Booking

Every booking starts with an inquiry through the contact form or a direct email to the CEO. Within 4 hours (during Nepal operating hours, 8 AM–8 PM, 7 days a week in trekking season), a real person from the LHJ team replies.

From there: 1) A call or email to confirm the trek, the tier, the dates, and anything specific to you. We verify that your travel insurance covers helicopter evacuation in Nepal this is a hard requirement. 2) Once everything is clear, we send a Stripe invoice for a 25% deposit. The deposit holds your spot and starts the pre-trek communication sequence. 3) The remaining balance is due 14 days before the trek start date. 4) On arrival in Kathmandu, we handle airport pickup in a private vehicle and deliver the LHJ Welcome Kit. The half-day Kathmandu Pre-Trek Altitude Preparation Session happens the day before the trek begins.

There is no booking engine, no automated confirmation email, and no chatbot. The manual process is deliberate it is the only way to know whether we are the right fit for what you are trying to do.

The deposit is 25% of the trek price, paid via Stripe after we have confirmed the trek, the tier, and the dates with you. The remaining 75% is due 14 days before the trek start date.

Refund terms: More than 60 days before departure full refund minus a $150 administrative fee. 60 to 30 days 50% of the deposit is refundable; the rest credits to a future departure within 12 months. Less than 30 days deposit is non-refundable but credits to a future departure within 12 months. Less than 14 days full balance is non-refundable except in cases documented by your travel insurance.

The full cancellation policy is in the booking confirmation email and the Terms page. If your situation is unusual, write to the CEO directly we do not hide behind fine print for a case we can reasonably accommodate.

Yes to both. Since 2023, a licensed guide has been required for trekking in the Annapurna region, and we include one on every tier - as much for the cultural interpretation of Muktinath and the Thakali villages as for the rules. You need an ACAP permit and a TIMS card, both of which we arrange before you depart. This trek is not in a restricted area, so it does not require the special permit that Upper Mustang does.

Yes, as of 22 March 2026. The Nepal Department of Immigration removed the two-trekker minimum that previously applied to all restricted-area treks including Manaslu. A solo foreign trekker can now apply for the Restricted Area Permit through a licensed agency and trek the route with a single guide. Two requirements remain in place: a government-certified guide (we use guides with Advanced-tier altitude certification, valid to 5,500 m) is still mandatory, and the permit must be processed through a registered trekking agency in Kathmandu. Independent trekking without a guide is still prohibited. For solo trekkers, our Transformation tier is the most natural fit the one-to-one guide ratio is the same whether you are one trekker or six. Solo Trail and Journey bookings are also accepted; you simply join an existing fixed-date group of up to seven other trekkers.

Upper Mustang is a restricted area, and the rules require a licensed guide on every trip. A notice in early 2026 began allowing solo trekkers to hold a restricted-area permit with a guide, but enforcement is still settling and several requirements remain in transition, so we currently run this trek with a minimum of two trekkers. If you are travelling alone and want to go, talk to us - we can often pair you with a departure. A guide is mandatory either way.

Yes. Private group departures are included by default on The Journey and The Transformation tiers you choose the dates and walk at your own group's pace with no other trekkers in the group. The maximum group size remains 8 participants (the Small Group Promise).

On The Trail, departures are fixed dates shared with other trekkers (also max 8). If you have your own group of 2 or more and want private dates on The Trail tier, ask us directly in practice, we quote this as a hybrid engagement rather than a Trail booking, because private dates are the defining feature of The Journey.

Groups larger than 8 are not possible on any tier. The cap is operational, not marketing Silent Hiking, genuine guide attention, and the altitude protocol break down in groups of sixteen.

This route suits fit walkers who have done multi-day treks at altitude before and want to cross Thorong La without the gamble of the rushed versions. We ask about your trekking history and are honest upfront about what the route demands, because a 5416 m pass is not the place for a first high-altitude experience.

Pre-qualification here is advisory, not a test you pass or fail. It is a conversation so that the people on the pass day are prepared for it. If the route is not right for you yet, we will say so, and the Manang Valley journey is a lower, road-based alternative that tops out well below the pass.

All three tiers cover the same trek and the same safety protocol. The Two-Acclimatisation-Day Protocol, the safety equipment carried (pulse oximeter, supplemental oxygen, satellite phone, GPS tracking), the SpO₂ thresholds, the maximum group size of eight these are identical across every tier. What changes is comfort, pacing, and support ratio. The Trail is fourteen days, fixed-date departures, with a shared porter (1:4 ratio), standard teahouse accommodation throughout, and basic three-star Kathmandu hotel designed for fit trekkers who want the experience without spending more than necessary. The Journey is sixteen days, with extra cultural pacing, a dedicated porter (1:2 ratio), upgraded teahouses where infrastructure permits, a good four-star Kathmandu hotel, and a post-trek Traditional Nepali Recovery Massage designed for the majority of our clients. The Transformation is eighteen days, fully private departures, with a one-to-one guide and porter, best available lodge at every overnight where infrastructure permits, premium Kathmandu hotel, deeper private support, and a Kathmandu Valley cultural day. Your safety does not have a price tier. Your comfort does.

On The Trail (fixed-date departures), no you will typically be joined by other solo travelers and small groups of 2 or 3. The maximum is 8 per departure, and the mix varies by date and season.

On The Journey (private departures), yes you would be the only trekker in your group unless you choose to invite others. Some solo travelers love this (complete privacy, full guide attention, a pace that is entirely yours). Others find the per-person cost higher because the fixed logistical costs (guide, permits, lodges booked-out) are not shared. We are honest about that in the quote.

If you are a solo trekker weighing The Trail vs. The Journey, write to us and we will give you a straight comparison based on your dates and the current The Trail departure schedule.

The Trail is the classic out-and-back, flown in via Ramechhap to keep the price honest, with standard teahouses and breakfast and dinner. The Journey, our recommended version, flies direct from Kathmandu, adds a dedicated Gokyo day for the fourth and fifth lakes, full board, an included porter, and a descent loop through Phortse. The Transformation crosses the Renjo La pass to make the trek a true circuit, with a gentler descent through the Thame valley, private support and the best available rooms lower on the route.

What does not change is the safety. The licensed guide, the acclimatisation pacing, the Namche day, the oximeter checks and the turn-around authority are identical on all three. The tiers change where you fly from, what you eat, who carries your pack, where you sleep, and whether you loop or cross a pass not how safely you are looked after.

Spring, from March to May, and autumn, from late September to November. Both give stable weather and clear mountain views. Winter is possible but very cold with some high teahouses closed, and the monsoon months bring rain and cloud. We run the trek in spring and autumn.

Every LHJ trek runs with a licensed guide, so on our trips a guide is always provided. The rules on independent trekking in the Everest region have been contested since 2023, with a national guide requirement and a local exemption notice both in play and enforcement that has been described as unclear; we keep an eye on it, but for our trekkers it makes no practical difference, because you are guided either way.

A porter is included on the Journey and the Transformation, at one porter per two trekkers, fairly paid and insured with a load cap. On the Trail a porter is an optional add-on at around 22 US dollars a day. At altitude a porter is as much a safety measure as a comfort carrying less helps your body cope with thinner air.

Yes, on request. Muktinath, the temple sacred to Hindus and Buddhists, sits on a side valley east of Kagbeni - the opposite direction to Lo Manthang - so it is not part of the core Upper Mustang route. Because Kagbeni is the shared gateway, though, it is straightforward to add the Jomsom-Muktinath route to your trip as an extension. It needs no restricted-area permit and adds a few days. Ask us and we will build a combined itinerary.

A fair question and one we will answer directly. LHJ launched in 2026, and our review base is genuinely thin compared to operators with twenty years of public history. What we do have: two decades of ground-level trekking industry experience among the founding team lodge relationships, guide networks, and operational knowledge built before the company existed. Every guide working on an LHJ trek holds Nepal's Advanced-tier altitude certification (valid to 5,500 metres) and has logged at least five years on the routes they lead. Our pricing is published transparently with the cost breakdown shown what you pay, where it goes, what our margin is. Our safety protocol is published in detail rather than implied. We do not fabricate reviews and we will not display testimonials until real clients write them after real treks. If trust matters more to you than what we can document right now, we recommend booking your first trek with us as part of a small group rather than a solo Transformation booking observe how we operate, ask the harder questions, and decide whether to come back. The Trail tier is built partly for exactly this purpose. We would rather earn your second trek than oversell the first.

Yes, Tilicho Lake can be added as an extension, and we are also building it as a trek in its own right. Tilicho sits at about 4919 m and the detour adds roughly one to two days from the Manang valley. It is a serious high-altitude addition, not a casual extra, so it has to be planned carefully around your acclimatisation and is best suited to the longer tiers. Tell us at the planning stage if you want it and we will build the days and the pacing around it rather than bolting it on. Pricing for the add-on is given on request.

Yes, a helicopter return from the Base Camp area down to Pokhara can be added on any tier, and it is a genuine option rather than the point of the trek. People choose it to save the two descent days or to spare tired knees. It is weather-dependent and shares with other passengers to keep the cost reasonable, so it is never guaranteed on a given day; mountain flights delay or cancel for cloud and wind, and a road descent has to stay possible as the fallback. Tell us at planning if you are interested and we will explain the current cost and how it works. NEEDS VERIFICATION: confirm the shared-heli price with the operator before quoting a figure.

Yes. Instead of turning back at the lake and retracing the valley, you can continue from Manang over Thorong La at 5416 m, down to the Muktinath temple, and out via Jomsom to Pokhara by road. It adds about five to seven days and turns the trip into the full Annapurna Circuit. This is real high-altitude back to back, the lake at 4919 m and then the pass at 5416 m in one trip, so we ask for prior multi-day high-altitude experience and we screen for any history of altitude sickness. If your experience is light we do not turn you away; we add acclimatisation nights to the completion route so the pacing stays safe. Tell us at the planning stage and we will build the days around it. The add-on is from 350 to 500 US dollars per person over The Journey depending on group size and the days added; you can also see our Annapurna Circuit Trek page for the full trip.

Because the route is already at its limit and we will not cut safety to make a cheaper version. Our other treks offer Trail, Journey and Transformation tiers that differ in things like meals, porter support and lodging. This trek has one fully-supported tier instead: a licensed guide and an assistant guide for the pass, a porter for every two trekkers, full board, the acclimatisation days, crampons for the pass and a buffer day, all included for everyone. The only ways to make it cheaper would be to drop the assistant guide, an acclimatisation day, or the crampons, and on a glaciated 5420 m pass those are not comfort cuts, they are safety cuts. So there is one tier and one standard.