Travelling To Nepal In August

By Author: iTourNepal
Total Articles: 23
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August is beginning of the biggest tourist season in Nepal. However it is still middle of the rainy season. Monsoon rain dominates the summer that lasts from June till August. Intermittent rain continues throughout September. Temperature ranges from 0 to 32 degree centigrade depending upon the altitude. Days are hot and humid and trails become muddy and slippery.

With proper preparation and right itinerary, travelling to Nepal in August will be more rewarding. With fewer tourists, the costs go lower and the destinations are quieter. After the rice plantation is over, August is also the beginning of festival season in Nepal. This is best time to experience local life and the culture at its best.
Nepal has something to offer for travellers throughout the year. The drastic change in altitude ranging from 70 m to top of the Himalayas, creates different climatic zones. The Himalayas blocks the monsoon clouds creating rain shadow in the trans-Himalayan regions. It also rains more in western Nepal than in eastern Nepal. Temperature in the middle hills is comfortable ranging from 8 to 28 degree centigrade. Moreover ...
... it mostly rains in the morning, evening and night allowing sightseeing and travelling during the day.

Best Nepal trips for August

Cultural Tour : A week’s cultural tour is the best thing to do in August. Kathmandu is cultural center of Nepal. The three old cities and the outskirt of Kathmandu valley have several hundreds of monuments. Seven groups of which are enlisted as UNESCO heritage sties. The surrounding hills provide day hikes for travelers of all fitness levels. Hill station towns like Nagarkot and Dhulikhel have decent to luxurious accommodations to enjoy the sunrise and sunset over the Himalayan panorama. Going outside of Kathmandu, hill towns like Bandipur, Sarangkot and Astam are best places to enjoy country side lifestyle and have close view of the snow peaks.
Spiritual tour : Another suitable tour for August is spiritual tour of Nepal. Fewer tourists and more authentic cultural activities with the beginning of festival season make spiritual tour in August more rewarding. In the citadel of mountains, Nepal preserved the genuine practices Hindusim, Buddhism and Tantrism untouched while its neighbors were invasion and colonization. The Himalayan foothills were also the popular retreat center for spiritual masters of different believes from Indian sub-continent. Sacred mountains, rivers, caves and thousands of monuments are still worshiped by locals with great zeal. The harmonious practices coexisting made Nepal one of the must to visit places for both Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims.

Jomsom – Muktinath Tour

Jomsom and Muktinath lies in the trans-Himalayan region of Annapurna. The region is known as lower Mustang which used to be one of the popular trekking regions in Nepal. With the extension of road from Pokhara, it is more practical now a days to drive and do side hikes. Muktinath is a pilgrimage site for Hindus and Buddhists. The place is situated at 3,800 m overlooking at snow peaks of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges. Sightseeing and hikes visits view points, apple orchards, ancient cave settlements, waterfalls and lakes. Jomsom – Muktinath tour could be done in August as it is in rain shadow and the temperature at the time will be more comfortable.

Upper Mustang Trek

Even though people do popular treks in August, Upper Mustang trek is the best choice. The trans-Himalayan region of Mustang remains highly dry in August and the summer makes the weather at the high altitude more comfortable. Mustang is known as forbidden Tibetan kingdom which was inaccessible until 1990es. Politically being in Nepal, it practiced the Tibetan Buddhist lifestyle and culture without disturbances and thus known as Tibet outside Tibet. Trek through the arid mountainous landscape heads to its walled capital of Lo Mangtang. The trek is rich in cultural experiences as well as mountain scenery.

August Events

Be at the right place for the celebrations happening in August. August is the beginning of festival season in Nepal. Four major festivals fall in the month. The full moon day of August is known as ‘Janai Purnima’. People get blessings with welfare thread around their wrist and have feast inviting their relatives. Devout Hindus also change their sacred thread. Hindus and shamans make pilgrimage to Gosaikunda Lake for the day.

Teej is another festival celebrated in August. The three day long festival is dedicated to Nepalese women when they take time off to dress themselves in their best red and express themselves through singing and dancing. Female members visit their maternal homes where they are treated with feast. On the last day, they fast and do ritualistic worship of lord Shiva for the long life and prosperity of their husband.

Gai Jatra and Gathe Mangal festivals are celebrated in Kathmandu valley in August. People who have lost member in the year, takes out procession with cow or if not children decorated as cow to console others who are grieved by similar lose during the Gai Jatra festival. The festival turns into street parade for comedy and political satire by the late afternoon.

So coincide your travel dates to watch these amazing festivals in the streets of Kathmandu; be prepared for unpredictable rain and choose the right itinerary to get the most out of your Nepal tour in August.

I am an adventurer from the Himalayas of Nepal. I like trekking and discovering new places. I have a degree in culture and love to read non fiction books. I also write travel journals and blogs.