My solo journey through Nepal was a test of endurance, patience, and perspective – and one of the most rewarding adventures I have embarked upon.

It had long been a desire of mine to travel solo in a country as unfamiliar and fascinating as Nepal. I knew that I wanted a physical challenge along the way – and what better place to find that than in the Himalayas. Furthermore, following a recent investment into a new camera, I was determined to brush up on my photography and videography skills by capturing the incredible scenery of the mountains as well as the captivating culture across the country.

My journey began with a long day of travel to Kathmandu, where I was immediately greeted by the city’s chaotic nature. A couple of days spent here wasn’t quite enough to acclimatise to the hecticness, but the heavy rain made me feel right at home. I was sure to make the most of my limited time, visiting cultural sites such as the Monkey Temple and Durbar Square and trying many of the local dishes.

On day 3, along with my trekking guide, porter, and small trekking group of two (including myself), I departed Kathmandu for the highlight of the trip – the Annapurna Circuit Trek. With little to no high-altitude hiking experience under my belt, it was sure to be a real challenge. As such, there were definitely some nerves around what was to come, despite the path being travelled by so many every year. An early, and unbelievably bumpy, 11-hour minibus journey took us from the bustling streets of Thamel to the quiet, remote village of Dharapani, with only a few moments of nearly tumbling off a cliff along the narrow mountain roads.

For the following 9 days, we wandered through dense rainforest, over precarious suspension bridges, and higher into thinner mountain air. Each day brought new, completely unexpected scenery, and unfortunately some completely predictable severe sunburn. One thing that never seemed to change was the lunch – an unlimited portion of dal bhat kept us fuelled throughout the exhausting days. The popular saying ‘dal bhat power, 24 hour’ could not be disagreed with.

By day 4, the effects of the thinning air began to take their toll. Struck by headaches and some nausea, I was questioning my decision to sign myself up for this. Looking back, it is for this exact reason that I signed up for this at all: to push myself out of my comfort zone physically and mentally. With the jaw-dropping views of the Annapurna mountain range always to our left, I knew that it was well worth persevering if it meant that we would be able to see even one more snow-capped peak in the distance.

We had experienced what felt like every possible weather condition along the way, so the clear skies provided on the final day of hiking were more than welcome. Up at 3am that morning, we had the daunting task of climbing from 4600m to over 5400m elevation by the time the sun fully rose. It was by far the most challenging section of the hike due to there only being half as much oxygen available. Many breaks were necessary, and it was safe to say I was well out of my comfort zone. We pushed through the 4-hour final ascent and reached Thorong La Pass at 7:30am, at a peak altitude of 5416m. Relief and accomplishment washed over me briefly, only to discover there were 4 more painful hours of steep descent back down to 3600m before we had completed the trek.

After a couple of days of much-needed rest in Muktinath and Tatopani, we said our goodbyes to the guide and porter and continued on to Pokhara. A vastly different city to Kathmandu, Pokhara had many of the same interesting cultural sites and aspects but was a much more relaxed environment. Staying in a busy hostel allowed me to interact with other solo and group travellers from all over the world. This was a highly valued aspect of my trip, as it can often be intimidating to get involved in what already seems like a well-connected group of people. I found, however, that everyone was in the same boat in that respect and thus my confidence in participating and engaging in new activities with fresh faces was improved. I signed up to two activities I had never done before: white water rafting and paragliding. One slightly more alarming than the other, they were both great fun and provided some new ways to observe the beautiful scenery of Pokhara and its surroundings. The World Peace Pagoda offered another stunning panoramic observation point for the city of Pokhara and was a fascinating monument in itself.

Next, I caught a bus all the way down to Chitwan National Park. Known for its safari expeditions by foot, jeep, or canoe, Chitwan was always one of the parts of my itinerary that I looked forward to most. Day 2 was not so busy, with it being the Hindu festival of Dashain. Many families were at home celebrating, or even coming together at temples where buffaloes and goats were sacrificed for the Goddess Durga. The next day, I embarked on a short canoe trip where we spotted many of both mugger and gharial crocodiles, the latter known for their long, narrow snout and sharp teeth. We docked the boat on the river bank and continued on foot through the forest. At this point, our guide briefed us with guidance on what to do if we see certain animals; some involved climbing trees, some running in zig-zags, and others more along the lines of ‘let’s just hope we don’t see any of those on foot’. Filled with reassurance, we roamed through grass that had grown to over 10ft throughout the monsoon season and inhibited any ability to see what could be lurking. During this and our jeep journey that afternoon, we spotted rhinos, macaques, langurs, and hog deer, along with a couple of pesky leeches on the side of my legs. It was an excellent opportunity to get some photos of these wild animals living in their natural habitat.

After my few days in the south, it was time to head back to Kathmandu to fly home just in time for Cambridge term to start. It was only when I sat down on the bus that I was told that there had been landslides on the route and thunderstorms had caused police to shut Kathmandu Valley for the next 3 days. A stressful two days followed, after which I did somehow manage to make it to Kathmandu under ‘emergency travel’ reasons.

As an engineering student, there were few technical skills to build on an adventure such as this, but the soft skills I improved – perseverance, communication, confidence – are invaluable for any future career. This trip pushed me far beyond my comfort zone in every sense, yet the challenge was as rewarding as it was humbling. Nepal’s blend of chaos, beauty, and resilience forced me to see my personal development from a different perspective, and I would wholeheartedly encourage anyone to take the opportunity to travel solo to somewhere as unpredictable yet inspiring as here. Hopefully, I will be able to find the time in the coming months to put together a short film highlighting some of the most memorable parts of my trip.