Wonderful trek with an excellent group This trek met very well my expectations. In the beginning visibility was rather bad and afternoons were rainy. We skipped Poon Hill because of the clouds. I enjoyed very much walking in rhodorendron forests between Chorepani and Chomrong. When we reached ABC the weather was perfect good visibility and no clouds at all. Our group worked very well and we enjoyed trekking together. After daily treks we had nice pastime e.g. playing cards.
This is review and my personal impressions of 12 days Annapurna Base camp trek booked thru this tour operator with fantastic guide Dharma Subedi. It was my first trek in Himalayas, and it was really visually beautiful and fulfilling experience. Technically trekking starts near Pokhara ( Naya Pool to be exact - 1.5 hrs drive from Pokhara ) and last for 10 days, and because I was based in Kathmandu 2 more days were added for tourist bus ride between those places. The ride is on its own an interesting experience, and agency made sure seat was on the right side of the bus, allowing me to enjoy beautiful views. it takes 8 hours and road is quite bumpy, but defiantly worth it. I was accompanied by another trekker ( young girl from Hong Kong ) and her porter. Usually groups are much bigger, but beginning of June is off season and I was happy with this particular arrangement. My intentions were purely to disconnect from the busy life ( including internet ) and connect to the surroundings. I have also carried camera and gimbal to document the whole trip. Trek itself is not difficult, or technical, but if you carry your own little bit heavy backpack it can be challenging. You basically climb and descend hundreds of meters of elevation daily ( predominantly stairs ) oscillating between 2500m and 4100m for most of the time. One of the few people I have met on the way asked why pay for the guide when you can walk yourself. It is true, but I do not regret doing so in this particular case. Dharma is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable people you can hire in this area, and was really helpful choosing great places to eat and stay ( which were included in the price ). He answered hundreds of questions and interacted with local people, translating and helping to better understand their culture. He speaks good english, and he likes to throw a joke or two from time to time. Very positive and helpful person. Because I was slower than other trekker ( due to heavy backpack, age and different aim of the journey ) Dharma adopted his speed to mine and let other person and porter go first making both sides happy. Overall the whole trip was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. Both ways - as a part of the personal journey ( looking into myself ), and time spent on admiring and contemplating external beauty of the Himalayas.
Everstt base camp and chitiwan review. Where to begin, the best trip, run by the best people, with the best guide. Firstly the travel operator Gokul was amazing and worked everything around me and what I wanted to do, sorting extra trips at short notice, making sure I was picked up or dropped off at airports etc. I could not of asked for better service, the hotel Kathmandu suite was very nice, with roof top terrace for views of Kathmandu, the food was very good. And the staff were awesome. From the waiter to the doorman Raj. Lovely people. The guide who showed me round the temples in Kathmandu was a good fella who knew his stuff. My trek to base camp and kala patthar was amazing, I had the best guide I could of ever hoped for PEMBA Tamang. As I was traveling alone I had a lot more freedom, my guide Was friendly, spoke very good English, and most importantly very knowledgeable and will always be a good friend for sure. Two of the best weeks i could ever of hoped to have. Had to keep pinching myself just to make sure i wasnt dreaming. Also because i finished EBC trip early I wanted to go to chitiwan for safari,amazing seeing one horned rhinos so close from on top of an elephant, the tour operator sorted it with no hassle and all welll priced, again a lovely hotel with pool. Will definately go back to Nepal and when i do i will definitely be using this company.