West Nepal... "Unspoilt and untouched"

Rara Lake... is in the remote wilderness of west Nepal located in Mugu district, offering a superb experience of nature and unusual glimpses of a culture and scenery quite different from that found elsewhere in Nepal. Nepal's largest lake (5km long and 2km wide) lies in the Rara Lake National Park at an altitude of 3062 meters. This beautiful high altitude lake is surrounded by alpine meadows full of flowers and forests of pine, juniper and spruce. In the background you can view the magnificent snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas and their reflection in the lake. The region is made up of long ridges covered with temperate forests and alpine pastures enclosing high valleys. Summer rainfall is low, but winter snow can be heavy and persistent. Since the region is fairly high and free from monsoon thunder storms, the summer season is ideal for trekking. In the autumn season, trekking is rewarded with a profusion of alpine flowers.

Dolpa... is located in the central west of Nepal behind the Dhaulagiri massif, towards the Tibetan Plateau. Cut off by a series of very high passes, Dolpo remains a truly isolated corner of Nepal, offering visitors a wonderful chance to experience a landscape and culture far different from those seen in other parts of the country. The people's religion is a mixture of Tibetan Bhuddhism and the ancient, pre Buddhist, Bon religion, a largely animistic faith. Strangely, their language is based on the Tibetan dialect spoken in Kham, a province of old Tibet located many hundreds of kilometers to the east. The focal point of the area is Shey Phoksumdo National Park. It is the habitat of various rare and endangered plant and wildlife species, many of which can be seen nowhere else in the country. Animal species of particular interest in the park are populations of snow leopard, grey wolf and blue sheep.

Humla... is the highest, most remote and most northerly region of Nepal. Lying on the border with Tibet, the region’s main town of Simikot is only reachable on foot or by plane in the absence of paved roads. Life for the Humli people is challenging, the agricultural season in these high mountain valleys being short and the winters long and severe, with most of the population living by subsistence farming amid the region’s difficult, though extraordinarily beautiful and dramatic terrain. This mountain landscape of high peaks, cut through by green valleys, turbulent rivers and forests of rhododendrons teeming with wildlife, and featuring Hindu and Buddhist temples, shrines and religious sacred places, make trekking in the region an extremely rewarding and rejuvenating experience.