Nepal

Nepal. Världens kanske främsta trekkingnation, med de högsta bergen, de mest dramatiska vyerna, och ett stort urval av leder som passar såväl light- som extremvandrare.

When you think of Nepal, it's usually the northern half that comes to mind, the extraordinary, world-famous Himalaya. But what about the southern half of the country? Most of it is the very opposite, a hot, subtropical plain known as the Terai, which stretches north from the border with India. The Mahabharat Range and Chure Hills stand in the middle, as if mediating between snow-capped peaks and a flat horizon.

Easily the best way to see Nepal is on foot, following a network of trails trodden for centuries by porters, traders, pilgrims, mountaineers and locals traveling from village to village, plains to hills, Nepal to Tibet. Nothing beats walking under your own steam under a crystal-clear Himalayan sky, passing Sherpa, Gurung and Thakali villages, Tibetan monasteries and sacred lakes, while staring at a range of 26,246ft (8000m) peaks.

Nepal’s most important Hindu temple stands on the banks of the holy Bagmati River, surrounded by a bustling market of religious stalls selling marigolds, prasad (offerings), incense, rudraksha beads, conch shells, pictures of Hindu deities and temples, tika powder in rainbow colours, glass lingams, models of Mt Meru and other essential pilgrim paraphernalia.

The third of the medieval city-states in the Kathmandu Valley, Bhaktapur was always described as the best preserved. Tragically, however, the 2015 earthquake caused terrible devastation and loss of life. Nevertheless, only a few temples were destroyed, there is still much to see here and tourism is vital to the community.

In many ways the Kathmandu Valley is Nepal. Created from the bed of a sacred lake by the deity Manjushri, according to Buddhist legend, the basin is a patchwork of terraced fields and sacred temple towns that showcase the glory of the architects and artisans of Nepal. Sadly, the area also bore the brunt of the 2015 earthquake. This has taken its toll on the valley's medieval villages, but there is still much to see, from centuries-old temples to Himalayan viewpoints and an adventurous road to Tibet.

For many, stepping off a plane into Kathmandu is a pupil-dilating experience, a riot of sights, sounds and smells that can quickly lead to sensory overload. Whether you’re barrelling through the traffic-jammed alleyways of the old town in a rickshaw, marvelling at the medieval temples or dodging trekking touts in the backpacker district of Thamel, Kathmandu can be an intoxicating, amazing and exhausting place.

About 15 miles (24km) north of Abu Khaireni, Gorkha is famous for four things. It is the birthplace of Prithvi Narayan Shah, who unified the rival kingdoms of Nepal in 1769, commencing a dynasty that endured until 2008; it is the location of the Gorkha Durbar, the former palace of the Shahs, which looks over Gorkha from a lofty ridge; it is where the famous Gurkha Battalion in the British Army originated; and it is where the annual Dasain festival officially begins, with a procession to Kathmandu. The town remains an important pilgrimage destination for Newars, who regard the Shahs as living incarnations of Vishnu.

Once a fiercely independent city-state, Patan (pah-tan) is now almost a suburb of Kathmandu, separated only by the murky Bagmati River. Many locals still call the city by its original Sanskrit name of Lalitpur (City of Beauty) or by its Newari name, Yala. Almost everyone who comes to Kathmandu also visits Patan’s spectacular Durbar Sq – even after the 2015 earthquake, this remains the finest collection of temples and palaces in the whole of Nepal.

Vagabonds guide till vandring i Nepal – världens vackraste vandringsnation.