We do not supply any long-haul flights, except for the Kathmandu-Lhassa flight on our Tibet tours.

There are no direct flights to Nepal from Europe or America. The cheapest solution is to fly long-haul via India and get a connecting flight to Kathmandu. The main airlines serving Nepal are Etihad, Gulf Air, Qatar Airways and Thai Airways. Singapore Airlines...

You’re spoilt for choice when it comes to airlines that fly to India.

Our Tibet tours start from Kathmandu.

You’ll find beggars in all three countries. We urge you not to offer money to locals in exchange for their photo. On trekking routes in Nepal, children will ask you for sweets, pens and occasionally money. If you really want to donate something, find a local school and give your items to a teacher. Please don’t encourage begging.

Trekking with children is not a problem in Nepal. In fact, they’ll make it easier for you to connect with the locals. All our low-altitude treks are highly suitable for children from 6 years of age upwards.

Contact us for more details.

In Nepal, the local currency is the Nepali rupee
£1 = 120 rp ; $1 = 70 rp ; €1 = 100rp

In India, the local currency is the Indian rupee
£1 = 90 rp ; $1 = 45 rp ; €1 = 60 rp

In Tibet, the local currency is the Yuan
£1 = 11 Y  ;  $1 = 7 Y ; €1 = 10 Y

All standard credit cards (Amex, Visa and MasterCard) are accepted in the big cities.

You can easily exchange travelers checks in any bank or foreign exchange bureau.

Bargaining is a sales tradition that is an integral part of the Nepali culture.

We strongly advise you to drink bottled, filtered or purified water. You’ll find bottled water in every major city.

When you go trekking, it is advisable to take water purification tablets with you.

Plastic bottles are not recycled and are harmful for the environment.

You’ll find all sorts of drinks available in the three countries.

The AC voltage is 220V. There are frequent power cuts. Take a torch or headlight with you when it gets dark.

We train our staff to leave behind the minimum environmental footprint after our stay.

If you have any waste or refuse that cannot be destroyed or recycled locally (such as plastic bags or batteries), we advise you to take these items back to your home country.

There are no compulsory vaccines, but we advise you to protect yourself against tuberculosis, hepatitis, diphtheria, tetanus and polio.

For our high-altitude trips, we recommend that you visit your dentist and doctor for a check-up and make sure that you don’t suffer from any conditions that could be exacerbated by high altitudes, such as unstable cardiac disease, chronic respiratory failure, severe psychiatric disorders or chronic bronchitis.

Acute altitude sickness is caused by a shortage of oxygen reaching your brain due to a lack of acclimatization. It has nothing to do with fitness levels but depends on your body. It can appear after spending a few hours at high altitude. It may stop once you have become acclimatized and disappear entirely as you descend.

Mild symptoms include headaches, digestive problems (nausea and vomiting), persistent tiredness even while resting, insomnia and shortness of breath while resting.

Severe symptoms include a decrease in urine output or outbreak of edemas (swelling) usually located around the eyes, face, hands or ankles.

If you experience a combination of three symptoms, you must descend to a lower altitude and wait until the altitude-related symptoms totally disappear.

As soon as you start feeling the symptoms of altitude sickness, you should immediately inform your guide.

To protect against altitude sickness, you must walk very slowly, breath deeply, and drink small quantities of liquid at regular intervals. You should start doing this once you reach an altitude of around 3,000m (9,000ft). 

By taking things slowly but surely, you can go higher!

All our tours are carefully planned to avoid the risk of poor acclimatization. Above 3,000m (9,000ft), we usually plan a stage-by-stage ascent.

At the end of your tour, you can leave your unused medicines with us and we’ll deliver them to health posts in remote areas.

We urge you not to give your medicines to other people if you’re not a qualified medical practitioner.

We do not insure our customers and neither do our local agents. Only our staff (such as guides, cooks and porters) are covered by a local insurance company.

Please make sure you take out insurance that covers helicopter rescue and double-check that your policy does not exclude rescue above a certain altitude. Any uncertainty could delay the dispatch of the helicopter. Please also ensure that the guaranteed amount in your insurance policy fully covers the cost of a helicopter rescue (minimum cost: €2400 / $3000 / £2000).

In the event that your medical and rescue expenses are not covered by your insurance policy, you’ll have to pay the whole cost yourself. It is better to pay a little more for the peace-of-mind of knowing that your insurance will cover the unexpected.

On your arrival in Nepal or India, you’ll need to supply us with full details of your insurance policy (e.g. company name, policy number, phone number and contact names).

You can have access to internet in big cities in specialised shops in Nepal and in India. The connection is fairly slow but it works. Many hotels have business centers with internet and some have wireless in Nepal and India.

In Tibet, internet is not so easy to find. There are very few internet cafes. In Lhasa, tourist hotels have a business center with phone and internet.

Nepali is the official language of Nepal. It is close to Hindi. Each ethnic group has its own language (Newari, Tamang, Sherpa, Rai, etc.) Outside the big cities, it is not unusual to see elders speaking only their own dialect.

English is widely spoken throughout the country in hotels, agencies and tourist shops in the Kathmandu valley.

Outside the tourist areas, it is difficult to get around without some knowledge of Nepali.

Over 23 official languages are spoken in India. Hindi is widely spoken in Northern India. The main languages are Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
English is not an official language but it is learnt at school and widely spoken in big cities and tourist centers.

Chinese is now the official language in Tibet - it is still against the law to teach Tibetan in schools and universities!

Kathmandu is 5 hours and 45 minutes ahead of GMT during summertime and 6 hours and 45 minutes ahead during wintertime. So, when it is noon in London, it is 5.45pm in Kathmandu in the summertime and 6.45pm in the wintertime.

Saturday is a public holiday, when banks and offices are closed.

India is 5 hours and 30 minutes ahead of GMT.

Many shops, banks and offices are closed at the weekend.

Tibet is 7 hours ahead of GMT during summertime and 8 hours ahead during wintertime.

For our adventure tours and for tours that use local transportation, please bring a backpack or kitbag (no wheeled luggage for treks).

For our minibus tours, there are no special instructions.

Depending on the program, your luggage will be transported by vehicles, porters or animals (horses, mules or yaks). During the trek, you only carry a small backpack containing what you need for the day, ensuring the best conditions for walking.

In the big cities, you’ll find all kinds of cuisine geared towards the western palate.

Food is spicier in India than in Nepal and Tibet.

On our adventure tours, all the meals cooked by our staff are copious and prepared carefully under hygienic conditions and with originality. Our staff will serve you a varied menu, offering a subtle blend of western and local flavors.
Don’t hesitate to try every dish, as this is an important aspect of each local culture.

To experience your trip as more than simply a tourist, we recommend that you make an effort to mix with the local people. We believe travelling is the best way to expose yourself to different cultures and learn to understand them.

Religion is an integral part of the day-to-day lives of the people in our three main destinations.

Your guide will explain the meaning of the various rituals and how you are expected to behave in all the religious temples and sites that you visit.

We calculate our prices to ensure that all our local staff are paid a decent and fair wage.

Our tariffs include domestic flights in economy class, as mentioned in the tour program.

Our website gives full details of all our prices, but please don’t hesitate to contact us if you require more information.

We offer special discounts to hiking clubs and groups of over 10 people - contact us for details.

In all the big cities, you’ll find many international telecoms centers. Calls via internet are cheap and available in many locations. You can also send faxes.

If you’re satisfied with our services, it’s customary to offer each member of the team a token of your appreciation at the end of your tour.  We recommend a minimum of €3 / $4-5 / £2 per day from each client.

In hotels or restaurants, service is generally not included.
In hotels, it is customary to leave the local-currency equivalent of €0.50, £0.50 or $1 per item of luggage.
In restaurants, the usual tip is 10% of the bill.

Our tariffs include all airport transfers, as well as transportation to and from each trek. Depending on the group size, we use taxis, minibuses or chartered buses.

Walking in the Himalayas is an activity that is accessible to everyone. Trekking gives you time to look around and disconnect from the hectic pace of modern cities. It also provides opportunities to share a special moment with someone new, whether through a smile or the exchange of a knowing glance.

To get the most out of your trek and ensure it doesn’t turn into torture, you’ll need to achieve a minimum level of fitness. Do some training before you leave home by swimming, jogging or riding a bike. Ditch the lift or elevator and walk up a few flights of stairs everyday.

You can certainly expect the unexpected on your trip! While we do our best to make sure your trip runs smoothly, our agency, staff or local agents cannot be held responsible for any alterations or changes caused by adverse weather conditions, bad roads or trails, airline problems (e.g. flight delays, cancellations and overbooking), political problems, changes in tourism regulations (which occasionally occur in Tibet), health problems experienced by clients, mechanical problems with vehicles, or any other circumstances beyond our control.

All extra costs generated by the above problems must be paid for by our customers. However, we’ll do what we can to suggest alternatives that won’t incur any costs for you.

We take care of your Tibetan visa. All other visas are your responsibility.
Make sure you have a valid passport. The Nepali, Indian and Chinese authorities require passports to remain valid six months after the end of your stay.

Always bring two passport-size photos for each visa you need to obtain. A few spares could come in handy too.

You need a visa to enter Nepal.

On arrival at Kathmandu airport, you can fill out a visa application with one passport-size photo. The price varies according of the length of your stay. A one-month visa costs about $40 or the equivalent in other currencies.

Think ahead and start applying for an Indian visa at least 45 days before departure.

Contact the Indian consulate in your own country for details on how to obtain one.

Our agency will take care of your Tibetan visa. A Chinese visa with a Tibetan permit will be obtained in Kathmandu through our agency.

We’ll need to apply for your visa ahead of time. The sooner we do this, the better, as dealing with the Chinese authorities can be tricky. We’ll need a photocopy of your passports.