The Great Himalaya Range of mountains goes from Namche Barwa in Tibet to Nanga Parbat in Pakistan, that’s about 4,500 km of continuous mountain! The Great Himalaya Trail takes the highest feasible route through them all and has been completely walked and documented in Nepal, which is roughly 1600km – the highest and hardest section of the Himalaya to trek. In Nepal there are 20 passes over 5000m and many more lower passes that mean you have to do a lot of up and down, in total over 150,000m as you cross the country. This trek was much harder than a climbing trip I have ever done. Many times I thought we would have to finish because we nearly had no food or fuel. Everybody lost weight and because of the hard trails I often had sore knees and back and ankles.

• Pema Tshiri Sherpa
• Robin Boustead from Sydney.

When Pema Trek and Expedition organised the first crossing of the GHT for Mr Robin Boustead it took us 162 days but now that we know the routes you could trek it in about 150 days. There are many trails to chose from so here we give just a short idea of each place.

Kanchenjunga
Kanchenjunga is the 3rd highest mountain and we get very good views from Pang Pema Base camp. The Gunsa people are very helpful. Olangchun Gola is an interesting village. Nearby is the Lumbha Sambha range which is the least visited mountain range in Nepal. The whole area is very famous for rhododendron forest.

Makalu
In the upper Arun valley live the Lhomi people who want to see more trekkers! Makalu Base Camp trek and then over the highest passes in the Himalaya – the Sherpani Col base camp has big ice caves, the West Col 6190m is highest point and Amphu Labsta to Everest region. Makalu is a 3km high rock face and has a long glacier. There are many nice camping spots.

Everest
Solu Khumbu is my home place, famous for Sherpa people and Mt Everest. The Renjo La has the best views of the mountains in the area. There are many good tea houses to stay in. This region is best combined with Rolwaling or Makalu for a really good trekking experience.

Rolwaling
There is a big rock like a chorten in Bedding village in the Rolwaling valley and it is good luck for your whole lifetime to tie a prayer scarf on it before you leave the village. From Orangdanda view point you can see Gauri Shankar and there are many interesting Gurung, Tamang and Sherpa villages.

Langtang
The Tamang people love to dress up and have parties and singing. Tilman Pass is a good place to see snow leopard. There are also sacred lakes at Panch Pokhari and Bhairav Kund which are very remote places. Langtang is just a day’s drive from Kathmandu.

Ganesh Himal
There are not many villages in this area and the trail is mostly in very old forest. The Gurung people here are mostly Christain and very intersting. The way to join to Manaslu trail is hard to find and no tourists go this way. Of course there are views of Ganesh 1,2,3,4 and 5.

Manaslu
There are 5 different ethnic groups here and a mix of Hindu and Buddhist. The view point at the top of the Larkye La is very pretty – you can see the Annapurnas and the campsite of Bimthang. This is perhaps the best trek in Nepal and is really good if you combine with the Annapurna Circuit then you can have very comfortable teahouse and good trails.

Annapurna
The Annapurnas is the most popular trek in Nepal. There are many exellent tea houses, and the lake at Manang

Dolpa
People in Dolpa are Tibetan origin and their culture hasn’t changed over the years. Phoksumdo lake is the most beautiful lake in Nepal and the landscape is very dry. Many people say this is the best trekking place as there are many high passes and interesting villages, some are 800 years old.

Mugu
Mugu is one of the poorest districts in Nepal. There are many large valleys and the Yala la viewpoint. This is some of the hardest trekking in the whole Himalaya and you need to be very fit and strong to go here. You might need to do some rock climbing if we take the more difficult trails. This area is very good to trek with Upper Dolpo or Rara Lake.

Humla
The Humla trek is a nice and easy trek. The local people want to get more involved in trekking as it means they will be able to earn some money. This place is popular for people who want to go to holy Mt Kailash and we can also visit Dolpo as well.