interface with the locals will be invaluable for cultural experience. And they'd probably have you staying at private residences or small "tea house" lodgings which is way cooler than camping for what you're looking for.
May is possible but wetness could be a prob for sure. And rain there isn’t a light drizzle either. It also depends a lot on how much time you’d plan on spending there. I def have a preference toward carrying your own stuff and leaning on tea house trekking to lighten the load. Teahouse lodging isn’t a problem to find on your own in any village
If you're interested in some help with logistics, a buddy from grad school started a travel company focused on Asia: https://redlanternjourneys.com/. He's been in business for 20 years, and is a cool guy - he has a ton of experience traveling in the region and even joined an Everest expedition before it was cool (if I recall, they didn't summit). I suspect they'd be able to arrange whatever level of support (and whatever class of lodging) that you're interested in. I'm planning on using them for a Bhutan / Nepal trip in 2025 or 2026.
Any village along popular trekking routes, but if you get into the more remote villages there aren't any and you are relying on private homes- it's common for folks to put up travellers, whether Nepali or foreign, but you'd want to speak some Nepali or Tibetan without a guide. In the 80s when I could speak Nepali fairly fluently I was comfortable doing that but by the time I went 10 years ago I had lost enough of the language that I was glad to have a guide.Quote:
Originally Posted by mcski
Hey Tele, what school program? I went on my own but my college had a program over there too
School for International Training/Experiment in International Living, fall of 1985. They put us each with a family that spoke no English and did language training 6 days a week, great program!Quote:
Originally Posted by mcski
We did the Manaslu circuit in fall 2007 with guides and porters. Not sure what to expect now, but is was an unbelievably cool experience. The further up you went the more spectacular and the farther 'back in time you went'. The kids and people in the subsistence villages were awesome. Including Tibetan refuge village at 12k. We stayed at peoples houses and pitched tents in back yards, played soccer with the kids. After coming down off the Larkya La Pass (16,751) ft and connected with the Annapurna circuit, the vibe and scene changed to total tourism scene. The snow was whiter than white and the Himalayas make the San Juans look flat. Some friends went up towards Everest base camp this fall and the scenery did not come close.
Edit: I think that if it hadn't snowed after the first week, the scenery and contrast over the pass would not have been as unforgettable.
Spent six weeks there in 2006 trekking with a buddy. We hiked to Everest Base Camp and then Annapurna Base Camp, carrying all our gear, sometimes pitching tents in people's yards, sometimes staying in in tea houses. Don't remember what month, but crowds were nonexistent. Might have been May, actually. Was a volatile time for the country, but we had a local connection in Kathmandu who took us around, showed us the city and the environs. What an amazing experience... going back is high on my list.
Edit: I was there from early April to end of May. That's why there were no crowds, I'd imagine. Well, that and the US had issued a travel warning. They actually closed the embassy while we were in country.
Going back is very high on my list but you always have to be careful about trying to revisit places as they tend to get overrun so fast - especially now in the age of the internet
My neighbors just did a quick week plus there over Christmas and had a great time with a mini trek out of Lukla (the boy is an airport junky and wanted to fly into the most dangerous airport in the world. I was a little curious in how their trip would go to such a super traveled area but time of year really worked in their favor. Empty teahouses and most places to themselves for the most part. They hired a guide and porters and really enjoyed the company as well.
I randomly ended up there in 89 so none of my memories are really valid for experiences but I was glad I skipped my initial idea of everest basecamp based on a friend that had just been and did a audible for the Annapurna circuit and sanctuary. Definitely a walk back in time on the 1st half but I’m sure that side now resembles the comedy of the Jomson side. No doubt one of the best experiences of my life. If I had a month plus, I’d probably aim for mustang as it wasn’t open back when I did it. Getting high up on the shoulders of those mountains is an incredible sight
Getting stoked on this trip, thanks for everyone’s input.
Looking at using this organization for guides and Sherpas:
https://ewn.org.np
Lots of options. A little concerned that late-may is getting pretty damn close to the rainy season.
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went there probably 10 years ago now. went for the whole month of november and weather was pretty good the whole time, only had rain during the treks high up in the mountains. our trip was mostly humanitarian, but it felt like a vacation more than volunteer work.
if you can, i would split time between kathmandu and trekking. so many cool temples, shops, food etc in kathmandu.
we stayed at hotel tibet when in kathmandu. it was a nice place, just know that you should only drink bottled water over there. visited hotel tibet international as well and i had the best ice cream ive ever had there (it was homemade).
I was there for 2 weeks in June some 35 years ago (fuck I'm old!), it was definitely rainy season so we didn't do any trekking. But just cruising around the Kathmandu area was cool as hell.
You can find food from every corner of the world in the backpackers district. Never ate so well, w so many different options, for so cheap in my life. Amazing how many languages the restaurant guys know. It’s comical.
Wife and I and another couple were there this past October and did the Manaslu Circuit as well. Great time and experience. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. We were guided with two porters. Manaslu C is just easterly of the more well known Annapurna Circuit. They share a little bit of the route, mostly as your exiting Manaslu you encounter Annapurna Circuit peeps going up. AC is way more popular and some say ruined by heavy use. That route has become a high percentage of gravel road walking. Lots of mountain bikers on the AC. Manaslu Circuits high pass is lower at just under 17K. We all took the diamox drug once above 10k and no one in the group had any issues with altitude sickness. A little Katmandu on the front and back end of the trip was fun but f'n chaotic.Quote:
Originally Posted by Alpinord
Cool. One of my fondest memories was at the end of our 3 (+/-) week trek, we stayed at a ‘motel’ in a village which had the first road we’d seen since setting out. There was a tv and we had a fun trying to explain baseball and the World Series to the porters and guide. They did not comprehend.
Then, in the evening after dinner, hanging out on a balcony with a view over the road to a pasture, the villagers, young and old, started congregating. Next thing you know, they started playing pick up soccer barefoot. The laughter and joy was awesome to see.
Forgot to mention earlier that there were countless waterfalls. Many were a thousand feet or more.
Seems like this thread should have pics. Post ‘em up!
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I spent two months trekking and climbing in Manang and the Khumbu on a shoestring budget 15 years ago.
Check out Mustang in Nepal and Ladakh in India to get to dryer weather with the same cultural benefits as the more famous parts of Nepal. Both are protected from the monsoon, Ladakh a bit more so.
My info is going to be really out of date, but I enjoyed Nepal and Ladakh. Ladakh was the most chill part of India that I’ve been to. It has the highest concentration of Tibetan Buddhism that wasn’t destroyed by China.