Reviews

My friend and I used Nepal Gateway Trekking in order to have a great experience trekking in Upper Mustang, and we were fortunate to have chosen such a professional and great company. Our guide, Raj, knew exactly where to go and what to do, but he also kept our interests in mind as we traversed the beautifully scenic mountains and valleys during the 10-day trip.

Raj was never short in coming up with sage advice and knew answers about questions ranging from geology and the landscape to the culture of Upper Mustang and the villages and towns we would visit.

The itinerary was perfect, and there was a great balance between hiking and resting throughout the day.

I truly believe that we were given a one-of-a-kind experience through Raj and Ram's careful planning, attention to detail, and kind pastoral attitudes. I would highly recommend Nepal Gateway Trekking, and would strongly encourage anyone to consider booking through this company. I'm not a fan of using superlatives loosely, but this is by far one of the best trips I've ever been on!

From 5th to 20th April our group trekked the Manaslu Circuit.   The trek was organized by Rajendra Thapa (Raj) of Nepal Gateway Trekking. Ramchandra  Godar  (Ram) was our guide, with assistant guide Denesh  and porters Biru, Vishnu, Naran (senior), Naran (junior), Sharan, and Jaya .

Our group of 11 departed from Arughat  (570 m)  and continued  along the road to Soti Khola in  the Budhi Gandaki  Valley.  Overnight stops at Lapabesi, Machhakhola , Jagat, Philim and Deng  (1800 m.) . One of our group had a serious throat and lung infection and was unable to walk back, so the following morning he was evacuated by helicopter. The evacuation was efficiently organized by phone between Ram, and in Kathmandu, by Raj.  After a day or two in hospital the evacuee recovered.

The group of now ten trekked to overnight at Ghap and then through lovely forests of rhododendron in flower, oak and blue pine, and observed small groups of Himalayan tahr and pairs of lammergeir  (large vultures mistaken as eagles).  Then to Lho for the first uninterrupted view of Manaslu (8,163 m.).  At Samagaon (3,530 m) we were lucky to attend a Tibetan festival with horse racing, archery, tug  o’ war, and bareback horse racing.    After a side trip to partly frozen Birendra Lake, we overnighted at Samdo (3,860 m).  During the night was heavy snowfall.  The following morning, Samdo and the entire landscape was heavily covered with snow creating a beautiful wonderland.

During the trek to the dismal Larkya Phedi camp (4460m), we observed small herds of bharal (blue sheep), alpine marmots and yellow billed choughs.  Next morning at 5 am we started the challenging trek to  Larkya La (5103 m).  Strong head winds and plummeting wind chill temperatures and a brewing storm made it imperative to get over the pass as quickly as possible.  

Once over the pass it was an easy downhill trek to Bhulbhule back down to (790 m) and the grand finale of Nepalese dancing and Nepalese beer.

Some lodges are not of a high standard, but as the trek becomes more popular hopefully standards and hygiene will improve. Of special mention is the appalling standard of the eating area and disgusting toilets at Larkya Phedi Rest House and camp.

Everyone on the trek enjoyed themselves and appreciated the thoughtfulness and friendliness of our guide Ram and the porter crew.  We all considered this challenging and arduous trek as a success.

The trekking tour was guided through the Himalayan Everest Region between the 11th & 27th November 2015.  The group comprises six men and one woman, all experienced bushwalkers and all residents of northern Tasmania including some who had previously enjoyed adventuring with Nepal Gateway Trekking. 

The prearranged somewhat circular route from a base point at Namche Bazar, culminated at Everest Base Camp, returning via Chola Pass, Gokyo, Renjo La Pass, descending through Lumden and Thame to Namche Bazar and thence back down to Lukla on the final day of the walking segment of the journey. 

 At each overnight village stop, the booked lodging accommodation varied from extremely comfortable at lower levels to basic backpacker style facilities at higher altitudes where infrastructure and fittings are sparse and goods transport is very difficult. 

The food was generally of vegetarian nature with ample well-prepared and cooked portions and a good variety to select from.  Boiled water was usually only available at mealtimes with the provision of hot water for washing purposes limited in some places, while cold water for drinking was always readily available but needed per-consumption treatment.

The weather on the November 2015 excursion was unusually warm, dry, and fine with track conditions at most levels being very dusty which may have contributed to mild respiratory infections being contracted by some group members.  This and associated health problems necessitated a descent from near 5,000 to 3,600 meters by two affected members at one stage for recuperative and redirection purposes. 

The successful manner of conduct of this exercise highlighted the professional capabilities of Nepal Gateway Trekking.  The manager allocated in a timely and harmonious fashion another of his guides and a porter to assist us through the next five days of descent and reascent via the breathtakingly beautiful upper Dudhkoshi River valley to reunite with the rest of the group at Gokyo village after their more demanding Chola Pass traverse. 

This unplanned change of events caused no disruption to the original itinerary for the majority of the trekking group whilst providing effective time on a scenery spectacular reconnection route for the two off-color companions. 

The manager and principal guide of Nepal Gateway Trekking is Rajendra Thapa, fondly referred to as “Raj” by those of us who have previously enjoyed and admired the impressive quality of service of his Nepalese family business.  Raj is multilingual, his command of spoken English is quite good and his communication by email is excellent as are his organization skills, which have been well demonstrated on all trekking and tour expeditions our group members have previously taken with him across different areas of Nepal. 

The privilege of offering as much as we possibly could in the way of work and remuneration and other direct assistance to individual Nepalese citizens was just as enjoyable as the exhilarating feeling they gave us when walking among the world’s greatest mountains, being awed and humbled by their majestic grandeur and being inspiringly amazed by the tenacious hardness yet kindly welcoming attitude of the people of this remarkable country.

We had an amazing trip organized by Nepal Gateway Trekking on the Annapurna Circuit. Everything, from the first email contact to the last night was very well organized.

As soon as we knew, that we would come to Nepal for trekking, we were looking for an agency to guide us along the Annapurna Circuit. We had email contact with several agencies, but Raj and his team from Nepal Gateway was by far the best choice. He replied to our questions within hours and provided us with a tour tailored to our wishes from the beginning. Our goal was to find a guide (no porter), who would trek with us on the Annapurna Circuit and to choose the NATT trails avoiding the road as often as possible. We wanted to pay for all the food and lodging on the trek for ourselves. Raj was perfectly able to meet those requirements, and all questions prior to our trip were answered perfectly.

When we arrived in Kathmandu, we had a very warm welcome with Raj in his agency, and he took a lot of time to work out a route and schedule with us and introduced us to our guide Ajit. The trekking was really great, we had awesome weather and a great route. We were trekking mainly on the NATT trails and also did the very rewarding detour to Tilicho Lake. All in all, we were trekking for 18 days from Beshishar to Nayapul (including Poon Hill). The daily program was always spontaneously adapted to our fitness. We had a great time and a lot of fun with Ajit, who also provided us with a lot of background information about the Nepali culture and nature.

Thank you for that great time in Nepal!

Thank you very much Rajendra Thapa and Nepal Gateway Trekking for our amazing 10 days trekking to Langtang Valley national park and Gosaikunda Lake. The trek was very well organized and Rajendra was a very good guide, welcoming, friendly, competent, professional, and flexible. We enjoyed trekking from the subtropical vegetation area to glacier and holy lakes, beautiful wilderness scenery characterized by the rhododendron forest slowly dissolving into the expansive alpine grassland meadows where yaks and naks live. We learned about local culture, observed flora and fauna, ate local organic food Daal Bhat, buckwheat pancakes... stayed in lodges, had lots of laughs, learned Nepalese words and played all together cards in the evenings with Shital and Dipak our great porters, with a warm cup of tea: Ita, Pan, Chili, slot  Oucale bistarai, oucare tchito, Dere mito tchat, titsa, tika...and many more!

Thanks, Raj again for giving us the unique opportunity to meet your friendly and welcoming family during Dashain festival time and experience life in the countryside. We hope to come back again for another great time together! All the best.

Raj was friendly and helpful from the moment we met him at Kathmandu airport.  It was our first trip to Nepal and it was great to have his guidance.  He organized our trek and the flight to Lukla and made sure we had everything we needed.

We walked with Raj and a lovely young porter, Rudra, to Gokyo Lakes and over Renjo Pass; spectacular country and friendly open people. Raj loves his country and takes great delight in being able to answer any question you can throw at him. 

We appreciated his advice and never felt that he was intrusive, he was always respectful of us and other trekkers and we enjoyed his company.  Late in the trek, Ros was hit with a nasty dose of Nepalese belly and had to be evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu. Raj managed the evacuation very professionally and the stress of the episode was much diminished by his competency. The helicopter flight was great! A night in hospital resolved the issue and we were soon back on track and headed east to tea country around Ilam for some rest and recuperation. When we returned three weeks later we met up with him again in Kathmandu and Raj was kind enough to take us sightseeing, helped out with packing when it was time to leave, and made sure we got to the airport without too much hassle. He is a nice man, you will like him. Thanks, Raj, it was a great holiday!

We had a wonderful Langtang Valley and Gosainkunda Pass and Helambu Trekking trip to Nepal in November 2015. Raj was meticulous in ensuring the trip ran smoothly organizing our multiple transport needs and many different types of accommodation from tea house to top-class during our two-week adventure. Raj catered for our need to be flexible with our hiking days and how we spent our time in and around the city. Nothing was too much trouble. He has an incredible knowledge of and interest in Nepal and he also brought to life the flora and fauna of the country. He was a great leader and brought with him a team of drivers and porters that were eager to help and support our journey. We cannot recommend Raj highly enough to you. 

I want to say thank you again for our wonderful Annapurna Base Camp Trekking Tour. Two weeks I was getting surprised by new things, sights, and information about exotic cultures, castes, religions in Nepal, that is not just a set of beliefs or rituals handed down from generation to generation but a way to reach harmony and tolerance for many different cultures and ideologies. Owing to you I found out that Nepal is probably one of the friendliest and most mysterious countries in the world.

You did a very good job. You and your team were very helpful and professional with all our questions and requests. Our holiday trip was well-organized and I will have no hesitation in recommending your services to anyone who wants to visit Nepal.