I have a lifelong ambition to go trekking in Nepal, but I've been put off by talk of Maoist rebels. Can you tell me if it's safe? Mark Lutyens, Stirling

Sunday Times travel expert, Jeremy Lazell, responds: The good news – both for you, Mark, and for the thousands of Nepali guides, porters and teahouse owners who rely on the trekking industry for income – is that trekking in Nepal is probably safer now than it has ever been since the Maoist Communist Party launched its insurgency in 1996. Admittedly, there were riots and roadblocks in the south of the country just last month [Feb], and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office still recommends travellers stick to groups and reputable trekking agents, but with a peace treaty between Maoists and government signed in November last year, and a UN-monitored ceasefire agreed by both sides, optimism within the trekking industry itself is rife.

It’s also worth pointing out that in 11 years of trouble, no tourist has ever been targeted by rebels. Nor has any UK trekking operator pulled out of Nepal in all that time – even at the height of the 'People's War', tourists were merely required to pay a ‘trekking tax’ in Maoist strongholds such as the Annapurnas. “Statistically, you’re in more danger on holiday in America,” says Pete Burrell of Exodus, the UK’s leading trekking operator in Nepal, whose bookings to Nepal are showing a marked increase since the November ceasefire. “For the first time in years the average Nepali is really positive about the future of tourism,” he says. “Bookings are up week by week, and fantastic areas like Kanchenjunga and Dolpo are now open again.”

Would he take his family, though, we asked? “I’ve just got back from the Everest region with my wife and kids,” he says. “They can't wait to go back.”

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