In order to provide you with the best possible price and to get as much money as possible directly to the people who are actually doing the work, we do not charge you in advance for teahouse lodging and food. The guide will be able to book accommodation for the group in advance during high season. However, you will pay the teahouse owner directly for food and lodging. Budget at least $25 a day for food and lodging to be paid in cash directly to the teahouse.
TransportationFor 'Guide & Permit Only' treks we do not include transportation to/from the trail head. Your guide will help you arrange transportation to the trail head in the case where public bus tickets or a hired private vehicle is required. In addition to your own fare, please pay the fare of your guide and porter (if you have hired one) for public buses and public jeeps. In the case of flights, a fee for the guides transportation is included in the price. You have the option of allowing us to also book your flight this ensures that your guide can be on the same flight. You are also free to book your own flight with the airlines directly if you wish please let us know your flight information if you book your own tickets. If you are on trek in which multiple trekkers have joined we will provide you with the contacts of other members of your trek so that you can arrange your transportation together.
TipsIt is customary in Nepal to tip trekking staff, they work hard and if you feel they have provided you with good service please reward them appropriately. Please insure you have enough cash to tip your guide and porter (if you hired one). Suggested tipping: Approximately 12%-15% of the guide and porters wages but more for larger groups and if your guide went above and beyond you expectations then please reward him or her accordingly. For a guide, generally the equivalent of $2-$4 USD per day per person is good if there are multiple people if only one person then the equivalent of $3-$5 USD per day. For a porter the equivalent of $3-$4 per day total (between all the people using the porter) or if one person has hired a porter the equivalent of $2-$4 USD per day. If you need to cut your trip short for any reason the guide and porters will receive the wages for the full booked time but it is appropriate to tip based on the amount of days actually completed.
- view answerIf you and your guests are the only members of the trek, we will offer a full refund (minus flight cancellation fees if applicable) up until two days prior to the trek's departure. After that, up until the departure date a 50% cancellation fee will be charged in order to compensate the guide for lost business and processed permits.
Joined Treks
If others have joined the trek, a 20% cancellation fee will be charged up until two days prior to the trek's departure.
A refund will not be given for cancellation made within two days of the trek's departure when others have already
joined the trek. These fees are to offset the cost of the other trekkers who joined the group expecting a lower cost.
Flights
If flights were booked on your behalf the flights are subject to an extra 15% cancellation fee in addition to any
cancellation fee above.
You can contact us via our contact form:
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- view answerThe guide will do his/her best to get rooms for you. We can't guarantee it but we have never had any trips where the guide has not been able to secure rooms for their clients. For small trekking groups, lodge owns sometimes do not honor reservations if they even take them. However, the guides usually know some of the lodge owners and operators and are able to call ahead and get rooms in the few places where there is sometimes a short supply. The best way to guarantee rooms is to leave early and/or send a porter ahead to hold rooms. You will definitely have a place to sleep, worst case you would need to sleep in a dining area. Again, that has never happened with any of the trips run by guides booked on our site, and is more common with independent trekkers who arrive late in the day to places where there is an under supply of rooms.
More about lodging on treks can be found at our blog: Teahouses & Trekking Lodges in Nepal
- view answerIf your trek requires a flight to Lukla make sure you have a few extra days built in to your time in Nepal. Especially in September and early October or in the late spring flights to Lukla are often canceled due to weather. Keep in mind that because the runway in Lukla is built into the mountainside if there is any cloud cover it is too dangerous for flights to land. So even if it is sunny in Kathmandu flights can get canceled due to weather.
If your flight gets canceled. Our ticketing agent will rebook the ticket, but seats are allocated with preference for the passengers that were originally booked on that day, so passengers from previous days cancel flights get lower priority. If several days of flights get canceled because of weather this can lead to a backlog of people trying to get on a limited number of flights to Lukla.
If you are short on time it is often possible to get a shared flight on a helicopter, if you opt for a helicopter flight we will refund the price of your ticket and you will need to pay separately for the helicopter usually about 2-3 times the cost of the airplane ticket.
- view answerThe $25 per day is what the guide gets paid for 2 clients or less the rate goes up slightly with more trekkers. In addition to wages, other charges include: insurance for the guide ($30 per trip), Sherpana Fee (per day charge that varies slightly with number of people + 20% of the permit cost). For treks that require flights a transport fee is included (currently $90 each way for Lukla flights).
You can see a breakdown of the fees for the trek by going to the itinerary page. Click the button to see a breakdown of the price. Sherpana fees are included in the guide rate per day and the permits. Before you pay you will be able to see an exact breakdown of all the fees, wages, ect, so you know exactly where the money is going.
To adjust the price to a different number of people click the ‘trekkers’ button at the top of the page and set the number of trekkers in your group. The prices will be automatically updated for the number of trekkers entered. It is required that your browser ‘cookies’ must be enabled to use this feature.
- view answer