Records & People

Nepal's Deepest Lake Changes Colour Four Times a Day — and Almost No One Has Seen It

Rara plunges 167 metres, deeper than any other lake in Nepal, and shifts from sapphire to turquoise as the light crosses it. Few trekkers ever reach…

By Dawa Sherpa · Jul 20, 2026

Somewhere in the far west of Nepal, a trek in from Jumla or a short mountain flight to Talcha, a lake sits at 2,990 metres and simply changes colour while you watch it. Morning light turns it sapphire-blue. By midday it's turquoise. Cloud cover pulls it…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Why so few people see it

Rara earned the nickname "Queen of the Lakes" partly from King Mahendra, who visited in the 1970s and was reportedly so taken with it that he pushed for the national park that now protects it — at 106 square kilometres, one of Nepal's smaller protected areas…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Deeper than any other lake in Nepal

Depth is the detail that separates Rara from Nepal's more famous high lakes. Tilicho Lake, on the Annapurna Circuit, is better known internationally simply because it sits higher — at 4,919 metres it's one of the highest lakes in the world — but it's…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

Why the colour changes

The colour shift comes down to a combination most alpine lakes don't have together: exceptional water clarity, a bed deep enough to absorb rather than reflect most wavelengths of light, and a valley wide enough that the lake catches direct sun for most of the…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News

What this means for trekkers

What this means for trekkers Rara is not an add-on to an existing itinerary — it's a destination in its own right, and that's exactly its appeal if you've already done Everest or Annapurna and want somewhere the trail isn't shared with anyone else. Because…

Travel Himalaya Nepal · News