The top reason to use 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking is because the company, run by three sisters out of Pokhara, promotes the training and employment of female guides and porters. When we used the company in 2012 for the Annapurna Sanctuary trek we were very pleased with the professionalism of their services, both in terms of logistics and our guide. See the Review of 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking for more information on that experience.
With such a good past experience I didn’t hesitate to use them again for the Everest region 3 Passes Trek, but maybe I should have. In the Everest region the use of female guides is much less common and female porters are non-existent, mostly because they do not have appropriate sleeping accommodation for females.
In the Annapurna region if they don’t have enough rooms for the guides and porters at the lodges they sleep in the dining room with the lights on. In the Everest region porters sleep in dormitories that are considered not suitable for mixed genders. That said, we were very happy with our guide Indra and our 2 porters Pecial and Robin. They were all courteous and professional. Indra took excellent care of us and knew the trail well.
Pre-trip Planning
We found 3 Sisters very responsive in organizing our trip and transparent about costs. They arrange and charge you for guide and porter services as well as flights and other transportation. You pay for meals and lodging directly to the owners on the trail. Their estimate of what lodging and meals should cost, $35/person/day, is more than ample, unless you are drinking a lot of beer.
Porter Weight Limit
The Policy of 3 Sisters is that the weight carried is limited to 12kg for women porters and 15g for men. Considering what carrying heavy loads can do to person over time I was in favor of this policy and happy to pay for an extra porter. That was until I found out that they don’t mind carrying the extra weight, i.e., two backpacks instead of one, because they can earn twice as much. One can infer from this that 3 Sisters is paying their porters half as much while charging the client the regular $25/day rate. I find this practice questionable.
Using a Guide versus Trekking Independently
There are two main advantages to having a guide. The first is that you avoid difficulties finding the trail. In general the trail is well worn and it is not hard to follow. However, crossing glaciers is another story. With the ice continuously moving, the trail across the glacier is frequently rerouted requiring skill to negotiate your way. It is best to go with a guide or follow another group.
The west side of Chola Pass is also another tricky section. One lone hiker told me he had to get out his compass and map to find the trail and still ended up scaling large boulders. With Indra we simply followed the trail down, no rock climbing involved.
The second advantage is in arranging accommodations. Especially in trekking season accommodations in heavily trafficked areas are becoming harder to get. Guides can often call ahead or have a porter run ahead to secure a room, but, this doesn’t always work. When the guest houses are crowded they often don’t answer their phone, and as the Everest region becomes more popular it’s getting harder for independent guides because large groups are pre-booking a great number of rooms. This was especially true on the Evererst Base Camp route going through Tengboche, Dingboche, Lobuche and Gorak Shep.
Conclusion
I would definitely use 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking again for a trek in the Annapurna region where the use of female guides and porters is supported. In the Everest region I would research alternatives but keep them in mind as a reasonable option.
Hiked the 3 Passes Trek October 5-22, 2018.
For more information on trekking in the Everest region see Everest Region Trekking Tips.
For links to all the posts in this series see the 3 Passes Trek page.