Nepal's outdoor landscape is defined by the Himalaya, but the range of what that means is wider than the Everest Base Camp reputation suggests. The Annapurna Circuit — 160 to 230 kilometres depending on route variations, crossing the Thorong La pass at 5,416 metres — moves through rice terraces, rhododendron forest, and high desert in a single multi-week walk that passes through ethnic groups speaking mutually unintelligible languages. The Langtang Valley north of Kathmandu delivers comparable high-altitude scenery with fewer trekkers and easier access. The Royal Bardia National Park in the Terai delivers walking safari encounters with tiger, one-horned rhinoceros, and gharial in tall grassland habitat very different from the mountain landscape. The Rara Lake in the remote northwest, at 2,990 metres in a national park accessible only on foot, is simply one of the most beautiful alpine lakes in Asia. Tours by locals who know the landscape beyond the obvious map pins reveal the hidden gems. It really hits differently.