2010 expedition to Tilman's Pass

Trekking agency costs

Our trekking agency was responsible for all logistics. The price included:

  • local transport
  • transport from airport to hotel in Kathmandu
  • 5 nights accommodation in Kathmandu
  • wages climbing guide / cook
  • wages porters
  • wages cook helper
  • insurance for all staff
  • proper clothing and shoes for all staff
  • kitchen tent, kitchen utensils, 200 meter fixed rope, 1 dynamic rope
  • all meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and coffee/tea during trekkings
  • national park and peak permit

Excluded was:

  • personal climbing gear such as: crampons, ice axes, ice hammer, harness, some karabiners, some ice screws
  • tent for ourselves; we preferred to bring our own tent, because the local 'North Face' tents are crap when it rains
  • sleeping bags
  • medical kit, including diamox and other special medications, see the Preparations tab
  • tips and bonusses.

In 2010 the price for this was almost $ 5900 for 2 persons, which was equal to € 4000 at the time of writing.

In total (trekking agency, tips/bonusses, international flight, 5 days in Kathmandu, visa, excess baggage, duty clearance) our budget was €7300, which was almost $10,000 at the time of writing. So not very cheap for a 4 week holiday!

Tips and bonuses

Although not compulsary the porters and other staff really appreciate a bonus at the end of a trip. A rule of thumb is about 15% of their wage. But since it is unclear what their exact salary is (we think between 5 and 10 dolars per day) we decided to give our porters 4000 rupees per person. That was equal to €40 or $54 per person. And that for 23 days. The reason that we gave this generous tip is that they had to cross 2 difficult passes (Tilmans at 5300 and Ganja-La at 5100 m), camp at almost 5000 meters on 4 occasions and never complained about anything. On the contrary, they were very cheerful and pleasant people. And very strong.

The cook helper got $90 (€70) and the guide $200 (€150) because he was good: he worked very hard in finding the route, he installed all fixed ropes and he was very patient with us (we were not so fast).

Totally we spent 500 Euros on tips and bonusses.