A large, prominent temple in the center of a cityscape with surrounding buildings.
Two sherpas standing on a snowy mountain with skis and backpacks.
OUR STORY

Two Sherpas. One Family. 70 Years in the Himalayas.

Gyalgin Sherpa has been guiding in the Himalayas since before most of our guests were born. He learned the mountains from his own father. The passes, the weather, the altitude rhythms that no textbook teaches. He went on to build South Asian Holidays, leading large-scale expeditions through Nepal for decades. The routes, the relationships, the instincts. He built all of it from the ground up.

Sam Sherpa was born in Nepal, raised in the exact landscapes he now takes guests through. Not on guided trails, but living among them. The villages, the altitude, and the culture that most visitors only glimpse. When Sam moved to the United States, he didn't leave that behind. He built Sherpa Holidays to bring it here. A new company, rooted in the same family legacy, is designed for guests who want Nepal the way the Sherpa family has always known it.

We don't have a call center. We don't have a booking algorithm. When you reach out to us, you reach one of us. And when you travel with us, you're in the company of people who have spent their entire lives in the landscape you came to see.
Group of men posing for a photo at ITB berlin
Gyalgin Sherpa with Nepal's Tourism Minister Prithvi Subba Gurung at ITB Berlin

Where It All Began

Before SherpaHolidays, there was South Asian Holidays. Founded by Gyalgin Sherpa, it grew into one of Nepal's most recognized expedition companies, operating at an international level and earning the trust of Nepal's own tourism authorities. The knowledge, the relationships, and the routes we bring to every journey today were built during those years. SherpaHolidays carries that legacy forward.

Group of climbers ascending Mt. Everest
Early Himalayan expedition era | Everest Expedition, 1953. Photo by Dirk Pons, via Wikimedia Commons.
A Legacy in the Himalayas

Three Generations. One Mountain Legacy.

Before SherpaHolidays, before South Asian Holidays, our story goes back even further. Gyalgin Sherpa’s father, San Tsopel Sherpa, was part of the earliest Himalayan expeditions, serving as Sir Edmund Hillary's personal cook during Hillary's time in Nepal. That same spirit lives on today. What we offer is not built on tourism trends, but on generations of lived experience in the mountains.

Authentic Sherpa Lineage

Our guides don't work for us. They are us. SherpaHolidays is a family operation. The knowledge that takes you through the Himalayas has been passed from father to son for generations. You're not hiring a guide. You're being welcomed by people whose entire identity is tied to the mountains they're showing you.

Ethical & Impactful Travel

We live in the communities you'll pass through. That's not a policy, it's personal. We choose our accommodation partners carefully, we hire locally at every level, and we don't take guests into areas that can't absorb the visit with dignity. When you travel with us, the money you spend stays in Nepal. That matters to us in a way that no corporate travel company can replicate.

Tailored Premium Expeditions

No two guests are the same, and we make custom itineraries for people who aren't. Our connections in Nepal are decades deep: boutique lodges that don't appear on booking platforms, monastery stays arranged through personal relationships, and helicopter operators who know us by name. We use all of it to build you something that no one else can replicate, because no one else has the same roots.