GHT 소식 : Nepal GHT Information Factsheet (영문)

Himalaya Trekking Route Information

Neil has put this Nepal Great Himalaya Trail Information Factsheet together to assist anyone planning a GHT trek.

It contains info on visas, permits, prices and where you can find supplies, ATMs and internet. It also includes detailed information on distances, altitudes, timings and vertical climbs from our trek.

 

 

Nepal GHT Information Factsheet

 

We trekked the GHT in Nepal from October 2012 to February 2013, beginning near the Karnali River at Manma in Kalikot and ending at Chiya Bhanjyang on the Sikkim border. We followed the GHT High route as much as we were able to, given: the season, that we wanted to trek independently and did not want to buy expensive permits. In the event we stuck to the High route, with a few variations, from Phoksundo Tal to Solu Khumbu. The rest of our trek was either spent on the GHT Cultural route or random other low altitude trails.

This factsheet contains information which was correct at the time of our walk and which we hope will be useful for other trekkers both planning and in the process of similar treks in the Nepal Himalaya. Rules and regulations and facilities found in the mountains change very quickly in Nepal, so please let us know if any of the information below has become out of date.

 

Nepal Visas and Extensions for British Nationals

A 90 day visa at the border costs Brits U$100. Arriving at a land border we didn’t have USDs, so paid in Indian Rupees, which was more expensive (the equivalent of U$125). Not sure if this was official or not. Paying in Nepali Rupees was also U$125.

Obtaining 60 day visa extensions in Pokhara took 5 minutes and cost U$2/day (payable in NRs). on top of this we also had to pay NRs500 each extra to get more than the officially-allowed 30 day extension.

 

Permits

Most permits we needed were easy to obtain in Kathmandu or Pokhara, though note that many offices are closed on Nepali public holidays, and there are A LOT of public holidays in Nepal. Prices below are per person and in either Nepali Rupees or USDs. For permits which can only be obtained through an agency, we employed the help of Bijay Rai from Beauty Nepal Adventure in Pokhara, and were very happy with the service he provided.

Note that the list of permits below is just those needed for the route we took. If following the full GHT High route there are a number of other necessary permits.

 

TIMS – $20. We bought one of these for the whole trek. It was only checked in Langtang and Sagarmatha NPs, and the officials were satisfied with us only having the one TIMS to cross the country.

 

Lower Dolpa - $10 per week (plus a $50pp service charge to the agency which we were required to employ to obtain our permits from the Immigration Office). This permit was necessary for the stage from Juphal to Dho Tarap. It was checked at Sulighat.

 

Shey Phoksundo NP – NRs3000. Bought at the park office at Sulighat on the way to Phoksundo Tal.

 

Upper Dolpa – In the Immigration Office in Pokhara they said we didn’t need this permit even though we told them we were trekking from Dho Tarap to Jomsom via Chharka Bhot. We now know that this section is in Upper Dolpa, so requires a $500 per week permit plus an agency to obtain the permit for you. However, there were no checkpoints.

 

Annapurna – ACAP permit – NRs2000. Took 5 minutes to obtain at the ACAP office (near the tourist bus park) in Pokhara (NTB building in Kathmandu, near the City Bus Park). It’s also possible to buy this permit once you are trekking in the ACAP region, but the price then is NRs4000. This permit was needed for the section from Jomsom to Dharapani.

 

Manaslu – MCAP permit – NRs2000, but only available from the office in Kathmandu (in the Nepal Tourism Board building). We had to pay a service charge for an agent to obtain it and have it sent to us in Pokhara.

You also need a $70 per week permit from the Immigration Office in Pokhara or Kathmandu. We paid a $50pp service charge to an agency to get the permit for us. Officially you are meant to go with a guide to this area, but we paid our agency some extra baksheesh to get round this.

There are apparently checkpoints in Dharapani, Sama, Namrung and Jagat, though we only saw the one in Jagat. Both these permits are needed in order to trek from Dharapani to Jagat.

 

Langtang NP – NRs3000. Bought in Dunche. Also possible to buy in Kathmandu (NTB building)for the same price. There are checks in Syabru Besi, Goratabela and Langtang on the way up the Langtang Valley. Officially we needed these permits from Dunche/Syabru Besi, up the Langtang Valley then over to Gosaikund and Sermathang, though we never had to show them outside the Langtang Valley.

 

Gaurishankar CAP – NRs2000. We bought in Laduk. Also available to buy in Kathmandu (NTB building) for the same price.

 

Sagarmatha NP – NRs3000. We bought at the NP Centre in Monjo, as we were leaving the park. It is the same price in Kathmandu (NTB building).

 

 

Trek Stats - summary

Here’s how long each part of our trek took us:

Distances are measured with a GPS, time trekking is moving time and doesn’t include stops;

 

 

Section	Distance	Time trekking	Amount climbed	No. of walking days
Manma – Jumla (Kalikot/Jumla)	85km	21hrs	1,900m	3 days
Jumla – Juphal (Jumla/Lower Dolpa)	97km	26hrs	4,300m	4 days
Juphal – Dho Tarap (Lower Dolpa)	84km	25hrs	5,200m	5 days
Dho Tarap – Jomsom (Upper Dolpa)	111km	33hrs	5,300m	6 days
Jomsom – Dharapani (Annapurna)	99km	27hrs	3,800m	5 days
Dharapani – Jagat (Manaslu)	114km	31hrs	4,800m	5 days
Jagat – Syabru Besi (Ganesh Himal)	105km	36hrs	8,100m	6 days
Syabru Besi – Kyanjin Gompa (Langtang)	34km	10hrs	2,800m	2 days
Day trips from K. Gompa to Cherko Ri, Langshisa Kharka and Ganja La BC (Langtang)	41km	12hrs	2,200m	3 days
K. Gompa – Gosaikund (Langtang/Helambu)	46km	15hrs	3,200m	3 days
Gosaikund – Chautara (Helambu)	80km	24hrs	3,400m	4 days
Chautara – Simigaon (Helambu)	109km	36hrs	6,800m	6 days
Simigaon – Namche (Rolwaling/Solu Khumbu)	73km	27hrs	4,900m	7 days
Namche – Namche via 3 passes, Gokyo Ri and Kala Pathar (Solu Khumbu)	106km	36hrs	6,300m	8 days
Namche – Tumlingtar (Solu Khumbu/Lower Makalu)	133km	45hrs	7,000m	8 days
Tumlingtar – Chiya Bhanjyang (Lower Makalu/Kanchenjunga)	145km	46hrs	9,900m	8 days
Totals	1,462km	450hrs	79,900m	83 days

 

 

amount climbed is our best estimate based on spot heights from our GPS.

 

 

Dal Bhat Price

To give an idea of the relative costs of trekking in each region, here’s a list of the dal bhat prices we either paid or saw on menus. Food (along with permits) are the major expenses on any independent trek in Nepal, and the price of dal bhat is reasonably representative of the price of food as a whole in each region. Accommodation is generally very cheap in tourist lodges and at basic lodges in the mountains (Rs100 for a double room is normal).

 

Supplies:

Almost all villages in Nepal have a small shop selling basic supplies: instant noodles, biscuits, chewing gum and rum. This limited selection soon becomes a bit boring, so it’s a good idea to stock up on more interesting foodstuffs when possible. In non-touristy areas only the larger towns sell trekking food like muesli, porridge, Snickers, pasta and tuna. In touristy areas these items can be found in most lodges but generally they become much more expensive the moment you leave the bigger towns and head up to higher altitudes. Here are some good places to stock up on trekking food, with a rough idea of their price compared to Kathmandu prices. Note that it always pays to shop around in towns with a selection of shops – some places will charge you Nepali price, others will hope you don’t know how much goods should cost and try and charge you far more.

As with dal bhat, there are 2 main factors affecting the price of supplies: 1) how touristy a place is; 2) how far it is from the nearest road.

 

Good places we found to stock up

Jumla: A decent selection of supplies available though few touristy products. Prices are a bit higher than in Kathmandu due to the cost of transport. As there are few tourists they aren’t inflated.

 

Dolpa: Juphal is the only place we went to in Dolpa where we found trekking supplies. Prices are about double Kathmandu prices.

 

Annapurna: A good variety of supplies were available in Jomsom, Manang, Chame and these are reasonably priced - 30% more expensive than in Kathmandu is standard.

 

Manaslu: From Dharapani to Khorlabesi prices were high in every village. Even Jagat (where there was probably the best selection) which is only a day’s walk from a road, prices were 200-300% Kathmandu price.

 

Ganesh Himal: As it’s not touristy, there’s not really anywhere you can find trekking food. Prices for basic foods are low.

 

Langtang: Syabru Besi and Dunche both have a good selection of trekking food at Kathmandu prices. The moment you start heading upvalley to Kyanjin Gompa, or to Gosaikund prices double/triple.

 

Helambu: It’s easy to find supplies at reasonable prices here as there are loads of villages and plenty of roads. Don’t expect many trekking supplies in the less touristy areas.

 

Rolwaling: on the Friendship Highway, and in villages on the road from Charikot to Chhetchhet there is an ok selection of supplies. In the villages in the Rolwaling valley, supplies are quite basic and a bit expensive.

 

Solu Khumbu: Lukla or Namche have wide selections and prices are not that much higher than in Kathmandu. At higher altitudes everything is expensive, though the selection is good.

 

Lower Makalu: Tumlingtar has the best selection of trekking food, though still not that much.

 

Lower Kanchenjunga: Taplejung was by far the biggest town we went to in this area, with a good selection of trekking food at near-Kathmandu prices.

 

 

Internet

We found internet in the following towns:

 

      - Jumla  

      - Juphal 

      - Jomsom

-  Manang

 - Syabru Besi

 - Dunche

 - Langtang

 - Chautara

 - Namche

 - Lukla

 - Chainpur

 - Taplejung.

 

     - Tumlingtar was somewhere we were surprised not to find it. \

 

 

ATMs

Towns we encountered ATMs in during our trek:

Jomsom

Syabru Besi – but count your notes as sometimes they get stuck in the machine and you have to reach up and fish them out. Dunche

Namche

 

Beware when using ATMs in Nepal – it’s the only country we’ve ever travelled in where we’ve had trouble with machines a) not giving us the correct amount of cash or b) not giving us any cash at all, but debiting our accounts nonetheless. Ex-pats in Nepal have told us this is a well-known problem.

The only advice we can give is to try and use ATMs which are attached to a bank, so you can go in and tell them if there’s a problem; always count your notes when they’re dispensed; and check your bank statements to see you haven’t been wrongly debited. A number of people have told us Nabil Bank and Standard Chartered are two of the more reliable banks. We would recommend withdrawing all the cash you need for a trek in Kathmandu or Pokhara – relying on the ATMs in the mountains is risky.

 

We’d expected to find a few more ATMs during the trek – note there are none (as far as we know) in Jumla, Juphal, Manang, Lukla, Tumlingtar or Taplejung. Let us know if this changes!

 

Navigation

We used a variety of methods to navigate.

Robin Boustead’s Nepal Trekking and the Great Himalaya Trail was very useful, as were the GPS waypoints from his website.

Maps - 10 of which we bought in Nepal. Most were the 500 Series by Himalayan Map House/Nepa Maps. Though these were useful, they contained many errors, which led to us wasting a bit of time every now and then when in remote areas.

When we were on small trails in populated areas we just asked local people the way.

 

As route finding was generally not difficult, a combination of the above was sufficient for the majority of our trek.

For 2 days from Na to Tashi Labsta we hired guides. This was the only part of our trek we felt like we needed someone to show us the way as the route was tricky to find, and with glaciers and rockfall around getting lost was potentially dangerous. We’d recommend taking guides from Na as far as Ngole Camp, below the final glacier, from where the trail to Thame becomes clear. Our guides left us above this glacier, telling us the trail was now obvious, - it wasn’t and we spent a couple of hours going round in circles on the glacier trying to find the route.

 

 

 

 Detailed Day by Day Stats

 

 

 

 

Pass and Hill Heights
These were measured with a GPS and should be accurate to 30m.

We only needed mountaineering equipment for:
 Tashi Labsta (13/1/13) – crampons, ice axes, pitons (x2), rope (70m), helmets.
 Cho La (22/1/13) – crampons, ice axes. 

 

출처 : 김영한 2014.03.15 19:23

http://blog.daum.net/alpinet/15628955

 

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