Location
Multiple Locations +2
  • Nepal
  • India
Length
4 - 12 weeks
Program Tags
Adventure Travel Cultural Immersion Volunteer Abroad

Program Details

Activities
Backpacking Sightseeing Trekking
Timeframe
Fall Spring
Housing
Guesthouse Host Family Hostel
Primary Language
English
Age Min.
18

Pricing

Starting Price
4250
Price Details
What's Included
Gapforce Leaders
Airport transfers
Internal flight to/from Lukla for the Everest Base Camp trek
Flight from Nepal to India (8 weekers only)
Accommodation
3 meals a day
Internal Transport
Volunteering project donation
All activities as listed on itinerary
24/7 UK emergency backup
What's Included
Accommodation Activities Airport Transfers Meals Tour Guide Transportation
What's Not Included
Airfare Travel Insurance Visa
Jan 11, 2023
Dec 06, 2019
20 travelers are looking at this program

About Program

Journey on this epic adventure amongst the lofty, glacial landscapes of the Himalayas, and the cool peace of Mcleodganj, to the dreamy gardens of the Taj Mahal, and hot sands of Goa.  

This epic 2000-mile tour is the ultimate bucket list trip. Jungle Safari in the Royal Chitwan National Park; Visiting the home of the Dalai Lama; Trekking to the Everest Base Camp. Get ready to dig deep into your adventure roots, open yourself to exotic cultures, and give back to the communities you visit along the way.

Video and Photos

Program Highlights

  • 2000 mile journey across India & Nepal
  • Visit the home of the Dalai Lama
  • Trek to Everest Base Camp
  • Sunset at the Taj Mahal
  • Assist on amazing Tibetan Refugee project

Program Reviews

4.72 Rating
based on 36 reviews
  • 5 rating 75%
  • 4 rating 22.22%
  • 3 rating 2.78%
  • 2 rating 0%
  • 1 rating 0%
  • Housing 4.35
  • Support 4.7
  • Fun 4.6
  • Value 4.55
  • Safety 4.85
Showing 1 - 8 of 36 reviews
Default avatar
Sophia
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

India Adventure

Arriving by myself part way into the trip, I was apprehensive about joining a group that had already trekked to Everest base camp and had that shared history, but everyone in the group was so lovely and welcoming that I really had nothing to worry about. So if you aren’t too keen on doing the trek but want to experience the sights and smells of India, go for it! For me, I struggled with remembering that the trip is more of an adventure over being a holiday so bear in mind that you will experience accommodation of hostels at both ends of the spectrum BUT don’t let that put you off because you are ok the move so often that it really doesn’t matter that much. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience on this trip thanks to the wonderful leader who could expertly navigate, communicate, and barter with the locals. I would without a doubt recommend this trip, no matter your apprehensions, the positives outweighs any negatives! Thank you gap force :)

58 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Claire
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

A Great Experience and Hopefully a Few Questions Answered

This was an incredible experience! I am from Colorado, USA. I love mountains and had always wanted to see the Himalayas, so that was definitely part of the reason I chose this trip. GapForce is also way more affordable than most American gap year and travel programs. Before this trip, I had never been outside of the US for more than a week and a half or so. I had never been to Asia. I had never travelled so thoroughly in a third world country. The Nepal and India Adventure covered all of that and more. We saw some spectacular, colorful, fascinating, eye-opening things during the 8 week program. I would 100% recommend it to someone else looking for an adventure or just wanting to see the world. A few things you might be wondering: my group was small, and unusually so I think. I was worried about it at the beginning, but it ended up working out really well. Logistically, it made everything much easier: hotels, transportation, and even just keeping track of everyone. A small group is nice because you get to know everyone really well, and there’s no room for cliques or smaller groups. I can’t speak to big groups, but I enjoyed my group size. You also may be wondering about accommodations. If you like classier, more luxurious travel, this may not be the trip for you. That being said, the places we stayed were comfortable and clean for nearly all of the trip with only one exception: the last hostel we stayed in. If you’re considering this trip, you may be wondering about the difficulty of the trek to Everest Base Camp. It was definitely hard sometimes, but incredibly rewarding. Everyone in my group made it, and I think it’s totally achievable for the average person as long as you have a good attitude. Personally, it was my favorite part of the trip, and I’m already planning another trek for later this year. There is minimal volunteering built into this trip, but I thought it was a good combination of helping local communities and getting to see the world. Both volunteering projects were very interesting and memorable, especially the one in India, but if you’re looking for pure volunteering, this isn’t the program for you. Another quick note: you’re going to want to have at least a couple hundred dollars for spending money. There are loads of neat souvenirs and trinkets at almost every stop. Also, if you see something cool, just buy it. You might not have the chance later on. I hope this review was helpful!

What is your advice to future travelers on this program?
If you decide to go on this trip, or really any trip like this for that matter, take some risks. Jump in the river even though you’re worried it’ll be cold. Bathe the elephant even though you have no idea what that entitles. Spend a little more money to go paragliding even if it makes you a little nervous. Go on stage and dance when they invite you to. The things that I did that I wasn’t initially sure about were the best experiences of the trip.
49 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Amy
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

India Adventure 2019

Every day was packed with adventure and activities. We got to experience things that other tourists may not have been able to or thought of such as; volunteering with Tibet World, celebrating Diwali at the Golden Temple, city bike tours and food tours. After a busy three weeks we had a nice rest and relaxation period in Goa where the schedule was more relaxed and we had some free time. The accommodation is pretty basic but has all the essentials. Additionally, the trip ran smoothly thanks to our leader Stefan, who organised everything which made the trip less stressful. He also had good knowledge of the different areas and took us to the best places to taste the local cuisine. Overall, i thoroughly enjoyed my India adventure and it is definitely worth the time and money.

What would you improve about this program?
As we did not have a lot of time in Delhi and did not do too much, we could have skipped Delhi and spent longer in another location.
53 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
naomi
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Awesome gap year experience!

I loved my time with Gapforce in Nepal and India! I felt safe from the very beginning in Kathmandu. I arrived early, and my leaders made sure that I felt safe in a new city and were on top of communication. From that point on, it was very easy meeting the rest of the group and mingling. I would have like to have had a few icebreakers to help remember names, as we were sort of left to our own devices the first few hours, but otherwise it was fine.

In addition, I would have appreciated better and quicker communication from Gapforce prior to the trip. I had a lot of questions before departing, and waited three weeks before hearing anything back. My final comment would be more transparency with the budget and allowing participants to know exactly where their money is going.

In Mumbai especially, our group would have preferred a longer travel day to stay in a hostel in south Mumbai rather than where we ended up staying. For Nepal, doing the volunteering at the monastery would have been much more beneficial for us and the students if they had actually been studying at the time. We were left to play soccer and fill our time without really doing anything. However, despite these comments, the trip overall was incredible! Callum and Alfie were amazing leaders who made sure we always felt safe. Yay Gapforce!

What was the most unfamiliar thing you ate?
I ate chaat on our Mumbai food tour, and now I know for sure that I do not like chaat. It was a puffed rice ball filled with potatoes, and then spicy water is poured in right before eating it all on one bite. Glad I tried it, but not for me. I'll stick to curry!
58 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Dhara
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Nepal & India Review

this trip was one of the best experiences in my life! I was really scared before leaving but as soon as I got to Kathmandu and I was with the whole group I calmed down. Everyone was so open and friendly and we became really close really fast, especially during the trek since we saw each others' best and worst moments. Our expedition leaders, Callum and Alfie, were incredible. They were professional but were still able to enjoy and have fun with rest of us. When things went wrong, they were always prepared and knew what to do.

I enjoyed every single part of the trip so much. The first two weeks in Nepal were fun and we got to do things many people had never done before like Rafting and paragliding. The second part of Nepal was the trek. That was extremely challenging for me and there were more than a few times that I wanted to give up but in the end we all got to Base Camp. Looking back, the trek was probably my favorite part of the trip. India went by so fast, because we would go from one place to another so fast. We had a good mixture of sighting and free time to do whatever we wanted or just chill out and get away from the heat.
Overall I had an amazing time and I would highly recommend this trip for everyone willing to go out of their comfort zones and open up to new and incredible opportunities.

What would you improve about this program?
There are a few things I would improve future trips. first of all, I think the pre departure information is lacking a bit, I wished there had been more informations, emails or even phone calls from the Gapforce office. During the trip, some of the accommodations we stayed at were quite far away from the main parts of the city so it was had to take long walks or tuk tuk rides everyday just to get there. During the India part of the trip, there was no other company hired to help build the itinerary so the days were a bit chaotic and there were a few activities we didn't Get a chance to do because of bad planning or maybe just a lack of guidance in what to do in every city and how to do it.
52 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Jim
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Very well organised & value for money

Few other trips will enable you to experience such a breadth and array of cultures, sights and experiences as this one, allowing me to safely recommend this trip to anyone interested in visiting these two amazing countries; as you'll truly experience these places for greater value and detail than if you were travelling alone. Outstanding and professional expedition leaders, as well an extremely thorough and packed itinerary mean there is constantly activities, sights and experiences to be had, both adventurous and cultural. Whilst, true, this trip isn't for the faint hearted, and some degree of fitness and robustness is required, don't be put off. The group, guides and leaders all mean there is always support and always help should you need it, allowing you to form some great friendships along the way.

What would you improve about this program?
To be expected given the price, the food and accommodation at certain times isn't outstanding, however mostly on the whole very good. The budget system remained unclear and confusing at times, with inflexibility making it almost inevitable that at times to have a decent meal meant spending additional money. Also certain important sites in cities weren't included in the itinerary, meaning arrangement for travel and entrance fees had to be done independently. This however did give people greater choice, but left some major sites not fully explored or missed out.
56 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
harry
4/5
Yes, I recommend this program

Nepal and India review - Gapforce

Throughout the entire expedition the group has been thoroughly supported, both guides are great, both are friendly, engaging but provide a safety net if need be. Both have become close friends of mine. Although there is a large amount of travelling throughout the exped, especially India, it is thoroughly worth the long travel days, with plenty of sites visited in the 4 weeks that you have in India.
Nepal is certainly a different experience with a major difference between the areas that you visit Nepal, its showed me that I definitely want to go back. Everest Base Camp trek takes up the majority of the memories and time in Nepal, with some people saying that it 'made the group' which allows everyone to bond over the hardship and create a tighter group. Overall the entire 8 weeks is brilliant for anyone looking to explore these two spectacular countries.

What would you improve about this program?
Some of the accomodation was not for everyone, especially in Goa after 7 weeks of travelling, the beach shacks were a shock for some.
The budgeting systems thats used for meals can become confusing and tiresome, with budgets being limiting in some places and too much in others, especially when people go over the budget and theres outstanding food and drink to be paid for and no one knows who needs to pay or how much.
59 people found this review helpful.
Default avatar
Harriet
5/5
Yes, I recommend this program

My Nepal and India experience

My favourite memory is paragliding in Nepal, it is something that I never thought I could do and I was really proud of myself afterwards!
I really enjoyed the EBC Trek a lot more than I thought I would. I have never done hiking like that before but after doing that I would definitely like to do more. Also I thought Narayan was a great leader and would highly recommended Gapforce to use him in the future! He was very knowledgable and mixed well with the group.
I would recommend to future participants to not pack too many winter clothes for the trek as they take up a lot of room in the backpacks and you end up wearing the same items quite a lot!
I feel after this trip I can say that I have gained a lot more confidence! I was really nervous about the trip but India is always a place that I wanted to experience and I am so glad that i decided to do it. I liked the fact that I was on my own but was also in a group.

What would you improve about this program?
I feel that the meal budget for Mumbai should be increased for the area we were staying in as I feel our choice of restaurants were limited.
There are some things on the website that we did not do. E.g Nepalese cooking lesson, camel safari in Jodhpur or working in a nursery in India. Maybe this needs to be rewritten or state that not everything will happen.
When we got to the highest tea house on the trek we could not purify water so we had to buy the bottles and we only got refunded for 1. Maybe people should be advised about this beforehand.
When we arrived back in Delhi from Udaipur we did not have money provided for each meal that day! This needs to be changed as whether we were on the train or not we are going to eat so we should be provided with money.
On the flight from Delhi to Mumbai Gapforce only booked with 15kg allowance. I feel this was stupid as a lot of us were over with our main rucksack.
53 people found this review helpful.

Questions & Answers