‘Trekking’ means to walk at your own pace through well-established village trails, enjoying close contact with people in remote mountain villages whose lifestyle has not been changed for generations. A trekking trip can be of any duration you choose and vary from high altitude routes to simple short trails within the Kathmandu Valley. Popular short treks are available around the Kathmandu and Pokhara Valleys in Nepal and can take one, two or three days to complete. Longer treks last from a week to a month and it is also possible to combine a series of treks and walk for months on end. All treks give you a chance to mix with local people and get an insight into their livelihoods and culture, travelling through diverse and beautiful landscapes. An average trek involves 5-8 hours walking or hiking per day, with stops for lunch and rests en route. During the trek, group members usually string out, walk at a pace that is comfortable to them and stop when they want to. So not everyone will arrive at the destination at the same time and there is no concern about anyone delaying the group. Local staff are always at the front and rear so no one gets lost and support can be provided when needed.

Trekking in Nepal involves a walking trip following existing trails, most of which have been used for communication and trade for many years. Trekking is not ‘mountaineering’. Whilst some of the popular trekking trails are used by mountaineering expeditions on their approach marches, most are simply used by the local Nepali’s for everyday travel and trade.

Nepal’s mountainous, hilly and ‘Terai’ (flat) regions offer some of the most spectacular trekking and beautiful scenery in the world. Nepal undoubtedly offers some of the most spectacular and beautiful scenery in the world, with well-published photographs of Everest, Machhapuchhre, Ama Dablam and other huge mountains making them instantly recognizable to keen trekkers from every continent.

Nepal has a virtual monopoly on the world’s tallest mountains (eight of the ten highest peaks are located in Nepal) and a number of the popular trekking routes offer wonderful views or even visits to the base camps used by mountaineering expeditions. The hill country is also often breathtakingly beautiful with pretty villages, attractive houses and interesting temples, as well as subtropical lowlands, vast meadows or forests, fast flowing rivers, deep canyons and the cold and barren regions at the feet of the great mountain peaks. The views change with the seasons, such as different stages of planting and harvesting cycles or the brilliant displays of wild flowers in spring and autumn and there is always something interesting to see and experience.

There are two main styles of trekking, Teahouse trekking and Fully Organised Camping Trekking. On a teahouse style trek, trekkers use the many teahouses and local infrastructure available along the trails, set up and run by enterprising villages. Teahouses are the equivalent to European style alpine lodges or guesthouses, offering simple accommodation and meals and run by local people in the areas we visit. On teahouse treks all meals are included and rooms are usually on a twin share basis but private rooms can be requested, if available. The advantages are lower costs, the chance to alter the itinerary without having to worry about other team members and trekkers are less affected by adverse weather conditions. We offer a selection of teahouse treks run to a high standard of service.

A fully organised (camping) style trek is a fully provisioned camping trek. The trek team is quite a large outfit as not only the trekker’s personal gear needs to be carried but also all the group equipment and food. Trekkers are fully independent of local accommodation and services and sleep in tents with their own staff to guide them and prepare all meals. Often there will need to be up to three local staff for every one trekker. We provide twin share dome or A frame sleeping tents as well as separate mess tent, kitchen tent and toilet tent. For trekkers wanting their own tent, a small single supplement can be paid. We provide tables, chairs or stools, lanterns or candles, thin sleeping mattresses and all cutlery and crockery necessary. On some treks we provide good quality sleeping bags at no charge. These style treks are staffed by a full Sherpa crew including a sirdar (head man), chef and assistance. Your main baggage is carried by porters, yaks, horses or mules. The Sherpa crew perform all the camp work from set up to leaving the camps clean on departure. There is a choice of mixture of Western and Asian food dishes, freshly prepared daily.

The advantage of this style of trekking is that more remote regions, which have no teahouse or local infrastructure, can be visited and a small group of friends or family members will have a rewarding, enriching and enjoyable experience.