Travel Footprints

We knew, even before we embarked on this journey, that our trip to the Himalayas would be AWESOME! But at what price? We have been asked by various acquaintances and friends to detail the cost of our trip so here goes!

Clothing and Gears

Months before we left Manila for Nepal, we have been following a strict training plan to prepare us with the physical demands of trekking in the Himalayas. For this, we made good use of our mountain bikes (I even had the bitter experience of crashing in one ride!) and at least, that is not costly! What proved to be VERY expensive were all the clothes and gears we had to buy for the trip between January and March, namely:

For Mr. Rono

• Columbia Grizztooth Omni-Tech Shoes – Php 3,470.00 (bought on sale!)
• Columbia Bugaboo Parka – Php 9,990.00
• Columbia Bugaboo Interchange Glove – Php 2,990.00
• High-Neck and Legging Thermal Wear (Marks & Spencer) – Php 4,000.00
• Waterproof Pants (Columbia) – Php 1,970.00
• Performance Shades, Zyon (Rudy Project) – bought a year ago

For Mrs. Rono

• Columbia Pagora Shoes – Php 3,270.00 (bought on sale!)
• Columbia Bugaboo Parka – Php 8,990.00
• The North Face Montana Glove – Php 1,870.00
• High-Neck and Legging Thermal Wear – Various (Marks & Spencer/Columbia) – Php 4,100.00
• UV-resistant/Convertible/Lightweight Pants from R.O.X. (Aigle/Columbia – Php 5,980.00
• Street Jacket/Turtlenecks (Columbia/Mango) – Php 3,160.00
• Performance Shades, Zyon (Rudy Project) – Php 9,120.00 (with 20% discount during Glorietta’s Midnight Madness sale)

Gears

• 40L Mountaineering Pack from R.O.X. (Habagat) – Php 4,919.00
• Headlamp from R.O.X. (P-Tech) – Php 2,890.00
• Wool Socks from R.O.X. (The North Face/Keen) – Php 2,074.00
• Pocket Towel from R.O.X. (Sea to Summit) – Php 1,250.00
• Various medicines including garlic tablets (helps in acclimatizing)

More or less, our clothes and gears for the Himalayas racked up to a total of Php 70,000++ for what’s lacking in our current sportswear. Early on, we already decided we did not want go cheap on shoes (it’s a lot of trekking!) and good pair of lens (to avoid snow-blindness!). Plus, we knew we needed to have some reliable winter clothes with us. We opted to go for Columbia mainly because of their 6-month zero interest installment promo for regular-priced items Php3,000 and up.

In Nepal, we also spent about $200 more for some original UV-resistant Buff headwear (this is sadly not available in Manila!) and some cheap knock-offs of several The North Face products (mostly goose-down outfits) that we felt we needed for more insulation in the freezing, but enchanting, Himalayas.

Travel Expenses

Roundtrip airfare from Manila to Nepal via Thai Airways amounted to PHp 40,000.00 (we bought the ticket in February 2010) with a 12-hour transit in Bangkok.

The Bangkok Airport hotel was way too expensive at $197 for an 8-hour stay in a double room. Coming back from Nepal, we opted to make other hotel arrangements and found a sweet deal in the internet to stay at The Floral Shire, a hotel 10 minutes away from the airport, for just 1,000 THB/room/night.

Of course, the usual Php 750.00 NAIA terminal fee was in our budget. Plus, the airport tax in Bangkok (because it wasn’t included in our ticket somehow) amounting to THB700/person.

Visa fees in Nepal was $40/person.

We also secured travel insurance from Blue Cross amounting to $55/person. Better safe than sorry! At least, we will have this kind of insurance in case we needed to be rescued during the trek!

Tour Expenses

We availed of the package tour with the International Adventure Treks and Expedition for a price of USD1,200 per person which includes :

• Airport – hotel – airport transfer on arrival and departure by car or a van.
• 4 nights at Hotel Marshyangdi or similar in Kathmandu with breakfast & room on twin sharing basis.
• 3 meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) with Tea & coffee on trek with lodge accommodation.
• An experienced trekking guide, Sherpa (assistant guide) & porters (generally 1 porter for 2 trekkers), their daily wages, food, accommodation, insurance and needed equipment
• Airfare and tax for domestic flight Kathmandu – Lukla – Kathmandu including guide & assistant guide.
• National Park entry permit & TIMS.
• Necessary taxes and company service charge.

And excludes:

• Lunch & dinner while staying at hotel in Kathmandu.
• Soft drinks, bottled water, beer and hard drinks during the trek and bar bills at hotel.
• Sleeping bag with liner and shower facilities for the trek.
• Comprehensive Insurance Policy to cover all travel needs including helicopter rescue incase needed.
• International flight cost and Nepal entry visa fee.
• Expenses of personal nature and emergency cost due to unavoidable situation such as landslide and strike.
• Tips to service staffs.

To sum it all up, we spent about Php 120,000++/person to make this trip of our lifetime possible. But we have to admit, the experience and the memories are certainly priceless!

The trekking team in the Himalayas pose for a group photo during a pit stop in Lukla

This post is a tribute to the wonderful people that made our trek in the Himalayas wonderful and oh so comfortable. First off, we would like to say thank you to Harkaraj Pariyar, whom we fondly call Kuya Henry or sometimes Jestoni Alarcon Kuya Henry is a Nepali married to a Filipina (Emma Pariyar) and they own and operate a tour agency for adventure travels in Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet based in Kathmandu.

This photo above was taken in his office in Kathmandu while we were given a briefing of our adventure and was also introduced to our guide (Sherpa). Kuya Henry patiently worked with us as we exchanged countless emails to revise and finalize our itinerary depending on our needs, capacity and budget.

If you want to get hold of Kuya Henry for any tour inquiries, contact –
International Adventures Treks & Expeditions
Mobile: 977 98510 27381
E-mail: treks@iate.wlink.com.np
Website: www.himalaya-trekking.com

We also acknowledge the wonderful support given to us by Ang Dawa Rai who did a fantastic job in guiding us all throughout the 12-day trek in the Himalayas. We were the third group of Filipinos he was able to accompany in the Himalayas – first was with the ABS-CBN crew led by Abner Mercado and the second was with a group of 3 Filipina tourists. We are very amused to see him sport a cap with the flag of the Philippines on it (he said it was given during the Everest Expedition of the Philippine team). He would patiently wait for us as we trudged slowly up the mountains, gently push us to our limits and encourage us when spirits are down. We are truly grateful for having such a pleasant guide to show us the way around the Himalayas!

Of course, we would not forget these two porters who came with us to unburden us with the load on our backs – literally. Our backpacks were carried by these two guys, who always have a generous smile on their face, all throughout the trek. They would also act as an advance team to our lodge, ably booking the best room available (e.g., closest to the common toilet room) so it is ready when we arrive. We will also never forget their sweet gesture of bringing tea when we need it in Gokyo Valley and Gokyo Ri.

And, last but certainly not least, we extend our warm thanks to our friend Chin who tirelessly researched for tour options in the Himalayas and sought tour packages we can avail that would fit our schedule, budget and capacity (we’re not exactly mountaineering people!). And for bringing the Diamox pills which certainly enabled us to cope with the altitude and ultimately finish the trek

It was such a pleasure to have had this wonderful experience of the trek with you all! ‘Til the next great adventure!

Trek the Himalayas Day #3: Namche Bazar, Syangboche, Khumjung
Pit Stop: Namche Bazar (2nd night)
Highest Elevation Reached: 3,790 m
Relative Oxygen Rate: 64% (assuming sea level at 100%)
Price of Mineral Water Bottle: 150 rupees/USD 2.15

We started having a bit of trouble sleeping through the night already because of headaches. By dawn, Mr. Rono had to rush to the bathroom to throw up and we all knew these are tell-tale signs of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or also commonly known as altitude sickness. Before our breakfast of chicken noodle soup and egg, I urged Mr. Rono to do some deep breathing exercises with me (similar to what we do in yoga). In the end, he decided to stay behind in the hotel to rest while Chin and I go out to see the Sherpa Village in Khumjung as part of our ‘acclimatization’ climb.

Although we woke up with frosted hotel windows, the sun was out when we were about to leave for the acclimatization climb and the day was already getting warm.

But after some time, the wind started to pick up. Good thing we brought our windbreakers to wear during the day trek while immersing ourselves more on the Khumbu Region culture.

While in Syangboche, we managed to watch a cargo plane land on an airstrip and see a glimpse of the Mt. Everest peak for the very first time. But the weather has turned for the worse bringing in thick clouds from nowhere that virtually blinded our trail during the trek.

At some point, we had to ask ourselves do we go back to Namche Bazar or proceed to Khumjung?

But we decided we wanted to see more and really go to the Sherpa Village in Khumjung. A few more minutes of trekking uphills and downhills, we wandered into the community of Sherpas –

where we had lunch of vegetable roll (which looked a lot like a big empanada to me) with rice and vegetable soup. During lunch, we saw how cold it really was at 10 degrees Celsius and it’s only noon time!

And then it started to snow…

FRAAAAAAK! It was snowing and we were wearing our half-pants! We decided to wait it out a bit but after one hour there seems to be no stopping in sight –

We had to wait for the snow fall to stop in one of the Nepali houses just in front of the Hillary School where a lot of Sherpas first learned how to speak English. The school was established by Hillary, the first person to ever summit Mt. Everest. Eventually, we decided to just brave the snow and try to go back to Namche as fast as we can lest we end up being stuck in Khumjung for the night.

The sight of snow-capped mountains and pine trees and trail was actually breath-takingly beautiful if only we weren’t soooo cold! The trek back to Namche Bazar wasn’t easy but it sure was fun…and definitely memorable

If you don’t see the video, click here!

After 35 minutes in-flight of what seems like the route to ‘Hallelujah mountains’ in the movie Avatar because you see mountain peaks on either side of the plane (except, of course, this is rooted to the ground not floating like in the movies), we made it to the quaint mountain town of Lukla. I will not even talk yet of the extremely exciting landing in the short runway of the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, I will reserve that for another post because it deserves a whole write-up on its own.

As soon as landing in Lukla, first order of the day for both Mr. Rono and I was to rummage through our bag for our fleece jackets. It was so cooooold! Weather forecast has recorded temperature at 20 degrees Celsius, but real feel must be about 15 degrees!

Mr. Rono poses with our Sherpa, Ang Dawa Rai, in front of 'Starbucks' Lukla

In one of the exhibits we saw during the trek, Lukla was described as the “major point of entry to Sagarmatha National Park Buffer Zone. Its bitumen-surfaced airstrip is particularly busy during the trekking season with more than
50 flights landing per day. Over 90% of the visitors to the area arrive by air at Lukla. The quiet herding village of Lukla has now developed into a bustling town with numerous lodges, restaurants, bakeries and internet cafes.”

You might wonder why only 90% of the visitors arrive via air transportation. We actually met a porter who had to WALK, yes walk, for 3 days to get from Kathmandu to Lukla due to unavailability of seats. Apparently, you can ride a bus from Kathmandu to a town called Jiri and then trek the rest of the way to Lukla…for 3 whole days!

Porters from a big expedition group getting organized

Our trekking team was finally completed after we met our 2 porters in Lukla. The porters and Sherpa got our bags organized while we drink our milk tea and think of the Himalayan adventure slowly unfolding before us.

Mr. Rono and Mrs. Rono for last-minute shopping before the trek begins!