Nepal School Expedition

The above cost is for the advertised itinerary, amendments for private teams may alter this cost depending on the changes made.

INCLUDES

• Airport transfers
• Kathmandu to Jiri transfer by bus or jeep
• Accommodation at our guesthouse in Kathmandu with meals and bottled water
• Accommodation in lodges on the trek with meals and hot drinks (bottled water not included on the trek)
• Sherpa guides and porters to carry your main bags
• All staff costs (Adventure Alternative and Moving Mountains)
• Homestay at Bumburi and Bupsa villages with meals and hot drinks (bottled water not included at villages)
• Lukla to Kathmandu flight
• City tours and transport in Kathmandu

EXCLUDES

• Personal project fundraising target; £400 per person, which is paid directly to our charity, Moving Mountains Trust, so you can set up online fundraising pages and claim gift aid
• International flight to Kathmandu
• Tourist visa, which you can buy on arrival
• Vaccinations required for travelling in Nepal
• Personal expenses for snacks, drinks, souvenirs, etc
• Travel insurance (policy should include trekking in Nepal cover)
• Any extra activities or optional add-ons not mentioned in itinerary

Payments

A deposit of £250 is required on booking to secure your place and we ask that the remaining balance (trip price minus the deposit) is paid in full 4 weeks prior to your departure. When you book with us you’re given your own secure online account which you can access 24/7. Through this account you can edit your booking, add flight, health, insurance and dietary details and also make interim payments. We make payments as flexible as possible and you can choose, if you wish, to pay a bit off your trip fee whenever it suits you.

Aside from the expedition cost paid to Adventure Alternative all participants are required to raise a minimum of £400 for the Moving Mountains Trust. This amount funds the costs of the camp, Moving Mountains Nepal staff, the developmental project which you will be involved with and all our other projects in Nepal.

Fundraising for charity allows you to use sites like Justgiving where you can set up a personal fundraising page to take advantage of the Gift Aid scheme. Gift Aid adds 25p to every £1 donation from a UK tax payer. For further information on setting up a findraising page to support Moving Mountains click here.

NB: The expedition fee, which is payable to Adventure Alternative cannot be paid using Justgiving.

When we first started working in Bupsa and Bumburi there were no schools, now the villages have over 500 children in education and you will be greeted with great ceremony and fun, the Sherpas love to party!

The expedition treks through the foothills of the Himalayas and after the Moving Mountains camp and project continues up towards the Sherpa capital of Namche Bazaar from where there are views of Mount Everest. This is one of the more unusual capitals of the world, a whole town built in the ampitheatre of natural rock.

After your time in the mountains the team return to our own guesthouse in Kathmandu for some exploring, sightseeing and shopping in the vibrant markets of Nepal’s capital.

For students and teachers alike this is an adventure into the foothills of the Himalayas, exploring traditional Sherpa culture and living in teahouses and Sherpa homes deep in the lush green mountains, following trails used by the local people and visiting the beautiful villages of Bumburi and Bupsa where our charity Moving Mountains has been setting up environmentally sustainable projects like hydro-electric power, tea plantations, schools, our medical centre and other sustainable development projects which will show you how a charity can transform an entire region in the remote kingdom of Nepal.

There is also the option to add-on a visit to the Chitwan jungle where there is white-water rafting, elephant back jungle safari’s, nature treks and comfortable lodges to enjoy your evenings sitting on balconies with the sights and sounds of the jungle around you.

The trip offers participants a great expedition experience in this exotic country. It’s a perfectly safe and beautiful country to visit, and just going there will bring work and income to the villagers. The work of Moving Mountains has enabled Sherpa communities to decide and run their own businesses, bring back wealth and families to the region and become sustainable and successful.

Do have a read of our various Blogs about treks in Nepal and also the ‘More Information’ section, both have tabs on this page and will answer every question you may have! We also have a lot of useful information on our Nepal Preparation page.

You do not need to be super-fit for this trip, however the expedition element is moderately demanding with some long days of sustained walking with a day-pack. The effects of altitude will also further tax your body. You will enjoy the trip all the more if you are in good physical shape having exercised regularly and eaten nutritiously over at least the 6 months leading up to the trip.

You do need to be in good health as we will spend some time in locations that are many hours from professional medical care. Any pre-existing medical or dental conditions should be fully appraised by a doctor and their nature fully disclosed to your insurer and to ourselves.

The trails are well made and used as they are the main transport arteries through the region. They are traversed by mules and people. They are often constructed as rough steps from local rock as they wind around the hillsides. Wherever possible the paths have been constructed to minimise the ascent and descent between villages. However this is the Himalayas so there are some fairly demanding ups and downs to deal with along the way.

Also bear in mind that the altitude will mean that something that you may bound up at sea level may slow you considerably at 2500m. You don’t have to be super-fit but some of the hills are quite steep and there are a lot of them! You will carry a small rucksack and will have Sherpas to help with the main luggage.

The basic idea of the kit we will take is to keep you warm, dry, protected from the sun, able to move comfortably in the mountains and able to be comfortable in the evenings and at night. There is a more detailed kit list here, but the main points to cover are as follows:

• BAGS – Rucksack or duffle bag for a porter to carry plus a day pack to be carried by you
• SHELL – Top and bottom waterproofs to keep off wind/rain
• LAYERS – Shirts, trousers, shorts, T-shirts, jumpers and jackets, hats and gloves
• BASELAYER – Thin layers to wick away any sweat and to wear for cold mornings
• FEET – Comfortable boots with a good sole and ankle support. Lighter footwear to change into in the evenings.
• SLEEPING – Warm sleeping bag (3 or 4 season) to get a good nights sleep at the lodges (they also have blankets)
• DRINKING – Water bottles should be hard plastic (Nalgene), not throwaway bottles.
• WASHING & MEDICAL – wash kit, towel, personal first aid kit
• SUN CARE – sunglasses, sunhat, suncream, etc
• TREKKING – trekking poles, umbrella, dry bags
• PERSONAL ITEMS – cameras, books, music

All equipment (both real and fake!) can be hired in Kathmandu. The shops sell just about anything you may need, in terms of equipment, snacks, food and of course souvenirs.

Please note that standard luggage limits on internal flights are 15kg in the hold and 5kg as hand luggage. You can of course wear your trekking boots and jacket to help cut down on the weight of your bag and you can also leave any city clothes or extra travel kit in Kathmandu at our guest house. Our recommended weight for porters to carry is 15Kg, you will need to carry anything that puts your main luggage over this weight.

For over two decades we have had a strong connection with the villages of Bupsa and Bumburi, ever since Adventure ALternative and Moving Mountains Trust founder, Gavin Bate, made friends with a Sherpa called Ang Chhongba and they ended up working together. They decided to bring electricity, education, health and prosperity to this region known as the Juving district, and from his climbs of Mount Everest Gavin was able to raise the money to pay for hydro electric power plants and new schools and monasteries. This trip is on the back of such a history and brings new programmes and new projects, each of which continue to improve the quality of life for the local people.

Previously these villages were all but dead; there were no families, no children and no trade to speak of. If you go there now, the schools cater for hundreds of children, the new monasteries are filled with villagers, the clinic is working, the electricity powers lights in every house and machinery which brings income to the co-operative. There is tourism now, homestays and medical camps and trips like this one which give people a chance to glimpse the old Sherpa ways and see how ‘clever aid’ has managed to bring prosperity and positive change without affecting the underlying identity of the people.

This trip works on certain programmes including running sports events and a big drive towards rubbish recycling and collection, providing fresh water in every house, teaching people about the basics of primary healthcare and teaching young people about computers and IT. It’s great fun, but also tremendously fulfilling. It’s a real case of tourism and social entrepreneurship: