Nepal & India Adventure with Gapforce

Arriving by myself part way into the trip, I was apprehensive about joining a group that had already trekked to Everest base camp and had that shared history, but everyone in the group was so lovely and welcoming that I really had nothing to worry about. So if you aren’t too keen on doing the trek but want to experience the sights and smells of India, go for it! For me, I struggled with remembering that the trip is more of an adventure over being a holiday so bear in mind that you will experience accommodation of hostels at both ends of the spectrum BUT don’t let that put you off because you are ok the move so often that it really doesn’t matter that much. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on this trip thanks to the wonderful leader who could expertly navigate, communicate, and barter with the locals. I would without a doubt recommend this trip, no matter your apprehensions, the positives outweighs any negatives! Thank you gap force :)

This was an incredible experience! I am from Colorado, USA. I love mountains and had always wanted to see the Himalayas, so that was definitely part of the reason I chose this trip. GapForce is also way more affordable than most American gap year and travel programs. Before this trip, I had never been outside of the US for more than a week and a half or so. I had never been to Asia. I had never travelled so thoroughly in a third world country. The Nepal and India Adventure covered all of that and more. We saw some spectacular, colorful, fascinating, eye-opening things during the 8 week program. I would 100% recommend it to someone else looking for an adventure or just wanting to see the world. A few things you might be wondering: my group was small, and unusually so I think. I was worried about it at the beginning, but it ended up working out really well. Logistically, it made everything much easier: hotels, transportation, and even just keeping track of everyone. A small group is nice because you get to know everyone really well, and there’s no room for cliques or smaller groups. I can’t speak to big groups, but I enjoyed my group size. You also may be wondering about accommodations. If you like classier, more luxurious travel, this may not be the trip for you. That being said, the places we stayed were comfortable and clean for nearly all of the trip with only one exception: the last hostel we stayed in. If you’re considering this trip, you may be wondering about the difficulty of the trek to Everest Base Camp. It was definitely hard sometimes, but incredibly rewarding. Everyone in my group made it, and I think it’s totally achievable for the average person as long as you have a good attitude. Personally, it was my favorite part of the trip, and I’m already planning another trek for later this year. There is minimal volunteering built into this trip, but I thought it was a good combination of helping local communities and getting to see the world. Both volunteering projects were very interesting and memorable, especially the one in India, but if you’re looking for pure volunteering, this isn’t the program for you. Another quick note: you’re going to want to have at least a couple hundred dollars for spending money. There are loads of neat souvenirs and trinkets at almost every stop. Also, if you see something cool, just buy it. You might not have the chance later on. I hope this review was helpful!

Every day was packed with adventure and activities. We got to experience things that other tourists may not have been able to or thought of such as; volunteering with Tibet World, celebrating Diwali at the Golden Temple, city bike tours and food tours. After a busy three weeks we had a nice rest and relaxation period in Goa where the schedule was more relaxed and we had some free time. The accommodation is pretty basic but has all the essentials. Additionally, the trip ran smoothly thanks to our leader Stefan, who organised everything which made the trip less stressful. He also had good knowledge of the different areas and took us to the best places to taste the local cuisine. Overall, i thoroughly enjoyed my India adventure and it is definitely worth the time and money.

I loved my time with Gapforce in Nepal and India! I felt safe from the very beginning in Kathmandu. I arrived early, and my leaders made sure that I felt safe in a new city and were on top of communication. From that point on, it was very easy meeting the rest of the group and mingling. I would have like to have had a few icebreakers to help remember names, as we were sort of left to our own devices the first few hours, but otherwise it was fine.

In addition, I would have appreciated better and quicker communication from Gapforce prior to the trip. I had a lot of questions before departing, and waited three weeks before hearing anything back. My final comment would be more transparency with the budget and allowing participants to know exactly where their money is going.

In Mumbai especially, our group would have preferred a longer travel day to stay in a hostel in south Mumbai rather than where we ended up staying. For Nepal, doing the volunteering at the monastery would have been much more beneficial for us and the students if they had actually been studying at the time. We were left to play soccer and fill our time without really doing anything. However, despite these comments, the trip overall was incredible! Callum and Alfie were amazing leaders who made sure we always felt safe. Yay Gapforce!

this trip was one of the best experiences in my life! I was really scared before leaving but as soon as I got to Kathmandu and I was with the whole group I calmed down. Everyone was so open and friendly and we became really close really fast, especially during the trek since we saw each others' best and worst moments. Our expedition leaders, Callum and Alfie, were incredible. They were professional but were still able to enjoy and have fun with rest of us. When things went wrong, they were always prepared and knew what to do.

I enjoyed every single part of the trip so much. The first two weeks in Nepal were fun and we got to do things many people had never done before like Rafting and paragliding. The second part of Nepal was the trek. That was extremely challenging for me and there were more than a few times that I wanted to give up but in the end we all got to Base Camp. Looking back, the trek was probably my favorite part of the trip. India went by so fast, because we would go from one place to another so fast. We had a good mixture of sighting and free time to do whatever we wanted or just chill out and get away from the heat.
Overall I had an amazing time and I would highly recommend this trip for everyone willing to go out of their comfort zones and open up to new and incredible opportunities.

Few other trips will enable you to experience such a breadth and array of cultures, sights and experiences as this one, allowing me to safely recommend this trip to anyone interested in visiting these two amazing countries; as you'll truly experience these places for greater value and detail than if you were travelling alone. Outstanding and professional expedition leaders, as well an extremely thorough and packed itinerary mean there is constantly activities, sights and experiences to be had, both adventurous and cultural. Whilst, true, this trip isn't for the faint hearted, and some degree of fitness and robustness is required, don't be put off. The group, guides and leaders all mean there is always support and always help should you need it, allowing you to form some great friendships along the way.

Throughout the entire expedition the group has been thoroughly supported, both guides are great, both are friendly, engaging but provide a safety net if need be. Both have become close friends of mine. Although there is a large amount of travelling throughout the exped, especially India, it is thoroughly worth the long travel days, with plenty of sites visited in the 4 weeks that you have in India.
Nepal is certainly a different experience with a major difference between the areas that you visit Nepal, its showed me that I definitely want to go back. Everest Base Camp trek takes up the majority of the memories and time in Nepal, with some people saying that it 'made the group' which allows everyone to bond over the hardship and create a tighter group. Overall the entire 8 weeks is brilliant for anyone looking to explore these two spectacular countries.

My favourite memory is paragliding in Nepal, it is something that I never thought I could do and I was really proud of myself afterwards!
I really enjoyed the EBC Trek a lot more than I thought I would. I have never done hiking like that before but after doing that I would definitely like to do more. Also I thought Narayan was a great leader and would highly recommended Gapforce to use him in the future! He was very knowledgable and mixed well with the group.
I would recommend to future participants to not pack too many winter clothes for the trek as they take up a lot of room in the backpacks and you end up wearing the same items quite a lot!
I feel after this trip I can say that I have gained a lot more confidence! I was really nervous about the trip but India is always a place that I wanted to experience and I am so glad that i decided to do it. I liked the fact that I was on my own but was also in a group.