RCGS: Annapurna Sanctuary Photography Trek with Javier Frutos   

What's Included

• All breakfasts

• Morning bed-tea on trek

• Welcome drink at each overnight lodge

• 4 nights standard hotels and 10 nights teahouses

• Tour leader throughout, plus local staff (staff to client ratio of 1:4 on trek)

• All transport and listed activities

• Free arrival and departure transfers for everyone

• Full porterage throughout trek

• Exodus kitbag

• Trekking map (provided locally)

• Trekking permit and national park fees

What's Not Included

• Travel insurance

• Single accommodation (available on request, Kathmandu and Pokhara only)

• Visas and vaccinations

• Sleeping bag (possible hire in advance through Exodus)

• Down jacket (possible hire in advance through Exodus)

Food

Breakfast is included throughout the trip. On trek the breakfast will be a fixed set menu usually consisting of porridge or muesli, with either toast, chapatti or pancake, plus an egg or omelette and a cup of tea/coffee. Any additional items that are not included in the set menu should be ordered and paid for separately. We do not include lunch and dinner on trek allowing you to choose what you want to eat. Lunch will be taken at a teahouse en route - sometimes one of your guides will go ahead with the group’s order to make it more expedient. Dinner will be in the same teahouse that you sleep at (this is custom in Nepal as teahouses base their room rate on it). The menus in the lodges are almost identical to one another but offer a varied choice, ranging from traditional Nepalese dhal bhat to pizza and apple pie. Dhal bhat is the staple diet in Nepal and comes in many different forms but generally comprises some curried lentil dhal and meat or vegetables, some rice, and a pickle/chutney. Another popular snack is momos; a type of Nepalese dumpling, fried or steamed, filled with meat or vegetables. Although meat is available in the teahouses, we advise against eating it on trek. The meat has often been carried in the heat from lower altitudes for several days before reaching the lodges and can cause stomach upsets or illness. Germs can also be spread by handling dirty money - we recommend using hand sanitiser. If you have a gluten free diet, then we strongly recommend you bring some extra food and snacks with you to supplement the food on trek as there will be little variety available for you, particularly for breakfast. Even many of the soups are from powder/packets and contain gluten. If you buy imported food and drink whilst on trek you will spend more than the suggested amount. Drinking Water Staying hydrated is important when undertaking any physical activity but particularly so at altitude where it is generally recommended to drink at least 3-4 litres per person per day. We strongly encourage you not to buy bottled water on trek as this contributes to the growing problem of plastic pollution in Nepal’s trekking areas. A few villages along the Annapurna Sanctuary route have safe drinking water stations selling UV treated water for Rs40-50 per litre but these are not always open. The teahouses also sell boiled water for approx. Rs150-300 per litre (the price increases the higher you trek) which should not require treating. This is also perfect for a bedtime refill as it can double up as a hot water bottle. Alternatively, all teahouses will provide cold water free of charge, if requested. Although this should not be drunk untreated, we recommend that you bring a reusable bottle (or two) and use an effective form of water treatment. There are a wide range of products available these days which are more effective than traditional purification tablets - we recommend talking to an outdoor retailer for the latest advice as technologies are improving all the time: make sure to check the product’s performance in cold/freezing conditions and consider battery life (lithium batteries are best in cold conditions). Handheld UV filters such as a ‘SteriPEN’ are widely available to purchase from online retailers such as Amazon and Ebay – they’re very effective, can treat 1 litre of water in a couple of minutes and the water is ready immediately – look for lightweight lithium battery models and remember that you will need to bring a wide-mouthed bottle (e.g. Nalgene) for use with these devices. There are also an array of water filter and purifier bottles on the market but be wary of their weight, bottles with a small capacity and the products performance in freezing conditions. Exodus has partnered with Water-to-Go, a filtration system that eliminates over 99.99% of all microbiological contaminants from any non-salt water source – please visit Water-to-Go for more information. Exodus customers can claim 15% off your first order, and better still, 15% of the purchase value will be donated to the Exodus Travels Foundation. Please note that if the water freezes it will clog up the filter – in this event, defrost before use by sitting the filter in lukewarm water for 10-15 minutes.

Accommodation

This tour spends two nights in a comfortable hotel in Kathmandu, two nights in a hotel in Pokhara and 10 nights on trek in lodges (teahouses).

The hotels used may vary by departure date. In Kathmandu, we usually stay at the Royal Singi Hotel within walking distance of the Thamel district. In Pokhara, we use Hotel Dahlia.

The teahouses are basic but adequate; please be realistic about what to expect in the mountains.

The hub of the teahouse is the dining room, usually decorated with colourful traditional rugs, sometimes with a stove or heater (some lodges charge a fee to put the heater on) and some teahouses above 9,845ft (3,000m) may not be heated due to local environmental restrictions. Occasionally, kerosene burners can be used to heat common areas if requested. We recommend against using these due to the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning (your leader will not offer this to you).

Most teahouses sell snacks and other essentials such as tissues, soap and toilet paper. Almost all have electricity, but it is not wholly reliable, and lighting may not be bright enough to read by – a torch is essential. Electrical charging facilities are generally available only in the dining room (charged at approximately 150-350 Nepalese rupees per hour per device). Many of the lodges use solar power, so sometimes there is not enough electricity for charging. Many lodges have wifi – in some areas it works well but in others it is slow and temperamental.

The bedrooms are almost all twin-share, except for nights 7 to 10, above Chhomrong. Above Chhomrong, the lodges are controlled by the Annapurna Conservation Area Project and, for conservation reasons, there is a limit to the number of lodges that can be built and the number of rooms per lodge. This means the rooms have more than two beds, often three to five beds in a small room. Due to the limited accommodation available, the lodges will not allow us to book twin rooms on these nights, even if we pay a higher price. Your leader will try their best to sort the rooms out fairly but please be aware that you will be in multi-bedded rooms in close quarters for some nights. Beds with foam mattresses, bedsheets and a pillow are provided. Bedrooms are generally unheated and can get cold at night, so you will need to bring or hire a sleeping bag.

Most lodges have only one or two basic toilets and sometimes these are outside the main lodge building. Toilets are usually squat style, although many lodges have now installed seated ones. Toilet paper is not provided so you should bring your own or buy it locally (please dispose of it the bin provided – do not put it in the bowl). If there is not a flush handle, there should be a container of water to pour down – if it is empty (or frozen) please either refill it or ask the lodge to.

Some lodges now have hot ‘showers’ (charged at approximately 250-500 rupees per shower). Sometimes a hot shower is simply a bucket of hot water and not a shower head.

Standards of cleanliness vary, especially in the peak trekking season and in winter when the water freezes at night. Please report any problems to your leader or the lodge and be vigilant in your personal hygiene regime – use soap or hand-sanitiser gel before and after toilet breaks, snacks and mealtimes.

As a rule, the higher altitude you go, the more basic the lodges and the more expensive food and services become.

Extra accommodation

If you require any additional accommodation in Kathmandu either before or after the tour, we can book this for you (subject to availability), please enquire with your sales representative.

Single accommodation

If you prefer your own room, we offer a single supplement for the hotel nights in Kathmandu and Pokhara only (subject to availability). While in the teahouses, single rooms cannot be guaranteed so these have not been included in the single supplement price paid in advance. However, if a single room is available on arrival to a teahouse, you can pay locally on a day-by-day basis.

Book with Confidence

• Transfer as credit to Future Tours

  Exodus allows you to transfer existing payments to a future tour to avoid cancellation fees if you can't travel and inform exodus, 43 days before departure.

• Low Deposit

  Exodus requires a minimum deposit of 25% or the full booking value, whichever is less, with the final balance not due until 90 days before departure.

• Cancellation Policy

  We don't charge a cancellation fee, here is a summary of exodus charges.

  Up to 70 days before tour starts: Forfeit 100% of deposit.