We traveled with this local tour operator mid/end of April 2017, doing the EBC and Cho La Pass, Goyko Lakes trek. Communications via email/whataspp with Mr Khum before the trip were excellent, timely, professional. He answered all our questions and amended the trip to suit our needs. We were provided with a very good guide for a Kathmandu valley tour before our trek. Our Guide while trekking, Mr Lakpa Sherpa was excellent and well experienced,. He had a kind and gentle personality but was extremely efficient, knowledgeable and helpful and was very caring when we felt a little unwell with the altitude. We had a younger porter, Mr Namka who was fun and enthusiastic. Sadly he become extremely unwell on our return to Namche Bazaar. Lakpa worked quickly to get him into the local hospital, and when it became clear he needed more extensive medical attention, Mr Khum organised a medical evacuation helicopter to Lukla and flight to Kathmandu where he was met by ambulance and taken to a good hospital for emergency surgery. We are pleased to say he is now well and back home.
The trip was a great success and we happily and safely made it to Everest Base Camp, up and over Cho La pass and to Goyko Ri. The tea houses provided were well situated in each place and offered great views It is definitely worth paying the couple of extra dollars per person per night to upgrade to an ensuite room where possible. The ensuite varied from toilet, sink and shower to just a toilet and the shower included hot solar heated water (we only used this lower down when the air temperature was warmer) but not having to walk down the hallway in the middle of the night in the freezing cold to use the toilet was extremely appreciated.
The food at the tea houses was basic and very carb heavy - Fried Rice, Pasta, Potatoes. The Dhal Bhat was definitely the best meal option with Rice, Papadom, Vegetable curry and lentil soup and free refills. The Pasta and Pizza options were also very good. Other favorites were Momos filled with mash potatoe and yak cheese and also the Vegetable Lasagne. We were trekking for 14 days and did get a little tired of the food on offer so snacks such as chocolate, biscuits and fruit were a welcome change. I would recommend bringing chocolate from home as it is much cheaper. I also carried concentrated juice (Robinsons Squash'd) to add to my drinking water, this made it much easier to drink 3-4 litres per day. Prices for luxuries on the mountain are a little expensive - Chocolate bars (snickers, mars, bounty) $2-$5 per bar, soda $2-$4 per bottle, cake $2-$7 per slice, the pricing is higher the higher your elevation due to the extra costs of delivering the produce there. You can charge electrical equipment at all lodges, costs vary from free to $3 per hour, charging is only available if there has been good weather to charge the solar batteries. Hot showers are available at all lodges and cost around $3-$5.
There were a few small issues along the way, so not everything was perfect. The driver taking us to the airport for our Kathmandu/Lukla flight was very late so our guide had to flag down a passing taxi to take us or we would have missed our flight. Also our first nights accommodation on the trek had not been pre-booked and our porter on the first 2 days took an extremely long time to deliver our bags to the tea house (2+ hours after we arrived). We complained to Mr Khum and Mr Lakpa about this and all was sorted out and we did not have any further trekking issues.
We did make few changes to our tour at the last minute which were accommodated professionally and quickly. Our guide Lakpa advised that we should change from trekking to Gokyo first then to EBC, but to do this the other way around EBC then Gokyo. This was great advice and an easier trekking route over Cho La pass. We also finished the trek earlier than expected due to trekking from Gokyo back to Namche in one day (rather than 2 or 3 days). Mr Lakpa amended our flight from Lukla for us and Mr Khum made arrangements for an extra nights accommodation in Kathmandu, all of which was greatly appreciated. We highly recommend Gokarna Forest Resort for a bit of luxury after a long trek.
Our trip was a once in a life time journey for us and I am glad we organised this through the local operator and I would recommend their services. If we get the itch to climb one of the mountains like Mera Peak in the future we will definitely call on Mr Khum's and Mr Lakpa's services again.
Visited April 2017
