The Nepal Trekking Agency Sending Czech Travelers Since Before the Internet

Quick answer: Green Horizon Tours & Travels is a family-run trekking agency in Kathmandu. We started in 1989, and we were the first company to bring Czech and Slovak trekkers to Nepal. We’re registered with NATTA (member 416/09), the Nepal Tourism Board, and TAAN, and you book with us directly.

In 1989 you couldn’t google “Nepal trekking agency.” There was nothing to google with.

If you lived in Czechoslovakia and somehow got it into your head that you wanted to walk to the foot of Everest, you asked around. Somebody’s cousin had a friend who’d been. That friend had a name, and maybe an address in Kathmandu scribbled in a notebook. And that was your research.

A fair few of those scribbled addresses were ours. We opened in Kathmandu that same year, and we ended up being the first company to bring Czech and Slovak trekkers to Nepal. This is a bit of that story, plus some practical stuff about picking an agency now, when you’ve got a thousand websites to choose from instead of one name in a notebook.

Which Nepal Trekking Agency Has Been Doing This Longest?

As far as Czech travelers go, us. More than 35 years now.

We’re a family business, not a booking site, and we don’t pass your trip on to some other company and keep a cut. The guides work for us. The oxygen bottles are ours. If something happens up at 4,000m, it’s our phone that rings at 2 am, and somebody here answers it. You can check our registration on the About Us page if you want to be sure (and honestly, you should).

Booking a trek back then

It was slow. Nobody minded that much, because there was no faster option to compare it with.

Somebody came home with a box of slides, invited friends over, and by the end of the evening three people wanted to go. The agency’s name got passed around hiking clubs, workplaces, the pub. That was it. That was the marketing.

Then the letters started. Later fax. Then phone calls, which were expensive and had to be timed for when Kathmandu was awake, which is four or five hours ahead of Prague depending on the time of year. Planning one trip could take months.

There was one upside, though. If an agency messed up, everyone back home knew about it pretty quickly. You only survived by doing right by people so they’d send their friends. We still think about it that way, even if the friends now find us on Google.

When did it actually start?

The dates line up for a reason. Czechoslovakia’s borders opened after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989. People who hadn’t been able to go much further than Bulgaria could suddenly go anywhere, and quite a lot of them chose the Himalaya.

Why Nepal, of all places?

We asked. A lot. Over three decades of dinners in teahouses, you hear the same few answers.

Mostly it’s the size of it all. People who grew up on the Krkonoše and the Tatras get to Namche and just go quiet. The Everest Base Camp trek starts in Lukla at 2,860m and tops out at 5,364m, and if the morning’s clear, Kala Patthar (5,545m) gives you Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse right in front of you.

Then there’s the way you travel. No tents unless you want them. You walk from one village to the next, stop at small family lodges, and eat dal bhat until you either love it or dream about knedlíky. Usually both. The rooms can be cold, the walls are thin, and a hot shower or a charged phone often costs a few hundred rupees extra. Some people find that part annoying. Most end up saying it was the best bit.

And it’s not that far, really. One stop from Prague through Istanbul or the Gulf, and Czech passports get a tourist visa on arrival. [Need to confirm: current visa fees.]

Treks people ask us about

Not a ranking. Just what keeps turning up in our inbox.

A word on Manaslu: it’s a restricted area, so you can’t just turn up. You need a special permit and a registered operator.

And a word on Lukla, because we say this to everyone and people still don’t listen. The flights get cancelled for weather constantly. Keep a day or two spare at the end. Don’t book your flight home for the morning after you fly out of Lukla. We’ve had that conversation in the airport more times than we’d like.

What we actually do for you

Pretty much everything from the moment you land. Someone meets you at the airport, you’ve got a hotel in Kathmandu, and the permits (restricted area ones too) are already sorted. Domestic flights, jeeps, a licensed guide, porters if you want them, lodges and meals on the trail. That’s the easy part to list.

The part nobody asks about until it matters is altitude. We build rest days in on purpose, and our guides are trained in altitude first aid. They carry a pulse oximeter and oxygen. If someone needs to go down, or needs a helicopter, we handle it from the office. More on that in our piece on whether Nepal is safe for trekking.

Planning this trek? Get a tailored quote from our team → Send my inquiry

What’s changed, what hasn’t

You can message us from Olomouc at midnight now and have a reply before your coffee. You can read hundreds of reviews before you pay anything. Nobody’s posting carbon copy itineraries anymore.

But go up to about 4,900m, lie awake with a headache that won’t quit, and see how much the smartphone helps. Not much. What helps is a guide who spotted it at dinner, who knows when to turn around, and who has people in Kathmandu that pick up the phone. That bit is exactly the same as it was in 1989.

Ask any agency these (us included)

We mean it. We’d rather you check.

• What’s your registration number, and is it with NATTA, TAAN, or the Nepal Tourism Board?
• Can I get a line-by-line list of what’s included and what isn’t?
• Who’s my guide, and what training have they got?
• What happens if I get altitude sickness, or the Lukla flight gets cancelled?
• Where can I read reviews that aren’t on your own site?

If an agency gets vague on any of these, that tells you something. There’s a longer version with red flags in how to choose a trekking company in Nepal, and if you’re working out money in EUR or CZK, have a look at the Nepal trek cost breakdown.

The people who made this story

[Need to confirm before publishing: 2 or 3 real stories, with permission. The first Czech group (name, year, trek), someone who came back decades later, a family now on its second generation of trekkers. Old dated photos if we have them.]

Some of the people who trekked with us in the early years now send their children. A few have been back five or six times, and now know some of the lodge owners better than we do. You can read what they wrote on our testimonials page.

Questions we get asked

Can I book directly with a Nepali agency from the Czech Republic?

Yes. You write to us, we agree on a plan, you pay us. Nobody in between.

Do I need a guide?

Almost certainly. Since 2023, Nepal requires foreign trekkers to hire a licensed guide in most protected areas, and restricted areas like Manaslu need a registered operator too. [Need to confirm current enforcement by region.]

What’s a good first trek?

Poon Hill if you’ve only got a week. Langtang if you want more height without a flight. Everest Base Camp is fine for fit beginners, as long as they don’t skip the rest days.

How much will it cost?

Depends on the route, season, how many of you there are, and how much comfort you want. The Nepal trek cost guide goes through it properly.

What if my Lukla flight is cancelled? Then we rebook you, move the days around, or get a helicopter if you’d rather. It’s annoying, but it’s normal. That’s what the spare days are for.

Can I talk to you first? Yes, obviously. Email, WhatsApp, a video call, whatever you like.

Last thing

Back when there was no internet, Czech trekkers found us because someone they trusted told them to. A lot of them still do the telling.

We’ve been at this since 1989. If Nepal’s on your list, ask the awkward questions, check what you’re told, and go with whoever gives you answers you believe.

Trek Nepal with the operator since 1989: get a quote in 24h. Get my quote or talk to us directly on WhatsApp.