ENTRY PROCEDURES
A visa is required to enter Nepal except for Indian nationals. One can get a visa at the Royal Nepalese Embassy or Consulate or at the airport upon arrival or from Nepalese embassy before you come to Nepal. Children under 10 years need not pay any visa fees. Two passport sized photos are mandatory.
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1. Trek grading
Our grading system gives an idea of the number of hours you can expect to walk each day, the type of terrain, and the number of consecutive days trekking. Remember that, all you will be carrying is your camera and a day pack-some warm clothes and raingear. The following is designed to be a rough guide to help you select the trek that suits you best.
Moderate/Reasonable - "C" More remote country, often camping in the wild, the occasional 7 or 8 hour day (camp to camp) but not more than 5 days consecutive walking. Altitude gains of up to 600m. a day.
Adventurous/Vigorous - "B" Up to 9 days consecutive walking including high passes up to 4500m. (With snow covering), but more typically on passes of 3650-4300m. Again, occasionally a 7 or 8 hour day, but usually 5 or 6 hours. A long way from any road!
Challenging / Strenuous - "A" Only one of our treks, "A Himalayan Summit" fully merits this grade. This is purely on account of its altitude, 6000m. Given the time for acclimatization, this is well within the grasp of the fit and healthy.
Note: Remember that your porters, carrying up to 30kg, will be covering the same ground as you, so be considerate of their day to day arrival times.
2. Fitness and experience
Common misconceptions are that you need to be a super-athlete to trek in the Himalayas, that perhaps climbing skills will be required, and lastly that you will have to endure great hardship. Not true! As long as you are in reasonable physical shape and take regular weekly exercise, you can be confident of capably undertaking most of our treks. Virtually all our journeys involve a lot of walking on well-worn paths from village to village, and from area to area over high passes. The occasional pass may be snow covered, but this will not involve technical climbing. We do advice that in the month prior to departure that you do some warm-up training, such as long weekend walks, jogging, swimming or cycling. You may feel this to be unnecessary, but it will certainly allow greater enjoyment of your trek.
3. A typical day on trek
While on your trek waking hours are determined by the sun. You will be woken not long after sun-up by the cook boy bringing around Bed Tea, followed by a bowl of warm water for washing, after washing & bed tea you have time to pack your duffle bag put it outside the tent for the Sirdar to organize loads. Breakfast follows a leisurely time afterwards. Typically, this will be a choice of cereals such as muesli or porridge, followed by eggs, chapatis or bread and jam, coffee, tea and biscuits.
After breakfast and packing your personal belongings for your day pack, you start walking. The tents will be struck by the Sirdar and his porters or loaded onto horses or yaks along with your duffle bags. Remember your duffle bags will not be accessible throughout the day so it is important to pack what you need during the day in your day pack.
Usually you will walk for about three hours at an easy pace, stopping to talk to local people on the way, passing the time of day with traveling monks, or photographing the mountains, the occasional wild animal, brightly colored birds and numerous and varied flora. Occasionally you will stop at a tea shop or be invited into a local house for Chang (barley beer).
Lunch may be beside a picturesque river, or in a mountain meadow. Sometimes lunches will be a hot meal, either fresh or tinned meat, boiled potatoes, soup, chapattis and cheese, and always a welcome cup of tea/coffee.
New sights and spectacular terrain unfolds as the day progresses. You can always count on something unexpected happening: a meeting with a band of traders and their mule train, a sighting of a Golden Eagle, monks building a chorten (religious obelisk), or perhaps bumping into the local doctor who shows you his herbal potions kept in leather pouches.
The evening camp is reached at 4.00 or 5.00 pm and time is again your own, to wash, write diaries or perhaps visit a local monastery. Camp will have been set up by the staff and you can look forward to a three course meal: soup, rice and stew (you choose how many chilies!), local vegetables, with fruit, cake or apple pie to finish off with. The mess tent will be big enough for us all and the evening meal is usually the social event of the day, particularly when washed down with a wee dram. As the sun goes down so does the temperature and a warm sleeping bag beckons, after an enjoyable days trekking.
4. Travel seasonThe best time of the year to visit Nepal is during Spring (Feb-April) and Autumn (Sep-Nov). While the departure dates are arranged to take advantage of the best weather in each reason, it is always possible that you may in encounter rain or even snow. Most trekking days in the Himalayas are in sunshine, with spectacular scenery and enchanting weather.
5. Conservation of ecology and culture
The main appeal of the Himalaya is its unspoiled landscape and culture. As many people visit the region each year it is inevitable that their passing will affect the area in some way. Therefore it is desirable to keep these effects to a minimum. This requires care and consideration on the part of all travelers, to leave a place as they found it, for others to enjoy.
We take care to correctly dispose of rubbish, burning what we can and carrying out tins, plastic and glass items. To avoid deforestation we use kerosene stoves! Only fallen logs and trigs are use to make camp fires which are extinguished properly before leaving a campsite. Deforestation is Nepal's greatest environmental problem and we do our best to minimize this.
Remember :- "Wood is good but trees are better"
The most damaging result of tourism is "culture pollution". This stems from local values giving way to materialism, a condition totally at odds with the predominant religion of the area. Each country has its own policy regarding such things as photography and tipping, and these should be respected. It is hoped that future generations will be able to enjoy the Himalaya as we can today. "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time", and enjoy.
6. Small groupOur trips are typically limited in size to fourteen members, including the group leader allowing for intimate group experiences whether it be wandering through an ancient bazaar or walking among wildlife. Small exclusive groups also assure flexibility, allowing us to cater to individual needs, avoiding regimentation of any kind, offering that special personal touch.
7. Convenience
We are experienced at handling all the logistics of travel to even the most minute details. We will take care of the planning, reservations, and all of the other details involved in making your special trip a success. We also assist your group in promoting the trip, by providing marketing materials and distribution expertise.
8. Value
We arrange full and comprehensive service and high quality adventures that reflect quality standards of our regularly scheduled departures.
Knowing our track record, you can fell comfortable recommending our services to your friends and associates. We also offer a free escort travel program for those group that qualify.
9. Knowledgeable Leadership
For some trips you can provide your own trip leader in cooperation with our senior field staff. For other trips, your group might like to be accompanied by an expert naturalist or cultural specialist. Sherpa Society's leaders are well - known experts in their respective fields and are experienced trip coordinators. Their ability to provide special insight and guidance will add immeasurably to the success of your trip.
Sherpa Society Trekking & Mountaineering Pvt. Ltd. [2008] |
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"Travel in Nepal and its Himalayan counterfparts offer a wealth of Geographical splendor, lush rice paddies, cascading waterfalls, thundering white water rivers, majestic snow-capped peaks, and the expansive Majestic plains of the Tibetan Plateau. " |
