Great Himalaya Trail, the great trekking of Nepal

If you think the 1,700 km of the Great Himalayas Trail aren't enough for you, you can extend this route as much as you like. You can start in Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan, and not stop until you reach Namche Barwa, in Tibet, passing through India, Nepal, Bhutan… creating the longest passable road in the Great Himalayas at over 4,500 km. If completed, this is one of the ten longest routes and the highest trekking route in the world.

The day before returning to Nepal to continue accumulating kilometers and elevation gains, Cardona reveals some key points to understand and appreciate the appeal of this unique trekking route in the world.

Interview with Joan Cardona

For Cardona, this is a trek to enjoy the views and simply let yourself go:

It's wonderful; these mountains are breathtakingly high. To be able to walk up there, cross a hill, have them right there in front of you, and just let yourself be carried away… Nepal has very high mountains, but it also has villages, fertile valleys, and abundant vegetation. It has a special charm.

The Great Himalayan Trail is a unique trail in the world that traverses Nepal, encompassing the regions of Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Everest, Langtang, Ganesh Himal and Manaslu, , Annapurna, Mustang and Dhaulagiri, and heading west through the Upper Dolpo, ending in Darchula. Its unique terrain winds beneath the highest peaks in the world, through lush, fertile valleys, and across arid glaciers.

Although this route may share similar regions with the Alps in general terms, for Cardona, this Himalayan trek is nothing like what we have in Europe.

It's something truly unique. This route crosses several high passes, reaching 5,700 meters, which is practically unparalleled in the world. Furthermore, it traverses all types of terrain, leaving tropical zones, passing through dense jungle areas, gradually ascending, then reaching forests with abundant vegetation, and as the climb continues, the terrain becomes increasingly alpine, even crossing a large glacier. For example, in the Alps, you wouldn't start your trek in a tropical zone with its oppressive heat. This makes this trek quite different and unique.

The route has two variations, a high and a low one. The high route crosses mountain passes between 4,000 and 6,200 meters, some of them snow-covered, requiring the use of ice axes and crampons, as well as porters. The low route ranges between 1,500 and 2,500 meters in altitude, passing through small villages inhabited by various ethnic groups in Nepal. Cardona and Pinsach have adapted their progress between the two routes, but without avoiding some high passes. This is undoubtedly one of the few difficulties this trek entails, according to Cardona.

The key to this trek is acclimatization rather than distance. We covered 1,200 kilometers, but divided over 70 days of hiking, that's relatively little. The biggest challenge, however, is the altitude. If you acclimatize properly, you can make the same effort as here. It just takes a little more effort. Keep in mind that people like the Tibetans live at 4,000 meters, and that's fine; the altitude is only a problem due to acclimatization.

Joan Cardona, renowned for his career as a mountaineer, climber, and also as the director of the Catalan Ski Touring Team, has already covered 1,200 km with 70,000 meters of elevation gain on this high-altitude route. Although he has set foot on Nepalese soil more than a dozen times throughout his life, even reaching the summit of Everest, he has returned to Nepal accompanied by his friend Joan Pinsach, simply to enjoy the trek.

The day before returning to Nepal to continue accumulating kilometers and elevation gains, Cardona reveals some key points to understand and appreciate the appeal of this unique trekking route in the world.

Interview with Joan Cardona

For Cardona, this is a trek to enjoy the views and simply let yourself go.

The great charm of this trek is that there's no strict route to follow, allowing you to discover some of the most hidden and least-explored corners of this mystical country, escaping some of the busiest tourist areas. One of the main attractions of this trail is that it passes through some of the most impressive and highest mountains in the world, but what truly sets it apart is the vitality and friendliness of the Nepalese people.

What I love most about this trek and the area are the mountains, but the second thing I love most is undoubtedly the people. It's so worthwhile to meet them, to talk to them. They're poor countries, but they're not miserable people. They teach you so many life lessons. The people are kind. Life is very hard here in Nepal, but everyone smiles.