FAQ
Click on a question to see the answer. Feel free to post a new question below in the comments area.
- Can the GHT be walked in sections?
Yes. For most people this would be the best way. An obvious reason is the amount of time it would take - estimates say around 150 days. See Robin Boustead's comment on this on the main FAQ page. Another important reason is good weather. The mountai...
- What permits are required to trek the GHT in Nepal?
Some of the trekking areas in Nepal do need trekking permits - it's sometimes slightly complicated to know where park or restricted area boundaries begin and end. It is better to drop a line to ask a trekking agency to organise this for you and most ca...
- Can I ride the Great Himalaya Trail on a mountain-bike?
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="152" caption="Biking in the Kali Gandaki gorge"][/caption] Can you ride the Great Himalaya Trail on a mountain-bike? Possibly - it just depends how much you like carrying your bike. The Great Himalaya Trail, ...
- Is there a guidebook for the Great Himalaya Trail?
Yes, but it is not yet published. Robin Boustead, who walked the upper route in 2008/9 has written a guidebook to the trail and it should be published somewhere around mid-2010 by Trailblazer Guides. This guidebook covers the upper route and so helps...
- How long does it take to walk the GHT in Nepal?
Always check Robin Boustead’s site too for other information: http://www.greathimalayatrail.com/faqs.html.
If you have comments, additions, corrections or questions about the content on this page, please post them here.
Okay, so if you wanted to do the whole trail at one time, start to end, at a reasonable-but not exhausting-pace, what month could you start it?
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Richard Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
Monsoon (these days) ends mid-September but October is recommended for Kanchenjunga (It depends how much you like the hot and wet and cloud-covered views). This combined with the need for a tourist visa, for which you can stay only 150 days per year means that this is the ideal, theoretical, time to start. Winter could make things a little tricky however with shorter days, unexpected snowfall, serious cold and closed tea-houses. Best to do in stages of Sept-Dec on year and April-July the following year.
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Comment by Brian Laguardia — October 19, 2009 @ 4:40 am
(as above) and what would you think it would cost including permits?
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Richard Reply:
October 19th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
If you have a calculator take a look here at the list of permits required and also Robin’s faq. It really depends on how you travel. For tea-house trekking a minimum of US$20 is, in popular, higher areas, possible, but really not much less. In populated lower areas it can be pretty cheap. But then if you want to make it across the wilderness stretches, you have to think about how you are going to manage and this probably would require a team and Robin gives some indication of the cost of this and it is not cheap. Worth trying to consult with an agent/outfitter in Kathmandu (but this is new so they may not know) and/or waiting for the first guidebook to come out next year (March 2010). This will have the detail you need to make proper calculations.
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Comment by Brian Laguardia — October 19, 2009 @ 4:40 am
I think it could be possible to do the Nepal GHT in one continuous push but it would require a serious rest break from mid-February to mid-March while the winter storms close the high passes. It would be physically and logistically tough and expensive depending on how many were trekking, but possible.
You would need to start mid-September (during the monsoon) to reach Kanchenjunga Base Camp by the beginning of October. Not including rest and re-supply delays you could do the following:
From KBC head over to Makalu (2 weeks), over the high passes and through the Everest region (10 days), through the Rolwaling and Langtang (3 weeks), around the southern flanks of the Ganesh Himal (1 week) and then around the Manalsu and Annapurna Circuits to Jomsom (3 weeks) where you could stop and rest. From Jomsom head thru Upper Dolpo via Chharka Bhot to Pho (2 weeks) then to Gamgadhi (2 weeks) and up to Simikot and to the border behind Api and Saipal (2 weeks). All up I think you could do this route in about 130 days but that leaves very little time for bad weather or other delays, which always seem to happen in Nepal. the big issues would be cost. You’d need food dumps along the route as most of the villages are barely subsistence and you would have to have some porters or pack animals to carry supplies. Unfortunately, Nepal crew don’t like eating dehy for months on end!
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Comment by Robin Boustead — November 4, 2009 @ 5:45 am
Me and a friend are thinking to plan the full Nepal GHT speed traverse on 2011. But having a closer look to the GHT map I didn’t understand, which exactly is the accurate GHT route. I saw the red/brown line which Robin Boustead took during his trek and some deviations (in yellow). Which was the route Rosie Swale-Pope took and made 68 days back in 2003? And another question: Is the whole GHT route accessible without mountaineering equipment? I mean the high passes like Lapcha La and some others. In this case trail runners must forget any unsupported thought of GHT traverse.
Gongratulations for your job, it’s great!!!
Many greetings from Mt Olympus, Greece
Lazaros Rigos
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thehalfhog Reply:
March 22nd, 2010 at 3:24 am
Hi Lazaros,
Thanks for you rcomment.
1) The accurate route – well the brown line has been mostly walked (but not upto the border) and this route was marked as the most feasible way to continue into the Indian Himalaya. However, the true high-alpine route would continue on the yellow line through Humla to the border with Tibet if there was a way found through across the border into India. Still some research needs to be done here. But if you are going to run the Nepal section, then go through Simikot and Humla to the border as this remains closest to the Great Himalaya range.
2) I will try to find out the route Rosie Swale-Pope took. It was not the high route however.
3) There are alternatives to Robin's route, but some would involve quite big detours. Especially around Everest / Makalu regions. Arranging some support would seem to make sense. Otherwise, get some maps of the area and study the options!
Please post any further questions you have here.
Greetings from Kathmandu.
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Comment by Lazaros Rigos — March 20, 2010 @ 11:18 pm
First of all, my sincere thanks to all individuals involved with this great site. Thank you all for the time, effort and dedication and my utmost gratitude to Robin Boustead for having accomplished and established the route. I have had a great interest to travel across the Himalayas since a very long time now and I am extremely happy about the opening of the GHT in Nepal. However, I am planning to stretch my trek to include North India, Sikkim, Darjeeling Himalayas and Bhutan and Tibet along with of course Nepal all in one go. Therefore, my quest is to figure out the best possible way to organize the expedition and find resources for the matter. Also I am hoping to start the trip from Leh, Ladakh in North India and continue onward from there connecting to Nepal. I am assuming the start time to be by the beginning of June 2011 and finish off by July/August 2012 in Tibet. How would you suggest I should go about this mission?
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admin Reply:
May 19th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
Hi Dhendup, We’d like to help, but do you have a specific question we can try and answer?
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Comment by Dhendup Lama — May 13, 2010 @ 12:38 pm
[...] An obvious reason is the amount of time it would take – estimates say around 150 days. See Robin Boustead’s comment on this on the main FAQ [...]
Pingback by Can the GHT be walked in sections? | The Great Himalaya Trail - a long distance trail in the greatest mountain range on earth — May 31, 2010 @ 10:08 pm
Thank you thelalfhog for the reply. I was actually wanting to get information on the routes and also wanted to know where I could find the contour maps of the region.
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Comment by dhendup lama — June 6, 2010 @ 12:23 pm