Rara Lake

Rara is the kind of place people describe with their hands, because words do not quite do it. At 2,990 metres in Mugu, surrounded by pine and juniper forest, this lake is the largest freshwater lake in the Nepal Himalaya.

The facts

• About 10.8 square kilometres, 5 km long and 3 km wide.
• Up to 167 metres deep.
• Protected inside Rara National Park, set up in 1976, and listed as a Ramsar wetland since 2007.

What to do

• Walk the trail around the lake. Give yourself most of a day and stop often.
• Climb to the viewpoints above the lake for sunrise or sunset.
• Spend an evening in the quiet. There is almost no traffic and no noise, just wind and water.

Our tip

Rara is remote, and that is the point. Flights to the region depend on the weather, so build in extra days at both ends and bring warm layers even in autumn.