UKC

Hi,

Been thinking about doing a trekking peak or 2 in Nepal next year, for me the most attractive are Island peak and Tharpu Chuli (open to other suggestions!).

Western companies are out of the question (cost) and have got several quotes from Nepalese companies but these still seem very expensive (for example Island peak Chhukung to Chhukung, so no Lukla flights = $1000 each). I understand there are fixed costs (Permit ~$350, garbage disposal etc) but surely not $2000 for 2 people. I get the impression that I'll be tagging onto a commercial expedition.

What I really want is as cheap a trip as possible, just the 2 of us, one guide (English speaking) and maybe 1 or 2 porters.

How much would such a trip cost (is it even possible)?

Thanks for any help or advice (or any people to contact?)

Cheers!

In reply to phja:

Nepal is not that cheap. an English speaking guide can earn good money. lobuche is another option. much quieter than island peak. We organised everything in ktm in about 72 hours. If you want cheap altitude krygistan or Peru good

In reply to phja:

I went up Island Peak along with a trip to Everest based camp in 2010. I booked with a Nepalese company called mountain monarch. Thery were fantastic, very professional, organised everything including tents and food for a based camp at island peak. (also very helpful when my bag didn't turn up at Kathmandu)

I think there prices may have gone up though as I was looking to book a second trip last year and I'm sure it was more expensive.

Fantastic country though!

(if for whatever reason I'm not allowed to post the name of the company mods either delete or pm and is will remove)

In reply to phja:

Thanks for the replies. What I'd rather not do is end up being part of a commercial expedition. Is it not possible to just get an agency to sort out the permits and get 1 guide and 1 porter and do it that way...or does the guide need a porter who needs a cook who needs a porter and before we know it there are 10 people supporting our trip??

Thanks.

In reply to phja:

We did it without a guide and just had one porter who helped with getting our kit to BC but didn't go any further. The agency in Kathmandu just arranged the permit and porter (although they actually didn't get the permit and therefore ripped us off but that's another story!)

That was about 10 years ago now though and I think its stricter in terms of requiring a climbing guide (sirdar) so that means you will probably need him plus 2 porters. Not sure if the guide will mind not having a proper cook for a few days, I guess some will, some won't. With the agencies you have to send out loads of emails explaining exactly what you want and don't be surprised if you just get offers of joining their fixed departure trips first, basically you need to be persistent.

Neil

In reply to Neil Carruthers:

I think perhaps we are being a little bit unrealistic with regards to cost. Perhaps we are thinking in alpine terms where you can just turn up and climb (even Bivi to slash the costs). Seems a lot more expensive and involved (permits, porters, guides, cooks etc) than the alps.

Btw, are there any good peaks that could be done without guides, porters, permits etc (seen about Dhampus peak)...really don't have that much money but really want to experience this part of the world.

In reply to phja:

I'm not really up to speed with the current regs but I think any peak in Nepal >5000m requires a permit. There's probably exceptions (kala pattar for example) but not many. I'd persevere with the agencies explaining that you want to use the tea houses for the trek and only camp at BC and when on the mountain, that will simplify logistics.

Alternatively there's Stok Kangri in Ladakh which I believe can be climbed without much red tape.

In reply to phja:
Also worth taking into account is that although the Pokhara area is not too badly hit, other areas like Langtang and Manaslu are completely devastated (for example Langtang village and most of its inhabitants no longer exist) Khumbu not too badly hit although all the lodges in Thame in the Khumbu are pretty well destroyed and Lukla has taken a bit of a hit.(the hospital has been destroyed and some lodges) Most of the walk in to Khumbu the villages have been flattened
Whilst you may be wanting to save money a lot of the infrastructure has now been destroyed and those that survived will be rebuilding their lives and trying to get as much as possible to do so. Being a tourist will provide some income to those guys Dont scrimp.
Stok Kangri will be much cheaper all round (and more crowded)

In reply to phja:

After the island peak trip I still had a couple of weeks to kill so did a section of the route to Annapurna based camp. I sorted all the permits myself and it was all relatively straightforward, however there wasn't any summits involved just national park permits and the like.

So I'm sure you could organise it yourself.

However I'd agree with phja that especially after what's happened recently I'm sure the economy could do with all the help it can get.

If, or hopefully when I go back I personally wouldn't think twice about using a Nepalese company.

In reply to L.A.:

Thanks for your response. Don't get my intentions wrong, I understand many lives have been devastated by the quake. However, due to our limited budget it will be a choice between doing it really cheap or not at all.

In reply to phja:

If you want to get up high in the Khumbu without expedition style stuff, just go "exploring" peaks and passes below 6000m. Jamie McGuinness suggests that in his book "Trekking in the Everest Region", and has loads of suggestions in there. We climb (moderate) hills elsewhere, but intentionally did not want to do that there, because we don't like the big expedition thing. Also travelling independently you really get to meet and hang out with local people, despite everybody telling you it is the other way around! And you can pour plenty of money into the local economy even without a guide/porter. If you want to see examples of many scrambly hilly peaks have a look at our movie youtube.com/watch?v=cRKboyEINqo& -- in particular, there is a 5000+ peak/pass summary near the end.

In reply to phja:
Its def. possible to do it on the cheap. It requires more time and patience, some persistence and preferably some "third world" country experience. Youthful enthusiasm and strong legs/back will also get you there. (Im however not upto date with the regulations now)

I was in Nepal 2004 for 3 months, attending a 3 week mountaineering course by NMA and then climbed 3 different 6000+ peaks with two friends. On our different peaks we didnt have a guide and only one porter for a 3 days, basically one-day trips from Manang to the different BC. We carried huge bags (100l on the back and 40l on the front) in to Manang and then stashed stuff there during our climbs. The peaks where Pisang, Chulu East and Thorung Peak. Higly recommended, less people and easier to be a little sneaky than in the Everest region. ( We had permits for 2 peaks and originally had planned to climb something in Dhaulagiri region aswell. However fatigue, lack of nutrition and 1 meter of snowfall thwarted those plans)

With some small baksheesh and cunning navigation in Nepalese bureaucrazy we managed to get climbing permits with a fictional "paper guide" and visas with longer exp. date than what we as swedes offically could. As I had never climbed anything before, neither rock nor ice, we also bought quite o lot of equipment in Kathmandu. All this took almost a week. From memory our whole trip everything included costed way less than 3000£, this included 1 month of rather relaxing time in thailand with lots of scuba diving.
Maybe the Nepalese part incl flights stood for 2000£? Prices then where however low due to the civil war and very few tourists. I imagine the situation now will be similar after the quake.

If you believe you´ll need a guide I think its hard to do it cheap. Most guides will demand chef and all demands porters. The chef demands kitchen tent and porters. As you say it easily adds up to at least 5 guys to pay. If you have previous climbing experience, relatively hill fit and got some common sense I would say that you dont need a guide. I didnt have any of that but still managed!

In reply to DanielJ:

Hi. Thanks for your reply, sounds like you had a great trip! The regulations now are that you need to have a guide to climb any of the trekking peaks in Nepal. Think that is where the problem for us lie, because as you say, the guide will want a cook who wants a porter who needs a porter etc.

May have a proper look for peaks that we don't need a permit for...The Everest 3 passes looks good and can tea house it so not heavy loads carrying food. Not quite the mountaineering we have in mind but seems that may be beyond us cost wise!

Thanks!

In reply to phja:

The trip was indeed great. Its over 10 years ago but the memories feels like it was yesterday. For sure unforgettable. I did the Everest 3 passes by myself in 2003 and that was also a really good experience but it somewhat pales in comparison to the other, bigger trip.

The regulations seem to be the same as when we went. Officially you needed a guide but in the real world you only needed one on paper to get the climbing permit. Outside of Island Peak and maybe Lobuche and Mera, for sure no-one is checking climbing permits and most def. not checking permits AND if you have a guide. Somewhat sneaky climbing, lightweight with bivvies is clearly possible in Everest region. If you´re acclimatized and reasonably fast you´ll only need one night out for most of the trekking peaks. Lodges are also near most trekking peaks in the Everest region.

In reply to DanielJ:

Interesting, thanks for that! Just out of interest, obviously there is the list of 33 odd trekking peaks...but what if we wanted to climb one not officially on that list...do we still need a permit?

Thanks!

In reply to phja:
Climbing permits for trekking peaks such as Island Peak increased substantially in spring 2015 (pre Earthquake), as have the insurance costs for local staff. Interestingly, they're cheaper in the autumn. There are plenty of cheap local operators out there, whether or not they insure their staff or equip their porters properly is a question you might like to consider.

In reply to phja:

It depends of height I believe. If its over 6000+ you deffo need permit.

In reply to phja: Be aware that at present the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) still advise against all but essential travel to Nepal. There are meetings going on in Ktm just now to hopefully get this is rescinded, until it is it may well invalidate your insurance cover in Nepal. Check before you book.
https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/nepal