These are the terms on which Elham Asia sells and runs its trips. They apply from the moment you pay a deposit. The plain-English summary of the same terms is on the holiday information page; where this page goes into more detail, it is not meant to contradict it.
1. Who you are contracting with
Elham Asia, a tour operator registered with the Department of Tourist Services, Government of Pakistan, at Office No. 227, Rohtas Road, G-9/1, Islamabad, Pakistan.
2. Confirming a booking
A trip is confirmed by a 30% deposit, paid by bank transfer, JazzCash, Easypaisa or card. The balance is due any time before departure. A written receipt is issued for every payment. Until the deposit is received, quoted prices and dates are an offer and not a reservation.
Some trips state a different deposit on their own page, and where they do, that figure is the one that applies. Mountaineering expeditions are the usual case: a climbing permit and the government royalty are paid months before anyone flies and are not refundable to us, so the deposit reflects what has already been committed on your behalf rather than a flat percentage.
3. Changing your dates
Date changes are free up to 14 days before departure where the new dates are available. Inside 14 days a change is treated as a cancellation and rebooking under clause 4.
4. Cancelling
Cancel 14 or more days before departure and your deposit is refunded in full, less bank charges. Cancel within 14 days and your deposit is credited against any future trip taken within a year. Amounts already paid to third parties on your behalf and not recoverable — an issued airline ticket, a climbing permit fee, a peak royalty — are deducted from any refund or credit, and we will show you what they were.
5. Prices and what they include
The price on your itinerary is per person and is the price you pay: we do not add surcharges once you have arrived. What is included and excluded is listed on every trip page and repeated in your itinerary. Anything not listed as included — international flights, visa fees, personal equipment, tips, travel insurance — is not.
6. Passports, visas and permits
A valid passport is your responsibility. For international travellers we provide the letter of invitation and the supporting documents for the Pakistan e-visa and walk you through the checklist, but the application is yours to make and visa fees are paid directly to the government portal. Trekking and climbing permits, restricted-zone permits and the liaison officer required on an expedition are arranged by us and are included where your itinerary says so. Permits name every member of a party, so the details you give us must match your passport.
7. Insurance
Travel insurance is not included and is required. For trekking and expeditions it must cover the maximum altitude on your itinerary and, above 5,000 m, helicopter evacuation and repatriation. We may ask to see your policy before departure and may decline to take you onto a mountain without one. This is not a formality — a helicopter off the Baltoro is billed to the person it lifts.
8. If we change or cancel a trip
Mountain travel does not always go to plan. Where a road, a pass, a flight or the weather forces a change, we re-order or re-route the itinerary and keep the sights wherever it is possible to do so; a change of this kind is not a cancellation and does not create a refund. If we cancel a departure outright for a reason within our control, you may take the next available departure or have every amount you have paid us returned. If a trip cannot run for reasons outside anyone’s control — a natural disaster, a closed border, an act of government — we refund what we have not already spent on your behalf and cannot be liable beyond that.
9. Acceptance of risk
Trekking and mountaineering carry risks that cannot be removed, including altitude illness, rockfall, avalanche, crevasse fall and delayed rescue in remote places. We reduce them with acclimatisation days built into the itinerary, experienced local crews, daily road and weather checks, satellite check-in devices on remote stretches and a 24-hour line — and we cannot remove them. By booking a trek or an expedition you accept those risks. Our guides may turn a party or an individual around when they judge it necessary, and that judgement is final on the mountain.
10. Your behaviour
We may end a person’s trip without refund if their conduct endangers themselves, other travellers or our crew, or breaks Pakistani law. The north is a conservative part of the world and we ask you to dress and behave in a way that does not cause offence in the valleys hosting you.
11. Complaints
Tell your guide or the office at the time, while something can still be done about it. If it is not resolved on the trip, write to info@elhamasia.com within 28 days of getting home and we will answer.
12. Governing law
These terms are governed by the law of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, and the courts of Islamabad have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from them.
How we handle the information you give us is set out separately in our privacy policy.