Was Nepal right to ban solo trekking in the Himalayas?

Part of the magic of trekking in Nepal used to be how easy it was to get started, but on 1 April 2023, the government imposed a radical shake-up of the country’s trekking rules. Whereas previously travellers could hike alone anywhere in the country, now they must hire a guide to walk through Nepal’s 12 national parks and six conservation areas, including the popular Everest Base Camp and Annapurna and Manaslu circuits. And the mandatory Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) card, which needs to be obtained to walk in these areas, can only be issued to those who arrange a guide through a government-approved trekking agency. So, is the sun finally setting on Nepal’s golden age of hassle-free trekking? The answer depends on how and where you want to hike in the country.

Why the change in rules? 

“The primary objective of requiring trekkers to hike with a guide is to ensure the safety and security of visitors trekking in mountain regions,” explains Ram Chandra Sedai, CEO of the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal. However, the secondary but equally important objective is to generate local employment opportunities. “The mandatory use of guides also helps to formalise the work of guides and porters with improved social security services, better wages and safer working conditions,” adds Ram.

What has the reaction been?

Nepal’s hard-working guides have welcomed both the job creation and safety implications of the new rules. “I’ve just returned from Everest Base Camp and was staying in a teahouse where a solo trekker passed away due to acute mountain sickness,” explains Shiva Bastakoti, a guide for Nepali trekking agency Snow Cat Travel. “He probably wouldn’t have lost his life if he’d been accompanied by a guide who could have advised him on what to do when he started showing signs of AMS.”

As well as knowing the trails — and interesting detours you might otherwise miss — good guides know the local languages, understand the mountains and can immerse you in the Himalayas’ culture, customs and cuisine.

Veteran hikers, however, are less enthusiastic about the end of the old footloose way of trekking. “For less-experienced trekkers, having a good guide can definitely enhance your trekking experience, but guides aren’t trained to a consistent standard in Nepal,” says Bradley Mayhew, author of Lonely Planet’s Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya guidebook. “Encouraging trekkers to hire a guide by providing better-trained guides would be a smarter approach than forcing all trekkers to take a guide, regardless of their experience.”

Trekking agencies have backed the new rules, though there are concerns about the way the changes were announced.

“With sporadic incidents of solo trekkers going missing, the new rules are certainly well-intentioned,” says Abhi Shrestha, COO of Snow Cat Travel. “However, the hasty introduction of the new rules, and the ambiguity in the way the rules have been phrased, leaves us with lots of questions about how effectively these changes can be implemented.” 

How will this affect travellers?

If you’re booking a trekking tour to Nepal with an international operator in the UK or a trekking agency in Nepal, these changes will have little effect on your trip. However, travellers who want to trek independently will now have to budget at least £20 a day for a Nepali guide. Overall, costs to trek solo with a guide may end up similar to joining a supported group trek — bank on spending at least £1,000 for the two-week trek to Everest Base Camp, and significantly more to visit restricted areas such as Upper Mustang, Humla and Upper Dolpo. The Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal maintains a directory of licenced operators.

So, can I still trek independently in Nepal?

Yes — the new restrictions still leave hundreds of miles of lower-altitude trekking trails accessible to solo hikers, including approach routes used by early Himalayan mountaineers in the 1950s. Those who crave the freedom to trek unaccompanied can take the trails that snake through the Middle Hills around Kathmandu, Bandipur, Gorkha, Dhampus and Panchase near Pokhara. Here, you can still get a taste of the solo adventuring that existed in the days of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.