Over 700,000 tourists come to Nepal every year to trek and climb the great Himalayan peaks. Most of the trekking routes in Nepal are located high in the mountains; are full of difficult terrain; and often have no roads for vehicles to pass through. It is by sheer, unadulterated raw strength that supplies reach the high-altitude areas of settlements, necessary to both locals and tourists, during the journey up the grand peaks. Those who do this legwork are known as: porters and it is because of their strength, life and business can coexist in these remote areas. Consequently, tour operators who offer trekking and hiking services hire porters to carry their clients’ luggage, tents, and other equipment that are unable to carry. Each porter’s daily distance is determined by their tourists' itinerary.

During my conversations with all the trekkers, Himalayan hotel owners, airlines, Sherpa guide leaders and porters, I was struck by the salary porters received- unarguably meager in return for their not only valuable, but also extremely laborious work. On average a porter offering their services in Nepal earns $12 (Rs. 1200 –  Rs1300) per day carrying upwards of 30 Kgs. Often, the more they carry the higher their earnings, therefore, it is not rare to see porters piled high with luggage making their way to the tourists’ nightly destination. I also found out that although porters may be able to sleep in lodges depending on availability of space, their food and more often than not, accommodation too, are both something they must factor and budget within their $12 daily salary. In short, their $12 wage dwindles to $7 after spending around approximately $4-5 on food and accommodation.

I’m glad to say today that voices have been raised on behalf of porters to address their disproportionate pay and insufficient working conditions. Porters' Progress (www.portersprogress.org), a non-profit organization, was established in 2000 to help protect the interests and livelihood of porters. They distribute jobs, offer a lending programme for equipment and hold classes in English, health, hygiene and altitude sickness prevention at their offices in Lukla. Today porters ask for $17 a day for their work, which would allow them to cover their food and accommodation costs and still keep the full original $12 a day. However, despite only asking for a small $5 dollar raise, little progress has been made so far towards reaching this proposed wage. Unfortunately, with the lack of education and alternative jobs prospects, porters are left with little bargaining power to demand this change.

We at Namas know first-hand how hard the porters work to carry supplies for tour operators and tourists. We also understand that without them Nepal’s trekking regions will face herculean struggles. In line with our core values, from this year, 2018, onwards, Namas will commit to paying porters their desired $17. Moreover, because we know we can do more, Namas aims to raise this base salary to $20 a day by 2020. While this means we can’t always offer the most competitive prices for our customers, by finding efficiencies elsewhere and a rigorous approach, we will ensure that there will be little to no impact on our customers. Our past and present customers all believe in what we are doing, and we are sure our future clients will also support us in bringing forth this positive and much-needed change.

Thank you and we hope you too can soon become a part of our great adventure, as we continue to live out our stories.

Founder

Bisesh Gurung

Namas Adventure

Edited by - Shanti Rai