Tipping Your Guide and Porter in Nepal
by Jayaram Thapaliya · Updated August 18, 2023
In Nepal, tips in not compulsory. Those who are happy with someone’s service to whom, they can give as they like. There is no tipping culture in Nepal. In this post, we’re going to enlighten Tipping Guide and Porter in Nepal.
In Nepal, tourists get confusion to the tourists before say good to their guides and porters. How much should you tip your guide and porter upon finishing the trek? Basically, tips depend on a variety of factors. Some of them are the happiness of guests, trekking days, group size, and trekking trail difficulties.
Tipping is also considered as a token of love and gesture of satisfaction from the guests. Though it is optional, it helps the guides improve their service and keep the Job.
Though Nepal doesn’t have much of a tipping culture, most trekking guides and porters depend on tips from their quest to get motivated. But it’s not compulsory but it’s ultimately a personal decision. In short, it is a way to show gratitude to the staff if you get excellent service from their effort.
How Much to Tip?
Especially for trekking and tours in Nepal, no Priceline of tips to the Guide and Porters. If staff provided service that converts guest expectations to happiness, staff will get some appreciation from their clients.
Tipping rates also depend on the length of your trek and trekking difficulties. If you’re going trekking for more than weeks follow the table rates.
Tip on Group Trekking
| Types of Trekking Staff | USD per day | Rupees per day( NPR ) |
| Trekking Guide(Leader) | $8 to $15 | Rs.800 – Rs.1500 |
| Porter/Porter-Cum-Guide) | $5 to $10 | Rs.500 – Rs.1000 |
| Tour Guide | $10 to $15 | Rs.1000- Rs.1500 |
Tip on While Solo Trekking
| Types of Trekking Staff | USD per day | NPR per day |
| Tour Guide(Leader) | 5 to 6 | 500 to 600 |
| Trekking Guide/Sherpas | 4 to 5 | 400 to 500 |
| Porter/Porter-Cum-Guide) | 3 to 4 | 300 to 400 |
Which currency is preferable?
You can use your own preferable currency to give tips to the guide and porter as a tip. There are no rules of tips currency in Nepal. But in practice, Dollar is often used as currency to give tips for guides and porters.
It is suitable to give Nepali currency, those living in remote areas. Because in remote areas it’s difficult to exchange money and the exchange rate might be very low compared to the city.
But those who are going city areas with you doesn’t matter of tipping currency.
How to give tipping perfectly
Whether the tip amount is big or small, it is a good idea to put it inside the envelope. It makes sense to give tips discreetly.
Nonetheless, since Nepali people used their RIGHT HAND to hand over all good things. So it is a good idea to handover money with your right hand by putting it inside an envelope.
Though it seems meaningless, It shows respectfulness to the guide and porter indirectly.
Tipping Separately
It is very important to give tips to the guides and porters separately. Simply to say, give your gratitude to whom it belongs.
On the topics of trekking in the Himalayas, give separately your token of love among the total trekking staff. If you give in aggregate to share, there might be conflict among the staff.
So while tipping, make sure to tip your guide and porter each separately.
How deals with tips while you are not happy with their Service
If you are dissatisfied with the guides’ work performance, give suggestions by writing issues or tell them directly. So that guide can improve his job/service to the next turn. But your complaint and issue should be rational. If you get terrible service don’t give tips but it will be wishful to give suggestions if they made some mistakes unknowingly.
In the case of dissatisfaction with the trekking agency, show your gratitude to the staff(Guide and Porter).
Things to remember while tipping
- It is not a good idea to give old or torn clothes or goods.
- Do not tip too less.
- Don’t give too late or too early. Give it before saying goodbye to each other.
When to Give the Tip
Generally, it is given before saying goodbye to the Guide and Porters. Or you can give on the last night of the trek after dinner.
The Gift of Gear as Tip
If trekkers don’t want to carry your trekking equipment to their home, they can handover trekking gear to the guide and porters. For specimens, trekkers can handover the Hiking Boots, trekking Poles, Gloves, and so forth trekking tools to their helpers upon finishing trekking.
Final Thought of Tipping in Nepal
Basically, the TIPPING to the Guide and Porter is the way of express your gratitude to them. But it doesn’t mean that there is a proportional relationship between tips and trip satisfaction. Because if you’re traveling with a tight budget, it might be difficult to give tipping more though you really want. So express your gratitude to the guide and porters as much you can. There is no fixed line and not ought to be.
A guide plays a vital role to make trekking a memorable experience. So, it is a way to reward them for their persistent, help.
