What should I pack for a Himalayan trek?

Think in layers, not bulk: moisture-wicking base layers, a warm down or synthetic mid-layer, a waterproof shell, and broken-in boots you already trust. Add a four-season sleeping bag for high treks, glacier-rated sunglasses, sun protection, a headlamp, a refillable bottle with water treatment, personal medications, and a 30 to 35 liter daypack. Porters carry your main duffel, so you only walk with the day's needs. Your guide runs a full gear check in Kathmandu before departure, and anything missing can be bought or rented there in an afternoon.

How fit do I need to be?

Every trip page shows one of four difficulty levels. Easy: sightseeing, short walks and gentle hill trails, or a first rafting trip. Nights below 3,000 m (10,000 ft). Moderate: up to about 6 hours of walking a day on good trails, or several days of Class III and IV rapids. Nights up to about 4,300 m (14,000 ft). Challenging: 5 to 8 hours of walking a day for two weeks or more, with nights up to about 5,200 m (17,000 ft) and a pass or viewpoint above 5,000 m (16,400 ft). Read your trip's walking demands, highest daytime and sleeping altitudes, terrain, technical requirements and gear list before booking. Strenuous: long, steep days in remote country, often camping, with passes or camps near or above 5,000 m (16,400 ft), or a climb above 6,000 m (19,700 ft) with crampons and fixed ropes. For a Moderate or Challenging trek, give yourself 8 to 12 weeks: two or three cardio sessions a week, regular stair or hill walking, and one long walk a week in the boots you'll trek in. You don't need to be an athlete, but you do need to be comfortable walking 5 to 7 hours a day, several days in a row. Tell us your starting point and we'll give you an honest recommendation.

Do I need to arrange my own permits?

No. Every permit your itinerary requires, including national park entries, conservation area permits, and restricted region permits for places like Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpo, Manaslu, and Kanchenjunga, is arranged by us and included in your trip price. You bring your passport and a few passport photos. We handle the rest.

How far in advance should I book?

The deposit is part of the total price, not an additional fee. A scheduled booking made more than 90 days before departure requires $500 per person. A private journey booked more than 90 days before departure requires 30% of the trip price. The balance is due 90 days before departure. At 90 days or fewer, full payment is due at booking. Your disclosure and invoice state the exact amounts and dates. For a traveler cancellation received 90 or more days before departure, the scheduled or private deposit stays as a dollar credit toward any SherpaHolidays trip for 24 months. We confirm the amount, issue date and expiration date in writing. You may apply it to a new booking made within that period, subject to availability. The new trip is priced when you rebook; you pay any difference. Unused credit remains available until its original expiration date. It is not a cash refund. Any longer validity or cash-redemption right required by law still applies. SherpaHolidays Terms and Conditions SH-TC-2026-10-14 . Your accepted booking version and mandatory rights remain in effect.

Before you travel

Travel Safety

Our Promise

Road travel, rafting, wildlife activities and travel in remote places carry risks of illness, injury and death. Experienced staff, briefings and equipment reduce risk but cannot eliminate it. Your itinerary identifies your guide team, including Sherpa guides on Himalayan routes, and the support and equipment included.

How We Guide You

Your itinerary identifies your guide team, including Sherpa guides on Himalayan routes, and the support and equipment included.

How We Protect You

High-altitude travel can cause serious illness, even in fit travelers. Acclimatization reduces risk but cannot eliminate it. Tell your guide promptly about symptoms. Your guide may stop an ascent, change the route or arrange descent. Rescue and medical treatment depend on location, weather, access and available resources and cannot be guaranteed.

Gradual altitude gain
Rest and acclimatization days
Guide monitoring and support
Flexible pacing for comfort

Your health always comes before the schedule. If a guide decides the group needs to rest, we rest.

How We Support You

We operate in some of the most remote terrain in the world. When something goes wrong in the mountains, and sometimes it does, decisions are made on the ground by people who know this landscape personally:

Evacuation procedures
Medical support networks
Communication systems in remote areas
Coordination with rescue services if needed

Travel Insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation, trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation. Confirm with your insurer that it covers your itinerary's activities and maximum altitude, including technical climbing, rafting, helicopter evacuation and search and rescue where applicable. Provide proof before departure. Consider obtaining cover when you book because some benefits have purchase deadlines.

We are not your insurer. Receiving your documents is not a determination of coverage and does not guarantee payment of a claim. Medical and evacuation providers may require payment in advance. Keep insurer emergency details available during your trip.

Trekking coverage up to your trip's maximum elevation (many policies stop at 4,000 or 5,000 meters)
Helicopter evacuation and search and rescue
Medical treatment abroad and hospital care
Trip cancellation and interruption protection
Repatriation
Proof of cover, sent to us before departure

Mountain Conditions & Flexibility

We may change the order of activities, timing or route for weather, access or safety. If a named hotel is unavailable, we provide an alternative of equivalent character and standard. A minor change that preserves the agreed character and standard is not itself a cancellation. We tell you promptly about a material change, explain available alternatives and your applicable refund rights, and obtain agreement before charging more. Calling a change operational or safety-related does not remove a refund required by law.

Mountain flights depend on weather and airline decisions. Lukla flights may use Ramechhap instead of Kathmandu; your itinerary identifies the included transfers. If weather delays your Lukla flight and you need to wait, we cover up to 2 extra nights while you wait, and more when the situation calls for it. Nights you choose to add, or a helicopter you choose instead of waiting, are your cost, quoted before anything is booked. Other delay arrangements and costs are stated in your written itinerary. This weather-delay wording applies to bookings made from October 14, 2026; bookings made earlier keep the wording of the version they accepted. We suggest booking your flight home one or two days after the trip ends. That buffer does not guarantee a connection.

We cannot guarantee a summit, pass crossing, mountain view, wildlife sighting or on-time flight.

Guest Responsibilities

Follow guide instructions and briefings
Maintain appropriate fitness for the trip level
Respect local customs and environmental guidelines
Inform us of medical conditions in advance
Travel with required gear and insurance

Respect for Nature & Culture

We live in the communities you'll pass through, and the mountains, monasteries and villages on your itinerary are our home. We ask every guest to move through Nepal the way we do: with respect for what's here, care for what's fragile, and awareness that how you travel affects the people who stay after you leave.

Questions About Safety

Ask us anything before you book about altitude, fitness requirements, specific trails, or what to do if plans change on the mountain. We'd rather answer twenty questions now than have you uncertain on the trail.

info@sherpaholidays.com

Things Guests Ask Before Packing Their Bags.

Real preparation questions, answered by our Sherpa team.

Think in layers, not bulk: moisture-wicking base layers, a warm down or synthetic mid-layer, a waterproof shell, and broken-in boots you already trust. Add a four-season sleeping bag for high treks, glacier-rated sunglasses, sun protection, a headlamp, a refillable bottle with water treatment, personal medications, and a 30 to 35 liter daypack. Porters carry your main duffel, so you only walk with the day's needs. Your guide runs a full gear check in Kathmandu before departure, and anything missing can be bought or rented there in an afternoon.
Every trip page shows one of four difficulty levels.
Easy: sightseeing, short walks and gentle hill trails, or a first rafting trip. Nights below 3,000 m (10,000 ft).
Moderate: up to about 6 hours of walking a day on good trails, or several days of Class III and IV rapids. Nights up to about 4,300 m (14,000 ft).
Challenging: 5 to 8 hours of walking a day for two weeks or more, with nights up to about 5,200 m (17,000 ft) and a pass or viewpoint above 5,000 m (16,400 ft). Read your trip's walking demands, highest daytime and sleeping altitudes, terrain, technical requirements and gear list before booking.
Strenuous: long, steep days in remote country, often camping, with passes or camps near or above 5,000 m (16,400 ft), or a climb above 6,000 m (19,700 ft) with crampons and fixed ropes.
For a Moderate or Challenging trek, give yourself 8 to 12 weeks: two or three cardio sessions a week, regular stair or hill walking, and one long walk a week in the boots you'll trek in. You don't need to be an athlete, but you do need to be comfortable walking 5 to 7 hours a day, several days in a row. Tell us your starting point and we'll give you an honest recommendation.
High-altitude travel can cause serious illness, even in fit travelers. Acclimatization reduces risk but cannot eliminate it. Tell your guide promptly about symptoms. Your guide may stop an ascent, change the route or arrange descent. Rescue and medical treatment depend on location, weather, access and available resources and cannot be guaranteed.
No. Every permit your itinerary requires, including national park entries, conservation area permits, and restricted region permits for places like Upper Mustang, Upper Dolpo, Manaslu, and Kanchenjunga, is arranged by us and included in your trip price. You bring your passport and a few passport photos. We handle the rest.
Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of every booking. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment, emergency evacuation, trip cancellation and interruption, and repatriation. Confirm with your insurer that it covers your itinerary's activities and maximum altitude, including technical climbing, rafting, helicopter evacuation and search and rescue where applicable. Provide proof before departure. Consider obtaining cover when you book because some benefits have purchase deadlines.

We are not your insurer. Receiving your documents is not a determination of coverage and does not guarantee payment of a claim. Medical and evacuation providers may require payment in advance. Keep insurer emergency details available during your trip.
The deposit is part of the total price, not an additional fee. A scheduled booking made more than 90 days before departure requires $500 per person. A private journey booked more than 90 days before departure requires 30% of the trip price. The balance is due 90 days before departure. At 90 days or fewer, full payment is due at booking. Your disclosure and invoice state the exact amounts and dates.
For a traveler cancellation received 90 or more days before departure, the scheduled or private deposit stays as a dollar credit toward any SherpaHolidays trip for 24 months. We confirm the amount, issue date and expiration date in writing. You may apply it to a new booking made within that period, subject to availability. The new trip is priced when you rebook; you pay any difference. Unused credit remains available until its original expiration date. It is not a cash refund. Any longer validity or cash-redemption right required by law still applies.
SherpaHolidays Terms and Conditions SH-TC-2026-10-14. Your accepted booking version and mandatory rights remain in effect.