Trekking, Nepal

EBC
Pro’s
1) Seeing Everest
2) Wonderful high altitude trek that can be trekked safely in as little as 2 weeks Lukla – Lukla or 3 weeks Jiri – EBC – Lukla or just under 4 weeks Jiri EBC – Lukla – Gokyo – Lukla or longer

Con’s
Can be expensive if you fly to and from Lukla and risk of flight delays at Lukla

AC (Annapurna Circuit)
Pro’s
1) Diverse trek starting off at low altitude passing through paddy fields. Then grain fields, pasture, forests and out above the tree line over Thorung La (5540m) then through the deepest valley I the word, The kali Gandaki
2) Easy road access to trailheads so no flights required
3) Can be trekked as the full circuit of fly out of Jomsom if time is tight

Con’s – Trek now somewhat marred by road building

ABC (Annapurna Sanctuary)
Pro’s
1) Relatively short trek of about 10 days but gets you right into the heart of the mountains
2) Can be extended to include Poon Hill if time permits
3) Easy road access to trailheads so no flights required

Con’s
Few villages and none above Chomrong so a little lacking in culture and real Nepali life

Langtang / Helambu

Pro’s
1) Least crowded of all the teahouse trekking routes
2) Can be combined with Helambu (You can then trek right back into the Kathmandu Valley and save a long arduous bus journey)

Con’s
The bus ride from Kathmandu to Syapru Besi

4 more images

The Annapurna Circuit is Still an Excellent Trek - But the time to do it is now, before the road building gets any further up the Marsyangai valley, You will read all sorts of reports about this road building, a lot of people paint it as Much Blacker than it actually is, The road had got as far as Syange when I was there in the spring 2008, It does somewhat spoil the look of the valley, but you won’t hardly notice most of it as the trekking route is on the other side of the valley most of the way. Once above Syange then you are into Awesome Country – But unfortunately this road is due to creep all the way to Manang over the next 4 or 5 years.
There is now a jeep road down the valley of the Kali Gandaki all the way from Muktinath to Beni, again you can avoid most of it by careful route planning, Personally I wouldn’t trek the section between Jomsom and Ghasa as there is little choice here with alternative routes –– However more Good News is that there is No plan to build a road from Tatopani over Poon Hill to Nayapool – So that at least is one part of this Excellent trek that Will remain untouched !!
So hence my advice – Do it Sooner rather than Later !!

I would tackle Trekking AC as follows

Start your trek at Bhulbhule (The road continues up the left hand side of the valley and you take the old trekking route up the right side) – Walk across the suspension foot bridge and spend you first night at the small lodge my the waterfall about 20 minutes trekking from the road-head
The next days trekking is up to Bahudanda (Short day but uphill so if you have the time why kill yourself !!) –
You then rejoin the road ½ way through your next day at Syange and have to walk along it – I have heard that there still isn’t much traffic on it as there is still gaps in the construction but it does continue until above Tal.
Then after Pisang you are into pristine mountain country and you will love it
After crossing Thorung La don’t stay at Muktinath, 20 minutes further on is the often overlooked village of Jharkot – a real treat – see my Nepal travelogue of the same name on the link below ;-)
Don’t miss Kagbeni, Avoid Jomsom – Maybe take a bus / jeep down to Ghasa from Jomsom where you can leave the road and trek down the opposite side of the valley (Old trekking route on the left) until Dana – Then you have ½ hours trekking on the road to Tatopani.
After Tatopani no more roads as you head up and over Poon Hill – Spend the morning in Tatopani and enjoy the hot springs when they are at the cleanest and quietest and split the long uphill day to Poon Hill (Ghoropani) into two.
Spend your last night at Birithanti, less than an hours trek from the road-head at Naya Pul and a real gem of a village.
The next day walk to Naya Pul, catch a local bus and you should be back in Pokhara in time for lunch ;-)

2011 Transportation Update

There is now only a local bus to from Kathmandu to Bhulebhule, Personally I would be inclined not to use this as it will be very slow and by the time you have either gone to the bus station the day before to get your tickets or paid an agent commission to get them for you, paid for a taxi from Thamel to the bus station it will work out a lot cheaper to get a Pokhara tourist bus to Dumre and change there for the local bus to Bhulebhule.

When you arrive in Dumre, Ignore all the minibus / taxi touts that will inform you that there isn’t a local bus to Bhulebhule, walk to the Y junction in the middle of Dumre main Street and there you will pick up local busses both from Kathmandu and Pokhara.

However – Things can change Quickly in Nepal so it will still be worthwhile making enquiries to see if the direct tourist bus has be re-established

Recently there has been some rather misleading information posted on travel forums saying that trekking routes close in December – Regular visitors to Nepal know that this simply isn’t true so I will attempt to set the record straight by posting my own experiences of winter trekking in Nepal

1) AC in December / January. Setting off from Besisahar we encountered no problems and had good weather, when we arrived at Pisang all was white and this gave us a bit of a fright, but it turned out that it hadn’t been snowing but there had been an avalanche and the wind had blown some of it over the village, no one had been hurt so no problem, Manang and above was Very Cold but there was hardly any snow on Thorung La, Windy and cold on the summit and very cold on the decent as the sun always seamed to be in front, after Muktinath it warmed up again, chilly on Poon Hill (New Years Day) and a bit of ice on the first part of the decent from Ghoropani – But the Pro’s far outweighed the Con’s
2) EBC / Gokyo from Jiri in January / February - The weather was Good when I started to trek, warm days but cold nights, all was fine until Lamjura – then we went into deep snow about 2 hours before the summit, then going down towards Jumblasi conditions worsened with snow waist deep at times and sometimes even loosing the path, never-the-less we arrived in Jumblasi safe and sound and conditions improved, Crossing Kara Kola was again difficult because of snow, by this time it was frozen making the path a bit treacherous, in fact the path all the way up to Tengboche wasn’t all that cleaver with so much snow on the bridges that we did wonder if they would take the extra weight of us, so we crossed them one at a time - but again, taking care we arrived in Tengboche safe and sound. After Tengboche, Unbelievably we walked out of the snow and had a clear vertical snow free corridor all the way to almost the top of Kala Pattar.
The weather was Incredibly cold – when we awoke Inside the lodges there was ice on the outside of our sleeping bags most mornings.
There were lodges open all the way up to Lobuje, Gorak Shep was closed and we were lucky at Dhugla as the day we left the lodge owner closed up the lodge and took his yak down to Namche Bazaar to stock up with provisions for the coming spring trekking season – but other than those places it was business as usual.
From Lobuje we headed back down to Phortse Tango and from there made our way back up to Gokyo, again all snow free, then from Gokyo back to Namche, by this time the snow had also melted there and trekkers were heading up the Khumba like ants. We took a day of at Namche and headed down to Lukla for our flight back to Kathmandu and that was our trek. 28 days on the hill and a trek that I will never forget and again the Pro’s far outweighed the Con’s
3) Langtang in February – This trek didn’t work out so well, First of all the bus to Syapru Besi “Fell” off the road in a heavy hale shower, luckily it didn’t go right over the edge but wedged at an angle, eventually after a couple of hours the driver and assistants got it off and we were mobile again, But it was a very unnerving experience !!!! The trek from Syapru Besi was fine and the weather good but cool in the night, above Langtang Village the temperatures plummeted and at Kyanjing Gompa it was incredibly cold and I went down with a bad chest infection (This had been building for a few days so the cold didn’t help) , then it warmed up a little but snowed heavily so the trek back down to Langtang Village was a bit treacherous. Originally I had planned to cross Gosainkund into Helambu but because of my poor state of health I pulled the plug and trekked back down to Syapru Besi and returned to Kathmandu. Not my best trek by a long shot, but more down to my poor health that really big weather problems

I Hope that helps a clarify winter trekking a little, I didn’t have a thermometer so can’t give you exact temperatures but hopefully the descriptions will give you a good idea of what I encountered and what future winter trekkers might expect.
Best Regards and happy safe Trekking
Rob
Rob

Some people go to Nepal with a very limited timescale but still want to do a trek in the Khumba and see Everest – This tip is designed for trekkers with only nine days to trek in the Everest Region, This then leaves safety days and sightseeing days to enable the trek to be fit into a two week Nepal Visit.

1)Kathmandu to Lukla by flight then trek to Monjo (2650m)
2) Monjo to Namche (3450m)
3)Namche - Rest / Acclimatisation day
4)Namche - Thyanbosche (3867m)
5) Thyanbosche - Dingboche (3930m)
6) Dingboche – Phortse
7) Phortse to Namche
8) Namche to Lukla
9) Fly Kathmandu

This is the route of The Everest Marathon – Namche to Namche; you will be rewarded with great views of Everest and Ama Dablam and it will be a memorable trek :-)

4 more images

To go trekking in Nepal it is Necessary to buy a Trekking Permit Before you set off trekking !! These are best bought in Kathmandu, The fee for trekking in the Annapurna region is currently 2000 Nepalese rupees and you will need two passport size photos. Simply go to the office ( On Thamel Chowk ) fill in the forms, hand over your money and photo's and you will be issued with your permit there and then !!!

2006 -- Although I didn't actually manage to get on a trek on this, my latest trip to Nepal, I can confirm that the office is still in the same building but it has now moved upstairs -- It is now at Street level in the middle of the building, you turn in half way along it. I aren't sure of the current prices for trekking permits however !! -- Happy Travels in Nepal -- Rob

2008, For Trekking Annapurna (AC or ABC) You must have your permit before you enter the park, you can buy these in either Kathmandu or Pokhara However if you are trekking either Everest or Langtang region you now pay your park entrance fee at the Park gate
In addition to your ANCAP Conservation Fee you now also need a TIM's registration document, Nirmal at HMA got me mine, but I have been told that you can pick them up at the ANCAP office at the same time that you pay your ANCAP Conservation Fee

2008 second update
It is now possible to arrange TIM's and ANCAP Fees in Advance through Nirmal, Drop him an email for details, But basically he will arrange both permits for you for a fee of around $45 including the price of the Permits. You will have to email him your passport details, then you attach the photographs and pay the fee when you arrive – This is a Great Service and might well save you a day or two !!

2010 update
Starting March 15th 2010 TIM's card will cost $20 US in Nepali currency for trekkers not in groups. Group trekkers get it for $10

"The cabinet meeting held recently has changed some provisions related to Trekkers' Information Management System (TIM's). The new changes will come into effect from March 15.

As per the new provision, trekkers are required to take TIM's Card from Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) and Trekking Agencies' Association of Nepal (TAAN) before starting their trek. Trekkers travelling in groups can get the TIM's card upon paying $10 each while those preferring to travel individually need to pay $20.

2010 second Update – having just returned from Nepal I can confirm that the new rules mentioned above came into place on April 1st, 2010

Although TAAN registered agents aren’t allowed to sell independent trekkers cards (Green ones), nearly all of them are prepared to sell independent trekkers the Blue accompanied trekkers ones.
To do this the agents then have to demonstrate to the authorities that some money has changed hands between the trekker and the agent to arrange the trek so the price charged by the agent is usually the same at $20 that you would pay at the TAAN offices.
I have come across many lots of Trekkers who have done this. Particularly when they are on a tight timeframe organising both ANCAP and TIMS in advance and I haven’t heard of any of them running into problems, But strictly speaking the agents are stretching the rules !!

When trekking ABC, Especially in Spring and summer there is a risk of avalanche.
The greatest danger is between Deurali and MBC, but it is worthwhile asking lodge owners once above Chomrong for updates on the trail.
What usually happens in times of greatest danger is that locals build temporary bridges and you cross the Modi Khola to the eastern side and follow the temporary trails there – This then avoids the worst of the “avalanche Chutes” and makes for a safer trek.
Locals will be more than happy to give you the latest information on this and you will do well to heed any advice that they may five
Happy Safe Trekking
Rob

This plaque on the photo is for Three Germans and one Nepali who were killed by an avalanche only two years ago !!!

Trekking EBC, ABC, AC, Langtang and Helambu are all “Teahouse Treks”, normally people tend to either do it entirely independently, Hire a Guide or Porter or join a group.
I will try and go through each option giving pro’s and con’s so you can decide which option suits you best

Teahouse trek
This is the least expensive way to trek and you have the most flexibility as you plan your own stops, if you are tired you simply stay an extra night somewhere or stop trekking earlier than you had originally planned, also if you are feeling fit then you can continue further than planned – as long as this doesn’t infringe on the very important rule for AMS, once reaching 10,000 feet take one full day to acclimatise and then only gain 1,000 in altitude per day
However with Teahouse trekking You have no support if things do go wrong

Hire a Guide Porter/Guide or Porter
If you don’t want to trek Entirely independently a much better solution is rather than joining an Organised Group to hire a Guide or Porter/Guide and maybe one porter between two trekkers (When I say Guide I mean a guide with a Government License – a Porter/Guide doesn’t usually hold one and is in effect a guide in training, his English might be a little limited but he will be keen, knowledgeable and he will carry a certain amount of your belongings and is cheaper than the government licensed guide, a porter is just that, no guiding experience, usually no English and just there to carry your belongings – 1 porter usually carries 2 trekkers belongings)
By hiring your own staff, you are entirely in charge of your schedule, you can either walk quicker, slower, stop and start when you want, eat when you want and pick your own accommodation and can learn some more about Nepal, Culture, Language and facts about the areas you are trekking through as well as providing some much needed employment to a local person.

To work out your prices you must factor in
1) Your transportation costs
2) Your staff transportation costs (Nepali nationals get a huge discount on flights)
3)Staff fees
a) The professional trekking guide with government license holder cost US$.25.00 per day.
b) The strong Porter cost US$15 per day
c) The Porter/Guide cost US$20.00 per day
Above cost includes insurance, food, accommodation, salary.
4) Your own food and accommodation costs – typically this will work out around $30 per person per day

If you work out how many days you wish to trek for, add in your flights and other costs then this will give you a really Good idea of not only how much your trek will cost you, but exactly where you money is being spent !!

Most agents now offer “Packaged” treks, these tend to cost about $55 per person per day and include either a Porter/Guide or a Government Licensed Guide and porter(s) for larger groups, all your food (3 meals per day with tea or coffee) and accommodation as well as your TIMS and National Park entrance fee, Sometimes road transport by local bus is also included but Not Flights, Fizzy drinks / Beer / Mineral water, Snacks and “Staff” tips
Personally I wouldn’t go for one of these “Packaged” treks as I like to keep my own costs separate from that of “Staff” – This enables me to stay where I want and eat where, when and what I want.

Join a group
The Most expensive option and the one with the least flexibility, you Must keep up with the group or get left behind, Most times the money you spend isn’t spent in the areas that you are trekking through, you tend to stay in tents but are well looked after, the food tends to be better than you get in the teahouses but you are really paying for that privilege !!

If you decide to go down this route then it is better to use a local company because at least by doing that the money stays in Nepal and it works out at a fraction of the price of paying for such a trek in your home country with no major reduction in service as Most of the international companies sub-contract the guiding and porters out to a local company in any case !!

Personally I always think that when you try to rush a trek things inevitably go wrong – Sods Law and all that
Also Different people acclimatise at different rates, You will have already gained over 2.000m in 3 days on your trek from Syapru Besi to Kyangin Gompa, which is a lot. But if you only have 6 days available then this would be my suggestion
Day one – Trek from Syapru Besi to Rimche or Lama Hotel
Day two - Trek from Rimche or Lama Hotel to somewhere near Langtang Village
Day three - Trek from Langtang Village to Kyangin Gompa
Day four – As long as you have no adverse symptoms, headaches, double vision, feeling sick then get up early and trek into the upper Langtang Valley and attempt to climb Terko Ri, But if you start with symptoms turn back Immediately, then if you have sufficient time trek back below Kyangin Gompa, there are plenty of small lodges on the way back to Langtang Village
Day five – Trek to Sherpagon (High Level route, turn right at Rimche)
Day six - Trek from Sherpagon to Syapru Besi

You can follow the route on this downloadable map, link in my packing tips
Good Luck and Happy Safe Trekking
Rob