Three high passes trek in Nepal is great choice for those who cannot choose between Gokyo lakes and Everest base camp (EBC). While doing three passes you will visit both of these places and much more. Most of the trek is not so busy as EBC trek and usually you will meet just a few people on the passes.

Three high passes you will need to pass

If you will start your trek from Namche clockwise the first pass is going to be before Gokyo lakes. This will be the lowest pass of all three – Renjo La, which reaches 5345 meters above sea level.

Second one is Cho La pass which reaches 5420 meters, it is between Dragnag and Dzhongla.

The last one of Three passes is Kongma La which is also the highest one – 5535 meters. Kongma La is between Lobuche and Chukung villages.

I did the trek anti-clockwise – started with Kongma La and finished with Renjo La.

In my opinion the easiest pass was Renjo La pass. Keep in mind that during most of the hiking season you will probably need micro spikes for Cho La pass. Before or after the pass (depends from which side you come) there is around 200-300 meters of crystal blue ice which is slippery.

Gear list for Three Passes trek

Depends from where you start but three passes trek will take you at least 10-12 days. If you start from Phaplu and will do some rest days or additional climbs the trek might take you even 20 or 25 days. For this time you will need some stuff. Check out what I had in my backpack during the trek:

• Warm sleeping bag. Nights get pretty cold above 5000 meters.
• Down jacket. I had thin one and it worked fine.
• Hiking socks, underwear and T-shirts
• Rain/wind jacket
• Small backpack for day trips
• GPS device, maps.me on your phone or Khumbu valley map.
• Powerbank and solar charger. This will save you a lot of money.
• Snacks – nuts, dried meet, sweets, chocolate. This stuff is expensive in lodges.
• SIM card. Mobile data was working in some trek sections.
• Trail running or hiking shoes. I did all the trek with Salomon speedcross and it was fine.
• Book or cards for long evenings in lodges
• Thermal base layer
• Some medicine and patches
• Chargers for your devices
• Hiking poles
• Other stuff you might need…

Three passes trek is not technical at all and you will not need ice axe, climbing chalk bag or helmet with harness.

Three Passes hike itinerary

If you are acclimatized and fast you can make this itinerary shorter. Although, if you are not acclimatized you might want to spend some extra rest days in Namche Bazaar.

It is also worth to stay an extra day in Gokyo and do a trek to 6th lake (Cho Oyu basecamp). The itinerary I recommend:

1. Lukla-Phakding (in the above map it marked as [end] – [2])
2. Phakding-Namche Bazaar ([2] – [14])
3. Namche Bazaar-Tengboche ([14] – [4])
4. Tencboche-Dingboche ([4] – [5])
5. Dingboche-Chukung ([5] – [6])
6. Chukung-Lobuche ([6] – [7])
7. Lobuche-Gorakshep + EBC  ([7] – [8] + [9])
8. Gorakshep-Kala Patthar-Dzhongla ([8] – [10] – [11])
9. Dzhongla-Gokyo ([11] – [12])
10. Gokyo-Thame ([12] – [13])
11. Thame-Namche Bazaar ([13] – [14])
12. Namche Bazaar-Lukla ([14] – [end])

How to save money on the trek

Everyone wants to save money, especially when they are travelling long time. I have found some ways to save money on expensive Khumbu valley treks:

• Bring solar charger and 10000-20000mAh powerbank. While you will do day trips around the villages just put the solar charger on the roof of the lodge and you will have half of the powerbank if couple of hours. I have used Rav Energy 24W 3 USB ports charger which I really enjoyed.
• Have your own tea bags. Evenings are cold and you will definitely want to drink tea in lodges. Hot water is much cheaper than tea which is usually not so good. Bring your own tea bags and use them.
• Don’t take shower. Use cold water to wash up. You will need to pay for hot showers in every lodge, so I decided not to do it. Not everyone will do that, but it saves a lot of money in Khumbu valley.
• Bring your own nuts, jam and honey. Otherwise you will have to pay higher prices for oat meal or other breakfast cereals with them.

Enjoy your trek in Khumbu valley!

About author: Joseph travels since he was a child. Now he runs a travel blog – NomadJoseph.com where he writes about his travel experiences and gives tips to other fellow travellers. Joseph writes about budget travelling and mountains climbing. Follow Joseph on Facebook or Instagram.

The post Best of Khumbu valley – Three High Passes Trek in Nepal appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.

July, 2012

Two years ago TIMS card fee was introduced and now Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal (TAAN) want to force hikers to hire porters or guides no matter you need it or not.

In July TAAN announced about mandatory support staff (porter or guide) for all tourists traveling to any trekking destination In Nepal from September.

Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal has welcomed the decision and urged the government to include the decision in the Tourism Act for effective implementation. “The decision will help promote Nepal as a safe destination for tourists at a time when international media are questioning the safety of foreigners in Nepal,” Mohan Lamsal, general secretary of TAAN, said.

Of course they welcomed it, but they forgot it can be against them, as a lot of people already are thinking are they really want to go to Nepal to see Himalayas? May be instead to choose much cheaper Ladak region in India?

The reason for such rules?

Increased crime in the trekking areas

In last years  it was couple assaults against young women in Langtang National Park with latest this June. But I doubt the guides or porters can prevent such accidents.

It always was hard to find good guide/porter in Nepal as the quality of guides and porters, even those who are TAAN registered, varies enormously. What will happen if it would become mandatory? It will be chaos and bad guides/porters will ruin all trekking business and it definitely won’t make trekking more secure. Even the best guide is not able to watch everybody as even in the small group people are hiking 100s meters apart and nobody can’t see what is happening around the corner. So I am sure the safety is not the first thing TAAN members are thinking when they pressuring the Nepali authorities to make these changes.

According to trekking operators, the new policy change will increase budget of FITs(Free Independent Travellers) by only around $10 per day.

Are they kidding? The porters hire price starts from $10. They forgot about food, transportation, agency tax. It will be at least double that. So hiker no should add (minimum) additional $100 for their weekly budget.

August, 2012

It good I double checked the information posted on TAAN website and found discussion in one of  Lonely planet forums. Apparently all these announcements about mandatory guides/porter were only rumors spread by TAAN. I thought it is trusty body, but I won’t trust the information on their website without confirmation from other sources anymore.  Thought they posted about government decision to put the ban of solo trekking on hold.

The post Nepal is banning solo trekking? appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.

The post Nepal TIMS Card is not free any more appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.

You need them everywhere – when you are getting tourist visa in airport(one), when getting local SIM card for your mobile phone(one),  when getting national park entry permits (one picture for each park you are planning to visit) , when getting Trekkers’ Information Management System (TIMS) Card(two).  I was lucky as in TIMS office they accepted photocopy of passport page with picture as I run out of photos at that moment and only one left instead of two needed.

The post How many passport photos you need in Nepal appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.

Cheapest option is independent trekking. In this case you need about 10-15$US/day. Bed in guest houses cost about 2-3$US/night and other expenses are for food. But depending on season and the size of group you are travelling with it is possible to negotiate and stay for free, but you must order food in guest house you are staying. This is possible during low or shoulder season when there not so many trekkers in the mountains. Prices in the cities like Kathmandu or Pokhara are much higher. Expect to pay at least 15-30$US per night for double room in guest house or hotel.

For  10-15$US/day you can hire porter if you feel your backpack is too heavy to carry it all the way. Just make sure to hire porter from reputable company. Can’t recommend any as I didn’t use any myself, but I heard stories how porters leave clients in the middle of trek or stealing stuff from backpack they are carrying.

Organized tours are most expensive option as you can expect. Prices starts from 50-100$US/day depending on trek. There are too many companies organizing tours so it is difficult to summarize all services they offer.

The post How much does it cost trekking in Nepal appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.

I am in no doubt that in most cases you don’t need backpack then you are “backpacking”. What is definition of backpacking according wikipedia – “use of public transport as a means of travel, preference of youth hostels to traditional hotels, length of the trip vs. conventional vacations, use of a backpack, an interest in meeting the locals as well as seeing the sights.” Of course there are other descriptions of this term and all of them will include “use of a backpack”, but for me backpacking first of all associates with budget travel. Do I need to have backpack to travel on budget?

It is already more then 3 years when I left my home and travel from place to place. I didn’t know for how long I will be on the road, but because I was planning to stay in hostels and other budget places, so first thought in mind was – I will backpacking so I need big backpack for my trip. So I bought MEC Ibex 80 Backpack. It is nice backpack and there are full range of similar backpacks with internal frame. But couple months after beginning of my trip I started to think how many times I needed to use that backpack as BACKpack…The answer was – none.
Usually it was short walks to public transport or hostel, or leaving it somewhere at luggage storage. So I realized I didn’t need backpack. One big disadvantage of backpacks – top unloading/loading. I tried to put most often used items on the top, but almost everyday I needed something from the bottom. Although this backpack has access at the bottom, so wasn’t so bad, but at least one repack per day was usual routine. I can live with that, but so called hybrid bags would make life much easier. There are simple bags which can be used as backpacks or one shoulder bags or backpack with wheels. These bags are heavier then usual backpacks, but backpacks has many different straps on outside so you will need such thing as airport tote for you bag protection during loading into plane or on the bus. This will add some additional weight to your total, but it still probably will be lighter then hybrid back (especial one with wheels) and with all weight restrictions on budget airlines it can be issue.

So next time you will be looking for backpack think about such thing:

• Will you go trekking on your trip.
• If just day trips, may be all you need is daypack?
• If it will be multi-day trekking, may be you can rent suitable backpack in the place you start your trekking?
• If you decide go ahead with hybrid bag, check weight and how it feels on you back. Of course it won’t be very comfortable, but good enough for short distances.
• Do you need bag with wheels?

Would be interesting to hear your thought about backpacking gear – what kind and why you are using it.

The post Backpacking? But do you really need a backpack? appeared first on Vi Travel Tips.