Nepal is a cheap place to visit, particularly if you are doing things on your own like we did. Someone recently asked me, "Is it best to go on organised treks with agencies or to hire a private guide?" Well, neither actually! We just headed off on the trail with guidebook in hand, even our 9 and 11 year old kids carried their own packs! That's why the Lonely Planet details the trails, so you CAN do it on your own. Its easy! We liked doing it this way (and a lot of people do), because it gives you more of a sense of personal achievement. Also, you don't have other people (strangers) to worry about. So we had no guides or porters. On the positive side with porter/guides, they can put you in contact with Nepali culture a tiny bit more than travelling on your own. A guide is not really necessary, but they can open doors that may otherwise stay shut for us.

We bought our flight tickets to our trailhead (Lukla) from one of the many travel agents in Kathmandu a few days before we flew up. These cost (Dec 1997) US$160 return for adults, half price for the kids. We flew up in a small plane (Twin Otter STOL, 21 seater, "Asian Air") from Kathmandu to the mountain airstrip (at 2800m, nearly 10,000ft) of Lukla for our trek. The return trip was in an old Russian MI-17 helicopter with 20 passengers plus cargo. Both flights were VERY spectacular.  The helicopters no longer take passengers, however.

We trekked from 2 Dec 1997 - 16 Dec 1997. Our plan was to actually trek to Gokyo Ri at about 5,500m elevation. We had already been to the Annapurnas (Gail and I in 1991), so we wanted to go somewhere different. Also, we knew people who had trekked to Gokyo Ri (our planned destination until it snowed) and they said it was great. Plus we saw the photos of Everest from Gokyo Ri, Awesome! And ever since we had become "Nepalophiles", I have always wanted to go to Namche Bazaar. It didn’t disappoint. But on the second night of our acclimatization break in Namche Bazaar it started snowing, and didn't stop for 36 hours. Even the locals said it was an unusually heavy snowfall. So, we couldn’t make our destination of Gokyo Ri, we were stuck, basically. We stayed in Namche for 6 days, got to know the locals, made some great friends, got invited to a Sherpa wedding, and the kids played in their (and our) first snow. So it wasn’t a bad loss, in fact we had a fantastic experience. We did one day trek from Namche (snow was up to our hips), up to Khumjung, so we had a great view of Everest. It was mid December. Considering that 20-odd Japanese trekkers died in an avalanche on their way to Gokyo in 1996, we decided that these risks were too real for us to forge on in those conditions.

In our 6 days in Namche we got to know our wonderful lodge owner/manager and his young daughter really well, as well as getting to know many other locals. We even got invited to a local Sherpa wedding, complete with its amazing rituals.When we finally left Namche, all four of us were presented with white silk katas, the Tibettan or Sherpa prayer shawls. Our lodge owner and his family, plus a number of local traders we had gotten to know in the town over the 6 days came out onto the street as we were leaving to wish as farewell and safe journey. I’m not sure how many other trekkers have shared that experience.

Overall, if you are taking kids on a trek, I think a trek in the Everest region is a good choice. A shorter trek to Namche or, say, Tengpoche is a good, medium altitude trek that is not too arduous or long. You will also get absolutely fabulous views of Everest, plus be totally and constantly surrounded by many other +7000m and +8000m snowy peaks. Also, it is not quite as busy from a trekkers point of view as the Annapurna region. We have trekked in both regions, and I think this area is an excellent choice.

Altitude sickness (AMS). We were cautious about AMS, but not overly worried. After our flight from Kathmandu to Lukla we ascended at the recommended rate, which essentially includes 2 nights in Namche (more for us as the snow stranded us there for a number of days).I admit I did have a mild headache and insomnia on the first night and following day in Namche, signs of mild AMS, but this disappeared after this. Your trek will not be fast enough to be worried about anything above mild AMS, so the worst that can happen is the inconvenience of mild AMS symptoms like I had. Note I was the only one in our family with these symptoms; Gail and the kids (then 9 and 11) didn’t get it. Note that treatment is fairly simple; do not ascend until the symptoms disappear. If they persist, descend. If your kids are old enough to communicate any symptoms to you, you do not need to overly worry about them from an AMS management point of view .

Kids and trekking. The kids coped very well with the distances, especially Blake (11). Gemma (9) admittedly did whinge a little bit about the trekking, but as soon as someone took her by the hand (Gail, me, and in some cases, locals), she was fine and happy to trek on. Remember that Blake and Gemma were both carrying their own full packs (clothes, sleeping bags, toiletries etc). Blake is by no means an athlete, in fact he’s not sporty at all. But he absolutely thrived on the treks and was always out in front. He was buoyed along by the sheer exhilarating adventure of it all, I think. Note again that our trek was pretty short: 2 days to Namche, where we were stranded for a total of 6 days, where on the fourth day we did a day trek to Kumjung and back, then finally 2 days back to Lukla. So our trek was not arduous by any stretch of the imagination.