South Asia

Home of the coming Asian Century

By Mariellen Ward , Lakshmi Sharath , Rachel Bracken-Singh , Vidya Balachander & Stuart Butler

Things to do
Guides
Itineraries
Travel Companies
Places

The vast peninsula separated from the Eurasian landmass by the Himalayas, is the size of Europe and home to some 1.89 billion people in six countries: India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan (some add the Maldives).

Over centuries, the Mughal emperors, the Rajputs, the Muslim sultanates, the Sikh empire, the British colonialists, all left their imprints on the land and the people. The result is that modern South Asia can be a bewildering patchwork to the outsider. The variety of religions and cultures in the region is staggering. More than 450 languages are spoken in India; the mountain kingdom of Bhutan, with a population of less than a million, has some two dozen languages of its own.

If it can be bewildering, it’s also exciting. The history, the geography, the arts, the cuisine and, it must be said, the rivalries, make the region endlessly fascinating.

And it’s not all about the past. The burgeoning economies of the region fuel talk of the coming Asian Century. Bangladesh now has one of the world’s fastest-growing economies. India’s pharma and telecoms industries are world-class and it has a highly developed space programme.

Yes, there is still much poverty, and some political uncertainties, but there’s also huge optimism for the future. It’s the future that makes South Asia so exciting today.

Hidden gems in South Asia

Manaslu region

Rupina La Trek

Stuart Butler

Experience

For those on organised camping treks, a fabulous alternative route for the first half of the Manaslu Circuit is to start trekking from Chanaute or Barpak, both of which are north of the town of Gorkha. Cross over the Rupina La (4,720m; April to November only), and join the Manaslu Circuit at Lokpa. This is a real wilderness trek with around five days away from all human habitation except for the occasional herder with his yaks. The trail skirts the Gorkha and Boudha Himal and has impressive mountain views.

Makalu

Makalu for untouched views

Stuart Butler

Place

One of the great forgotten trekking routes of Nepal, the strenuous two-week march straight to the base camp of the world’s fifth-highest mountain, the daunting Mt Makalu (8,463m) will delight those who revel in tranquil mountain trails, a sense of being off the beaten path and, most importantly, awesome mountain views. The name Makalu is derived from the Sanskrit, Maha Kala, which is a name for the Hindu God Shiva. When you stand at base camp and stare up at Makalu you could feel as if you’re in the presence of the gods. A combination of logistical problems, the difficulty of the trekking and the lack of side routes and connecting trails means that only a few hardy groups come out this way. Most leave with the smug smile of people who’ve just experienced the magic of an older, more dramatic corner of Nepal. This is definitely a trek for the discerning walker. Almost all of the (very few) people who trek Makalu take a simple up and down route along the same path. For those with plenty of time and stamina, and who are very well-equipped with a full, experienced expedition-style support team, there are wildly exciting treks to Kanchenjunga or even Everest.

Dolpo region

Dolpo for a challenge

Stuart Butler

Place

A vast and little-known area of western Nepal, Dolpo is a magical region of frozen desert, piercing blue skies and unnamed peaks. There are hidden monasteries stashed with treasures, yak caravans passing along the old salt trade routes to Tibet, high passes where the air is so thin it pierces the lungs, snow leopard tracks and stone walled villages seeming to blend into the mountain slopes. Perhaps no other region in Nepal offers such scope for wild adventure as Dolpo. Few foreigners walk the trails here and in many cases there’s still a sense of blazing your own routes — especially when undertaking the epic month-long walk from Dolpo to Jomsom (or Upper Mustang) along the roof of Nepal. Here, time is measured by the ripening of crops and the arrival of the first snows. You won’t find any trekking lodges, apple pies or crowded passes, but you will find scenery to make you gasp and people welcoming you with open arms. There are, however, a few things to remember. Getting there, nearly always by small twin-prop plane, is difficult, expensive and unreliable. Most of the walks are demanding, long and high with no creature comforts and must be undertaken with an organised camping group. Lastly, permits are complicated and expensive to obtain. But if you have the stamina, patience and finances, Dolpo will leave you enchanted. Among my favourite highlights in the Dolpo region are Phoksundo Lake, Nepal’s most beautiful lake and the valley of Do Tarap where time really seems to have stood still.

Far West Nepal

Off the beaten path in Far Western Nepal

Stuart Butler

Place

In terms of development, the far west of Nepal comes at the bottom of almost every list, but for adventure and wonder, the region is near the top of the class. This is a landscape of deep, dank forests, sparkling sheets of water, lonely ice and snow-covered mountains, narrow canyons and ancient villages. Just entering a village out here is a cue for a memorable cultural exchange. So few trekkers come here that people will fall over themselves to try to talk to you and invite you into their homes for a restoring cup of tea. Accept these invitations with gratitude. They’ll make for some of your fondest trekking memories. On the Rara Lake trek, the focus isn’t so much on the high mountains (though these are always the backdrop), but rather on unhurried village life and the variety of ethnic groups found along the way. The thick forests that surround the lake provide a home to musk deer, black bears and other wildlife. The area around the lake is a national park with few signs of human habitation and there are some delightful wild camping spots. This is a genuine wilderness trek. Note: For a trekker, western Nepal offers many challenges and logistical nightmares, but the payback is a vast swathe of untouched mountainous country waiting to be explored. You need patience and to be on a fully supported camping trek, but if you’re looking for something truly different then the far west of Nepal will probably suit.

Kanchenjunga

Kanchenjunga for remote expeditions

Stuart Butler

Place

Way out in the east of Nepal a wall of rock and ice rises up over eight and half kilometres into the sky. This is Kanchenjunga and at 8,586m it’s the third highest mountain on Earth. The hike to the base camp of this daunting peak is one of the most exciting treks in Nepal. Over a couple of weeks you pass through pretty farming villages with terraced hillsides, through sub-tropical river valleys and misty, old-growth coniferous forests, and then across Alpine tundra until you come face-to-face with the glaciers and fluted peaks of the Kanchenjunga massif. As a trekking destination, Kanchenjunga is little known and the number of visitors tiny compared to the numbers who pace the Everest and Annapurna trails. It’s this peace and quiet that is perhaps its biggest draw. The distance from Kathmandu and the unrelenting up and down terrain means that very few people trek out here, although it is becoming more popular. Between October and November and March to April, very basic herders’ teahouses and village homestays are available along most of the route. At other times, most tend to be closed and you will need to be fully self-sufficient with camping gear and food.

Upper Mustang

Upper Mustang for cultural discovery

Stuart Butler

Place

North, beyond the highest Himalayan peaks, is Upper Mustang. This is a high-altitude desert of multi-hued gorges, green oases, fairy-tale gompas, prayer flags and blood red fortified monasteries. This is a land so rich in traditional Tibetan Buddhist culture that it can often feel more classically Tibetan than the modern Chinese region of Tibet itself. Mustang doesn’t have the same awe-inspiring close-up views of the mountains as many of the other main Nepalese trek areas, and walking here is as much a cultural experience as a mountain one. With classical Tibetan Buddhist culture severely restricted in Tibet itself, Upper Mustang is now one of the best places to see it flourishing. But take note: Traditional life is changing here too, thanks to increased road construction and development.

Langtang Valley

Langtang for accessible treks

Stuart Butler

Place

Often visible from Kathmandu city centre, the Langtang range offers the most accessible trekking in Nepal. If the city pollution and traffic wasn’t so off-putting, you could start walking from your guesthouse straight to the mountains. This accessibility, easy-to-follow trails and lots of lodges has meant the Langtang Valley has always been, alongside Everest and Annapurna, one of the big three trekking areas. The basic Langtang Valley hike takes eight days including travel time from Kathmandu, but add in another couple of days for side trips from Kanjin Gompa: this small village might be the official end point of the Langtang Valley trek but in truth this is where the fun really starts. Numerous day and overnight trips fan out from the village. You can make the almost obligatory hike up to the Kyanjin Ri viewpoint (4,600m) for sensational views, or have a rollicking day’s adventure to the glaciers and yak pastures of the Lirung Valley.

Khumbu (Everest) Region

Everest for ultimate bragging rights

Stuart Butler

Place

Mt Everest, (8,848m) the highest mountain on Earth, exerts a magnetic pull on trekkers, mountaineers and armchair adventurers alike. The main trekking routes around Mount Everest – most obviously Everest Basecamp (EBC) – can be busy and over commercialised, but for sheer awe nothing comes close to the trails threading through the Khumbu, the area around Everest. Most Nepal trekking first timers will be coming for Everest Base Camp and I wouldn't begrudge them a thing. But for my money, the best trek in this region is the Gokyo Lakes trek: with scenery every bit as spectacular as that on the Everest base camp trek but with far fewer crowds, this trek, which leads to a series of high glacial blue lakes, is arguably one of the best in Nepal.

Annapurna Region

Legendary Annapurna

Stuart Butler

Place

The famed Annapurna range is one of the great trekking regions of the world, and for a very good reason: The mountain scenery here is guaranteed to blow you away. Standing in the heart of the cirque at the end of the Annapurna Sanctuary could move you to tears, and the wilderness around Tilicho Lake will probably be the best mountain scenery you’ll ever lay eyes on. The inevitable downside: it's popular and busy, especially during high season. If crowds and communal teahouse lodges aren't your thing, look elsewhere. Trekking culture is changing fast, too. The end of independent trekking and road construction are changing the face of the region, and not always for the better.

Manaslu region

Manaslu: the new Annapurna

Stuart Butler

Place

The hiking trails around mighty Manaslu (8,156m), the world’s eighth-highest mountain, have it all. Trekking in Manaslu takes you through steamy lowland valleys and fields of rice which give way to ice-coated passes stalked by leopards. When people ask me for my most recommended trek, my usual answer is the Manaslu Circuit. It's arguably one of – if not the – best trek in the country; competing with Annapurna and Everest for the crown of amazing scenery and epic hiking but with a fraction of the crowds. There are trekking lodges all along the standard routes in Manaslu but for now, they are a lot more primitive than those on the Everest and Annapurna treks. Getting to the trailheads in this area is easy and cheap with frequent public transport from Kathmandu and Pokhara. I've hiked through mystical valleys rich in Tibetan culture and seen monasteries stuffed with treasures. There's some exhilarating walking with relatively few other trekkers and exciting day-long side trips to glaciers, base camps and hidden gompas. The Manaslu trekking region didn’t open up to foreign trekkers until the early 1990s ( the neighbouring Tsum Valley opened even later), but it was an instant hit with those wanting a challenging and less developed trekking area. Anyone who has walked in the shadow of Manaslu will probably tell you that overall, this is one of the most rewarding Nepal trekking areas.

Sikkim

Goecha La

Shikha Tripathi

Experience

Difficulty: Strenuous Max Elevation:Duration: 10 daysStart/end point: Yuksom village, 5 hours from the Bagdogra airportAccommodation: Camping For those who want a taste of the Himalaya away from the crowds, Goecha La is your answer. This is also the best trek to get up close with India’s highest peak that it shares with its neighbour Nepal, Kangchenjunga, also the third highest mountain in the world. I wouldn’t call the Goecha La trek offbeat anymore, but it is still a surprisingly underrated trek, filled with surprises ranging from glacial lakes that reflect peaks around, rhododendron forests, captivating sunrises, monasteries, and views of several other mountains. It’s not for beginners since it involves a summit at the end (for that is where you get the closest view of the mighty Kangchenjunga), and there are several routes to get here but the one via Yuksom village is my favourite one. Need to know If you are pressed for time and want to get a taste of the Eastern Himalaya, the Sandakphu trail is a great pick. The five-day trek takes you to West Bengal’s highest point, and while it may not be very high at 3,637 metres, it shows you a stunning view of four of the world’s highest peaks, strung in the horizon across the border in Nepal. This mini trek can also serve as an add-on to Goecha La, a warm up to your big adventure, since it has the same base airport as the starting point. The Sandakphu viewpoint is also accessible via a 4x4 drive, with basic accommodation available.

Ladakh

Chadar Frozen River trek

Shikha Tripathi

Experience

Difficulty: StrenuousMax Elevation: 3,500 metresDuration: Nine daysStart/end point: Chilling Accommodation: Camping The Chadar frozen river trek is one of India’s most sought-after winter adventures. Every year for a couple of months, the Zanskar River becomes a ‘chadar’ or sheet of ice flanked by stark mountains and waterfalls that turn into sparkling chandeliers of ice. It is an incomparable landscape straight out of a Disney film, and is both thrilling and challenging. The chadar was once a lifeline for resilient Zanskaris to maintain communications and trading routes with the outside world. Today its unique beauty draws hefty crowds to an environment that is already grappling with climate change and the construction of a new road parallel to the river. I was fortunate to do this trek over a decade ago before it had exploded across countless Instagram feeds. These days I’m not sure I’d go back, simply due to the unsustainable pressure it’s under. You can make your own decision. Need to know This bucket list winter trek comes with a long list of preparations, starting with being mentally prepared for camping on ice in below freezing temperatures. There are no charging points along the way, so plenty of additional batteries, fleece lined bags to keep electronics and items like sunscreens and toothpastes in a liquid state, are required. Now that the ice is thinner due to warmer temperatures, be prepared to also fall through a few times. A sad reminder of our changing climate.