Stories from the Mountains

Late October is one of the best weeks to trek in Nepal, until a cyclone is on the forecast. Here is what is normal after Dashain, and what to check before you go.

“Is it the cheapest?” is not the first thing trekkers ask me. After months selling trekking insurance in Nepal, I can tell you what is.

On 17 October 2026, as many as 113,000 people are forecast to leave Kathmandu in a single day, and your trailhead bus may be among them. Trekking during Dashain in Nepal is possible, but transport, staff, permits and beds all change. Here's what to arrange first.

Flying to altitude can trigger altitude sickness but does flying away from it, by rescue helicopter, make things worse? Here's what actually happens, physiologically and operationally, during a Nepal high-altitude evacuation.

Nepal is still open. Two floods have hit two corners of the country in the last three weeks but most of it, including Everest, Annapurna and Kanchenjunga, hasn't missed a beat. The real question isn't "is Nepal safe?" It's whether your route is one of the two that changed. Here's exactly where things stand.

When the Bagmati River rose through Kathmandu this monsoon, it turned from a quiet city river into a roaring, sediment-brown torrent within hours, a reminder of how fast conditions can change in Nepal's mountains. Flash floods and landslides aren't rare here; they're a recurring feature of the monsoon, when narrow valleys and steep terrain turn heavy rainfall into fast-moving hazard. This guide covers why it happens, when risk rises, and exactly what to do before and during route disruption.