Charms of trekking through vegetarian regions

• Sushant Lama

Trekking through Nepal’s remote and snowy Himalayan regions are famous for both spiritual as well as vegetarian trekkers.

Trekking is the most popular adventure in Nepal which has been preferred by most visitors because it includes visiting various places, snapping some beautiful photos, exploring nature, and learning about the culture of people.

You are a vegetarian and want to travel to Nepal without eating meat products. Do such places exist in Nepal where you may trek by relying on vegetarian dishes only?

The answer is yes. There are plenty of trekking trails where animal sacrifice is banned and only vegetarian dishes are permitted.

The trekking regions where only vegetarian people can travel usually fall under spiritual trekking which can be enumerated as follows.

Himalayan region

Most of the Himalayan regions of Nepal are free from the sacrifice of any kind of animals. There is a notion among the people that mountains are various forms of gods and goddesses and various mountains of the Himalayan region are treated with utter venerations. Because of this, sacrifices of animals are completely banned around the mountain areas including most of the base camps in the trekking and expedition areas.

One of the prime and sought after destination of Nepal, Everest Base Camp is one of them which offers good trekking for vegetarian trekkers. You can enjoy the beautiful view of the tallest mountain in the world, spectacular landscapes, and picturesque views of snow, exotic sunrise and sunset with pure vegetarian foods without any meat product to annoy you.

Another destination is the Annapurna base camp, one of the most visited regions that can offer you the best options for vegetarian trekking. People here too have the same belief about the mountains and vegetarian dishes are most preferred. It offers an amazing view of Annapurna range, Himchuli, exotic valleys, green forests filled with rhododendron and many more.

Manaslu base camp is another beautiful place where total vegetarian dishes are allowed. It is one of the most exotic trekking routes with a spectacular view of Manaslu along with the surrounding valley, rivers, and other mountains.

Other mountains include Mardi Himal, Dhaulagiri, Machhapuchhre, and many more.

Not only mountainous areas but also some valleys too have been able to completely ban animal sacrifice and use vegetarian foods as in Tsum Valley. People here are very religious and exhibit Tibetan kind of Buddhism and Buddhism does not allow animal sacrifice.

Tsum valley offers one of the best vegetarian trekking experience in Nepal. Located in Upper Mustang, picturesque views of various mountains, valleys, rivers, and desert-like landscapes provides are truly breathtaking experience. You can enjoy a good trekking experience with vegetarian food here.

You can also visit many Buddhist pilgrimages that usually shun meat products. Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha is one of the holiest pilgrimages in Nepal that focuses on non-violence and vegetarian dishes.