17 to 21 days Split between 7-8 low with my wife and the rest for me hiking high

One tour agency I wrote to said I will be able to see rhododendrons in the jungle in May but another company said they only blooom in April, which in your case should not be a problem, if I can believe the latter.

Rhododendrons in Nepal bloom in March/April (March better). They are found in the middle hills (above 1350m, below 3600m), not in jungle. I do not recall rhododendron forests above Chomrong (ie the ABC trek). There are good rhododendron forests on either side of Poon Hill/Tadapani. (Never been on Mardi Himal trek but I'd bet the middle hill portion has rhododendrons - - need others to confirm this. There is also tge Mohare Dande trek.)

A caution regarding ABC and your dodgy knees: the trek has an incredible amount of stairs (up and down both directions).

For great Himalayan views with your wife, you could taxi to Dhampus (and perhaps stay night for sunset/sunrise).

Excellent info - thanks !
When I say my knees are dodgy they are still OK so I may have overstated the issue slightly. 800m altitude gain in 2 hrs (to 3,200m) isn't bad (out of breath more of an issue than my knees) :D Though coming down both feet were bleeding from a fast descent in the dark. And I spent 4 days atop Huangshan Mtn in China - and that is all steps wherever you go.

The rhododendron forests are especially for my wife so it's OK if they are not on the hike(s) I do without her. Sounds like we should do that first if I later take her to Chitwan. The taxi to Dhampus sounds perfect for her as I wanted her to enjoy Pokhara too and Damphus is close by. Are the views that good ? The ones from Poon Hill look good too - could she get a taxi most of the way and trek the final hour (as seems to be possible but I may have misunderstood) ?

Any options for her (and later me hiking 8-10 days) in the Everest region ?

Cheers !

Kevin, you need to get a guidebook.... Poon Hill is at least 3 day trek (OK, 2 days with jeep to/from Hille).

Thanks I have a couple. One I'm sure is out of date though I bought it in Kat last October. Trekking in Nepal (Toru Nakano - last updated 1992) and have just a couple of days ago bought the online pdf 'Trekking in Nepal' from thelongestwayhome which has a ton of great info and may be from 2016. I also read that new trekking routes are being developed all the time, though probably I remember wrong re. comments on an alternative route to just below Poon Hill.

However most people coming to Nepal are fit and healthy and so look for treks, not car routes for those unable to complete anything more strenuous. My wife could manage an hour or two but not more as it would put her back at risk. We may have to shelve the idea of anything more than Damphus but thank you again for that suggestion !

Late Toru Nakano's book is lovely but very very out of date. I suggest you get the 2016 Lonely Planet book (easy to get electronically online; inexpensive).

Everest treks would require flight to Lukla and either 1.5 days trek to namche (1 way) or expensive helicopter, with Namche being already at relatively high altitude. A better alternative mkght be transport from Pokhara to Jomsom (bus, jeep or flight) and jeep/bus to Kagbeni and Muktinath. Nice walks around there.

Thanks ! I'll research those.

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