Question 1

Who are the HSJ Travel Guides & Tour Leaders?

Accepted Answer

They are the licensed guides and tour leaders who lead HSJ Travel journeys on the ground: our own team in Nepal, and the licensed local partners we work with every year in Bhutan, Tibet and India. Individual names, experience and qualifications are listed above.

Question 2

How are itineraries reviewed?

Accepted Answer

Guides report what they observe in the field. Our planning team reviews those observations and updates route notes, logistics and practical detail where a change is confirmed. Every published journey is guide-reviewed.

Question 3

How often is route information updated?

Accepted Answer

Routes are regularly reviewed rather than continuously rewritten. Review timing follows the trekking seasons and any significant reported change on a route.

Question 4

What happens if a route has to change during my journey?

Accepted Answer

Your guide assesses conditions on the day and proposes a sensible alternative, in discussion with you and with our team. Safety and the integrity of the journey come before completing a fixed line on a map.

Question 5

Will the same guide stay with us throughout?

Accepted Answer

Yes. On our private and small group journeys, your lead guide accompanies the group from start to finish.

Question 6

What qualifications do the guides hold?

Accepted Answer

Each guide holds the government licence required in the country they guide in, and our Nepal trekking guides are also trained in first aid and altitude sickness. Individual qualifications are listed on each guide's profile above.

Question 7

How do HSJ Travel guides manage altitude on a trek?

Accepted Answer

Guides watch for the early signs of altitude sickness before they become a problem, set a pace the group can actually hold, and know the evacuation options on every route we run. Above 4,000m that judgement matters more than any fixed plan.

Question 8

What does a guide add beyond showing the way?

Accepted Answer

Beyond the views, guides open doors: what a mani stone says, how to enter a gompa without causing offence, why a village keeps the festival it does. This is the part of a trek most travellers remember longest.

Question 9

Will we get a good teahouse room in peak season?

Accepted Answer

In peak season, when lodges fill, a guide's long relationship with the families who run them is often the difference between a warm room by the stove and whatever is left at the end of the corridor.

Question 10

What happens if the weather turns on the trail?

Accepted Answer

Reading how the weather is moving in a valley, knowing when to set off before the afternoon wind, and knowing when a rest day protects the pass crossing. These decisions get made with you, and explained.

Meet your team leaders

The people you will be walking with

From the Trail to Your Itinerary

Guides observe conditions in the field

HSJ Travel reviews what comes back

Route and logistics detail is refined

Guide Questions, Answered