Booking and cancellation terms

Confirming a trip

A booking is confirmed when we have received your deposit and sent you written confirmation quoting your invoice number. Until both of those have happened, nothing is held.

Quotes are valid for fourteen days from the date issued. After that we will requote, usually at the same price, occasionally not — hotel rates and the exchange rate both move.

Payment

• A deposit of 30% of the total confirms the booking
• The balance is due either on arrival in cash (USD, EUR or GBP), or by transfer no later than fourteen days before your arrival date. It is your choice which
• All prices are quoted and charged in US dollars. Amounts shown in other currencies are for guidance only
• We absorb intermediary bank fees up to USD 30 per transfer. Beyond that we will tell you before you send, not after

Cancellation by you

Refunds are calculated on the deposit:

• 45 days or more before departure: 90% refunded, with 10% retained against administration and non-refundable bookings already made
• 30 to 44 days: 50% refunded
• 15 to 29 days: 25% refunded
• Fewer than 15 days: no refund

Any balance already paid is refunded in full at any point before departure.

Visa refusal

If your visa application is refused and you send us the official rejection notice, we refund 90% of your deposit regardless of how close to departure it happens. We consider it unreasonable to keep money for something neither of us controls.

Cancellation by us

We may cancel a trip for reasons of safety, weather, road closure or circumstances beyond our control. If we do, you are offered alternative dates, an alternative itinerary of equivalent value, or a full refund of everything you have paid us. We do not retain an administration fee when the cancellation is ours.

We are not liable for your international flights, and this is exactly why travel insurance is a condition of booking.

Changes to the itinerary

Mountain travel does not always go to plan. Roads close, weather grounds flights, and passes open later than expected. Where we have to change an itinerary in progress we will:

• Tell you as soon as we know, not when it becomes unavoidable
• Substitute accommodation and activities of equivalent standard
• Refund the difference if the replacement genuinely costs less

We do not charge extra when a change costs us more, unless it involves additional nights you have agreed to.

Insurance

Comprehensive travel insurance is a condition of booking. It must cover medical treatment, repatriation, and the maximum altitude on your itinerary. Many standard policies exclude trekking above 3,000 or 4,000 metres and some exclude Pakistan entirely while an advisory is in force. Check the wording, in writing, before you travel. We may ask to see your certificate.

Your responsibilities

• Holding a valid passport and the correct visa
• Declaring medical conditions that could affect your safety at altitude
• Behaving lawfully and with respect for local custom, particularly in the Kalash valleys and at religious sites
• Following your guide's instructions on matters of safety

We reserve the right to remove a traveller from a trip, without refund, where their conduct endangers themselves or others.

Complaints

Tell your guide or the office while you are still in the country, where we can usually fix it. If that fails, write to us within 28 days of returning and we will respond within fourteen days.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the law of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.