I want to go to Nepal this Spring or Fall. I am an experienced backpacker with some mountaineering experience. Can I independently get from Kathmandu to the Annapurna Circuit? If not at what point should I hire a guide and how much should I expect to spend?
Namaste,
Before making trip to Nepal, it is worth going through different guide books and trekking journals published in the blogs. Nepal is safe country, but not too safe to trek without information in advance. I met a couple of American girls, crying in the dark and rain, coming down the Gosain Kunda, just a week back. They were trekking on their own. It seemed they did not have enough information about mountian climate. So they left late after enjoying the morning beauty. The other problem can be trail made by wild and domestic animals, in not so trekked areas, which might lead you to no where. Make sure you have enough informationa, gegraphy, medical, weather and the rescue facility before you trek in Nepal. Yet, a guide is recommended to ensure your safety and knowledge!
Beautiful Moments be With You!
Prem
Reply to this Okay, just got back from our third trek through the Annapurna region literally a couple of hours ago. Went up to Annapurna Base Camp: Superb! fairly tough trek taking 8-10 days. Once again we survived perfectly well with no guide or porter and just a little bit of research and common sense: not a necessity on the Annapurna or Everest treks. HOWEVER... we did meet several excellent guides along the way, who were always most helpful to both their own clients and us too. A good guide will undoubtedly enhance your trip by providing cultural and local info if that's what you're after, its just personal choice if that's more important to you than the freedom of being all on your own without a relative stranger in tow.
One word of warning: there are good guides and bad guides: pay the little extra for a good one and you'll probably be happy, try and save a few measly pennies and you probably won't. Be especially careful of the porter-guide, a sort of stepping stone between the two. You might get lucky, but you're deliberately choosing someone with less guiding experience as a compromise: just witnessed one porter-guide bringing two very unhappy clients into the summit at ?Annapurna Base Camp at 8pm in the snow and fog to find the place already full...the other guides didn't say so out-loud but plainly thought the guy an idiot!
Probably better to pay for a good guide and carry your own stuff... surprising how little you can survive on when you're carrying it all yourself! We cut down a lot on bulk by risking not bothering with sleeping bags... previous experience has shown us all the Tea-houses have plenty of 'blankets' (actually duvets) to keep you warm enough as long as you arrive fairly early.
Enjoy!
Reply to this Its not that you cannot travel to Nepal by yourself. Nepal is very beautiful country and you can really find a warm welcoming people out there. No risk and So much Fun and Respect to our guest across all over the world.
But what I feel is its better to have a supervision for your long route treks. You can really know the fact about different places by your guide and the best part is that you don't have to worry about your lodging and fooding.
But its a mandatory. If you think you can manage by yourself then you can visit and travel by yourself. But my suggestion is to take a guide only if you are having a Long Route Treks.
For detail you can contact me <snip>
regards
Reply to this In response to: Msg #103922
Hello my friend
i think it's better to have a guide.
you can also trek your self with a good map but i want to tell you just not go alone if you are 2-3 people then you can go with guide too. but alone...........
anyway if you need any information i am a guide in nepal.
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[Edited: 2013 Jun 15 17:51 - Roosta:95057 - No commercial contacts in the forums please. See TOS]
Reply to this If you hire any guide then you can easily know what to see and what is the perfect time to see any place. they will tell you interesting stories about a particular place and the most important thing, sometime a guide can save your money because he knows the actual price. 😊
Reply to this I just arrived in this post today. However the post is quite old but the topic is evergreen. I suggest you to hire a trekking guide or at least a porter guide for cheaper option who can also carry some of your belongings. Unless you are really into a challenge of finishing it alone or navigate it by your self, hiring guide will be the better way.
Sometimes if you find tour trial splitting in 2 ways and there is no one around to ask. You took your chance and guess and at the end after walking 3 hours it turned out to be the wrong turn and you have to take the u-turn. Not to be in this kind of situation hire a guide which is not costly in Nepal it will cost you more or less $25 per day but you will gain more.
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[Edited: 2014 Feb 26 01:33 - Roosta:95057 - No commercial links in the forums, please. See TOS]
Reply to this I haven't visit Nepal yet but one of my friend visit Nepal recently. I think fi you are going to visit the famous places near Kathmandu, then no need to go for a guide. But if you thinking about climbing than guide is must.
Reply to this According to your interested you donot wish to have a Guide guide for your travel if so its definitely not necessarily required a Guide for your travel in nepal Unless you want to trek in restricted area.
Good luck
Reply to this Hello:
I'm new using this webpage, and since I'm not able to find the way to start a new topic conversation, I'll continue this one, cause the question is the most similar one to the question I wanted to ask.
I'm going to Nepal for almost a month with two friends. The first week we are staying in Kathmandu and one of the locals gave us some advice about the treks we can do there. We decided to start with a short one: three days: SUNDARIJAL-CHISAPANI-NAGARKOT. The guide+accommodation for 2 nights is around 190$ and we were wandering if the trek can be done without a guide.
Thanks a lot for your help,
Nadia.
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