Nepal

Nepal holds eight of the world's ten highest mountains, and even from a café terrace in Pokhara the Himalaya rearranges your priorities. You do not need to be a mountaineer. Luxury lodges now line the Annapurna foothills, so you can walk village to village through rhododendron forest and arrive each evening to hot showers, good wine and a fireplace with a view of ice giants turning pink. Kathmandu is its own adventure: medieval squares, spinning prayer wheels, the great white dome of Boudhanath circled by monks at dusk. Down in the lowlands, Chitwan swaps peaks for rhinos and river safaris. Helicopter to Everest Base Camp for breakfast if you want the summit view without the six weeks. Nepal is humbling, uplifting and absurdly good value.