Not sure you will like trekking? Try one day first
You can find out whether multi-day walking in the Himalaya is for you in about six hours, on the exact terrain the real trek uses.
By Dawa Gurung · 5 min read · Updated 1 August 2026
A surprising number of people book a two-week trek having never walked uphill for more than an hour, and a smaller but real number of them are miserable by day three.
That is entirely avoidable, because you can test the whole proposition in a day from Lakeside — the gradient, the stone steps, the heat, the boots, the food and whether you actually enjoy it. This is what we suggest to anyone who says they are not sure.
The test day
Drive to Kande, walk up to Australian Camp, continue to Dhampus, and drop down to Phedi. Five to six hours, around 400 m of climbing and rather more descending, on stone staircase and hill path.
This matters because it is the first section of the Mardi Himal route. You are not on a purpose-built viewpoint path — you are on a real Himalayan trekking trail, walking the same steps you would walk on day one of the real thing. By the end of it you will know four things: whether your boots fit, whether the descent hurts your knees, whether you like the pace, and whether the view does something for you. Those are the four questions that decide a trek.
What you will learn about yourself
Downhill is the surprise. Almost everyone worries about going up and almost everyone is undone by going down — quads, knees and toes jammed into the front of a boot. If the descent from Dhampus hurts, that is genuinely useful information, and the fix is trekking poles rather than a cancelled trip.
Pace is the second. Trekking here is much slower than walking at home, and people who find that frustrating rather than pleasant tend not to enjoy two weeks of it.
Heat is the third. Lower altitude Nepal is warm and humid, and the first two days of most treks are the sweatiest.
And the fourth is whether the reward lands. Some people come over the rise at Australian Camp and go quiet. Some take a photograph and check their phone. Both are fine, and only one of them should book fourteen days.
If a full day is too much
Sarangkot at sunrise, walking down through the villages rather than driving. Two to three hours downhill only, and you still learn what descending does to your knees.
The World Peace Pagoda by boat — forty minutes up, forty down, shaded. This is the gentlest possible version and it still tells you something.
Either is enough to decide between a three-day trek and a ten-day one, which is usually the actual question.
What we do with the answer
If the day went well, we will happily talk about the longer routes and we will book you on something.
If it did not, we will say so and point you at Ghandruk for three easy days, or at Chitwan and Bandipur and a week of day walks instead. There is no version of this where the right answer is selling a two-week trek to someone who did not enjoy the first six hours.
Nobody has ever been talked out of a trek and come back angry about it. Several people have been talked into one and come back with opinions.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
Do I need a guide for the test day?
Not for Australian Camp or Sarangkot — the paths are clear. Taking one means you can ask the questions that matter, which is most of the value of the exercise.
How fit should I be before even trying this?
If you can walk for two hours at home without dreading it, come and find out. That is the entire prerequisite.
Can I book the trek afterwards?
Yes, usually for the next morning. Permits are the only thing that takes time, and we can normally sort them in an afternoon.
What if I hate it?
Then you have spent one day and a taxi fare finding out, instead of a fortnight and a flight. That is a good outcome, not a wasted day.
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Still deciding?
Tell us your dates and how much walking you have actually done, and we will tell you honestly whether this trek is the right one for you.
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