Essential Information for Participants

This information should answer many of your questions and is designed to guide you in preparing for your expedition to Everest Base Camp. First and foremost, please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions about your gear, training, inoculations, travel or trekking logistics. My mobile phone number is 202-255-1191 and my email address is: rsilber@imt-nepal.com.

We are excited you have chosen International Mountain Trekking to experience the spectacular Khumbu region located in the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal. On an IMT trek, you will have the opportunity to visit Sherpa communities, enjoy traditional meals with Sherpa families, visit historic Buddhist monasteries and engage with the latest scientific discoveries in the region in a way not offered by other trekking companies.

This letter will address the details of the trek, including the safety and COVID-19 protocol during your time in Nepal. We have strong connections with Nepal’s Embassy here in Washington, and we are in regular contact with them to have the latest details on conditions in and traveling to Nepal.

1) PRE-TRIP PREPARATION AND TRAVEL

NEPAL ENTRY PROTOCOL:  Nepal has returned to its pre-Covid policy of issuing tourist visas at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport.  Therefore, you will obtain your 30-day tourist visa as you make your way through customs at Tribhuvan Airport. Here are the steps you will take upon entry to the airport:

1. You will enter a line to have your passport checked and to verify that you are vaccinated for COVID-19 or that you have a negative PCR COVID test result. The COVID test is not required if you have proof of vaccination (completed at least 14 days prior to entering Nepal).
2. Upon exiting this line, you will begin the process of getting your 30-day tourist visa. After exiting the first line, go to the right side of the immigration room to fill out a form for a 30-day tourist visa on one of several visa kiosk machines. The machines are not connected to a printer, so once you have completed the form, use your phone to take a photo of your completed application.
3. Upon exiting this line, you will begin the process of getting your 30-day tourist visa. After exiting the first line, go to the right side of the immigration room to fill out a form for a 30-day tourist visa on one of several visa kiosk machines. The machines are not connected to a printer, so once you have completed the form, use your phone to take a photo of your completed application.
4. If you are able to connect to the airport wifi, you can also use your phone to fill in the form. When the form is completed, go to the payment counter at the left. Upon giving 50 dollars as payment, you will receive a receipt for your visa payment. Present that receipt with your passport and boarding pass to the immigration booths at the front of the room and you will pass through immigration control.
5. Once passing immigration, go down one level to the baggage claim room. Collect your baggage at the baggage and head outside. You will be greeted for pickup outside of the airport’s main doors. Look for the IMT Banner. Your escort will be among the line of other individuals waiting to greet arrivals. Namaste! Welcome to Nepal!

  You are staying at the Kathmandu Guest House Saat Ghumti Marg 16, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal Phone: +977 1-4700800

FLIGHT INFORMATION: We strongly encourage you to book your travel with IMT’s travel agent Pirjo Dehart at CTT Destinations. She and her staff are experienced in arranging travel to and from Nepal. Please contact her at 800-909-6647 or email: pirjo.dehart@CTTDestinations.com.  We are recommending that everyone stay one additional day at the conclusion of the trek to allow for sufficient time to obtain your Covid test results.

TRAINING: The trek requires participants to be in excellent physical shape. Your focus while training should be on building cardiovascular fitness, flexibility, core strength and stamina. 

BAGGAGE: We recommend that you use your daypack as a carry-on bag and that you check one rolling suitcase. When you arrive at the hotel, we will provide you with your own IMT duffel which you will use on the trek and is yours to take home. Please bring a few items of clothing in your carry-on day pack in the event your larger bag is delayed. Don’t forget your passport, cash and the medications you require during your travel.  Please take a photograph of your passport with and store it in your phone to have a record of it in the event of loss. Please check your luggage from your departing airport all the way through to Kathmandu. Use TSA-approved locks to secure your luggage so that they can be opened, if necessary, by airport security. 

EXTRA MONEY: How much additional cash to bring is an individual decision. We suggest that you have at least $800 to spend for gifts, tips for your guides and porters and any additional meals outside of the itinerary. In Kathmandu you can use your credit card and a debit card to obtain Nepali rupees. It is difficult to change money once the trek starts. 

IMT’s TIP POLICY:  We will collect a tip pool in U.S. currency. We ask IMT’s clients to each contribute $300. We will collect this tip pool in Kathmandu and distribute it at the conclusion of the trip as a thank you gift to the dedicated people who will be helping us along the way. This group will include our Sherpa guides, porters, and hotel staff.  You may also provide an additional tip to your guides, porters, drivers and hotel personnel if you so choose.

TRAVEL AND MEDICAL EVACUATION INSURANCE:  IMT requires you to purchase trip cancellation and medical evacuation coverage that includes coverage for medical evacuation, repatriation and medical expenses for the duration of your trek. Please contact Global Rescue, 617-459-4200. Let them know you are an IMT client as they are familiar with our insurance requirements.  

COVID VACCINATION: For the safety of yourself, other participants and the citizens of Nepal, all participants are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (vaccination and appropriate booster). All IMT guides, porters, drivers, and hotel personnel that you will interact with on the trek are vaccinated against COVID-19.

IMMUNIZATION CHECKLIST: Along with your required Covid-19 vaccination and booster, please consult your physician or check the Center for Disease Control Website at www.cdc.gov. Consistent with the current CDC guidelines, you should obtain the following inoculations:

• COVID-19 vaccination and booster vaccination (required).
• Tetanus-Diphtheria – You should already have. Do you need a booster?
• Polio -You should already have. Do you need a booster?
• MMR -You should already have. Do you need a booster?
• Meningitis – Recommended. Consult your physician.
• Hepatitis A – Recommended. Consult your physician.
• Hepatitis B – Recommended. Consult your physician.
• Typhoid – Recommended. The tablet form, Vivotif, is good for five years.
• Rabies — Recommended. There are two rabies vaccines available in the United States.

If you or your physician are uncertain, please check the Center for Disease Control Website at www.cdc.gov.

ALTITUDE PROTOCOL: The itinerary is carefully designed to include acclimation days in order for you to comfortably adjust to the increasing altitude on the trek. Our licensed guides are trained to recognize and treat varying forms of altitude sickness. Here is a link to an excellent article published by the Wilderness Medical Society with updated Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Acute Altitude Illness. We suggest that you keep this article as a reference before the start of the trek.

REQUIRED MEDICATIONS: YOU SHOULD BRING THE FOLLOWING

• Antibiotic for upper respiratory problems (Zithromax Z-Pak) 
• Antibiotic for GI problems (Cipro and/or Z-Pak) 
• Diamox (acetazolamide) for acclimatization (125 mg tabs recommended, enough for a week)
• Sleep-aids for the first few days of jet lag 
• Nifedipine (for pulmonary edema, the 30 mg time release x 2 tablets) and dexamethasone (for cerebral edema, 4 mg x 10 tablets)

NON-PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS WE RECOMMEND

• Several Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kits
• Imodium for diarrhea 
• Pepto Bismol (tablets recommended)
• Throat lozenges 
• Wet wipes and personal body wipes
• Hand sanitizer
• Lip balm 
• Broad spectrum sunscreen (SPF 30 or more)

CLOTHING, TREKKING GEAR, EYEWEAR: Please review the clothing and trekking equipment list on IMT’s website. For much of the trek you will be above tree line, potentially on snow. During the approach to Everest Base Camp, you will be exposed to higher rates of UV light and glare from ice sheets. Good eyewear is important, therefore, to both protect your eyes and to enhance your visual experience of the Khumbu. There are several different brands for you to consider. For those in need of prescription sport eyewear, we recommend contacting Opticus in Lyons, Colorado to either swap out prescription lenses in your frames or to purchase frames and prescription lenses from them. 

COSTS INCLUDED IN TRIP FEE:

• Transfers for international flights (airport-hotel-airport)
• Transfers for domestic flights (hotel-airport-hotel)
• Jeep travel
• Hotel in Kathmandu for stated itinerary
• All permit fees
• Guides
• Porters
• Helicopter flight including 20kg per person
• Breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day of the trek
• Emergency oxygen

COSTS NOT INCLUDED IN TRIP FEE:

• Flights from home to and from Kathmandu, and travel expenses and hotels before or after the stated itinerary (we can assist you making reservations if you wish to stay longer)
• Airport taxes, visas, and insurance policies (medical evacuation, trip interruption and cancellation)
• Personal gear, personal items and alcoholic beverages
• Tips for your guides and porters (see IMT’s Tip Policy)
• Costs incurred because of delays or events beyond the control of IMT
• Single room option ($360)

2) ENTRY PROTOCOLS FOR TREKKING IN NEPAL

KATHMANDU ENTRY AND VISA: Your most important responsibility is to show up healthy and with your bags. You can obtain your tourist visa at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan Airport. We will update you if there are any changes in protocols for arrival. Remember to carry a ballpoint pen and some cash. After collecting your luggage, we will find you when you emerge outside. Please look for our International Mountain Trekking banner!

KATHMANDU HOTEL: You will be staying at the Kathmandu Guest House. This is a beautiful, historic, and perfectly situated hotel in the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu. A breakfast is included. You are responsible for all incidental charges to your room, including other meals, beverages, phone calls, and the like and must clear these charges before we leave the hotel to start our trek.

PREPARING YOUR GEAR FOR THE TREK: While on the trek, you will leave your extra clothing and belongings in your rolling suitcase at the hotel in Kathmandu, including your street/travel items that will not be needed until you return to Kathmandu. You will transfer your trekking clothes and gear to the IMT provided duffle that you will use on the trek. The maximum weight allowed on the helicopter is 15 kg (33 pounds) for your trekking duffle bag and 5 kg (11 pounds) for your trekking backpack. We will meet with each of you at the hotel to make sure you have all the right clothing and gear and to make sure you are not bringing unnecessary items. 

PASSPORT SECURITY AND TRAVEL: We recommend you carry a photocopy of your passport on the trek (and take a photo with your phone so you have a backup). Please make sure you have the contact information for your travel agent or airline in case you need to email or call to make any changes. You may choose to leave your passport with your luggage at the Kathmandu Guest House.

FIXED-WING, GROUND AND HELICOPTER TRAVEL:  We are traveling from Kathmandu to the Khumbu either by fixed-wing aircraft or by private Toyota Land Cruiser to the Tenzing–Hillary Airport in the village of Lukla for the start of the trek. Delays due to weather can occur. At the conclusion of the trek, depending on your specific trek’s itinerary, you will return to Kathmandu by private helicopter or aircraft from Lukla.

END OF THE TRIP LOGISTICS: When we return to Kathmandu, we will transport you back to the Kathmandu Guest House. We will have room reservations for you. IMT will cover the cost of your room for that last night and a celebratory dinner. In order to board your flight to the United States, you must present the airline officials at your flight’s gate with a negative COVID test. The test must be taken no more than 1 day before you travel by air into the United States (i.e. you can take it the day before your first connecting flight). You will be able to obtain a PCR COVID test at the Kathmandu Guest House, for 2000 NPR (approximately 16 US dollars).

When you are ready to depart the hotel for the airport, we will arrange transportation for you. Hold onto a few hundred rupees for the airport so you can buy a drink in the departure lounge and for tips for the baggage porters at the airport.

3) TREKKING LOGISTICS AND INFORMATION

ACCLIMATIZATION AND HEALTH: We anticipate that you will not have difficulty with acclimatization. We have an itinerary and proven schedule which will enable you to acclimatize successfully. We recommend 600-800 mg Ibuprofen prophylactically every 6 hours and staying well hydrated as a good overall strategy for handling the higher elevation. On the trek, you can also take Diamox (acetazolamide) if you desire, but we do not generally recommend it unless you are symptomatic for Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Current protocol is 125mg in the morning and 125 mg in the evening, starting when you begin to experience symptoms. Taking the smallest possible dose is best to avoid potential side effects, such as dehydration and tingling in your extremities.

Personal hygiene is important, and we recommend that before meals, you wash your hands with soap and water followed by antibacterial hand sanitizer. We also recommend bringing wet wipes and body wipes which will be used in lieu of showers on parts of the trek. It would not be unusual for you to get a cold or some travelers’ diarrhea at some point on the trip. The combination of travel in a developing country along with new foods, other trekkers, mountain lodges etc. will increase the risk to you contracting a minor sickness. Should this occur, the likelihood is that you will recover fully within a few days without having to take medications. Current protocol for persistent diarrhea (≥3x days) is to start taking Cipro, but if there is no improvement after 24 hours, then start on the Zithromycin (Z-Pak). The Z-Pak also works well for bronchitis ailments, so make sure you have a course or two of Zithromycin.

FOOD & DRINKING WATER:  All meals on the trek are provided. You should bring sufficient additional snack foods and energy bars that you know you will enjoy eating for the duration of the trek. You should also consider supplementing your fluid intake with one of the many energy and endurance powders, such as those available from Hammer Nutrition. There are small grocery stores nearby the Kathmandu Guest House that sell an array of snack foods. On the trek, bottled water is available for purchase, or you can use water purification tablets or other purification methods.

MEDICAL SUPPORT: In case of any severe issues, we will call in a Global Rescue helicopter for evacuation to Kathmandu. It is important that you have your rescue insurance and personal health insurance information with you. There is also a small hospital in Lukla. 

POWER AND INTERNET: All the tea-house lodges where we are staying will have solar power available for charging your phone (normally at a rate of a couple hundred rupees/hour). Internet scratch cards are available in Namche Bazaar which you can use for wi-fi access with your smart phone. You may want to bring a small solar power charger.  

CANCELLATION IN THE EVENT OF GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS DUE TO COVID-19: IMT’s policy regarding the possible cancellation due to government restrictions is as follows: 

Option A) Move your trek forward one year and incur no additional fees.

Option B) Receive a full refund, minus administrative and out-of-pocket expenses of $500 incurred by IMT.