All of the travels, including the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek were doing on our own – “we” is my wife Carrie and I by the way. There are 2 main reasons for it. First one is money. The trekking company from the UK is charging more than £2000 per person for 18-day journey to the EBC and that is pretty much our budget for 8 months in India/Nepal. Just a quick browse through few main travel forums will reveal that finding your way up to the EBC on your own is quite easy. Getting professional and experienced mountaineers to guide you up to the summit – I’m all for it – but paying somebody to stroll beside you up the mountain is just silly.
Even if you are looking for company if you are traveling solo you can post a thread on Thorntree or any other travel forum and find a buddy who is ready to join you.
That brings me to a second reason I don’t like organized tours – you never know who else is gonna be there. Imagine spending 2 weeks walking next to some annoying tourist who complains and nags about everything. Trust me they are out there and there are many of them and they can afford £2500 for a babysitter on the trek.
At this point I have to admit that I am little biased. My tourist allergy comes from me being surrounded by them for the past 14 years – 4 years living in Niagara Falls and 9 years living on the cruise ships so I’ve seen it all – I’ve met people who traveled from New York to Bora Bora and got off the ship to buy a T shirt and went back onboard to attend the next session of bingo. Not all organized tours are full of people like that but you just never know.
I do like making new friends and hanging out with other people but I’d like to have a choice in who is it that I share my adventures with.
Tonight is the last night in the Lake District – tomorrow we’re off to London and Thursday – incredible India.
Posts
Good luck!
ReplyDeleteStay away from organised tours. You just never know who is part of them.
Darko what you said about the tourist on the ship is so true..
ReplyDeleteHaving worked in the trade as well, you know you can get some good deals of your own if you look around as well.
Best of luck with everything, so far I am enjoying your writing and look forward to reading more of your adventures...