Wild West-Karnali & Rara

The far west is the part of Nepal that tourism has largely passed by. Karnali is the country's largest and least developed province, and travelling here means simpler logistics, fewer lodges and almost no other foreign trekkers — which is precisely the appeal for people who have already walked the classic routes.

Its centrepiece is Rara Lake: at 2,990 m, the largest lake in Nepal, sitting in a bowl of blue pine and juniper inside Rara National Park. The water changes colour through the day, the surrounding ridges give easy walking with big views, and the whole circuit of the lake takes only a few hours.

Further north, the region is also the overland gateway to Mt. Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in Tibet, via the Hilsa border crossing at Simikot.