FAQ
Normally the Frequently Asked Questions page of a website includes questions the webmaster made up to fill the space! Here however you can post your questions at the bottom of the page. As questions become genuinely frequently asked, so will they feature in this page as genuine FAQs. A good start to some of the basics can be found here: http://www.greathimalayatrail.com/faqs.html.
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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!
[Reply]
Comment by Robin Boustead — November 4, 2009 @ 5:45 am