This is an increasingly often-asked question so I thought I would write a few words about it to try and clarify things
1) Under normal circumstances there is No Need to pay a deposit and most Reputable TAAN Registered Agents don’t ask for one. Sending money to Nepal is difficult in any case and the charges incurred are often very high, so agents are only likely to ask for a deposit where they have had to pay a lot of money out in advance to organise things for you – These typically include things like
a) Being met at the airport with a private vehicle for onward transportation
b) Obtaining restricted area permits, these can be as much as $500 per person for areas like Upper Dolpa and Upper Mustang
However deposits should not be required for things like booking a trek with porters and guides, organising National Park Entrance fees in advance for the main teahouse trekking regions, organising TIMS in advance, reserving an internal flight, booking Chitwan packages and hotels.
2) I always advocate that trekkers should interview their trekking staff before handing over any money so that they are 100% sure that they are happy with them – If you have paid a deposit up front and tied yourself into a particular agent then you are in a difficult position if you are less than happy with the trekking staff provided. The same goes for hotels, if you have paid a deposit up front then you can often end up with a poor quality room and other than changing hotels and loosing your deposit, there is little you can do.
3) Tying yourself into one agent has many benefits for the agent but few (If any) for the client. So if an agent is asking for a hefty deposit ask WHY and if you don’t get a satisfactory answer then seriously consider trying a different (And preferably recommended) agent. There are still a handful of regular posters on the Nepal board will be happy to recommend the agents they have used in the past, so there is really no need to go in cold and risk either getting a second rate service or loosing money.
Good Luck and Happy Travels
Rob




