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Gap year and career break, Everest and Nepal summer venture

country:Nepal
departures:2009: 5 Aug, 17 Sep
price:From £2395 (6 weeks) excluding flights, from £2895 including flights from the UK
 
the amazing things you'll be doing
Travel through Nepal for six weeks of Volunteer Projects and Nepali culture, before trekking to Everest Base Camp.

Three phases make our trip:
1. Learn about Sherpa and Nepali culture
2. Live and work with a remote Nepali community
3. Trek through the mighty Himalayas to the Base Camp of the world’s highest mountain

Trip highlights
  • Spend 2 weeks living with a Nepali family, an ideal introduction to this remarkable culture and an opportunity to pick up some of the local language.
  • Route map for Everest and Nepal summer ventureExplore Chitwan National Park and see the rare one-horned rhino.
  • Ride an elephant in Chitwan and see a tiger in its natural habitat.
  • Discover the hidden villages and temples of the Kathmandu Valley
  • Immerse yourself in the music and crafts of the Terai Plains.
  • Join the Mount Everest Trust community development project and help improve the infrastructure in rural communities.
  • Trek through the Sherpa heartlands to Namache Bazaar, staying in “teahouses” along the way
  • Reach Kala Patar ridge and Everest Base Camp (5,300m) This is an all-inclusive trip, with full support and a range of services provided before, during and after the trip. 
    a day in the life of a volunteer
    The Mount Everest Trust: Through out the day you will be installing simple irrigation systems, which involve jointing plastic hosing, installing header tanks and fitting valves. Practical work will also involve using timber and building materials to construct and renovate village schools. Half the projects are in sites where young children live, so members of the group take it in turns to spend time playing with children and teaching them English, allowing the others to get on with the task in hand. The aim of this work is to improve school buildings and facilities, raise the standard of sanitation in rural communities and provide safe drinking water for the rural communities in the Kathmandu Valley.
  • day-by-day itinerary
    Week 1-2:Cultural Orientation, Kathmandu Valley. Stay with local families, learn some Nepali and discover their music, art, food and culture. A weekend visit to Chitwan National Park, with elephant safaris to see wild tigers.
    Week 3-4:Community Development Project: The Mount Everest Trust, Terai Plains. Join the Mount Everest Trust to contribute to improving the infrastructure of rural water supplies and local primary schools.
    Week 5-6:Expedition: Everest Base Camp Trek. Expedition skills training. A fully supported 17 day trek to Everest Base Camp, staying in tea houses, before returning to Kathmandu.
    how this holiday makes a difference
    This venture supports the Mount Everest Trust. As well as our guides you are also accompanied by local guides and project partners. Groups are kept to a maximum of sixteen people, big enough to help the local communities, but not big enough to have a negative affect themselves.

    Back in the UK we also have our own environmental policy and we believe this is where responsible travel should start, prior to departure. It is simple things that help and perhaps the biggest impact in the office comes from recycling paper, as a rule where possible we print on both sides of paper and it is not until it is completely beyond use that we then send it to be recycled.

    All our development projects have been carefully chosen to satisfy several criteria. They are of definable and sustainable benefit to the indigenous community and allow us the opportunity to work in tandem with the host community. Funding for the projects comes directly from our Trust. For each person that joins us, we, as a company, give at least US $400 (GB £215) to the Trust. 100% of the money the Trust receives is spent on the projects.

    All development projects are over-seen by a resident Project Manager whose role is to co-ordinate the adventures, the funding and the project's objectives. We are committed to direct patronage within the local economies of the countries in which we operate. We pay local tutors to teach languages; accommodation throughout the adventure is in locally owned hostels or based in the project locations; and the entire expedition budget will be spent by the team at local "grass roots" level.

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    'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left).

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