How to trek well in Nepal, starting with the people who carry your bag
Trekking money reaches Nepali households more directly than almost any other tourism, but sometimes it also gets people hurt. What to ask before you book.
By the Lakeshore team · 7 min read · Updated 5 October 2026
For the country it happens in, trekking is one of the better kinds of tourism. The money goes to lodge families, porters, guides, jeep drivers and village shops, not to an international hotel chain. In the hills above Pokhara it is often a household's main source of cash income.
It also has a well-documented problem. The person carrying the heaviest load is usually the one with the least power in the arrangement. I started as a porter, and this is the page I would want a client to read before booking with anyone, us included.
What a fair load looks like
The widely accepted limit for a trekking porter is around 20 kg in total, and responsible companies keep well under it. We cap ours at roughly 9 kg per trekker, with two trekkers to a porter, so a full load comes to about 18 kg including the porter's own kit.
On the trail you will see much heavier loads. Cargo portering is a different job with different norms. The man carrying 60 kg of beer up to a lodge is not a trekking porter, and he is paid by the kilo. Those are the photos that go round online, and they muddy the whole question.
What matters for you is the company you book with. Ask what their cap is, and ask what happens when the group's bags come in over it. A company with a number and a plan has thought about it.
Clothing, insurance and altitude
Porters get cold and get altitude sickness like everyone else, and for years they were far less likely to have the right kit for either. Boots, a jacket, sunglasses and gloves are the basics. On the high routes they are not optional.
Insurance for guides and porters is a legal requirement in Nepal, and not every company honours it. Ask the operator straight out. The answer should come back immediately.
When a porter is unwell, the same rules apply as for a client: no going higher with symptoms, and down if it gets worse. That should be obvious, but it has not always been how this industry worked.
Where your money goes
On a teahouse trek a large share goes straight to households. The lodge family, the porter, the guide and the jeep driver all get paid, and so does the shop that sold you a chocolate bar at three times the Pokhara price, because somebody carried it up.
Community-run routes go further. On Mohare Danda and Khopra Ridge the villages own the lodges together, and the profits pay for schools, water schemes and trail repair. On the Machhapuchhre Model Trek, homestay guests are shared out between households on a rota so the income spreads. If it matters to you where the money lands, those three routes are the strongest options we run, and choosing one over a commercial trail is the most direct vote you can cast.
Rubbish, plastic and what stays behind
Every plastic bottle sold above the road head has to be carried back down by someone, or it never leaves. A filter bottle or purification tablets take maybe thirty bottles out of a two-week trek, and they save you money.
Carry your rubbish down to a town that can deal with it instead of leaving it at a high lodge, where the options are burning or burying. Batteries and wet wipes especially.
Toilet paper decomposes slowly at altitude, so bag it and carry it out. It's unglamorous, and it's the most visible problem on the busy trails.
Being a good guest
Ask before you photograph people, houses and religious sites, every time. It costs nothing and it changes the whole exchange. People usually say yes, and then they invite you in.
Walk clockwise around chortens and mani walls, keeping them on your right. You won't be told off for getting it wrong, and everyone notices when you get it right.
Eat and drink at the lodge you sleep in. The room is cheap because the family makes its living in the kitchen, so eating your own supplies in their dining room cuts out the part that pays them.
Tip properly at the end. The usual figure is around ten percent of the trip cost, split between guide and porter, and neither of them will ask you for it.
The questions to ask any operator
What weight do you cap porters at, and how many trekkers share a porter? What do you pay them per day? Are your guides and porters insured? Do you give them jackets and boots for the high routes?
Four questions, and any operator worth booking will answer all four in under a minute without checking. Vagueness about porter pay is the most reliable warning sign in this industry. Ask us too. We'd rather you did. We usually reply within a few hours, always within a day.
Walk it with us
Private departures on your dates, guided by the people who wrote this page.
Questions we get asked
Should I hire a porter at all, or is it better not to?
Hire one. Portering is skilled work, well paid by local standards, and refusing on principle takes a job away without making it any better. What matters is that the load and the conditions are fair.
How much should I tip?
Around ten percent of the trip cost, split between guide and porter and handed over on the last evening. Give more if someone went out of their way for you, and if you can't, nobody will sulk.
Can I give clothing or equipment to my porter at the end?
Usually it's appreciated, especially boots and jackets in good condition. Ask first, don't assume, and give it privately.
Is it rude to give sweets or pens to children on the trail?
It encourages begging along the popular routes, and most guides discourage it. If you want to give, give to a school or a community fund through your guide.
Which treks put the most money into local hands?
Mohare Danda, Khopra Ridge and the Machhapuchhre Model Trek. Each is community-owned, and the profits go to village funds.
Still deciding?
Tell us your dates and how much walking you've done, and we'll tell you whether Trekking Gear Rental is right for you. If it isn't, we'll say so.
Nothing to pay online. We confirm your dates first.
Or call the office +977 61-457830