Trekking Grade
For many of our treks, you can choose
between staying in tea-houses or
camping. A tea-house is a local run
guest house, but standards vary
enormously. In popular areas such as
Annapurna, tea houses are more like
hotels, with hot water, Western food and
private rooms, whereas in more remote
areas, they are far simpler and more
authentically Nepali. Tea-house trekking
is less expensive than camping, and is
suitable for small groups. With large
groups, irrespective of the area, it is
more practical to camp. A team of
guides, porters and cooks mean you trek
in comfort and provides
international-style food of a high
standard.
Grade 1
For trekkers with no previous
experience, we offer a diverse range of
easy treks. By easy, we mean that the
trek involves no difficult climbing or
ascents to high altitudes, takes usually
no more than a week and is suitable for
anyone. However, you should not think
that loss of height means loss of
interest; while our more challenging
treks get you closer to a small number
of mountain ranges, lower altitude treks
often provide colourful horizons of a
whole series of ranges. High or low,
mountain villages reachable only by
several days walk from the road brim
with character.
The Ghorepani and Jomsom treks follow
well-trodden trails. The tea-houses
along these routes offer hot water and
Western-style food. Of course, these
treks are not popular without reason and
you will find the terrain and views
superb. If the idea of tea-house
trekking appeals to you, but you would
prefer to escape from the crowds, then
the Helambu trek could be your ideal
choice. You trek up to within sight of
enormous snowy mountains, and then wind
at a leisurely pace through a
spectacular green valley. The tea-houses
are simpler here, but you will benefit
from the peace of the unspoilt villages
and the friendly welcome of your hosts.
To really get away from it all, try the
Shivapuri trek, Siklis trek or the Royal
Trek. Whilst you will still pass through
many remote villages, these regions are
so unspoilt as to have no tea-houses,
and you will need to camp. Again, the
range of mountains you can view on these
treks is superb.
Grade 2
Grade 2 treks are more challenging than
Grade 1, and are suitable for any walker
looking for something a little more
energetic. They are longer (10-20 days,)
involve more walking up and down and
climb to higher altitudes, where you
will be rewarded with close-up views of
big mountains. For a well-trodden route
with good tea-house facilities, you
could choose the Annapurna Base Camp
trek, which gets you close to glaciers
and affords spectacular mountain views.
For something a little more remote, but
still with the option of simple
tea-houses, try a trek in the beautiful
Langtang region.
From the Langtang Base Camp, you have
the additional option of scaling a
trekking peak. For a moderate trek out
in the wilds, Ganesh Himal would be a
good choice. With only 100 visitors a
year to this region, the local cultural
traditions are still very much intact.
On this trek, you cross the high Singla
Pass (4600m.) The Rara trek is similarly
remote and is a good option for the
summer season as rainfall is low. As
tourists are relatively unknown in these
last two regions, you need to camp.
Grade 3
Grade 3 treks should only be undertaken
by those with some previous mountain
walking experience. They ascend to
altitudes of up to 5500m and involve
some steep climbing, although it is
never necessary to use ropes. Treks at
this level can he arranged for periods
of 7-21 days.
For a popular and spectacular trek, with
the possibility of staying in
well-developed tea houses, the Annapurna
Circuit is a good choice. A gradual
ascent through a green river valley will
lead you up to a number of high passes,
where you will reach the altitude of
5416m. This trek will give you a close
insight into Tibetan culture. Another
understandably popular trek, with good
tea house facilities, is the Everest
Base Camp. The goal of this trek speaks
for itself, but in achieving it, you
cross a glacier, see Mt Everest and a
whole variety of soaring peaks and
experience the rich Sherpa culture. For
a real adventure in wild and restricted
areas, that see less than 300 visitors
per year, you could trek in Mustang or
to Makalu Base Camp. The Makalu trek
traverses many high passes before
reaching the Base Camp at 5000m. The
Tibetan plateau of Mustang is a wild,
treeless desert. The last two treks are
possible only if you camp.
Grade 4
Grade 4 treks are only for real
adventurers. They involve steep ascents
to high altitudes with the possibility
of some rope climbing. You’ll need
stamina to complete one of these treks,
as it can take 20-28 days to journey to
the heart of the wildernesses that they
cross. All are camping expeditions. The
exception is the Simikot trek, which is
very remote with a truly undeveloped
culture (quite a shock.) This can be
accomplished in a shorter time (7-14
days.) However, you can also use the
little-visited Simikot as the starting
point for a trip to Mount Kailash (20
days.)
A trek through the isolated Dolpo region
is one of the few good possibilities for
the summer months, as the area gets
little rain. Manaslu, like Annapurna, is
a circuit trek and passes through
Tibetan villages in a little-visited,
restricted area. A trip to Kanchenjunga,
the third highest mountain in the world,
will take you into the remote far east
region of Nepal. Here, Sherpa, Rai and
Limbu culture happily co-exist. If you
want the ultimate challenge, the
Dhaulagiri trek is the most difficult of
our featured treks. This wild trek
involves challenging trekking on rough
high terrain, perhaps with a ropes pitch
or two. |
