Beyond Everest: the Remote Nepal Treks PM Balen Shah Is Showcasing
Makalu, Api, Kanchenjunga — from the far east to the far west, the remote base-camp treks Nepal's PM is putting on the map. The future of Himalayan adventure, beyond the crowds.
Nepal's tourism story has always been dominated by two names: Everest and Annapurna. But the country's Prime Minister, Balen Shah, is using his enormous online platform to tell a different story — one about the wild, forgotten corners of the Himalaya. In recent weeks he has showcased the Makalu Base Camp Trek in the far east and Api Himal in the far west, each drawing hundreds of thousands of views. The message to the world is clear: there is far more to Nepal than the famous trails.
From the trail · Dolpo
The treks the PM is putting on the map
- Makalu Base Camp — the foot of the world's 5th-highest peak, far-eastern Nepal
- Api Himal — a 7,132 m giant in the far-western Darchula district
- Kanchenjunga Base Camp — the world's 3rd-highest, on the Sikkim border
- All three see a tiny fraction of the trekkers Everest and Annapurna do
The far east: Makalu
The Makalu Base Camp trek is an 18-day journey to a 5,000 m base camp beneath the world's fifth-highest mountain. From a flight to Tumlingtar it climbs the pristine Arun Valley and crosses the Shipton La (4,216 m) into the glacial Barun — a corridor inside Makalu-Barun National Park so remote it sees fewer than 500 trekkers a year. This is the one Balen's reel above is showing off.
The far west: Api
At the opposite end of the country, the 16-day Api Base Camp trek pushes into Darchula, where Api Himal rises to 7,132 m above the alpine meadows of the Api Nampa Conservation Area. Topping out at a gentler 3,900 m, it trades extreme altitude for sheer remoteness — arguably the least-visited trekking region in Nepal, and the subject of the PM's far-west film.
The eastern frontier: Kanchenjunga
Between them sits the 22-day Kanchenjunga Base Camp trek, the longest and most committing of the three. It reaches North Base Camp at 5,143 m below the world's third-highest peak, crossing the Sele La and Mirgin La passes and threading through Rai and Limbu villages like Ghunsa and Yamphudin — a true wilderness odyssey with no roads and barely 2,000 trekkers a year.
| Trek | Days | Highest point | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Api Base Camp | 16 | 3,900 m | Strenuous |
| Makalu Base Camp | 18 | 5,000 m | Extreme |
| Kanchenjunga Base Camp | 22 | 5,143 m | Extreme |
What this means for you
The future of Himalayan trekking is in exactly these wild corners — and when the Prime Minister himself is selling them to the world, attention will follow. We run all three as fully supported expeditions, with every permit, flight, guide and remote-area logistic handled. If you have already walked to Everest or Annapurna, this is your next, wilder chapter.
Source: @balenshah on Instagram; trek details, Travel Himalaya Nepal.
Cover photo: Sunuwargr via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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