That would have been great. I thought I was pretty adventurous back then (it was sometime in the 1990s?) when I walked solo with a guide and porter- maybe I would have gone 'guideless' if I were walking with someone else. The whole thing was arranged through very slow email exchanges with a local enterprise in Kathmandu. I recall that my 'dial up' connection from Sydney was painfully slow - and no doubt the connection from the other end even slower and less reliable. Once in Nepal, communication was tricky - no mobile phone, no whats app! And I did wonder if someone would show up on the appointed day. But, of course, they did.
I still recall when my guide arrived at the door of my small room in Pokhara and we set off. I had no idea what I was in for - I recall the first half hour was very steep and I wondered what I had done! My guide had arranged a porter who joined us from a village a few hours into the first day's walk. The idea of a porter made me feel quite uncomfortable. I wanted to carry my pack - and for the most part I was 'allowed to'. But there were a few times when I was grateful that my porter insisted on taking some of the weight. I was happy that at least his load looked much lighter than most I saw. From memory, we walked for about 8 days - it was wonderful. We three had long hugs when it was all over. I had formed a friendship with my guide who, thankfully for me, spoke reasonable English. Later back in Kathmandu, I was fortunate to meet his wife and children. We kept in touch for quite some time - via letters and postcards (it was well before social media and my guide did not have a personal email account) but, as often happens, we eventually lost touch.
Apologies for the digression - but this thread has brought back wonderful memories. Thank you
@TravellingMan22
I did this in (gulp) 1987. A friend and I hired a guide, who came with a porter, that we found (rather, who found us) as we were sitting in a cafe in Pokhara. According to the Lonely Planet guidebook of the day, that was how you did it, so that's how we did it. A solo guy at the cafe asked if he could join us and share the cost, and the three of us, plus the guide (Chandra) and the porter (Gahli), had a great adventure. I think we also walked for just about a week.
Some of my journal of that time:
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*Leave for trek with Chandra. Long flat walk through populated area along river -- lunch at Eden Lodge in Suikhet. Then long steep climb to Dhampus Pass -- top of mountain. Stayed at Sunrise Lodge. Dean and Oliver were there. Had dinner.
*Woke up sick. Climbed to Kaare for lunch -- leeches everywhere so couldn't stop. Path not as well marked. Gahli waited for me. Meadow at top. Took shortcut to Kaare. Then easy walk to Nagadanda for eve. Beautiful view of the Himalayas, especially the next morning.
*Walked to Sanaogkot, then the trail went down, almost like Lombard Street -- very crooked. Saw cute guy, decided we wanted to meet him.
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Rereading this journal now, documenting 3 months traveling around the world, reminds me of how much this entire journey was in some ways like the Camino. Dean and Oliver mentioned above? Brits we ran into in Calcutta, Pokhara, and Srinigar. The "cute guy" was Patrick, a German who we hung out with back in Kathmandu, and ran into again in Istanbul. And then there was Gail who we first met in Hong Kong, then at a duck house in Beijing (China had only recently opened up for independent non-tour group travel and it seemed like there were maybe all of 10 of us western backpackers there, criss-crossing with each other to find the acrobatics halls, Peking Opera venues, etc. that were recommended in LP's first guide to the country), and finally in, of all places, Madrid!
Ah, the travels of youth ...