Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan Cultural Tour

Getting ready

No special training is needed. Comfortable shoes for uneven cobbles and stone steps at the heritage sites, and a light layer for early mornings, will cover it.

Altitude and acclimatisation

The high point on this trip is 4,718 m. Lhasa is at 3,656 m and you arrive there by air, so day one is an altitude day. We keep the first 48 hours deliberately light.

Rules we work to: gain no more than 400 to 500 m of sleeping altitude a day above 3,000 m, take a rest day roughly every 1,000 m, climb high and sleep low on those days, drink three to four litres daily, and skip alcohol and sleeping tablets above 3,500 m. Your guide carries a pulse oximeter and a first aid kit and records the group morning and evening.

Diamox (acetazolamide) is a legitimate aid, not a shortcut, and works best started 24 hours before you go high. Discuss it with your own doctor before you travel; we do not prescribe.

If anyone deteriorates, the answer is descent, immediately and without debate. Our guides have the authority to turn a client around and they use it.

Permits and paperwork

Chinese group visa, Tibet Travel Permit and Alien's Travel Permit for areas outside Lhasa. We handle the entire application; you must send passport scans at least 25 days before departure and you cannot travel on an individual Chinese visa.

For Tibet you must send clear passport and visa scans at least 25 days before departure. The Chinese group visa is issued in Kathmandu and it is a physical document for the whole group, which is why late bookings are difficult and why you cannot join partway through.

For Bhutan we submit your visa application with the Sustainable Development Fee once your booking is confirmed. Allow two to three weeks.

Money, tipping and costs on the ground

Nepali rupees are the only currency accepted on the trail. Draw cash in Kathmandu or Pokhara before you leave; ATMs have a per-transaction limit of around NPR 35,000 and charge a fee, and above the roadhead there are no machines and no card terminals.

Budget for drinks, souvenirs and any meals not listed in the itinerary.

Tipping is customary and genuinely matters to the crew, but it is not compulsory and never demanded. As a guide to the guide: around USD 8 to 12 per day for your trekking guide and USD 6 to 8 for each porter, pooled by the group and handed over at the end.

Staying in touch

Wi-Fi in hotels. Note that foreign apps and services are restricted in China; download offline maps before you go.

Ncell and Nepal Telecom tourist SIM cards are sold at Kathmandu airport and take about ten minutes. Bring your passport.

Health and safety

No vaccinations are legally required for Nepal or Bhutan or Tibet, but hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus are sensible and a rabies course is worth discussing if you are travelling for a long time. Check with a travel clinic six to eight weeks before you fly.

Drink bottled or treated water and be sensible about street food in the first few days.

Our guides carry a comprehensive first aid kit, a pulse oximeter and, on the higher routes, supplementary oxygen. We hold a 24-hour operations line in Kathmandu throughout your trip, and we run rescue coordination ourselves rather than handing it to a third party.

Booking and cancellation

A deposit confirms your dates and the balance is due before departure. If your plans change we will move your booking to another date rather than treat it as a cancellation wherever the ground operators allow it.

Written quotes are fixed. We do not add fuel or permit surcharges after you have booked, and if a government fee rises between your booking and your departure we absorb it.

Questions before you commit are welcome and never rushed. Write to us with what you actually want and we will tell you plainly whether this trip is the right one, including when the answer is that a different route would suit you better.