UKC Forums - Minimum time required for an enjoyable trek in the Himalayas?

Minimum time required for an enjoyable trek in the Himalayas?

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elliot.baker 18 Apr 2016

Hi

I'd love to go for a trek around the Himalayas and just see some huge mountains and epic views. Could anyone advise me on the minimum kind of time required for it to be worth while? (e.g. 7 days? 10 days? a month?) What with work and all and the technicalities of booking annual leave, it's not like I can go for weeks and weeks.

Further more, if time was of the essence, would folks recommend booking some sort of guide from here and doing it all organised? Or could you still do it comfortably independently?

Any direction to useful resources would also be appreciated. Also any particular routes which are achievable in short time scales would be useful!

Many thanks all.

EB

seankenny 18 Apr 2016

In reply to elliot.baker:

A couple of weeks is fine, three is better.
There are good treks around Ladakh, about five days minimum. Or you could go up to Gangotri (not done it but would like to). If you go somewhere like Leh there are lots of trekking agencies and it's easy to organise. Remoter areas, less so.

Don't forget to factor in getting to the roadhead and back. Travel in Himalayan countries doesn't always run to a timetable. Roads get washed away, towns get shut down by strikes, it can be too cloudy to land planes.

A good trekking guide from LP or similar will give you a lot of logistical information and is well worth the £10 - £15.

Rob Parsons 18 Apr 2016

In reply to seankenny:

> ... Or you could go up to Gangotri (not done it but would like to).

Presumably you mean Gaumukh; Gangotri's the roadhead.

You can certainly have a good (and short, if you like) trip in that exact area if you like: e.g. the Shivling and Bhagarathi 3 basecamps are just a couple of days walk in.

Post edited at 15:20

Webster 18 Apr 2016

In reply to elliot.baker:

partly depends how high you hope to go. the higher you go the more time you will need to *safely* acclimatise. especially if you are planning to camp above 4000m you will need to factor in an appropriate acclimatisation profile (not sleeping more than 300-500m above previous camp).

ether way your talking a minimum of 2 weeks in country to make it worth while by the time you have paid all the money to get there!

John Clinch (Ampthill) 18 Apr 2016

In reply to elliot.baker:

I think friends have been for 2 weeks and enjoyed themselves

I had the luxury of much longer. I did this all with minimal cost and and we did everything for ourselves. But what we learnt was that if time is short you want to pay for help. We met some one who had 14 days in Nepal. Due to ignorance they spent the first 3 days stuck in Kathamandu as they permit office was shut for some festival.

This was all along while back but to me tea house Treking with a guide looked more comfortable then the porter train and lines of tents approach. We were walking between tea houses ourselves.

What do other think about the various styles of Treking?

OP elliot.baker 18 Apr 2016

In reply to John Clinch (Ampthill):

Thanks for the advice that's useful. I've never been to any big mountain ranges really, but I love hiking, climbing and the outdoors generally.

Are there comparable walks closer to home around the alps or somewhere like that? I don't really know how to start looking but I know I'm more than capable of the actual physical exertion.

Dave 18 Apr 2016

In reply to elliot.baker:

In 2009 I trekked in Nepal with my wife and daughter over Christmas and New Year. I think we were around 9 or 10 days trekking with a day or so at either end, it was definately under two weeks home to home and used very little holiday time. We flew to Lukla from Kathmandu and did the classic Gokyo trek, over the Renjo La pass and back to Lukla via Namche. I planned the itinery very carefully - it was my daughters first trek - with sufficient time for acclimatisation, so spending most of the time getting up to Gokyo. It wasn't very busy, the weather was great, though cold, and we had an amazing time. It was my second time in Nepal and as outdoor experiences go its difficult to beat. This was Christmas Day morning http://www.ukclimbing.com/images/dbpage.php?id=159316