Nepal

Land at Kathmandu (or cross a land border), fill in the form, pay in USD cash or by card, and walk out with a multiple-entry visa: 15 days for USD 30, 30 days for USD 50, or 90 days for USD 125. Pre-registering online through the official Nepal immigration portal speeds the queue noticeably. Bring a passport valid six months with a blank page and a passport photo. Very few nationalities need an advance visa — Chinese citizens do; Indian citizens need none at all under the open-border agreement.

Yes — always. Most routes need a TIMS card (USD 20) plus the relevant conservation-area or national-park permit (USD 30 each for Annapurna and Sagarmatha/Everest). Restricted areas like Upper Mustang and Upper Dolpo are a different tier entirely, at USD 500. Everything is arranged in Kathmandu or Pokhara, directly or through a trekking agency — allow a day in the city for the paperwork before heading out.

Officially, since April 2023 foreign trekkers in national parks and conservation areas must hire a licensed guide through a registered agency — but the Everest region opted out under its local municipality, so solo trekking in the Khumbu remains permitted, and enforcement elsewhere has varied year to year. The practical advice: confirm the current position for your specific route with a registered agency when planning — and remember a good guide is also employment for the mountain communities the trails run through.

It's the risk to take most seriously: Everest Base Camp reaches 5,364 m and the Annapurna Circuit's Thorong La pass 5,416 m — altitudes where ascending too fast can be fatal. The rules are simple and non-negotiable: build in acclimatisation days, never ascend with worsening symptoms, descend immediately if they do. Insurance must explicitly cover helicopter evacuation (costs run to five figures) and trekking at your maximum altitude — many standard policies stop at 4,000 m.

October-November is the classic window — post-monsoon air, the clearest mountain views of the year, and the busiest trails. March-May is the spring alternative, warmer and painted with rhododendron blooms. The monsoon (June-September) brings rain, clouds and leeches to the lower trails, though the rain-shadow regions like Upper Mustang stay trekkable; winter is possible at lower altitudes but bitterly cold up high.

Everest Base Camp (12-14 days) is the icon: Sherpa villages, Tengboche monastery, and the Khumbu Icefall finale — plus higher altitude and flights through Lukla's weather-dependent airstrip. The Annapurna Circuit (15-21 days) is the diversity champion, climbing from rice paddies through forest into Tibetan-influenced high desert over Thorong La. Short on time? Annapurna Base Camp (7-10 days) or Langtang Valley (7 days) deliver the Himalaya without the full commitment.

Genuinely one of the world's most affordable destinations: dal bhat refills are the budget traveller's engine, guesthouses cost a fraction of Western rates, and on a teahouse trek your daily spend — bed, three meals, endless tea — undercuts a single restaurant dinner in most Western capitals. The exceptions are flights, restricted-area permits and imported gear. Check current prices when budgeting; they shift with season and route.

Give it two or three days — partly by necessity (permits, gear, acclimatising to the time zone, which runs on a quirky UTC+5:45), partly on merit: the Durbar Squares of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, the great stupa at Boudhanath and the ghats of Pashupatinath are a world-class heritage cluster on their own. The city is noisy, polluted and chaotic — and fascinating. Pokhara, the far calmer lakeside base, works better for post-trek recovery.