GHT a Force for Good
Is tourism inherently bad, always damaging that what it needs to survive? We don’t think so. In fact, over the years we have come to learn that the Impact of your GHT can genuinely be a force for good. Your GHT can help host communities and you, their guest, come together and cooperate in protecting and regenerating what we all love most, the Himalaya. Yes, trekking and the GHT has an impact, but let’s make it a positive one!
For the last 10 years we have been calculating the greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe) of treks and working out social impact assessment systems. We think we have a pretty good feel for both the good and the bad of tourism. Here’s a simple explainer…
GHT Check-In Points
To really get to grips with impacts, make the GHT safer, improve accessibility, lower negative environmental impacts and promote positive social impacts, we have started making GHT Check-In Points.
These are teahouses along the GHT routes, where you can be sure to find dried foods, fuel (gas and kerosene), a registration book and phone recharging. It’s going to take us time to roll out the 100+ that we want to make as we need to negotiate individually with each teahouse owner, but it should be finished mid-2026. The Check-In Points are strategically located along trails to support various trekking styles, so we can begin to create positive outcomes for every community and trekker.
Trekking Styles
Let’s talk about different ways of trekking the GHT, in fact this also applies to any Himalayan trek. There are three popular ‘styles’ of GHT in Nepal and India – note that only #2 is possible in Bhutan and Pakistan:
Teahouse trekking on popular trails,
probably with a guide, where you stay in lodges with a fixed menu of easy to make dishes, including the local favourite Dhal Bhat. The majority of popular trails have many teahouses along the entire route. Occasionally, in remoter areas there may not be a convenient teahouse along a route, so you might need to carry a lightweight shelter and dried snacks for those nights. Trekkers very commonly supplement their diet with chocolate bars (like Snickers or Mars bars) and carbonate drinks (including beer). Normally you and the guide travel together to and from the trek.
This is the most common approach to doing the GHT, check out the Trail Talk blog from Kristy and Mike Dixon:
https://www.greathimalayatrail.com/april-to-august-on-the-ght/
Camping treks on trails with a crew
who carry tents and equipment (when you really need it, otherwise stay in teahouses), and make meals for you from produce either carried in (pasta and imported foods) or purchased locally (mostly ‘the basics’ and ingredients for staff Dhal Bhat). Due to the larger group size and limited campsite locations, this is normally a slower way to trek than option 1. Normally, you and a guide will fly together to and from the trek, and the rest of the crew will take a bus or jeep, depending on route.
Fast packing / running on a mix of trails with resupply points,
where you rely on teahouses for meals and self-carried energy bars (bought from home), which you restock in pre-arranged stashes as you go. You will probably need a very lightweight shelter if you chose to go through remote sections. Normally you fly to and from the trek and a guide will meet you at pre-arranged checkposts via bus or jeep as available. Some more information about this style is on Trail Talk: https://www.greathimalayatrail.com/across-the-himalaya-with-justin-lichter
In all three ‘styles’ trekkers rely on teahouses and local communities for support, so we are partnering with Local Operators to create Check-In Points along GHT routes, which:
In all three ‘styles’ trekkers rely on teahouses and local communities for support, so we are partnering with Local Operators to create Check-In Points along GHT routes, which:
Reduces environmental burden of porterage by movement of bulk goods rather than many small porterage loads.
Improves your safety through improved connectivity along the trail and ensures that your Local Operator can easily connect with you.
Improves your GHT experience through skills development programs in sustainability, including food and cooking skills.
GHT partnering with Local Operators involves more than Check-In Points as we mandate that they also:
Commit to sustainability policies, actions and targets, including energy efficiency, waste and water management, environmentally sensitive field-practices and Zero-Single Use Plastic.
Commit to supporting local communities through direct payments and training.
Commit to best practices for all field equipment, safety, hygiene and rescue, including comprehensive risk assessments.
Commit to annual reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and social impacts for GHT activities.
Provide financial support for in-field sustainability information and materials.
The Trade Off with Trekking
Each style has both positive and negative impacts mostly depending on your preferences, so with some thinking ahead, the impact of your trek can vary considerably. We’re not going to talk about your international flight(s) to get to the Himalaya, as we only want to consider your ‘in-country footprint’, some examples:
Example 1: GHT Full Nepal Greenhouse Gas Emissions
| Assume 2 people together for each style |
Teahouse trek with guide | Camping trek with crew | Fast-pack trek minimal support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average # of days | 100 | 130 | 40 |
| Amounts are kgCO2e | |||
| GHGe Transport | 441 | 506 | 441 |
| GHGe Food & Cooking only local sourced ingredients | 2,157 | 4,114 | 518 |
| GHGe Waste* | 30 | 1,360 | 560 |
| -------- | -------- | -------- | |
| High GHGe per Day | 2,628 | 5,980 | 1,346 |
| Low GHGe per Day | 1,909 | 3,917 | 1,519 |
*Important to note: assumed that you do not purchase bottled or can beers, drinks in plastic bottles, etc and responsible disposal is included in the emissions (for example, you carry your waste back to Kathmandu)
Example 2: GHT Full Nepal Social Impacts
| Assume 2 people together for each style |
Teahouse trek with guide | Camping trek with crew | Fast-pack trek minimal support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average # of days | 100 | 130 | 40 |
| Amounts are estimates in US$ | |||
| Biodiversity protection fees | US$2,290 | US$2,290 | US$2,290 |
| Local purchases on trek | US$5,679 | US$9,132 | US$1,605 |
| Staff wages payments | US$6,115 | US$14,915 | US$2,285 |
| Possible donations* | – | – | – |
| -------- | -------- | -------- | |
| Total Direct Spend in Communities and Biodiversity Protection | US$14,084 | US$26,337 | US$6,180 |
Important to note:
you should always leave a donation in any religious or important place of interest, but the amount is up to you so we leave it blank.
No surprises that more people on a trail have a higher environmental impact, but they also contribute more to communities. This is called the Trade Off. And the more time you spend on the GHT, the greater will be the negative and positive impacts.
Each trek on this website has both a GHGe and Social Impact value, if you would like more details about how we calculate these figures, please get in touch.
So, is there a best way to trek the GHT?
As a tourist, you can choose how you trek and who is your Local Operator. There is plenty of opportunity to combine popular and remoter trails, rely on the GHT Check-In Points and have an AMAZING TIME!
What do we recommend? That really depends on you, but from experience we see most trekkers preferring to rely on teahouses as much as possible, and only using a guide and camping crew only when they have to, for example, going over high passes or through restricted areas.
Over time, we will continue to monitor that the GHT Check-In Points and Local Operators are delivering resilient financial performance as well as positive impact performance for communities and the environment – both will help make your GHT truly special.
For those who are interested, this is the project model that we have developed and feel free to reach out with questions.
