I've refrained from contributing to this thread until now, largely because I think I've already related the story of the dead Japanese trekker on the Thorung La elsewhere on Bird Forum, and whenever I tell it to friends and family (again) they tend to glaze over and tell me they've heard it before...
Seriously, Andy has a point about birding while trekking in Nepal. I did the Pokhara - Jomsom trek in November 1981, returned to do the Annapurna circuit (both as part of a longer stay in south Asia) in April 1982, then returned for a holiday in May 1989 and did the Langtang Valley trek, all the time tea-shop trekking and carrying my own stuff as well as acting as a porter for my first wife (although I was pretty strict about what to carry). I was a physically fit 20 something in those days, and had already trekked in Kashmir (Lidderwat glacier) and Zanskar before reaching Nepal.
On the Jomsom trek I felt exhausted after the Ulleri steps, spent the night vomiting out of the tea shop dorm window, and had to spend an extra day there before heading on to Gorepani through the rhododendron forest.
On the Thorung La my wife fainted on our first attempt due to the altitude, I had to more or less drag her down to lower levels and light a fire in a derelict yak herders hut to warm her up, returning to Manang where I got sick myself for the best part of a week.
The Langtang trek was *relatively* easy, although the bus journey up to the starting point is not for the faint-hearted. We explored up the valley beyond Langtang, got caught in a snowstorm and ended up spending the night in a cave (but did see Ibisbill!).
I was primarily trekking, not birding, but still managed to see loads of great stuff. Would love to go back to the Himalayas one day before I get too old to do anything, but I'd be looking at Bhutan (if I could afford it) or Arunachal Pradesh next time, both of which were firmly off-limits when I visited Nepal.
EDIT- almost forgot to mention my stepson went on a fairly hardcore organised trek (for walkers) in the region west of the Kali Gandaki a couple of years ago - somewhat off the beaten track, and involving several crossings of passes. One of their party had to be helicoptered off, they'd underestimated the physical demands of strenuous exercise at altitude, despite ample warnings about its severity.
