Walking around Pokhara when it is raining
Monsoon and the shoulder weeks are not a write-off. The mountains hide, the forest comes alive, and half the good walking here does not need a view.
By Dawa Gurung · 6 min read · Updated 1 August 2026
Every operator in Nepal tells you not to come between June and September, and then acts surprised when visitors who arrive in July have nothing to do.
Plenty of us walk through the monsoon. The trick is choosing walks where the mountains are a bonus rather than the entire point, and adjusting the time of day.
This is what we do ourselves in the wet months.
Walk early, not late
Monsoon rain in this part of Nepal is heavily weighted toward late afternoon and night. Mornings are frequently dry, sometimes clear, and occasionally spectacular — the air is washed clean and you get an hour of visibility you will not see in October haze.
So the rule is simple: be walking by six and finished by eleven. Almost every miserable monsoon walk we hear about started at ten in the morning.
That also means an overnight somewhere high is worth more in monsoon than at any other time, because it puts you in position for the clear window rather than driving toward it as the cloud builds.
Walks that work in the wet
Panchase. The forest is the point rather than the summit, and it is at its most extraordinary in the rain — moss, orchids, cloud moving through the trees, and everything dripping. Leeches are present and manageable.
The World Peace Pagoda. Short, shaded, and the composition is the lake rather than the mountains. Works in almost any weather and the boat across is pleasant in drizzle.
The Begnas and Rupa lake country east of town. Low, green, flooded rice terraces at their most luminous. This is the classic monsoon photograph in Nepal and almost nobody comes for it.
Old Bazaar and the cave-and-museum circuit in town, for the days when it simply does not stop.
Leeches, properly explained
They live in wet forest between roughly 1,000 and 3,000 m, they are attracted by movement and warmth, and they will find your ankles. They do not transmit disease and the bite does not hurt.
Salt in a sock, or a small tub in your pocket, makes them let go. Long socks tucked over trousers and a check at every break handles the rest. Do not pull them off mid-bite; the wound bleeds longer. The bleeding afterwards looks dramatic because their saliva contains an anticoagulant. It stops. Nobody on any trip we have run has cut a walk short because of a leech.
What to wear
A proper waterproof rather than a showerproof jacket, and accept that you will be wet from the inside anyway — it is humid and warm, and a fully sealed jacket becomes a sauna. Many people walk in a quick-dry shirt and carry the jacket for downpours.
Quick-dry trousers, not jeans and not cotton. Sandals for the evening, because your boots will not dry overnight.
A dry bag or a liner for your camera and phone. And be aware that trails get properly slippery — the descent is where monsoon injuries happen, and poles help more than usual.
What we would not do
Anything high and exposed for the view. Mardi's ridge and the Annapurna Sanctuary in July are a lot of effort for a grey box, and we will say so rather than take your money.
Long road journeys without slack. Landslides close the Prithvi Highway and the Baglung road periodically, and a day of buffer solves nearly all of it.
River crossings on side trails after heavy rain. This is the one genuine hazard of monsoon walking and it is worth taking a guide for anything off the main paths.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
Is it worth coming to Pokhara in monsoon at all?
For the mountains, no. For green landscape, empty trails, low prices and a completely different Nepal, yes. And Upper Mustang sits in the rain shadow if you want a proper trek in July.
How bad are the leeches?
Present, persistent, harmless. Salt and long socks. They put off far more people than they should.
Will I see any mountains at all?
Occasionally, usually just after dawn following overnight rain. Treat every clear window as a bonus and you will enjoy the trip.
Do prices drop in monsoon?
Lodges and hotels are more negotiable and flights into Nepal are cheaper. Guiding and permits cost the same whatever the month.
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