Adventure travel

Landslide on the Karakoram Highway, Pakistan

At The Mountain Company we believe in providing honest and reliable pre trip information to people thinking of booking on a trip with us.

Adventure travel requires an open and flexible attitude. The points below are not meant to put you off but instead to highlight some areas to take into consideration before booking!

- Domestic transport is often unreliable. Flights are sometimes cancelled at the last minute and road journeys can be hazardous and uncomfortable. There is no guarantee that your return flight from the hills will connect with your international flight back home.

- Hotels are not always at the same standard as in the west.

- It may not be possible to complete the itinerary due to local factors such as bad weather or unseasonable snowfall. The itineraries should be seen as statement of our intentions and not a contractual obligation on our part.

- The political situation in the countries of the Himalayas, Karakoram and Kilimanjaro are less stable than in the west.

- It is quite common to become sick while travelling in underdeveloped countries. You might pick up diarrhoea (or Delhi belly) or a more exotic disease such as typhoid, malaria, hepatitis, typhus among many others! Vaccinations are never totally effective in preventing these diseases.

- You might fall over on the trek and injure yourself in which case you might have to wait for helicopter evacuation. There could be a long wait as the helicopters cannot fly in poor visibility.

- The airline might lose your bags on your international flight or the porter might drop your belongings into a river during the trek.

- The porters might go on strike and refuse to carry the group’s bags and equipment. This could take several days to resolve or it might be necessary to go to look for new porters from local villages.

Remember this is adventure travel where the unexpected often happens and if you are not prepared for this you should not travel with us.

If you are unlucky enough to experience one of the events described above you can rest assured that we will do everything in our power to resolve the situation.

To most people who enjoy adventure travel this is all part of the overall experience. On your return home you will never take the home comforts of life for granted!