Help us survive till 2022!

I started Himalayan High Treks because I wanted to help facilitate for others the change and self-discovery I had experienced after my first treks in Nepal and India. I loved working with my friends and coworkers in Asia to organize unique trips. We started out just with treks in India, Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan and then in 2001, we started offering Buddhist pilgrimages as fundraisers. Most recently we started offering more upscale tours with day hikes all over Asia. Thirty-two years passed like a dream and we’re still at it. So many wonderful people have traveled with us. And we have met so many generous and interesting people all over Asia. Many of our travelers have shared that their trip had a lasting impact on them and, as a result, they made long-lasting changes in their lifestyle and their mindset. Through your support, we’ve also been able to donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to many worthwhile causes in Asia and the U.S.
We have risen to challenges before, and we feel confident that we will find our way through this one. I’ve put off my retirement indefinitely; we’ve applied and received a small PPP loan and negotiated with our vendors to reduce our overhead as much as possible. Our goal is to use the time of the pandemic to streamline, modernize, and improve our business so that when travel comes back we are ready to do it even better than before.

In addition to our own needs, we are also responsible for our overseas staff. This isn’t like the earthquake in Nepal five short years ago where they were affected but for the most part, we weren’t. From San Francisco, where HHT is headquartered, to Kathmandu, we are all frightened. However, this pandemic won’t affect us all equally. The lockdowns in India and Nepal, for example, are much stricter than here. There is no SBA to give out loans or unemployment insurance. Just in Nepal alone we support about 50 people.
All our trips are canceled till Aug. 31st at least and probably till the end of the year. After canceling our spring season we made one-time emergency payments to our staff overseas. But that won’t be enough. So we are asking for your support.

Any donation to this campaign will help us to survive to 2021 when we hope to be able to run trips regularly again. Also, if you can let others know about our campaign even if you can’t contribute yourself that is greatly appreciated. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Effie Fletcher
Founder/ Director and the staff of Himalayan High Treks
www.hightreks.com