Logistics
WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS' TREKKING PHILOSOPHY
WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS is focusing on small groups of 4 to 6 participants for Nar Phu trek because our experience have found this to be the best way to have a successful trip while providing excellent services. Furthermore, it creates a pleasant ambiance within the group, including an exchange of cultures and traditions with our team and the local guides.
Last but not least, WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS’ focus on small groups permits more flexibility and support to the participants individually.
ACCOMMODATION & MEALS
Kathmandu: we stay at superior Hotels on a sharing basis, including breakfasts. Depending on availability, single rooms can be booked upon request at an additional cost. All dinners are served in excellent restaurants in town where you can enjoy various types of cuisine, from the typical Nepali, Thai, and even steaks and Italian meals. Each restaurant has been screened by WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS representatives to ensure that it is of suitable quality for our guests.
During Trekking: we stay in the lodges (small traditional mountain guesthouses) that are recommended by WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS as per defined itinerary destination. Please be aware that single rooms are not available. Though there are blankets available at the lodges, we recommend bringing your own sleeping bag, as the sleeping rooms are not heated. Showers are available at the majority of lodges. Please note that in the majority of the lodges the toilets are common, except in few of them where we provide you with attached rooms (upon availability), especially on resting days or acclimatisation day in Manang and Jomsom in order to enjoy a shower.
Many lodges serve a variety of cuisines such as continental, Indian, Tibetan and local cooking. Please note that the beverages are on each participant’s own charge, except coffee and the selection of teas that are served for breakfast and in the afternoons upon your arrival, as well as some special snacks provided by WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS. Lunch package will be serve the day we cross Kangla and Mesokando passes.
SAFETY FEATURES
Your safety is of supreme concern while traveling with WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS. A first aid kit, with a (4)-litre oxygen bottle with a mask and regulator, for emergency.
The Guide is also equipped with communication means, only to be used in emergencies. WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS also works with the national helicopter rescue airlines.
In order to minimize risks, in particular during the crossing of the higher passes, weather forecasts are provided to the Guide on a regularly basis. Depending on the difficulty of some itineraries, WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS will secure the route using the necessary technical gear, if needed.
Please note that the itinerary information is purely indicative and can likely be modified during the course of the trekking by your Guide, who has the authority to make such changes if it is deemed necessary (due to safety concerns, etc.). Every effort will be made to keep to the scheduled itinerary; however, as this is an adventure travel in remote mountain regions and at high altitude, we are not able to fully guarantee it as it is necessary to take into consideration each situation as it occurs and consequently to adapt the program in its best way. Elements such as weather conditions, health condition of a group member, unexpected natural disasters, among others, can all contribute to changes in the scheduled itinerary.
The Guide will try to ensure that the trekking runs according to the foreseen plan to the benefit of all the participants, but we thank you to be prepared to some flexibility and comprehension if so required.
WILD YAK TEAM
Our Trekking Guide and his role: WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS’ Trekking Guide is a professional government-trained guide with experience in guiding and trekking around the Himalaya, including first aid training and deep knowledge about the local flora, fauna and general environment preservation. Our Guide leads you all the way through the trekking and across the passes, while giving you interesting information about the mountains, culture, traditions and landscapes. He will help as an interpreter with the local populations. He is ensuring your safety and is checking your needs throughout the trail, and to the top of the pass, monitoring symptoms of high altitude sickness. The Guide plays a vital role in taking care of our member's needs, supervising the team and porters, and assuring the safety requirements. He also makes sure that the rubbish is properly managed and the trail/campsite is kept clean throughout the whole trekking trip. WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS will be frequently informed about the group during the entire trekking experience.
Our Assistant Guide: has also a government licence but must work as an assistant guide during some time in order to become a company approved Guide. He assists our Trekking Guide with all major duties, ensuring the safety and checking that the performance of the group runs smoothly.
Our Porters: WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS has it own reliable porters. It is their responsibility to carry your luggage during the trekking with proper handling standards.
WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS is very concerned about the porters. We support and respect the porters’ rights and have high standards to make sure that they are treated well. We pay them a fair salary, including a bonus and providing them with good food allowances, clothes, shoes, sunglasses and insurances.
Grade
Pre-Training before Trek
Trekking is good for everyone! A daily walk in a beautiful landscape with a consumption of significant volumes of water, chatting with local people and understanding the culture, observing your body limits, all combine to make many healthier your body and mind than they ever have been before.
Before your embark for your Trekking, WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS recommends a regular aerobic exercise including some stretching exercises for a couple of hours per week. Ideally you should concentrate on cardiovascular fitness, building an excellent stamina and undertake a bit of strength training to be more efficient in the mountains. It is worth to go for at least once a week for a 3 to 4 hour hike, which familiarizes already your body to sustain the long-time effort in the Himalaya. The fitter you are, the faster and more easily you will get the trail, acclimatise and enjoy the trekking days.
TREKKING GRADES
WILD YAK EXPEDITIONS proposes a simple grading system that gives you a first idea of the difficulties of the Trekking for which you might apply and enables you to determine which is the best for you.
NAR PHU Trek: Hard
A trekking with the grade “hard” implies the following factors:
- An altitude up to 6000 meters above sea level
- An average trail inclination of about 30%-60% with some sections that may be loose, sandy, with gravel grounds and boulders, icy, snowy and to be done by abseiling
- An average of 400 to 1000 elevation ascent a day (especially while crossing the passes)
- Confident to walk on glacier moraines and glaciers covered with snow
- The trail may be rough paved, need to fix a rope, be loose dirt, slippery, in a landslide area, icy and snowy. At some places, you might need the help of your hands and be strongly assisted by a partner/guide
- The aptitude to walk 8-12 hours per day especially while crossing the passes
- To be confident to cross a river
It requires the subsequent skills from each participant:
- The need to have a basic mountaineering knowledge, as glacier walk, crampon and ice axe use
- The knowledge of repelling down oneself
- A very good stamina; the capacity to walk during several hours at a sustained walking pace for a few days in a row in a high altitude environment
- You are familiar with assessing obstacles and hazards along the trail, walk confident in difficult terrain
- You are able to carry a small personal backpack (35 litres)