Thamel, the tourist center of Kathmandu is designed for trek prep. Not only can you find every piece of gear you might need for any kind of jaunt into the Himalayas, but every hotel and hostel doubles as a trekking agency, ready at a moment’s notice to hook you up with guides and porters for as long as you’d like them. We’d read the hype, and their sales pitches are tiring and unconvincing. We knew we didn’t need a guide for the route we were taking (there is literally a dirt road built almost the entire way), and we were ready to go it on our own. That is, until I ended up with a back injury (probably from the crazy Croatian kayaking experience, re injured randomly in Istanbul), and we weren’t sure if we could even do the trek. Would I be able to walk, to carry weight? One week prior I couldn’t stand upright longer than to cross the street. By the time we left Turkey, I could maybe make it half a mile if there was chocolate at the finish line. My ability to hike was a big question mark. My ability to carry weight, a bigger one. [picture of M at phys therapy office?] Additionally, our college friend Jenny was joining us for the first couple weeks of our trek, and we weren’t quite sure how she would make it back to Kathmandu to catch her flight home if we were only part-way through the circuit.
And then we met Lia. Lia, a wonderfully full-of-life Aussie, practical and adventuresome in all the right ways, had done the AC three times already. She was in Nepal to explore a different region this time, and upon hearing our plans immediately sat down with us to talk about the various things we should be sure not to miss. And then she suggested meeting her guide, Deepak, only if we were interested in having a guide (maybe), and only if he was interested in that type of work right now (he was). A personally recommended guide is the jackpot of the Nepal guide/porter lottery and certainly not one you’d expect to hit 1-2 days before beginning your trek. We decided to at least meet him.
We remained skeptical through that first meeting. Deepak arrived stern faced. He wanted to write out a schedule for us. We wanted to be more flexible than that. He wanted to secure at least 10 days pay. We weren’t sure if we would be abel to hike more than 2-3 days. His English was adequate but would definitely take some getting used to. But Lia had vouched for him being a great guide. And, Lia did most of the translating that first meeting, making sure that Deepak understood that he might carry some of our weight, but not all of it, and that we would be making the final decisions on accommodations, side trips, routes, etc. We’d been previously warned that guides could be painfully inflexible with plans.
Pause for gossip. Halfway through our trek we did indeed hear of a couple whose guide and porter were so inflexible on routes they ended up parting ways with the couple each morning and taking different paths. One evening, the couple had to search every guesthouse in the town to figure out where their guide and porter were just to get their luggage back for the evening!
We were given two hours to decide on Deepak, a fair amount of time considering we wanted him ready to leave for a 2-3 week trip within 24 hours.
We hemmed and hawed over it. We made the pro/con lists. We deliberated. In the end, given my back, we decided that there was a better possibility of us being able to trek at all if we included a guide (and it would hopefully make it easier to get Jenny back to Kathmandu for her flight). Our second meeting went a bit better. Deepak cracked a smile showing his gentler side. We all relaxed into each other’s personalities a bit more, and he bought us tea in celebration of his latest employment. Oh yes, and we got him to agree to five days pay initially while we tested out whether or not we could hike.
Turns out, Deepak was a hit. We held onto a map and looked for trail markers. And he went anywhere we wanted to go. “Okay, no me decide. You decide,” came out every time we veered off the road through some little town. Sometimes he asked which route we’d rather take when the option presented. Sometimes he knew, and just followed the more interesting route. We know we didn’t usually go with his first choice, as he often said, “for me, road is best. But no me decided. You decide.” He remained flexible for us. And he was okay with us going “slowly slowly”…the only hiking speed we really know.
Deepak remained with us for 18 days of our 22 day hike. Deepak was friendly with everyone and talked with villagers as we trekked, relaying interesting information on the area and culture to us. He protected us from every buffalo we passed (still not sure if he had a “buffalo incident” in early childhood that left a scar as he was more afraid of them than we were). He carried some of our weight so we could rebalance to allow me to carry less. Yay for being able to continue healing and complete the trek! He fully arranged Jenny’s transportation back to Kathmandu, easy peasy. And we’re pretty sure he controls the weather. We only sent him home early because Brian and I decided we wanted a few days to hike on our own just to have that experience. And we’d kept him a long time, so long he was absolutely “too much happy” to be going home. Of course, his two year old daughter was probably the most excited about this event. She really missed her daddy… and she got her first bicycle upon his return.
People have many reasons for hiring guides and porters for their treks. Ours was out of necessity born from unexpected circumstances. If we hiked the AC again, or another well-traveled trail in Nepal, we probably wouldn’t bring a guide with us. It’s just not our style. But of all the reasons for taking guides that we have heard from all the sales pitches, this one never gets mentioned: Taking a guide is taking the chance to create a truly meaningful friendship, the strong, compassionate, and silly kind that comes about from spending too much time in close proximity. We are so happy to have taken that opportunity and to leave Nepal not only with amazing memories and photos, but also with a wonderful new friendship with Deepak.