Observe the mating habits of the Queen of Spain (Issoria issaea). Watch Death’s Head (Acherontia) hover over your own.

Eleven of the world’s fifteen families of butterflies are found in Nepal. The rare Banded Apollo has also been spotted at 5000-5500 metres, protected from harsh weather by its hairy body.

Walking in Nepal is rewarding in ways other than the cocktail of conifer-oak-deciduous breezes and free exercise. The country has 600 indigenous plants with more therapeutic properties than your favourite multivitamin tablet.

If you choose to head out on a trek, let a Sherpa show you the way. These “people from the east” live year-round at elevations beyond 3000 metres and are naturally adept at scaling abrupt heights. If, perchance, you begin to huff and puff halfway up, you can always pause at a tea house (often the home of a Sherpa guide), for a piping hot meal of rice and curry. But not for long. For a sparkling peak scorns at you from the distance, urging you to be on your way.