Makalu Expedition

Trip Notes

• Insurance

  • It is mandatory to have good emergency evacuation insurance which will cover evacuation by any means of transportation from high altitude. It is also highly recommended that all member have cancellation insurance in case of an accident prior to departure, or if the trip is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.

• Fitness & Experience

  • This trekking is an average of 5 to 7 hours of walk a day. For personal safety, some physical conditions are required. Prior to the trek we suggest physical activities such as running, swimming and cycling etc to make sure your body adjusts to 5/7 hrs of walk each day.

• Meals during trip

  • Meals during your stay in the urban areas or cities will be at the hotel. All tourist class hotels provide good variety of meals for breakfast and dinner. Most of the hotels in Kathmandu provides buffet breakfast and meals included various dishes such as continental, Nepali, Tibetan, Thai and Chinese cuisines. However meals during the trekking will be served in the local restaurants/lodges available there. Local restaurants during the trek do have menu for the meals, but they don’t have much varieties as hotels in the cities. So you’ll be able to choose meals from menu available there. Breakfasts during the trek will be comparatively basic than cities, you can order the item you would like to have for breakfast. Breakfast includes one or two cup of tea or coffee and any two items for breakfast (for example Omelet and Tibetan Bread). Lunches during the trek will be at local restaurant you’ll find on the way and lunch includes one or two cup of tea or coffee and any two item meals (for example friend rice and salad). Dinner will be served at the same lodge where you’ll stay overnight there. Dinner includes one or two cup of tea or coffee and any two item meals. If your group size is bigger, it is better to order same or less varieties of food in order to save time. Any drinks like water, soft drink or alcoholic beverages are not included, you may pay on the spot.

    It would be better if you bring some quick energy bars such as chocolate bars, dry foods etc which will be useful if you hungry before arriving lunch/dinner spot. Also if you have any special food that you would like to bring for trekking, you can do so. Our trekking guide will help you out to choose meals during the trekking.

• Accommodation

  • In urban areas, cities you’ll be staying at tourist class hotels. You’ll have wide ranges of options to choose from tourist class hotel to star hotels. In this particular trip, you’ll stay at hotel mentioned above in the What’s Included section. Hotels in the cities will be single bed and twin-bed rooms with attached bathroom and air-conditioned.

    However accommodation during the trekking will be at the local lodges/tea houses. These tea houses/lodges will have basic facilities only, please don’t expect lodges will be same as hotels you’ve in the cities. You’ll still twin-bed room for accommodation with bed, blanket and pillows. Except few lodges, rooms during the trekking will be common (sharing toilet or toilet outside). There won’t be air-conditioned/heated rooms during the trekking. You can pay for attached toilet if you found some on the way. That’s why we suggest you to bring own sleeping bag to be safe side in case of bad weather.

    All accommodation is arranged on a twin sharing basis. If you are travelling by yourself you will be paired up with another single person of the same sex. Depending on availability, single rooms can be requested at a supplementary cost.

    Also if your trip is tented camp, you’ll sleep in tented camps. There will be 2-men tent and you’ll share tent with another person of same gender. Foam mattress will be in tents. However we suggest you to bring sleeping bad and pillow if you want.

• In Case of Emergency

  • Travelling in the mountain involves risk of high altitude sickness, unforeseen injury or accident. So it isn’t a successful bid until you return to home. Reaching to the final destination one thing, but returning safely is much more important. The mountains are always unpredictable and accidents can happen. Trekking Experts believes that “the main key of safety is health and proper planning and preparation, highest comfort level during whole trip and best quality food, high sanitation standards, reliable communications, up to date equipments and proper coordination are all relevant to safety.” Although we cover every aspect of safety measures, the possibilities of disappointment and fatalities due to unpredictable circumstances cannot be ignored. All members should be aware of the fact. Trekking Experts urge all the members to consult, take advice and follow the guidance provided by the professional trekking guides during the course of trekking.

    By chance, if you have got high altitude sick or any injury or accident, our trekking guides will be trained to help you out in the mountains. But hospitals won’t be available all the time; in this case, our guide will help you as he can. Also Trekking Experts office team will be standby for your support.

• Best Time to travel

  • Nepal is best for all seasons. There are various season for different regions to travel. But in overall, spring season (March-May) and autumn season (September-December) is always best time to travel in Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. During these seasons weather will be relatively warmer with bright and clear sky in the morning which slowly becomes hazier as the day progresses. During spring season lots of flowers will be bloomed.

    October to November, the start of the dry season, is in many ways the absolute best time. With the monsoon only recently finished, the countryside is green and lush, the air is sparkling clean and the Himalayan views are near perfect. Furthermore, the weather is still balmy. There are some important and colorful festivals to enjoy, though the Dasain festival in October can be disruptive if you are on a tight schedule. For obvious reasons this is also the high tourist season but in recent years, due to the political problems, even Nepal’s ‘high season’ has been pretty quiet. The majority of visitors, prioritizing mountain visibility, come in the autumn peak season (late Sept to late Nov), when the weather is clear and dry, and neither too cold in the high country nor too hot in the Terai.

• Transportation/Flights

  • Trekking Experts uses standard, clean and well-maintained vehicles for ground transfers in the most areas of Nepal. Our vehicle will be handled by experienced drivers and most of them are air-conditioned too. We shall use all transportation privately for you, won’t share rides with anyone unless if they are crew for trekking. However in off-road or remote areas, we shall use local vehicles too which might not be air-conditioned, for safe for sure.

    For air transportation, we shall use domestic airlines companies for all internal flights within Nepal. There will be aircraft which can carry maximum 72 people in urban areas and maximum 17 people in flights in remote areas (STOL). Flights in STOL airports in the remote areas have weight constraint in the flight. We maximum weight you’ll get at free of cost will be 15 kg per person only. In STOL airports, all flights are flown manually and it entire schedule depends on the weather. During bad weather, flights do get cancelled. If alterations are necessary, our professional trekking guide will decide what is the best alternative taking into consideration the best interests of the whole group. Where a change does occur, we do everything we can to minimize its effect, but we cannot be responsible for the results of changes or delays.

• Trip Grading

  • Based on its difficulty level, we have graded trips easy to extreme.

    Easy: Light walking with about three to four hours a day. Trip in this category aren’t really steep up, you mostly walk on terrain and you don’t required any physical fitness.

    Moderate: Moderate trekking trips are generally gentle walking about 5 to 7 hours a day with ups and downs. You won’t require any fitness level for such trips however you need to have walking experience.

    Moderate Plus: Generally moderate plus trekking trips trekking and hiking in the high altitude above 3000 meters. You need to walk about 5 to 7 hours a day. You won’t need any experience however since it walking in the high altitude you’ll need quite high level of stamina and acclimatization.

    Strenuous: Strenuous trips includes high passes, peak climbing with above 40 degree steep up  and trekking in the high altitude above 3000 meters. Trekking in the high mountains is required such trips. Trips in this grade are generally about 6 to 8 hours walking a day and sometimes walking can be extended to 10 hours to while climbing peak below 6000 meter high. It would be very useful if you have experience of certain climbing skills and high level of stamina.

    Extreme: Trips in extreme category includes trekking in high mountains above 5000 meters high from sea level. Generally trips in extreme category include peak climbing, crossing passes and mountaineering. Certain skill or experience of mountaineering is needed for such trips and you’ll need to have capability of acclimatization and high level stamina.

     

• Program Change Policy

  • Due to uncertain reasons of bad weather, terrorism, closure, natural disaster, sometimes we might have to change your travel itinerary and we reserve right to change itinerary in your favor to response immediate problems. We shall keep same number of days as original even if we changes of program to resolve immediate problems. But if you would like to shorten the trip or skip some of day of your trip or would like to return before planed trip or would like to change the travel itinerary, we and our field team will be flexible on it. However our support crew needs to check the feasibility and availability. If there any additional cost because of changes travel itinerary, additional cost have to borne by you. If you wish you return or skip your trip, there won’t be any refund for unused services.

• Claims, complaints and compensation

  • We shall do our best to deliver quality services as we promised/agreed during trip booking. We never failed to deliver our quality services till today. However if we failed to deliver our agreed/promised services, we, Trekking Experts will compensate/refund you the equivalent amount we failed to deliver.

    So if you have a complaint about your trips please inform your tour leader or our local representative or our guide on the spot so that they can attempt to rectify the matter. Our tour officer will be always in touch with your guide and will response immediately to fulfill the failed services. In case, we failed to deliver the promised/included services despite of you informed our guide on the spot, then you can report this issue to our tour officer in Kathmandu in written. Our tour officer will address this issue in Kathmandu. If satisfaction is not reached through these means then any further complaint should be put in writing to us within 15 days of the end of the tour with proof. And then if found we really failed to deliver promised we shall refund you the equivalent amount we failed to deliver. However if there no logical reason, you won’t get any refund.

• Some Ideas before you travel to Nepal:

  • To show appreciation and respect, use two hands rather than one when giving or receiving something, even money. Hindus, avoid touching women and holy men the traditional palms-together “Namaste” greeting is preferable. Don’t eat with your left hand and nor eat beef among Hindus Try not to step over or point your feet at another person, a sacred place or a hearth. Remove your shoes when entering a home, temple or monastery (and leather items in Hindu temples) and avoid smoking and wearing scant dress in religious settings. Do not offer food from your plate, nor eat from a common pot, and avoid touching your lips to a shared drinking vessel. Please do not kiss or anything related to sexual activities in front of people .Please wear cloths with covering the legs especially for women.

• Tipping

  • Tipping is not obligatory just like anywhere in the world. However if you like the service and want to thank them this is another good way to do so. The following is recommended as a guideline:
    In Kathmandu 20-50 Rs for bellboys, waiters and porters is appropriate. At the end of a trek, if your group thinks that the staff has done an outstanding job, a group tip would be greatly appreciated. Normally tip is given at the end of the trek and this is best done as group rather than individual. Most groups will give the tips with a bit of ceremony on the last evening to mark the end of the trip. Your Group Leader or guide will advise you in more detail regarding this matter. As a guideline, we recommend that each group member contributes around $ 75 (rupee equivalent) and then it is shared amongst the team.

• Responsible Tourism

  • Trekking Experts always cares about environmental and social effects caused by our travel activities. We shall try our best to minimize the environmental and social effects while we operate travel trips in cities or remote areas. As a responsible travel company, we always encourage our staff and our valued trekkers to follows basic norms to save environment and respect local cultures. All our activities will be eco-friendly and social friendly. In addition, Trekking Experts contributes for betterment of local area, environment and local people throughout our community support programs. To become a responsible and ideal traveler, Trekking Experts requests to all its travelers to consider about following points while you’re travelling in Nepal:
    – To show appreciation and respect, use two hands rather than one when giving or receiving something, even money. Hindus, avoid touching women and holy men the traditional palms-together “Namaste” greeting is preferable.
    – Don’t eat with your left hand and nor eat beef among Hindus
    – Try not to step over or point your feet at another person, a sacred place or a hearth.
    – Remove your shoes when entering a home, temple or monastery (and leather items in Hindu temples)
    – Please do not smoke and wear scant dress in religious settings
    – Do not offer food from your plate, nor eat from a common pot, and avoid touching your lips to a shared drinking vessel
    – Please do not kiss or anything related to sexual activities in front of people
    – Please wear cloths with covering the legs especially for women
    – Please do not through trashes anywhere, use trash bins only
    – Do please take permission before taking picture of any person or religious sites especially in temple and monasteries

• Trip Cost and Included Services

  • Before booking your trip with us, please make sure that you’ve checked all the terms and conditions of booking. Trip cost we have offered will be valid for one year only (from Jan to Dec). And trip cost includes services mentioned in ‘What’s Included’ section. Additional cost will be charged for extra services except mentioned in ‘What’s Included’ in every trip.

• Declaration

  • Any travelers who joins in our trips or travels with us have to acknowledge following statement:

    “Joining in any trip with Trekking Experts Pvt. Ltd. mean I’ve accepted the booking terms of conditions. My personal information including passport copies, email and other details will be kept very safe by Trekking Experts and I authorize; the local tour operator /logistic management Licensor to it for necessary bookings in hotels, trekking permits, climbing permits, and domestic flight details.  The Company’s authorized representatives, other than a Director of The Company, are not entitle to promise refunds for whatever reason, and The Company will not be bound by any such promises. These booking conditions may only be waived in special circumstances, and in writing, by a letter from a Director of The Company. The terms and conditions of all agreements made with the Company shall be subject to, and governed by, Nepal’s law.

     

    I am also aware that the trip involve going to high-altitude and carry an inherent risk of altitude illness. Similarly, most of our trips visit remote locations or poorly developed regions where infrastructure is limited. In such places, the risks to health are increased and the ability to treat injury or illness effectively is reduced. Additionally, climbing and mountaineering, which includes treks that cross glaciated terrain or snow-bound passes, are hazardous activities with a risk of serious injury or death. By signing these booking conditions you acknowledge these hazards and your acceptance of the associated risks. Neither The Company nor any of its representatives will be responsible for any illness, injury or death sustained on your trip/expedition, nor will they be liable for any uninsured loss of personal property. I confirm that I am over the age of 18 years and that I have read and understood the terms and conditions of this contract and this agreement prior to signing it and I agree that this agreement will be binding upon my heirs, next of kin, executors, administrators and successors.