Recommended trekking companies

We%26#39;re looking at trekking in the Everest Region this fall and I was wondering what companies are good to work with.

Recommended trekking companies

HI! My buddy and I did the standard Everest Base Camp trek this past October with a Kathmandu-based company called Mountain Monarch. (http://www.mountainmonarch.com) We had a fantastic time, and were very impressed with the company. There were only 3 of us on the trek (2 others cancelled), and we had 2 guides and 2 porters. Having a small group is great. We met lots of other trekkers from all over the World and, through our guides, a few Nepali.

The guides were first class: very knowledgeable of the area, reasonable English, able to explain all sorts of things about Nepal (including the polictics), knew lots of people. They also knew some side trails to get away from the crowds. Our lead guide said he was very impressed with the other guides at the company, which is a high recommendation.

I was also impressed with their safety precautions and knowledge. One of us got a touch of altitude sickness walking back from Base Camp as twilight was falling, and had trouble walking. The lead guide sprang into action and handled it very well.

We didn%26#39;t see the porters during the day (just in the evenings), and they didn%26#39;t speak much English, but they were very friendly.

Everything went very smoothly: airport pick-up and drop-off, city tour, flight to Lukla, etc. We stayed at lodges that weren%26#39;t the fanciest, but were quite comfortable.

And because they are Kathmandu-based, they cost a lot less than U.S. based ones (which often just sub it out to a local agency)

I would definitely recommend lodges instead of camping. I%26#39;ve done a lot of camping in my 57 years, and I don%26#39;t see the point to it here. You end up camping right next to the lodges (so you%26#39;re no closer to Nature), but you don%26#39;t get the benefit of the nice common room to meet people in, nor the indoor ';toilet'; (don%26#39;t expect running water).

The main thing I would do differently if I were doing it all over is to NOT do the Everest Base Camp trek itself. Instead, I%26#39;d do one of the other treks in the region, like Gokyo. The whole Everest route is incredibly crowded (at least it is in October), Base Camp itself is one of the most forlorn spots on Earth, and other trips in the Everest area are less crowded and supposedly even prettier.

I hope this was helpful. Post a reply if you want more info. Mike

Recommended trekking companies

Hello

I will recommend you Skyline Treks %26amp; Expedition Pvt. Ltd trekking company loacated at the thamel near by nursing chock

website:

www.skylinetreks.com

www.nepaltravels.biz

www.trekinfo.biz

email

skyline@enet.com.np

Totally share your view.

We were with Mountain Monarch on the EBC trek last Christmas. Although our guide suffered from food poisoning seriously admist half of the journey, he played a superb job... he%26#39;s our encourager, medical advisor, altitude expert, and our entertainer! On top of the regular service, the MM team assisted me to arrange a suprise birthday celebration for my husband at Kala Patter %26amp; Lukla.

Our crew of four were under the good care of MM personnels.

We are well impressed by their genuineness and hospitality.

If any chance returning to Nepal for another hike, we look

forward to reapproach MM.

Cheers,

Ryan Shum

are you looking to camp, or teahouse?? If teahouse, consider hiring a personal guide/porter and you%26#39;ll have a much more personal trip at a fraction of the price and go your pace, not theirs. In addition, you%26#39;ll know your money is going directly to the local people and not to a company that keeps most of it and poorly pays its field staff.

I travelled with a u.k company called The Adventure company who utilised a local company Himalyan Encounters to Annapurna base camp in Feb 2007.

I am doing the Everest base camp trek in November and have booked my own flights london-delhi-kathmandhu and booked the

Everest trek with himalyan Encounters as i found them firrst class.

Another advantage is it costs less booking it this way

As someone posted up above, hiring your own guide/porter is definitely an option. We met several people who did that (including women traveling alone), and they spoke very highly of their guides/porters. You%26#39;ll certainly meet enough people in the lodges that you won%26#39;t be lonely.

I%26#39;m not sure that it really makes a difference in terms of ';travel at your own pace';. Our Mountain Monarch guide was quite willing to stop early or change the route to fit our requests. But there%26#39;s no doubt you%26#39;ll save money and, as the person said, all of your money goes to people in the field (who really need it), not to a Kathmandu office.

The trade-off is that you have to make all the arrangements yourself, including Kathmandu hotel, etc. And I have no idea how to find a dependable guide/porter. It seems like something I%26#39;d be much more willing to do the second time I go to Nepal....

My partner and i recently did a trek in the Everest Region with Mountain Monarch and were thoroughly impressed with them. All round brilliant. Full of knowledge AND the owner of the company (Pradeep) places alot of importance on safety issues, therefore his guides are medically trained and i think every year they do a refresher... therefore we definitely felt in very safe hands and i would definitely recommend using them. And a bonus...both our guide (Sunil) and porter (Parsang) were lovely.

Hi,

I know exactly what you are talking about mentioning noisy guides and porters that spoil the experience of silence and being alone, I can assure you a good guide is half of the work. I have in fact been 3 times to Nepal now (I live in the Netherlands), and I love the country and its people. What I really like is the environment of Pokhara, especially when you reach the snow and come near the base camp, so impressive! I did the Annapurna Base Camp twice (the second time with my wife) and in 2001, I went on the Annapurna Roundtrip.

At my 2nd trip I was lucky enough to find a very experienced, sympathetic and civilised guide, Kulbahadur (everybody calls him KB), who became even like a friend to me. We asked him again in the 3rd trip. During these trips, this guy also took us out to his parents who live in the mountains and we could spend the night on their premises, which was a beautiful opportunity to see how the natives in the mountains really live. But also, which is very important to me, he spoke proper English and adapted to my needs in terms of talking and being silent.

KB has set up his own trekking agency “Unlimited Trekking Nepal” in Pokhara see www.unlimitedtrekking.com and employs some guides and porters, but is still a guide himself as well. I can really recommend him! The price is good and you are in safe and reliable hands, he is good company during the day and really puts effort in keeping you happy. He will design any trip you like (again I would recommend Annapurna Basecamp (10-12 days) for starters and Annapurna roundtrip for advanced 15-18 days; another good trip is Poonhill 4 days).

When you stay over in Pokhara for a few nights, a lodge that I can recommend is Greenland Guest House in Lakeside; friendly people, hot showers (!), clean, quiet, and cheap (%26lt;10$ for good room). I have stayed there all the 3 trips I made to Nepal. Let me know if you need their email address, however KB is also a good help in arranging your accommodation and can negotiate local discounts.

I wish you all a trekking time like we experienced! Of course I can give more details, if you want more information: peter.herma@gmail.com

Good luck with the preparations,

Peter

Hi,

I had good experience with,http://www.omegatreks.com

Best of luck