The three great treks,—walked your way.

Day 1

Lukla

Where the trek begins — a small mountain strip carved into a Khumbu hillside, the propellers stilling as the silence sets in.

Day 2

Namche Bazaar

The Sherpa capital — an amphitheatre of stone houses, prayer flags, and bakeries that smell of cinnamon at altitude.

Day 4

Tengboche Monastery

Evening prayers under the white face of Ama Dablam. We arrive in time for the bells, and leave changed.

Day 5

Dingboche

Above the tree line. Stone-walled fields, yak trains, and a sky that hardens by the hour.

Day 8

Everest Base Camp

The yellow tents, the Khumbu Icefall hissing in the morning. The walk's quiet centre.

Day 9

Kala Patthar — sunrise

The highest point of the journey. Everest goes gold while you are still cold from the climb.

Day 1

Bhulbhule

The trail's quiet first night — terraced rice, river noise, a sky that has not yet been thinned.

Day 4

Chame — apple country

The district headquarters, and the start of pine forest. Apples on every windowsill in late October.

Day 6

Manang

A medieval Tibetan-style village under Gangapurna. We rest here for a day, and the lungs are grateful.

Day 8

Yak Kharka

High pasture before the high camp. Juniper smoke, the first hints of the high desert.

Day 10

Thorong La Pass

The crux. Four in the morning, head torch, prayer flags ahead. The sun comes up exactly where the trail goes.

Day 11

Muktinath

A descent into another country — the high desert of Mustang, the temple of the eternal flame, apple brandy at dusk.

Day 1

Soti Khola

The Budhi Gandaki begins. River noise, mango trees, the trail's first dinner under the stars.

Day 3

Jagat — restricted area

The permit gate. Beyond Jagat the trail thins, the valleys close in, and the modern world quietly disappears.

Day 6

Lho — first view of Manaslu

The mountain comes fully into view. A long lunch at the monastery; the world rearranges itself around the peak.

Day 7

Sama Gaon — Birendra Tal

A glacial lake the colour of milk and stone, cupped beneath the south face of Manaslu.

Day 8

Samdo — Tibetan border

One of the highest year-round settlements in Nepal. The walk to the border is wide, slow, and quiet.

Day 11

Larkya La Pass

The crossing — eight hours of cold, sun, and the highest point of the journey, with the wall of the Annapurnas on the far side.