Ideas for a first time trek: Advice please?

freegirlnow

hello everyone. i have just joined this forum and it looks great and i'm hopeful that some of you with experience of trekking in india will be able to give me some advice.
i am a 19 year old girl from the UK and and i am planning on going traveling for a few months, leaving here in september. i think i want to start my trip with a trek and india is a country i have always wanted to visit so i figure a trek in india. basically i want to trek in september for maybe around two weeks. i wouldnt say i am an experienced trekker but generally im in pretty good health and walk quite a lot. ideally i would like to do a trek with a group. should i book before hand or is it easy enough to find a group when i arrive. can you recommend any agencies or websites i can book through? are there any particular treks you would advise for me that are good in september and are around two weeks and are for fairly inexperienced trekkers? also how much on average should this cost?
sorry this is so long and i havent written in very clearly.
i would be very greatful for any advice or tips you have for a lone young woman eager to trek this september.
many thanks to anyone who replys and actually read all my waffle.

brownboy66

Hi freegirl and welcome to IM. Its a little bit early in the evening for our trekking regulars - but not doubt they will be along something this evening with a few ideas.

Don't forget to check out some of the related threads in the trekking forum as that may help to give you a few ideas of what you might like to do (and in some cases there will be photos in the photo gallery).

finally - I've edited the thread title to give a bit more information when its listed in the index.

good luck with the planning.

__________________
"the last meal is history - its the next one that's important" - Garfield (the cat)
IndiaMike Mod Team.... just some plonker with access to the mod tools

Almoraboy

Hello,

don't worry, you are going to get lots and lots of advice on this forum .... that is what it is there for

trekking in a group - try to start lookign right now. since you are going alone (till now), be careful of the company you choose. There is a section on travel partners on this forum. you can even look for folks coming from the UK to trek in india - lots of them do so eevry year. you can do it alone also, if you have confidence in yoursefl. i geenrally prefer trekking alone (with guides and porters), coz sometimes, in big groups, it becoems really difficult to manage everybody.


ok, for trekking, the major states are uttarakhand and himachal. the other ones can be kashmir, sikking, arunachal, with detours into nepal and bhutan.

i can help a bit on uttarakhand. it is divided into two parts, kumaon (east) and garhwal (west). the state run tourism agencies have their web sites at - www.gmvnl.org and www.kmvn.gov.in

you can check my blog also, on trekking in uttarakhand himalays, where i have written about most of my experiences.

http://almoraboy.blogspot.com/2006/0...himalayas.html

there, you can also find details of guides, drivers, maps, etc.

september will be the second half of the monsoon season. it will still be raining pretty frequently in the hills and snowing higher up. IF you like greenery and cloud carpets, this is the best time to go

in 14 weeks, you can easily do most of the treks. in fact, if you can walk decently, then 7 days are good enough for a trek. 10, if you do them at a leisurely pace.

Some good treks which i have done and you can find their links on my blog page are ->

1). Milam glacier trek (september 2005) --- long, tiring, but challenging, awesome views, on the ancient trade route to tibet
2). Dakuri trek (part of Pindari glacier) - (Jan 2008) --- very beautiful, most easy.
3). Har ki Dun - Feb/March 2005 -- relatively easy. the valley in the end is spectacularly beautiful.
4). Bedni Bugyal -- amazingly beautiful in the monsoons. But this is a very short trek (can be done in 2 -4 days). but then, if you want, from Bedni another trek starts to roopkund - a high altitude lake at 5000 m. this is slightly tough, but has the best views and if you have 14 days, can be done easily.

Some other places which you can visit/trek in a day or two are - Chopta/Deoriya Tal, Chakrata, etc. I have given all their details and pics on my blog.

Now, for the guide/porter charges, etc...

Inflation is causing the prices to rise in India. you can get a guide for around Rs. 250 in india. Porter for Rs. 200 per day. But believe me, on seeing a foreigner, they will doubel the prices. these guides/porters can lift around 20 kgs of luggage easily. also, the currency conversion is, 1 INR = 84 GBP.

if you take along just your stuff, and think of staying in various villages, one guide should be enough. however, if you take along your tent, you will need one guide + one porter. now, if you think of taking along sleeping tent, kitchen tent, toilet tent, utensils, etc..then you need 3 or 4 porters .. which will be more expensive
On an avergae, an indian can do a week long trek easily in Rs. 5000 = GBP 59.171
However, like i said, since you are a foreigner, they will charge you more.

go ahead, explore the forum, check my blog, check the kmvn and gmvn web sites, let others reply and then form your plans.

Happy trekking.

__________________
Trek blog over here

AvidTrekker

Welcome to India !! Double welcome to IndiaMike !!!

August 20th to September 30th are the very best periods for Himalayan Trekking. You can do all the high passes (max. snow has melted) which are "difficult" in May-June and "not done" in winter (Nov-Feb) and spring (Mar-Apr)

Many groups leave in July-Aug-Sep ... just keep in touch by looking up this trekking forum ... keep reading all the trek threads. Uttam has just posted his trek notes on the Buran Ghati trek and the discussion is current.

Both are possible. Booking beforehand gives you choice (of groups and routes and budgets). You can also find a group after you arrive. However, this happens only in Leh where one looks up the Bulletin Boards of popular restaurants to hook up. The three days of acclimatization at Leh will give you time to acclimatize AND find a group. But this will be limited to the three popular treks out of Leh... so, quite a limited choice.

For treks see links given below AND "similar threads" at the end of the whole page.

Cost can vary from Rupees 5000 week to Rs. 5000 a day. Practical reality says it would be around 2500 a day.

As almoraboy says, it is possible for 5000 a week, but it is difficult. I did it for that price last in 1990. Today it would be barely possible for 5000 a week, but only on two or three tea-house trek routes.... and you have to put up with smoke-filled eye-watering dirty huts to sleep in and eat instant Maggi noodles and omelettes day in and day out.

For a slightly higher budget, you can maybe hire a guide, and go on an independent trek... but you have to pitch your own tents in pouring weather and make your own tea in the cold morning, when you don't want to stir out of your sleeping bag. You have to make do with cheaper Indian food which becomes boring after two days and forgo the cheeses and chocolates which a Westerner is used to. In addition you have to wash your own vessels and plates in freezing water at 9:30 pm when you'd rather be cuddled up in your sleeping bag.

I for one, would prefer to have a hot mug of tea handed over to me early morning in bed, and a good night's mug of hot chocolate before sleep. This may seem decadent, but when you are at 14000 feet altitude next to a glacier melted stream, it is as close to heaven on earth as it gets. This luxury means hiring one guide and two porters at least. The cheapest guides are in Uttaranchal at 500/day plus food and the most expensive are in Ladakh at 1500/day plus food. The good guides are hired by agencies most of the time, and this being peak trekking season, (July Aug Sept) the good ones are mostly taken. In these three months, independent trekkers have to choose from what's left.

At the other end are the Western agencies' conducted treks where the better Indians are hired and one pays Western rates and gets luxurious trappings with an English (French, Spanish, German, etc) speaking tour leader or maybe guide. These typically charge around 100 to 250 US Dollars per day (Rs. 4300 to 10,750 per day)

The in between rates are when you team up with experienced trekkers (Western or Indian or both) who do it at a fair sum, yet hire enough help to ensure that morning hot cuppa.
Keep reading IndiaMike, especially the trekking forum

Apart from trekking, you will discover a lot else about India !
.
.
.

Some trekking threads to browse...

Himalaya trekking

help:buran ghati

Rupin pass and Minkiani pass in May

2-3 weeks Mysore or Rishikesh; 3-4 weeks Himachal or Ladakh or Uttarakhand; June/July

Kinnaur - A pioneer trekking over Listigarang- and Kashang pass

Pin Parvati pass trek completed

.
.

HAPPY TREKKING !!!
.
.

__________________
The Universe is an ellipsoid?... or a Spheroid?? If the sphere smiles... it becomes an ellipse. This IS Creation.

VSK Sharma

Hi,
Good links and advice has been given by Avid and Almoraboy.
If you intend to do a good trek alone think about Pindari and Kafni glacier trek. You may also think of doing the Panchchuli East side Base camp trek. For Pindari and Kafni trek take the help of the manager of KMVN TRH at Bageshwar and take a long a Porter cum guide which should cost you not more than 250 to 300.
If you want to trek in Himachal try GHNP and you will get all help for trekking at Sai Ropa. Take a guide and porter who will take care of everything. Shall cost you not more than 1000/- a day if you are alone and taking along guide and two porters.
And lastly there are lots of pilgrim trails like to Gaumukh and Kedarnath etc.
If you can find another partner then it is better.
All the best
VSK

__________________
http://himalayancamping.com/index.php

solo_trekker

Hiya...
Treks are there in all parts of the country...
Though I have been doing fairly most of my trekking in the Himalayas, there are beautiful treks to be done in the Sahayadri Ranges (Near Mumbai - Pune), the South in the Nilgiris (in Tamil Nadu), Coorg (near Mysore) and lotsa places all over God's Own Country, Kerala... Plus ofcourse, the Virgin North-East...
You need to decide which part of the country you would rather be in - and for which period... There shall surely be some trekking destination closeby...
And if it's August, I do have a bias for the Valley of Flowers...! Check this thread : Valley of Flowers & Hemkund Sahib
Cheers...!

smakkar

She came, she asked, she vanished...

That's life

__________________
justwantedtoadd.blogspot.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/saurabh_sunny/

Haylo

The OP may have vanished into the ether, which is disappointing, but the information that was so generously posted will not be wasted - it remains for those like me who are interested.