Adventure Alternative

Gap Year - Nepal

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TEACH & TREK; 10 week programme - more details

On arrival in Kathmandu you will be met by our staff and spend your first night in our spacious three bedroom apartment where you can relax and unwind. You might go out to Thamel on your first evening, to sample local cuisine at the Yak and Yeti or Rum Doodle restaurants and have drinks at the famous Tom’n’Jerrys bar.

You will meet Ang Rita Sherpa who is the Director of our company in Nepal, in fact he owns the house you are staying in and lives downstairs, and also you will meet your guide to Everest Base Camp.

Before your placement starts, or during the teaching placement, you go on an 14 day trek to the base camp of the highest mountain in the world. Having flown from Kathmandu to Lukla, you begin what is undeniably one of the world’s greatest treks, to one of the most incredible places on the planet. Eventually you will reach the last settlement, Gorak Shep, perched on the edge of the massive Khumbu Glacier under the sheer slopes of Mount Everest. From there mountaineers begin their climb to the summit. This trek is fully supported; you will have a porter to carry your bag and you will be staying in comfortable lodges all the way up, eating wonderful food and taking your time in order to acclimatise properly.

Once back in Lukla, the trek continues for a further two days down the valley, to stay in the village of Bupsa. It is a stunningly beautiful area, where three valleys meet, their sides covered with lush forests or terraced with plantations of tea, barley and other crops. You will stay in a traditional Nepalese family home which is also a lodge. The house is lovely, large enough for you to have your own space and with amazing views across the valley.

It is sometimes possible to teach at the school just up the 'street' (more a path than a street as there are no roads or vehicles here, only yaks) or to help out with one of Moving Mountains’ community projects. You'll find the people extremely sociable and overwhelmingly generous and friendly. At times it can be almost too much, especially when you have to drink the local rakshi wine in every house you pass ! The local pace of life is slow and relaxed, people on placements in the past have said that life in the mountains was so tranquil that they just didn’t want to leave. The total time spent here is three weeks with two days trek each way to Lukla.

After your time in the mountains you will be back to the excitement and bustle of Kathmandu. You will live there in a three bedroom apartment built above the house of Ang Rita. He has been working with AA for about 10 years, he's a lovely guy, very small but lovely! There are likely to be other Gap travellers and medical students on placements staying in the apartment with you; it should be very sociable, with lots of trips into Thamel for drinks and meals, shopping and sight-seeing. Thamel is a wonderfully colourful vibrant place, a real blend of old and new, traditional and modern.

You will now start work teaching in a local secondary school called Sapta Gandaki and your contact will be the headmaster Lama Tshewang.. You'll find it very different from life in the mountains, but equally fulfilling. In the morning we'll provide a taxi to school and you can build up a daily routine.

It is possible, depending on the length of your trip, to start by teaching in Kathmandu, then go to the mountains.

All your costs are taken care of: In Kathmandu you will be given a weekly food allowance to use as you wish, and in the village all your food and accommodation is paid for. On the trek there will be cooks to prepare really tasty meals every day. All the costs of the trek (your own porter, internal flights between Lukla and Kathmandu, transport in Kathmandu and staff back-up) are included. You need only worry about your international flight, visa, vaccinations, insurance and personal spending money.

For sure, you will be well looked after. Everybody you meet in Nepal is overwhelmingly kind and you are certain to make some very good friends.

Conservation and Building projects

We decide each year within the charity Moving Mountains which projects we will be undertaking in the villages so when you apply we can discuss with you exactly what will be happening. For 2007 we have decided to renovate three classrooms in a small school in Bupsa and then replace the roof of the monastery and build a dry stone wall around it.

Independent Travel in Nepal and India

After your placement you have the opportunity to explore Nepal by yourself if you wish. You could visit Pokhara and trek the Annapurna Circuit, go white water rafting or on an elephant-back safari, even embark on an overland journey through India by bus, train or perhaps a boat on the Ganges. You could end up in Delhi and fly home from there, or you may fly home from Kathmandu. There is a great wealth of places to visit and discover, and we are more than happy to discuss your plans and offer advice on where to go and what to do.
Estimate $25 per day for budget travel in most areas of Nepal and India.

The success of any trip like this lies in its preparation and we make a big effort to help you with this. All you need is an open mind and lots of enthusiasm!

Information about extra costs:

Airfares - You can try USIT or STA if you a registered student, remember to book early!

Insurance - try using your home policy or a discounted travel insurance policy with a credit card, or try STA.  Contact us for details of our policy.

Visa - it is $30.00 now but could change. You just buy this at the airport on arrival and you only need your fee plus a photo.

Meals in Kathmandu - there are lots and lots of restaurants and plenty cater for the budget traveller, offering every imaginable cuisine. You can get a really nice basic meal for $5, or splash out at the Yak and Yeti for $50. (this is only for your time outside the Gap period, when you are with us you get an allowance every week for your time in the apartment which is for food).

Vaccinations - clinics may be able to charge less for your vaccinations if they know what you will be doing in Nepal. Ask your GP for advice.

Personal Expenses - Up in the hills you will hardly need to spend anything, only on a few cheap chocolate bars or sodas, the odd battery or extra meal. In Kathmandu you might want to hire a guide to show you round the temples, and you'll want to buy souvenirs. We can help you shop around for bargains. $20-30 per week should be adequate.

Porters - Adventure Alternative is committed to providing good working conditions, wages, benefits and equipment for our Nepalese staff. We give them a proper insurance policy and we ensure they are well trained. We promote a long term employment plan to people who are otherwise often abused by irresponsible, unregistered operators offering cheap treks to Base Camp. You can be very very sure that the people we employ are well treated and properly paid. Your involvement in our Gap Year programme helps to promote human rights for Nepalese porters

Project sustainability

Gavin Bate has been climbing in the Himalayas for many years now and has made some firm friends among the Sherpas of various villages in the Khumbu. Through them we have the opportunity to put something back into their community and to work with the Sherpas in a joint attempt to improve their lot. Our projects in these villages are not one-off things, it takes months of meetings with the local monks and village elders to agree where our help is most needed, and how the villagers can also help. It is very much a joint effort. Even when schools, clinics and monasteries are built, repaired and up and running, there will always be a need for sustainable projects to counter the heavy impact of tourism in the region.

Code of Conduct

Nepal is a country of strong traditions, religion, values and ritual. We are looking for people who we think will respect their place in a school, in another country, another culture. People who will show character and integrity, common sense and initiative, humour and patience, strength of purpose and humility.

But we are also looking for people who won't expose themselves to danger or embarrassment; drinking, taking drugs, excessive swearing, revealing clothing and a lack of respect to village elders will cause great offence and may have long term detrimental effect on our entire programme in Nepal.

The Nepalese are tremendously warm people who are almost embarrassingly polite, quite quiet and tremendously honest and devout. Their life in the mountains is one of purity and simplicity. They are very open and compromising generally and the children are a delight. But you will need to respect the fact that you are visitor in their country. We reserve the right to remove you from your placement and send you home if we feel that there is a problem and that you are becoming a liability to yourself and others in your group. We are looking for some considerable degree of humanity and understanding, humour and generosity of spirit.

All this is not intended to worry, more to inspire. This trip is special because we want you to absorb the absolute uniqueness of life in Nepal and the wonder of the people who live there. With your cooperation it will be a wonderful experience you just won't forget. It's up to you.