Many trekkers call and ask us this question. You may notice that our trek fee is marginally higher for some treks, and you may wonder why you have to pay more for the same trek. The answer is straightforward. There's a very big difference in the quality of the experience you will have with Indiahikes compared with anyone else. You'll notice a stark difference in three areas:

1. Safety: Indiahikes is known to be India's safest trekking organisation. There's a reason for this. In the mountains, there are no better safety experts than Indiahikes trek leaders and the Indiahikes team. Whether it is our people, our processes, our equipment, or our protocols, they are watertight. So much so that other organisations come to Indiahikes when there's an emergency in the mountains. This is the level of safety we give our trekkers, and the marginal difference in the trek fee is something you pay for a very big benefit.

2. A mindfully designed trek: When you go on a trek with us, you don't blindly trek from Camp A to Camp B. There are a lot of mindful activities and experiences conducted throughout the trek. Our trek leaders are professional outdoor facilitators who can help you feel connected to yourself and nature. They are of a much higher caliber, and you'll notice this when you meet them.

3. A premium experience: We want trekkers to have a comfortable, premium experience in the mountains. You will notice this in the quality of our facilities. Right from the time you reach the base camp, you stay at our beautiful community campuses and not at cramped lodges. The equipment you use is expedition-grade and made to order by Indiahikes for Indiahikes. The food you eat is freshly cooked and part of a nutritious menu that our team has designed with your health and taste in mind.

There are multiple other aspects, like our hygiene practices, our bio-toilet systems, and our sustainability practices, where you are not harming the environment when trekking with us. There are many differences you'll see in your trek with Indiahikes.

With all these benefits, our trek fee is marginally higher. Many trekkers come back and tell us that our fee must be higher and is not high enough for the kind of experience we design. Yet, we will not veer in that direction because our philosophy is that Everyone Must Trek. After all, we know how good it is for society.

Yes, absolutely. Many solo trekkers join our teams and have wonderful experiences. They end up meeting like-minded people on the trek and don't feel like they have come along on the trek anymore.

Our pre-trek experienced team ensures that you know your entire team well much before you actually head out on the trek.

Additionally, we have several women trekkers who join us solo as well because of the safety they get with the Indiahikes team. You're welcome to join us as a solo trekker too.

Our answer to this is straight. When trekkers say Indiahikes is the safest trekking organisation in India, they are also referring to safety of women. You are going to be completely safe with us for the following reasons:

1. 35% of our trekkers are women. So you will be trekking with many other women in your group.

2. Our accommodation is separate for men and women. You will be sharing your tent / staying space with other women.

3. More and more solo women are trekking with us, so much so that you'll see a solo woman trekker in almost every group. This number is only growing. So you're not alone.

4. We ensure you e-meet your trekkers much before meeting them, in a pre-trek briefing as well as on a Whatsapp group. So you're not meeting strangers on the trek. You already know them.

5. 35% of our trek leaders are women. You might just have a woman trek leader!

6. Our male trek leaders are also trained and sensitised to handle any situations sensitively, including your periods. You're free to approach them for anything.

It is because of all these reasons that more and more solo women trekkers choose to trek with Indiahikes. Our own women team members live and work in the mountains, leading groups and living in a male-dominated industry. It is completely safe, you'll see for yourself.

Many trekkers call us and complain that our groups get filled too quickly. They never get the slots they want. Unfortunately, this is the hard reality. We have observed two things.

(1) It is the more challenging treks that get filled very quickly. Like the Rupin Pass trek or Buran Ghati trek. This is because when it comes to challenging treks, trekkers are very cautious about choosing the right organisation. They know that safety is of utmost importance on such treks and don't want to compromise. That is why you will see these treks getting filled almost 6 months in advance. You too, must plan these treks at least 5 months in advance.

(2) The popular treks always get filled in advance. Treks like Kashmir Great Lakes trek, Tarsar Marsar, Kedarkantha in winter, Deoriatal-Chandrashila in spring, these are blockbuster treks of our country, which you have to plan in advance.

Our advice is that you plan your trek at least 5 months in advance. This gives you three benefits:

a. It gives you a comfortable choice of choosing your most preferred dates, vs the dates that are leftover.

b. It gives you a good cushion in case you need to cancel / reschedule your trek. Your cancellation fee will be almost non-existent, depending on how early you change plans.

c. You have a good amount of time to prepare for the trek and become as fit as a trek leader.

So plan in advance, you'll have the best experience.

It’s wonderful that you’re planning to start trekking in the Himalayas. You’d be happy to know that around 70% of our trekkers are beginners and always get hooked to trekking after their first trek!

Having said that, you must choose your trek wisely — something that is not too difficult, yet will allow you to experience the grand settings of the Himalayas.

These are the treks we find best suited for beginners:

• Manali Kaisdhar Trek
• Chirbatiya Weekend Trek
• Benog Tibba Weekend Trek
• Nag Tibba Weekend Trek
• Dayara Bugyal
• Deoriatal-Chandrashila
• Brahmatal
• Kedarkantha

If you're in Bangalore, we highly recommend opting for our treks near Bangalore as preparatory treks for the Himalayas. These are the best treks you can do around Bangalore:

• Channarayana Durga Trek
• Minchukallu Betta Trek

If you're unfit or obese, then you must choose the right treks to do. We recommend choosing from our "easy" treks. The Manali Kaisdhar trek is the best one, because the trails are completely flat and will not test your endurance. It is a good stepping stone into the world of trekking.

On the other hand, if you're able to work on your fitness and meet the fitness criteria for any of our treks you're welcome to join our other treks too.

Every trek of ours, starting from our easy-moderate treks, has a certain fitness requirement. Our Experience Coordinators do fitness checks before allowing trekkers on treks. If you're able to get on a fitness routine and share proof of your fitness, you're welcome to join us.

There's a reason why we have strict fitness protocols on our treks. This video will tell you what happens if you're not fit.

On the other hand, several trekkers ask us what is the fitness approval process. Take a look here.

High-altitude trekking is a team sport. When a team of 18 is trekking to the summit, every single trekker's fitness matters. The team is only as strong as its weakest trekker. Often, unfit trekkers slow the team down, drain resources since they need a guide / trek leader constantly with them, they slow the team down.

On the other hand, every high-altitude trek comes with a set of challenges. Steep ascents and descents, uneven terrain, snow walks, stream crossings, pass crossings, and summit climb. Even the easiest of treks have some of these challenges if not all of them. Without fitness, trekkers struggle, get injured easily, lag behind, or simply fail to complete the trek. 

At Indiahikes, we take pride in the fact that our trekkers are among the fittest in the country. Those who do not meet the fitness requirements are often sent back. Our philosophy is that trekking and fitness go hand in hand. Without fitness, there’s no trekking. 

We have two kinds of waivers and scholarships at Indiahikes.

1. Scholarships for children: At Indiahikes, we strongly believe that children must trek. Children aged 14 and below qualify for a 30% trek fee scholarship. Reach out to us before payment to avail of this offer. Check out this article to learn more.

2. For every ten adult members (aged 15 and above) of the group, we waive off the trek fee for one person. Indiahikes will reimburse the said trek fee after you complete your trek.

The answer for this is not a yes or no. If you have any kind of health issues, please speak to us on a call before registering for a high altitude trek. Whether you can trek depends on the severity of your issue. We'll be able to speak to you and give you some guidance.

On the other hand, please take these two steps first:

1. Watch the "Ask Dr Sree" series, where Dr Sreelakshmi Thirumoorthy, a high altitude trekker and a practicing doctor, covers several health-related topics in her show. Trekkers find her videos to be very helpful.

2. Speak to your doctor about taking on a Himalayan trek and ask them if it is advisable. If they give you a green signal, nothing like it.

Once you're on the trek with us, we will have a safety check-in on the first day of your trek. During this check-in, disclose any health issues that you have to your trek leader, so that they can take extra care of you. Please also carry your medications along on the trek.

This is a big worry among trekkers. But what we have seen is that most trekkers start their treks by worrying about toilets but return feeling so comfortable with the toilets that they want the same toilets in the cities!

We have bio-toilets, researched and designed by Indiahikes for high altitudes. These toilets are designed with two things in mind: (a) your comfort and (b) care for the environment

What are bio-toilets? Biotoilets are deep pits dug into the earth, on which we place wooden planks. You squat Indian-toilet style and do your business in the pit, after which you use toilet paper to clean up. Once you're done, you use sawdust to cover up the human waste and leave the toilet clean for the next person. (In case you cannot squat, request your trek leader for a toilet seat. They can make it available.)

How are they comfortable? These toilet tents are placed at a slight distance from the campsite. There is no sight or smell once you enter the toilet. The sawdust doesn't allow any smell to escape and also absorbs all the moisture, keeping the toilet dry and odour-free. It also speeds up decomposition. On the other hand, our toilet tents are sturdy, with zips and good privacy. So you can do your business comfortably.

They are environmentally friendly: These are dry toilets, where we don't use water. There's a reason behind this. Our toilets are designed after extensive research on the decomposition of human waste at high altitudes. Using too much water slows down the decomposition by many months, which is not favourable in such fragile eco-systemsecosystems. (You can read more about the design of the toilet system here).