Just one page to the east of here we pay tribute to a place that shaped and brightened many of our lives. We say, bursting with armchair energy, that for many of us “a trek in the Nepal Himalaya is still the beginning and end of adventure travel.”

Everest and the Annapurnas is a brilliant rethinking of that slightly brash statement, giving us a chance to get acquainted (or reacquainted) with the fine people who live in the glow of the highest peaks on earth, and to bask in the radiant beauty of those peaks, first in the sublime Annapurnas and then in the Everest region itself. Rather than trekking (i.e., camping in tents), we embark on moderate to occasionally rigorous four- to six-hour hikes (never getting higher than 12,500 feet or so), ending up (with all of our gear, which is carried by porters) in carefully chosen, usually spectacularly sited, happily splendid lodges.

One of the world’s great mountain flights takes us to Pokhara (which may have the greatest mountain views of any city on the planet). For the next four and a half days, we’ll walk through lovely villages and revel in fantastic views of the Annapurnas, especially of lordly Machapuchare, a mountain as elegant and impressive as the Matterhorn and almost a mile and a half higher. And after returning to Kathmandu, we fly into the Sherpa homeland, the storied Khumbu, for another glorious stint of hiking, wandering in famous villages like Thame and Khumjung, overnighting in another series of fine lodges, always peering up to views of Everest, the earthly apex.

Day 1: arrive in Kathmandu • Day 2: around and about in the capital • Day 3: fly west to Pokhara, hike to Birethanti, Sanctuary Lodge • Day 4: hike to Ghandruk, Himalayan Lodge • Day 5: day hikes out of Ghandruk • Day 6: hike to Majgaun, Gurung Lodge • Day 7: hike to Phedi, drive back to Pokhara, fly to Kathmandu • Day 8: fly to Lukla, hike to Phakding, Yeti Mountain Phakding Lodge • Day 9: hike to Namche Bazaar, Yeti Mountain Namche Lodge • Day 10: hike to Thame, return to Yeti Mountain Namche Lodge • Day 11: hike to Khumjung, back to Yeti Mountain Namche Lodge • Day 12: hike to Syangboche, fly to Kathmandu • Day 13: wind down in Kathmandu • Day 14: depart homeward.

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