The exotic Instagram feeds and constant posts about friends boasting about “finding themselves” in the mountains on your phone makes trekking in Nepal sound glamorous, doesn’t it?
Towering mountains, ancient trails, spiritual discoveries, and yak encounters, what could go wrong? Well, hold up, because we are here to expose the real reasons why trekking in Nepal is a terrible idea.
So, before you impulsively go ahead and book that trek, prepare to explore 13 reasons why you should not go trekking in Nepal. By the end of this blog, you will have your wanderlust extinguished and your couch potato tendencies validated!
Too Many Mountains, Too Little Effort
When trekking in Nepal, all you are going to see everywhere around you is just mountains, lots of them. And they are so tall and covered in pristine white snow, how bland and colorless right?
Your eyes along with your phone camera is going to get tired of these towering mountain views and you will constantly require craning your neck to witness the sheer glory of these peaks.
Some people say that these views are magnificent, but who would actually want to stand in front of an 8000er like Mt. Everest and feel so incredibly insignificant? We just call it lots of rocky inconvenience.
Then to add to the inconvenience, there is all this hype around witnessing a sunrise emerging from beyond one of these mountains and creating a colorful affair with hues of orange and red scattered on the white ridges of the peaks.
And to catch this ‘magical’ sunrise, one would need to wake up early and ditch their beauty sleep. Now, that can’t possibly be worth it right? The colors are obnoxious to be honest. After all, nothing can beat the LED’s and bulbs from the comfort of your bed.
What’s magical about frostbite on your camera finger and the distinct possibility of not having enough coffee? All those fiery oranges, purples, and pinks are just too much drama for a peaceful morning where you can sleep in instead.
Views so Unreal, You’ll Think you’re in a Wallpaper
When we say the views that you will get while trekking in Nepal are a visual assault, it is basically an understatement. These trails have the audacity to casually boast views like the ones you see on a screensaver or wallpaper.
The views of the likes of Mt. Everest, Annapurna Sanctuary, and Ama Dablam are so obnoxious that you might think for a second that you have hiked all the way up to a perfect 4k image.
To add to the absurdity, you will simply find so many instagrammable spots that your phone will run out of storage. Stay away from the treks like Everest Base Camp Trek, Annapurna Base Camp Trek, and more, because how dare they be so perfect?
You’ll Be Forced to Disconnect from Wifi
In this day and age, can you ever imagine being without Wifi for even a minute? What if a new Taylor Swift album drops and you miss it just because you were away on a trek disconnected from Wifi? Imagine the horror!
In the remote corners of Nepal, you will most likely not find Wifi connection. Even if you find one, it is going to be very slow. Now, the trekker’s group says that this is where you reconnect with yourself as you disconnect from the world.
What kind of a sick group of people encourages digital detox during the trek? What about doomscrolling for hours and hours? That will leave you actually looking around and basking in the natural beauty around you.
Besides that, you might be left journaling, reading, talking to real people around you, making friends beyond the screen of your phone, or even worse, you might be left reflecting and connecting with your inner self.
You Might Get Too Fit
Think of trekking like intense cardio. All that walking up and down the trekking trails, climbing stone stairs, all while carrying a trekking bag, it will leave you feeling more fit by the day.
The steep ascents, rocky descents, and thin air at high altitudes makes for a natural treadmill. You will develop muscles you didn’t know you had and a surprising amount of stamina.
Now, who would want to improve their cardiovascular health and get a toned body without ever asking for one? By the end of the trek, you will have legs like steel, and we wouldn’t want to mess with the natural evolution now, would we?
To add to the stress, you won’t fit in your jeans when you return, and you will have to dig up your old jeans two size smaller from your cupboard. Or even worse, go shopping.
That will simply add to your expenses. But maybe you can cover for it with the cost of gym membership that you will cut on?
Trekking Food Will Ruin Takeout Forever
Ugh, the burden of delicious food on the trek. Dal Bhat, warm plate of momo, thukpa, freshly baked apple pies at 4,000 meters? The food is surprisingly good and filling too.
The trails of Nepal have a common phrase- ‘Dal Bhat Power, 24 Hour’. That means, you will be served a warm plate of rice, lentils, vegetables, with a side of tasty pickle. And you get refills till your stomach is on the verge of exploding.
You will actually have energy that will last you long enough to make it through the challenging days on the treks like Manaslu Circuit Trek and Gokyo Lakes Trek. Now, who needs that kind of sustained vigor?
After consecutive days of basking in the culinary delight of the trails of Nepal, the processed food back home will never taste the same. We wouldn’t want to do that to McDonalds now, would we?
Your taste buds might go into a frenzy and begin questioning why they’ve been fed reheated microwave meals for years. Be warned, your culinary standards will be raised like never before.
You’ll Start Caring About Nature
Let’s imagine what trekking in Nepal looks like. Picture this, you will be walking along the Himalayan trail of the Langtang Valley Trek or the high altitude desert of Upper Mustang Trek.
Surrounded by different flora and fauna, whispering forests, colorful blooms of rhododendron, stunning glacial lakes, fluttering prayer flags, yaks, and soaring mountain spirits.
One minute you will be going about your way, and the next minute you will fall in love with these Himalayan trails and actually start caring about nature and the spiritual symbols scattered all over.
Imagine turning out to be that friend in the group who says things like ‘You don’t know life until you’ve experienced the view from the mighty Thorong La Pass’ and chants ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’. Will your friends ever accept you after that?
Unbearable Tranquility will Follow You Around
What gives you the sense of normalcy in life? Obviously, the comforting hum of traffic, the constant buzz of your phone, or the delightful drone of your neighbor’s lawnmower, right?
Well, this sense of normalcy will be gone as soon as you step on the trekking trails of Nepal. Because in the top trekking trails of Nepal, the mountains are just quiet.
You will be leaving behind the entire hustle and bustle of the city. There will be so much tranquility around you, even in the busiest of the treks, that it will feel like an assault on your inner turmoil.
This is what so many people pay for, to be alone and at peace in the Himalayas of Nepal. What we would suggest is that you stay home and save your money while the world around you keeps going at an erratic pace.
Uninterrupted Stargazing Will Make You Miss the City lights
Another perk of living in a city, you get to look at stunning skyscrapers and the lights from buildings all around you. Now imagine having to swap this for billions of stars in the clear night sky.
The experience of uninterrupted stargazing as you look at the Milky Way stretch across the sky will be nothing like a night full of gaming on your brand new PS5 or your mobile gaming sessions.
You’ll be forced to gaze upward, questioning your place in the universe, and experience massive cosmic contemplation. If you want to experience this, you could sign up for the Annapurna Circuit Trek. But don’t say later that we didn’t warn you.
Annoyingly Friendly Locals
If you decide against these reasons and go for trekking in Nepal, be prepared to be emotionally ambushed. The people here are so unnervingly friendly that your standards for human kindness will be ruined forever.
The guides, porters, local teahouse owners, and the Sherpas go above and beyond their way to make your stay comfortable. So much so that you will be left questioning your own cynicism.
People will constantly smile at you and offer polite greetings like ‘Namaste’, and you will find yourself returning the smile and their greetings too. They will treat you like family, without trying to sell anything.
Sherpas and guides might even carry your gear and your morale all the way up a 5,000 m pass. Imagine the nerve! If you are someone who likes being in their own bubble and complaining about bad service, Nepal will strip you of this fundamental travel right.
You Might Have an Existential Epiphany
Imagine standing at Kalapathhar and staring at the mighty Mt. Everest, or waking up to witness a beautiful sunrise at the Annapurna Sanctuary. Suddenly, your ego seems to be nothing against the vastness of the universe.
You begin questioning almost everything including the nature of reality, your job, your purpose, and why you ever worried about anything beyond the basics like food, warmth, clean socks, and mountain views.
These trails often leave you setting your priorities straight and gaining a better perspective on life. You might even realize you are more resilient than you ever thought.
This self discovery will bring you out of the blissfully unaware state and instead force you to reevaluate your life. Now, who would want that spiritual crisis over the office burnout and neck pain?
You’ll Miss Netflix!
While there are many challenges while trekking in Nepal like sore legs, body pain, and blisters, do you know what is worse? Spending an evening without Netflix and no more ‘one more episode’ till 3 am.
Yes, that is the horror that you will have to endure while trekking in Nepal. Forget about binge watching your favorite shows for the entire duration of the trek because there is no internet coverage there.
On certain treks like Everest Base Camp where you do have Wifi access, the speed isn’t nearly enough to load the homepage of Netflix, let along allowing you to stream through its contents.
Imagine Squid Games 4 releases while you are away on the trek and you miss the weekend to binge-watch it. How can you possibly choose stargazing in the mountains over the thrill of finding out who gets eliminated next on Squid Games!
Your Problems Will Seem Small
Isn’t it delightful to go about life as you complain about every single thing from a missed bus to the cold cup of coffee in the morning? If you go trekking in Nepal, these problems will cease to exist for you.
Not like it won’t happen, but you will stop bickering about it. Because you will have faced the Himalayan giants like Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, and all these problems will start to shrink faster than wool when exposed to heat.
Work problems and missed emails will start to feel irrelevant. Arguments with friends will be nothing but forgettable. Now, where’s the drama in it?
You’ll Leave a Part of Your Heart Behind
When you go on a vacation, you don’t sign up for so much introspection and free therapy in the mountains. And the even bigger betrayal when it comes to trekking in Nepal, you will leave a part of your heart behind.
To say that you will fall in love with the country and trekking in general is an understatement. The landscapes of Nepal will simply grab a hold of your heart and refuse to let go.
One fine Sunday many months later, you will be sipping on a cup of coffee as you hear the crunch of boots on trail, the clang of prayer wheels, and the echo of mountain wind. So much so that you will end up booking yet another trek in Nepal!
