[NammaTBHP]

Originally Posted by graaja

Were all your treks with Indiahikes with 3 occupants per tent? In our trek, it was only 2. The tent was just enough for 2. Maybe other treks have bigger tents to accommodate 3? Even I would like only 2 per tent.

Almost all Indiahikes treks have 3 occupants per tent (they even have a video justifying the same). And it is the same tent (they claim it is a 4 person tent). If there is no rain, it works perfectly fine. When it rain heavily, with 3 occupants, the inner layer can sometimes touch the outer layer leading to rain water seeping in.

Only once I had 2 occupants (when one of the participants dropped midway due to some personal issues).

[vijayols]

Originally Posted by NammaTBHP

Brilliant trek report and even more amazing pics. The trekking bug got me in 2019 and have tried to keep doing a couple of treks every year. No better way to recharge and refresh your mind and soul than being in the midst of the mountains, and realizing how insignificant one is.

My first himalayan trek ever was the Tarsar Marsar trek in Kashmir in 2019 and my last was the KGL (again in Kashmir) last September. Have one coming up later this week so looking forward to this.

Most of my treks have been with Indiahikes, and I think for most they are the best organization to trek with. Very professional, lot of focus on safety and environment/sustainability and in general very nice introduction to the world of trekking. Off late I have been looking at other options (primarily as I do not want 3-in-a-tent for any trek where its likely to rain). Most other groups have 2 in a tent, which gives you a quite a bit of space when its pouring outside. That said with 3 in a tent, its always warmer inside, and its quicker to pitch/unpitch tents.

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful experience. Almost took me there.

Have done a couple of Himalayan treks with YHAI besides IH and they have 2 to a tent.However hands down IH remains the best go to option simply because if things go wrong(Which can happen so easily in high altitude) you would rather be with the best as I have experienced several times before.If things are fine(Which I hope is always for all fellow trekkers) then it does not matter with which group you do the trek.

[mpksuhas]

Superb travelouge graaja, nice detailed one with matching pictures.

India Hikes, have heard good reviews all across. Also, for those of us from Bangalore, one advantage is that their website has lot of 'DIY trek' details along with GPX logs, we do download those for our smaller regular - around Bangalore treks.

You mentioned the difficulty in carrying the 8kg backpacks, however wanted to check if you had done your training with loaded backpack ? Since from pics the bag looks big and carrying it around for 5 days may be tiring and 8kgs is no small a weight.

Also, regarding the toilets, are all the camp days with bio toilets ?

[graaja]

Originally Posted by NammaTBHP

And it is the same tent (they claim it is a 4 person tent)...

I checked with folks in our trekking group who have done other treks with India Hikes and they confirmed that the tent used to sleep 3 occupants is a much bigger one than the one we used for 2 in our trek.

One of the friends in our trekking group mentioned that Indiahikes decides 2 or 3 per tent based on the size of the camping site. If the camping site is big enough to accommodate more tents, they choose 2 per tent. If the camping site is expected to be small, then they go with 3 per tent.

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Superb travelouge graaja, nice detailed one with matching pictures.

Thank you so much for the kind words

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

You mentioned the difficulty in carrying the 8kg backpacks, however wanted to check if you had done your training with loaded backpack ? Since from pics the bag looks big and carrying it around for 5 days may be tiring and 8kgs is no small a weight.

Also, regarding the toilets, are all the camp days with bio toilets ?

Yes. I and my daughter practiced some walks up a hill with loaded shoulder bags with 7 or 8 kilos in books. But our training walks were a maximum of 1.5 hours and once a week. Had we not done these walks, the trek may have been still harder. I will do more of these loaded walks for future treks and also increase the time and distance of the training.

Yes. It was bio toilets on all days of the trek.

[NammaTBHP]

Just got back from a trek with a different group. I bumped into an Indiahikes team enroute. I checked with them and indeed Indiahikes has moved away from 3-persons per tent to 2 in a tent, thankfully.

On their website, they have specifically called this out for some treks (but not all) e.g. Buran Ghati (https://indiahikes.com/buran-ghati). However this seems to be the case with other treks too. So certainly not a concern any more.

However just to be sure, if you are planning to trek with them (and you certainly should), it would be good to confirm with the experience coordinator if it is not already mentioned in the trek inclusions.