We are looking for chaperones aged 25–40 for our summer camps this year. Perhaps you could be one of them. I believe it will be a very rewarding experience. I’ll explain in a bit.

But first, if you wish to be a chaperone, you must be a resident of either Mumbai or Bangalore (or willing to travel from either of these cities). You help safely bring our summer camp participants from Bangalore / Mumbai airports to Dehradun airport. Afterwards, you accompany them on the summer camp, help the Indiahikes team facilitate the programme, and bring the children back to Mumbai/Bangalore.

Indiahikes will bear the cost of the entire programme, including your airfare. 

Now, let me tell you why this will be very rewarding

We started trekking summer camps for children in the Himalayas only last year. It was a carefully designed programme to inculcate a sense of adventure, teach children camping skills, and help them form a deep connection with nature.

In these nine days, we wanted them to pick up soft skills like taking responsibility, teamwork, and empathy.

Of course, the trek in itself would give them a sense of confidence, resilience, and the ability to withstand hardship.

The summer camp was an unprecedented experience. Each of the 300 children who came for the programme was deeply impacted. The parents wrote to us in disbelief. They could not imagine that their children would be impacted so much.

"Huge love and hugs to the CEO Arjun sir and Sandhya mam for forming such a great organisation..... You are not only organising treks but you are changing lives of we adults and our kids ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Indeed....as the motto of India Hikes says "Everyone must Trek" 100%with you on this, 🙏🙏" said Rashmi Sarkar, Mother of Neev Sarkar, Age 12, Dayara Bugyal Summer camp.

"The summer trekking program by Indiahikes is an amazingly great initiative to help children understand and appreciate nature better through experiential learning. We are regular trekkers with the Indiahikes and absolutely admire and appreciate the commitment of Indiahikes. Our daughter enjoyed the whole trekking to Deoriatal Chandrashila specifically curated for the children. The process starting from the registration with regular communication and group discussion for first time parents, updates during the actual trekking period and till the time we picked up daughter back at the airport was very smooth. And of course the biggest takeaway from the whole experience was to observe actual difference in the child itself. Thank you Indiahikes. You absolutely rock," said Padmini Nanjundaswamy, Mother of Aditi Gopal, Age 12, Deoriatal Chandrashila Summer Camp.

Moreover, our team members, leaders, and even volunteers who went for the programme were deeply impacted. 

“I wanted to learn leadership skills and I wanted to learn how to lead teams in the outdoors. When I got to know that I had to handle 30 children, I was nervous. But as trek went by, the children brought out a completely different side of me. They have so much to say, they have no filters, they say what they mean. It brought out a completely different personality in me. I really enjoyed being with them throughout the summer camp," says Netra Sadhale, who was part of our last year's summer camp. 

This year, we have increased our strength to 540 children. Unfortunately, despite the high demand, we cannot take more children for this programme. Already, most of the slots for the summer camp have been filled.

If you decide to be a chaperone in this programme, you will not only be helping us, but you will also find it an extremely rewarding experience.

Bring children from Bangalore / Mumbai to Dehradun airport, ensuring their safety and comfort. (Note: The Indiahikes team will not be accompanying you during this leg of the travel. You are solely responsible for the children’s until the Dehradun airport)

Conduct regular head counts of the children in the airport, on the flight, and Dehradun when exiting the airport. The children will be between 10 to 14 years old.

Join the Indiahikes team at Dehradun airport and travel to Rishikesh with the children.

Help the Indiahikes team settle the children at the Rishikesh accommodation. Participate in the pre-trek briefing and monitoring of the children.

Accompany the children during the road travel to the basecamp of the summer camp. Ensuring their safety, meals and stoppages are conducted in time.

At the programme, take on the responsibilities of monitoring the children and facilitating their experiences along with Indiahikes team members.

Throughout the trek, you are a caring guide and warden to the children. 

We will book your flight ticket from Mumbai/Bangalore to Dehradun airport and back 

We will take care of your complete transit costs from Dehradun airport to Rishikesh, to the base camp, and back to the Dehradun airport.

We will take care of all your meals and accommodations once you land in Dehradun. 

We will sponsor your trek throughout, ensuring that you and the children have a wonderful time in the mountains. 

The programme is designed based on the curriculum of our experiential learning programmes. Our experiential learning programmes for schools and educational institutions are widely acclaimed in the country.

This is why chaperones will also be awarded a volunteer certificate for the experiential learning programme.

Eligibility criteria to be a chaperone: 

You must have prior work experience (in any field)

Location: We are particularly looking for people in Mumbai and Bangalore. Parents will be dropping off their children at these airports. 

Please note: Even though the programme is a volunteer experience and Indiahikes will bear all your expenses, any last-minute dropout of chaperones is a significant setback to the programme.

Therefore, to confirm your chaperoning, you must pay a refundable deposit of Rs 10,000. This will be refunded within 7 days after you return from the trek. If you cannot make it to the programme, this deposit will not be refunded.

If you think this is something you want to take up, please fill out this application form immediately. 

There will be an interview process, after which we will let you know if you have been shortlisted within 48 hours. 

We are looking for around 20 chaperones. We will close registrations on February 3rd.

You may have further questions about how many children you’ll be handling, which trek you may go on, etc. We have answered all the FAQs below. 

Please reply within 72 hours if you’d like to apply as a chaperone. We will take it forward from there.

How many children will I be handling? 
You could be handling anything between 20-30 children at the airport. We will share a list of all the children with you so you can keep a headcount. At the airport, you will also be assisted by airline staff members. 



Can I select the trek I want to go on? 
Yes and No. You can share your preference, but we need to see which of our slopes needs more.



What is the selection process?
Once you fill out the form, if you’re shortlisted, we will get back to you within 48 hours and schedule an interview. This interview is to get to know you better and understand your background. It will help us understand whether you’re the right candidate for this.



When will I get a confirmation? 
You will get a confirmation within 72 hours after your interview.



Should I book my flight, or will Indiahikes book my flight for me? 
Indiahikes will take care of booking your flight. 

Be a volunteer chaperone: Summer Camp 2024

Join our summer camp groups as a volunteer

Join us as a chaperone for our summer camp

In this video, we suggest 9 of the best Himalayan treks for beginners in the state of Uttarakhand. We also show you some highlights from each trek so that it makes it easy for you to decide which trek you want to do next. 

Over the past decade, we have noticed that the trekking demography in our country is changing. What used to be hardcore adventurers heading into the mountains has now transformed into regular people from cities heading outdoors for treks.  

Given this reality, several trekkers write to us asking for advice on which trek to choose as their first trek.   

This is why we are putting together this list of the best Himalayan treks for beginners. 

Uttarakhand, particularly, has a few of the best beginner-friendly treks in India, giving you a variety of forest trails, grasslands and alpine sections. Even the easiest and shortest trek gives you a wholesome experience of different experiences in the Himalayas. 

Use this video as a guide to choose your first Himalayan trek. 

Here are the top Himalayan treks for beginners in the state of Uttarakhand, ranging from snow treks to meadow treks.

9 Best Himalayan Treks for Beginners in Uttarakhand - 2022 - Indiahikes

uttarakhand beginners best treks himalayan treks 

9 Best Himalayan Treks for Beginners in Uttarakhand

The biggest reason to do the Goechala trek is the grand views of the big mountains that you see. You don’t just see one summit — the Kanchenjunga — but 14 other big summits. That’s a lot for any trek — especially as close to the eyes as on the Goechala trek. It is no wonder that trekkers consider Goechala to be the closest to the big mountain treks of Nepal.  

Goechala is also a high-altitude trek that takes you beyond 15,000 ft. The trek climbs rapidly and your safety depends a lot on the preparation you put in for the trek.  

In this video, Swathi Chatrapathy Chief Editor at Indiahikes, takes you through all the difficult sections of the trek. 

She covers important points like the altitude gain, ascents and descents, the challenges of climbing to viewpoint and the weather on the Goechala trek. She also throws light on the possibilities of acute mountain sickness (altitude sickess) on the Goechala trek.

She finally ends the video with some important tips on how to prepare for the trek. Watch the video to physically and mentally prepare yourself for the Goechala trek. 

Read about the altitude gain, ascents and descents, the challenges of climbing to viewpoint and the weather on the Goechala trek.

Why Fitness Is Important For The Goechala Trek - How To Prepare For Difficult Sections

Why Fitness Is Important For The Goechala Trek - How To Prepare

Something is terribly wrong at Sikkim. The government, the trekking agencies and the local guides seem hell bent on ruining the trekking world of Sikkim.

The first one really gets my goat. Trekkers on the Goechala trail are in for a shock on the final day of the trek. Trekkers are encouraged to start at three in the night from Lamune (the last camp) to get to view point 1. When trekkers get there most guides are reluctant to go ahead. Some show trekkers view point 2 and 3 with a wave of the hand.

The usual answer is, “the view is the same and not different from here”. If pressed, trekkers are taken to view point 2. Rarely do they venture to view point 3 (and no one knows where it is). God forbid if it is cloudy. On a murky day guides quickly bundled down trekkers from wherever they are saying since there is no view so there is no point in going ahead.

What happened to Goechala, the pass the whole trek is named after? Suddenly on the final day no one talks about the pass, or even makes a reference of getting there. Some of the guides are audacious enough to say that it is dangerous and tricky to go to the pass. Some say it is too far. Or trekkers are taken to a high point and told, this is Goechala.

Here are some truths about Goechala: There is nothing called view point 1, 2 or 3. Understand this clearly. The view points are a total figment of imagination of the local guides. You either get to Goechala or you don’t. Calling spots on a trekking trail as viewpoints is a gross injustice to the trek. Every good trek has vantage points from where you get grand views. But using them as substitutes of being to Goechala is unfair. Even the internet forums are now so full of these viewpoints that the joke is now becoming a reality.

You get to Goechala only when you climb past the beautiful green Goechala lake (not to be mistaken for Samiti) and get to the last ridge. That’s the start of Goechala. Anywhere past that is Goechala and it is ok to return from there but not before that. The view and the ambience are indeed spectacular at Goechala and totally different from what you see at these so called view points. Just to see the snow encompassed Goechala lake would be worth the effort to get there.

More than the views the thrill is in climbing your way past the big snow field, around the flanks of a great moraine and climbing the ridge above the lake. These are classic trekking moments. I have always been surprised why everyone camps at Kockchurang after their return from the view points. Now I realise they haven’t trekked much! If trekkers have truly reached Goechala then Thansing is the appropriate camp on return. Reaching Kockchurang would be too tiring!

Is it difficult to reach Goechala? Is it technical and risky? Is it far? None of these are true. Goechala is in fact easier than most high altitude treks. There is nothing risky. From the so called view point 1 it is another two hours to Goechala over some wonderful landscapes on moraine. 

Not getting to Goechala is like missing the last half hour of a spy thriller. The fun, thrill and adventure are all in the last bit.

The second injustice about Goechala is intriguing. Camping is not allowed at Samiti lake though it is one of the most picturesque places to establish camp. In addition it makes trekking to Goechala a lot easier. The local administration says the lake is getting dirty by trekkers. That’s far from the truth. The camping site of Samiti is almost 400 meters from the shores of the lake. How does the lake get dirty from such a distance? If a ‘flourishing’ trekkers hut can be maintained at Kockchurang and Tshoka, is it difficult to maintain one at Samiti? Can’t toilets be maintained at Samiti? Why are trekkers paying such a big environment fee to the government then? These are questions the administration hates to answer.

The third injustice makes me livid! Foreigners are shamelessly fleeced in Sikkim. To do the Goechala trek a foreigner cannot trek alone or join a group. He needs to be accompanied by another foreigner (apparently for his safety). He needs an inner line permit to enter Sikkim. While this is somewhat agreeable, he needs to get another trekking permit from Gangtok. For this he needs to get there a day in advance. Trek permits that cost only a few hundred rupees are charged Rs 4,000 – Rs 6,000 from foreigners. There is no direct window from where a foreigner can buy a trekking permit. The government has made a rule that only trekking agents of Sikkim can get permits for foreigners. This produces a vicious cycle of corruption. Agents charge a hefty fee for this service. A trek that could cost a reasonable amount suddenly starts costing Rs 18,000 upwards for a foreigner. Foreigners, naturally, are getting wiser. When they see the time, travel and trek cost, they rather go to other parts of India to trek. Sikkim was always a wonderful alternative to trekking in Nepal. But trekking in Sikkim is now more of a pain. The last thing we need is Sikkim trekking ruining itself.

Editor’s note: Indiahikes is working with local agents to make it a fair proposition for trekkers. We are insisting that trekkers go up to Goechala. We are also working with the ministry and the government to make a transparent window for securing permits. We hope to succeed in this effort.

Arjun Majumdar talks about the sikkim situation

The Injustice about Goechala

Please note that this is a special trek designed for stargazing enthusiasts. The trek fee is slightly more than the regular fee. Know more about the trek here. 

This is a trek specially designed for trekkers above 58 years. The trek fee is Rs 3000 more than the regular fee (Please note this is only for Himalayan treks) Know more about the trek here. 

Please note that this is a special trek. The trek fee is Rs 3000 more than the regular fee. Know more about the trek here. 

Please note that the family treks are meant for families with a child/children under 14 years of age. If you do not fit this criteria, you can register for any of our regular groups. Read more about family treks here.

You are joining our waitlist. Your chances of getting a confirmation are high, but not certain. We will notify you as soon as a trekker cancels their trek.

When we brought out new trails in Indian trekking, safety came with us. Back in 2012, we were the first to introduce microspikes, and two years later, pulse oximeters became standard thanks to us. Nobody does safe treks like Indiahikes. In the mountains, emergencies don't care who you're with – everyone knows that when trouble hits, you look for the yellow tents of Indiahikes.

We are India’s safest trekking organisation

We are pioneers in trekking. Since 2007, we have brought out treks that have become India's most famous treks: Roopkund, Rupin Pass, Buran Ghati, Kedarkantha, Kashmir Great Lakes, Tarsar Marsar, Brahmatal, Phulara Ridge—the list goes on. In 2023 alone, we brought out five new treks in Indian trekking. We know treks better than anyone. This comes directly from the reason why Indiahikes was born: to bring out trek information and enable trekkers to trek on their own.

We are pioneers of treks in India

More than 25,000 people trek with us every year. We are the largest trekking organisation in India. 24% of our trekkers come back to trek with us every year. Over 4,000 students from the top educational institutions trek with us every year. Aside from this, families with children choose to trek with Indiahikes knowing that our treks are the safest. We have taken over 8000 children trekking so far, and the number continues to grow. 

We are India’s largest trekking organisation

We focus on designing transformative experiences. Our trek leaders conduct thought-provoking exercises that help you reflect and contemplate. This impact stays with you for a long time. Trekkers return feeling energised, more confident, or developing abilities to deal with difficulties. Many have changed careers, rethought their core values, become more humble, shown gratitude to others, or started a new fitness journey. 

Our treks are transformative

Since 2012, we have pioneered sustainable practices that have become standard in trekking. Using eco-bags, our trekkers have cleared over 120 tonnes of litter from the mountains. We do not carry packaged foods; instead, we serve freshly made food. We do not light campfires; we carry coal to light angethis to keep you warm. Our bio-toilets not only keep our toilets odour-free but also enrich the soil. When you trek with us, you leave mountains better.

We are India's most sustainable trekking organisation

5 Reasons Why Indiahikes

If you are unable to complete a trek, or if you love a trek, you can repeat it with us anytime. You don’t have to pay us for it. See our thoughts behind this here.

You’re guarded with our trek again philosophy

Our thrice-a-day oxi-metre checks keep altitude sickness at bay, never allowing you to reach a point where you need evacuation.

Daily 3-time health checks keep you safe at any altitude

With around 30% of our trekkers being women, all women, including those travelling solo are comfortable to join any of our groups.

Join any group, they are all women-friendly groups 

Our kitchen teams understand your needs as a vegan (or a Jain). We will take special care of your food, even in the remote Himalayas. 

We have specially designed bio toilets to ensure you have no sight or smell in toilets, at the same time making sure the toilets cause no harm to the fragile ecosystem we trek in.

Be comfortable and sustainable with bio toilets

We’ll admit it. Our love for food surpasses our love for minimalism. Expect freshly cooked, multi-cuisine food at all camps, designed to meet your nutritional requirements and keep your taste buds happy!

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