Whether you hire a trekking guide through an agency or opt for an independent guide, it’s crucial to ask the right questions—both to the guide and to yourself. After all, you’ll be spending days, or even weeks, with this person and potentially investing a significant amount of money. Make sure you’re choosing the right guide for your journey!
Trekking in Nepal is undeniably beautiful, and while it’s generally not overly strenuous, it’s far from easy. The endless stone steps, unpredictable weather, thin air at altitude, and long days on your feet can take a toll on both body and mind. A great guide will lift your spirits, distracting you with cultural insights, suggesting breaks for a hot cup of tea, telling jokes, or pointing out a hidden waterfall you might otherwise have missed while staring at your boots.
Most trekking routes in Nepal are relatively easy to follow, and if you’re ever unsure, locals or fellow trekkers are usually happy to point you in the right direction. So, navigation isn’t the primary reason to hire a guide. However, there are some tricky spots—unsigned junctions or areas where new roads have overlaid old trekking paths—where having a guide can make all the difference.
On my trek, for instance, we encountered a couple of trekkers who accidentally took a wrong turn, trekking an extra hour downhill, only to then climb all the way back up—through pouring rain.
Low Cost to You
Hiring a trekking guide in Nepal might sound expensive, but it is actually really cheap for Westerners. The daily rate (as of fall 2016) for a certified trekking guide in Nepal is around $30-40USD (plus tips of course). If you split the cost between a couple people, it’s about the price of a fast food meal back home. From what I can tell, the guides are paid fairly and working as a trekking guide is a well-paying job. Unemployment and poverty are high in Nepal and many men leave Nepal for the Persian Gulf or South East Asia where they work as labourers, sending money home to their families that they can’t afford to fly back to visit. By hiring a trekking guide in Nepal, you help provide important jobs for Nepalis that keep them closer to their families.
Tourism is Nepal’s largest economic sector. However, the 2015 earthquakes have scared many tourists away from Nepal. The earthquake damaged some of the cultural sites and a few trekking routes, but the majority of the trekking routes (including the Annapurna Base Camp route that I trekked) were largely unaffected. The tourism industry in Nepal is suffering and one of the best things you can do to help Nepal recover is to go visit and spend your money at local businesses, including trekking agencies.