Flying from Australia
The office is in Kathmandu. The trips are planned for people booking from Australia: your leave, your season, and the questions you ask before you pay a deposit. Routes below are the usual ones. Airlines change them. Check current flights before you book the international ticket.
Getting there
Brisbane to Kathmandu is about a day, usually via Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok or Delhi. Sydney, Melbourne and Perth use the same hubs. Base Camp takes a bit longer, and that's the good bit.
Land in Kathmandu two days before the trek starts. We use that time for a kit check and a quiet dinner with your trip lead.
Nepal is UTC+5:45. Kathmandu is 4 hours 15 minutes behind Brisbane all year, and 4 hours 15 minutes behind Sydney and Melbourne outside daylight saving. During daylight saving the gap from Sydney and Melbourne is 5 hours 15 minutes. Jet lag is mild. Altitude is the one that matters.
The Lukla landing makes a country airstrip look like Tullamarine. On the Platinum Everest trip, that flight is not in the price. It is called out next to the fare.
Seasons, in Aussie terms
October to November
Peak season. Clearest skies.
Our spring. A good fit for Melbourne Cup week and pre-Christmas leave.
March to May
Rhododendrons in bloom.
Easter and Anzac Day long weekends. Annual leave stretches further.
December to February
Colder up high, quieter trails.
Aussie summer holidays. Better for lower treks and Chitwan than a high pass.
June to September
Monsoon. Mostly off-season.
Our winter. Upper Mustang and Tibet sit in a rain shadow and can still work.
Insurance and if something goes wrong
Read the current advice on Smartraveller for Nepal, China (Tibet is covered there) and Bhutan. Read it before you travel. It is updated more often than a printed brochure.
Many standard Australian travel policies cap the altitude they will cover. Yours needs to name the high point of your trip and helicopter evacuation, in writing. We check that before you fly. Smartraveller's insurance notes are the plain-English starting point.
On alpine trips there is oxygen, a radio, and an evacuation plan. On the Everest packages we also check oxygen saturation each day. If someone needs to come down, we come down. The summit photo is not the plan.
Visas and paperwork
Australian passport holders need a visa for Nepal. Fees and the online form change, so use the Department of Immigration rather than a number printed here.
Bhutan charges a Sustainable Development Fee on top of the tour. We arrange the visa as part of the trip. The current fee sits with the official tourism site.
Tibet is permit-controlled. Access can change at short notice. We arrange the permit with the trip, and we will tell you straight if a departure is not going to run.
Getting fit
The stairs are real. Start on your local lookout now. Rest days on the trail are not lazy days. They are how you get to the top.
Brisbane
Kangaroo Point Cliffs stairs, and Mt Coot-tha.
Melbourne
The Kokoda Track Memorial Walk, the 1000 Steps.
Sydney
The Giant Stairway in the Blue Mountains. Manly or Bondi steps will do as homework.
Perth
The stairs in Kings Park.
Anywhere
Mount Kosciuszko itself, if you want a practice summit. It is 2,228 m. The Himalaya starts where that one ends.
Writing to us
The desk is in Kamal Pokhari, Kathmandu. Phone +61 412 516 662. We reply within one business day, AEST. No hard sell. We'd rather you ask 40 questions than show up unprepared, and we'll tell you straight if a trip is not right for you.
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