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Frequently asked questions
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Booking & payment
How much deposit do you take?
A USD $250 per person deposit confirms your place. The balance is due 60 days before departure, and we email you twice before that date. For departures inside 60 days the full amount is payable at booking.
Is my money protected?
Yes, and not just as a promise from us. Payments are held in a trust account until you travel, and every trip is bonded under ATOL 11284 · ABTA membership P7215. If we stopped trading you would be refunded or repatriated as a legal entitlement.
What is actually included in the price?
Accommodation, the meals listed on each itinerary, all internal transport in the itinerary, permits, entry fees, and your guide. Tipping is included too — we pay our guides properly rather than leaving it to you. Excluded: international flights, insurance, visas, and meals not listed.
Can I hold a place without paying?
We can hold a place for 48 hours on a departure with more than four spaces left. Beyond that it goes back into the pool, because with twelve seats a held place is a real cost to the next person.
On the trip
How big are the groups really?
Capped at twelve, and the average across last year was nine. The cap includes private departures. If a departure has three people booked it still runs — we do not cancel for low numbers once a departure is confirmed.
I am travelling solo. Will I pay a supplement?
Only if you want a room to yourself. We will pair you with another solo traveller of the same gender at no extra cost, and roughly a third of our travellers come solo. If you would rather have your own room, the single supplement is listed on each departure.
How fit do I need to be?
Each trip carries a physical rating from 1 to 5 on its Before you book section, with the actual walking hours rather than a vague label. Most of our city-based trips are 1–2. The walking and altitude trips are 3–4, and we will tell you on the phone if we think a trip is wrong for you.
What are the guides like?
Employed by us rather than booked through an agency, and local to the region they lead. Many have been with us over a decade. There are 60+ across Asia and you can read about them on our guides page.
Visas & practicalities
Do I need a visa for China?
Most nationalities do, though transit-free policies now cover a lot of itineraries. It changes often enough that we keep a dedicated guide updated rather than answering it here — and we send a booking-specific letter of invitation when you need one.
Will my phone and cards work?
Cards mostly will not, outside international hotels. China runs on Alipay and WeChat Pay, both of which now accept foreign cards if you set them up before you fly. We walk you through it in the practical guides and in your pre-departure pack.
Do I need travel insurance?
Yes, it is a condition of travelling with us. For altitude trips it must cover the altitude you will sleep at — we state the figure on each itinerary. We ask for your policy number 30 days before departure.
Changes & cancellations
What if I need to cancel?
The sliding scale is set out in full in our cancellation policy. In short: outside 60 days you lose the deposit, and it steps up from there. We will always tell you whether a date change is cheaper than a cancellation.
What if you cancel the departure?
You get a full refund or a free transfer to another date, your choice. Not a credit note. We did this at scale in 2020 and it is written into our booking conditions rather than being at our discretion.
Can I change my dates after booking?
Once, free of charge, if you tell us more than 60 days out and the new departure has space. Inside 60 days there is a USD $75 admin fee plus any difference in the departure price.