Records & People
Everest just had its busiest season ever with a record 1,008 summits
Nepal's Department of Tourism has confirmed the most successful Everest season on record — including 274 summits in a single day.
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Archive
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Permits & Rules
Can you still trek Nepal without a guide in 2026? The honest answer
Nepal’s licensed-guide rule reshaped independent trekking. Where you can and cannot go solo in 2026, and why the Everest region is the exception.
Flights & Access
Planning a Nepal Trek from Malaysia in 2026: Flights, Ringgit Costs & Halal Food
Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu is under 5 hours direct — one of the easiest gateways to the Himalaya in all of Asia. Here are the real flights, an all-in cost in ringgit, and where to eat halal on the trail.
Industry & Tourism
Everest climbing fee jumps to $15,000 — first rise since 2015
Nepal lifted Everest royalties across every season from 1 September 2025 — but it changes nothing for Base Camp trekkers.
Permits & Rules
Kanchenjunga Base Camp vs Everest Base Camp: Which Remote Himalaya Trek Actually Suits You? (2026)
Fewer than 1,000 foreign trekkers reach Kanchenjunga's base camps each year against roughly 40,000 at Everest's — the honest, permit-by-permit breakdown of which trek actually fits your trip.
Flights & Access
Lukla and Pokhara Flights Just Got Cheaper: Nepal Cuts Airfares 14.87% in July 2026
Nepal Oil Corporation slashed aviation fuel prices and regulators passed the savings straight into ticket fares — here's exactly how much Kathmandu-Lukla, Kathmandu-Pokhara and Pokhara-Jomsom fares dropped.
Records & People
The Nepali Guide Who Just Stood Atop Europe's Highest Mountain for the 200th Time
Chatur Tamang, born in a Solukhumbu village in the shadow of Everest, summited Mount Elbrus for the 200th time on July 25, 2026 — a record built one client, one climb, over 24 years.
Industry & Tourism
Everest Base Camp vs the Tour du Mont Blanc: The Himalaya or the Alps?
One tops out at 5,545m in the high Himalaya; the other loops three countries at a gentle 2,537m. But the twist: the lower trek has nearly double the total climbing. An honest comparison.
Flights & Access
Planning a Nepal Trek from Israel (2026): Flights, Costs in Shekels & the Legendary Annapurna Circuit
For a generation of Israelis, the trip after the army is Nepal — and the Annapurna Circuit is a rite of passage. Here's the honest 2026 plan: flights, costs in shekels, and the trek to book.
Records & People
The Himalayan Valley Nepal Kept Secret for Centuries — Sealed by Two Mountains, Opened by One Man in 1956
The Annapurna Sanctuary is a mile-high amphitheatre ringed by six peaks over 6,400m, with exactly one way in. No outsider found that gap until a British colonel spent three days slogging through a bamboo gorge — and today you can walk the same route in trail shoes.
Breaking Permits & Rules
Nepal's Everest Rules Just Got 263 Proposed Amendments — What Could Change for Climbers
Lawmakers want Everest hopefuls to summit two Nepali peaks above 8,000m first, plus new insurance floors for guides and a wage fund — here is exactly what is now before Parliament, and what is still just a rule already in force.
Breaking Trail & Weather
Nepal Bans Night Driving in 23 Districts as Monsoon Floods Cut Nine Highways
Landslides and flooding have blocked nine major highways and triggered a nighttime driving ban across 23 districts this week — here's what it actually means if you're travelling overland to a Nepal trailhead in late July 2026.
Records & People
Poon Hill: Nepal's Perfect First Trek, Even for People Who Hate Trekking
Four days, no altitude worries, no domestic flight — and a sunrise over Annapurna and Dhaulagiri that stops your heart. Why even seasoned trekkers keep coming back to Poon Hill.
Flights & Access
Kathmandu or Pokhara: Where Should You Actually Start Your Nepal Trek? (2026)
Every international flight lands in Kathmandu — but which trek you have booked decides whether Pokhara becomes essential, optional, or irrelevant.
Trail & Weather
Luxury vs Standard Everest Base Camp Trek: What the Higher Price Actually Buys You (2026)
Our real 2026 rates show the price gap is genuine — but altitude acclimatisation is not for sale at any tier.
Trail & Weather
Gokyo Lakes or Everest Base Camp: Which Everest Trek Actually Suits You? (2026)
Same trail out of Lukla, two very different mountains to aim for — the honest, numbers-based answer for choosing between Kala Patthar and Gokyo Ri.
Records & People
He Summited Everest and Lhotse — Twice Each — in Ten Days. No One Had Ever Done That.
A Chinese climber just became the first person in mountaineering history to complete the ‘double-double’ — Everest, Lhotse, Everest, Lhotse, all inside the same ten-day window.
Records & People
A New Pangolin Species Was Hiding in Kathmandu Valley for 190 Years
DNA from a 190-year-old museum skin just confirmed Nepal has its own pangolin species — living in ordinary community forests that ring the capital.
Industry & Tourism
How Many Days Do You Really Need in Nepal? A 2026 Trip Planner
You've got a week. Or ten days. Or three. The real question isn't "is that enough for Nepal?" — it's "which Nepal fits my days?" Here's the honest, trek-by-length planner.
Permits & Rules
Nepal or Bhutan for Your Himalaya Trek in 2026? The Honest Cost-and-Rules Breakdown
Bhutan charges $100 a night before you've booked a guide or a hotel; Nepal charges about that once, total, for the whole trip. Here's what really separates the two Himalayan trekking countries.
Records & People
He says his Makalu guide left him at 7,900 metres, and now he alleges attempted murder
Konstantin Smirnov says his guide walked away near Makalu’s summit in May 2026. He survived, lost five fingers, and filed criminal and civil cases in Nepal.
Safety & Advisories
Nepal Is Rebuilding the Exact Route Hillary Used in 1953 to Bypass Everest's Deadliest Section
Eighty percent finished and due to open by spring 2026, a permanent ladder-and-rope path across the shoulder of Nuptse revives the line Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay used on the first ascent of Everest built specifically so climbers and Sherpas can skip the Khumbu Icefall, the stretch that has killed more people than any other single section of the mountain.
Festivals & Events
When exactly to start your autumn 2026 Nepal trek, week by week
Dashain and Tihar reshape flights, buses, guides and trail crowds for six weeks. The week to fly in, set against the real 2026 festival dates.
Permits & Rules
Manaslu Circuit vs Annapurna Circuit in 2026: The Honest Head-to-Head
Same region, wildly different experience: one route just got easier for solo trekkers to permit, the other has a paved road creeping up its most famous valley. Here's how they really compare.