I was trekking on the Annapurna Base Camp Trek in November 2007 together with two friends. It was wonderful getting to know rural Nepal and experiencing the enchanting scenery of the mountains. Ngima Sherpa was our trekking guide. It was his great enthusiasm that made our trip an unforgettable experience! He was reliable, perfectly organised and did far more than the necessary "guiding job": for example getting up in the early hours to run before us to secure accomodation, providing a girl we met on the trek with equipment when her shoes became broken or recommending accomodation in Karthmandu. The daily parts of the trek were well organized with enough time for breaks and to accomodate to the altitude. The lodges were excellently selected. Airplane and bus transfer from and to Pokhara were well planned. Ngima`s English is very good and he always tried to explain about Nepali culture giving us more insight into the daily life and religion of Nepali people. We trekked together with two porters who carried our heavier luggage. Both of them were well equipped and our guide cared for their accomodation and meals (I mention this since we met porters of other trekking groups who seemed ill equipped taking into account altitude and low temperature and had to carry really heavy loads!).

In summary our 2 weeks trek to the Annapurna Base Camp was a a unique experience and I can fully recommend Ngima as a reliable trekking guide.

Trekking Area: Annapurna base Camp

Anne Katrin Baumgaertner
annebaumgaertner@web.de
Muenchen, Germany.

Dear Trekkers

1) Advantages:

- very sympathetic and kind Sherpa team
- Very professional organization: Ngima has always regard for meeting times and respect of schedule.
- We feel in perfect security with this Sherpa team
- faciliting contact with local population
- Possibility to modify the program in case of necessity or on request of treckers
- Very good, various and wholesome food.

2) Little drawback

some time, during the trek, we spent a long time at noon to wait for porters and to wait for lunch: an enhancement can be, for some days, to have a cold picnic for lunch and to avoid a camp installation at noon.

Is’ all! See you soon in a next trek.

Yours sincerely
Jean-Pierre
jp.butin@free.fr
France

Dear Trekker
Here's my comment:

"Thank you for two exciting weeks in Nepal. I will never forget the beautiful mountains, your interesting stories, the nice people we met on the way. I can recommend your services at any time."

Trekking Area: Annapurna base Camp

Martin Stroebele
Walchenseeplatz 12
81539 Munich
Germany

http://www.stroebele.biz

Our words fail to express the feeling that we have had accumulated during the trip with Ngima and his fellow team members. Ngima, Mingma and Gelo were really noteworthy. I came to know about this company through internet in the lonely planet forum. We made a similar trip in India before coming to Nepal . It is very difficult to know the kind of person we may encounter in the trek. But I was lucky enough to have such a wonderful boy like Ngima.

We returned back to the country with lots of good reminiscences. We brought the wonderful memory of the trip, beautiful landscapes and wonderful people of course. Nevertheless, I had never thought that experience was the part of the deal and the relationship with the team. We were six in numbers altogether in the team i.e. two friends, me, Ngima and two porters. It was a good team indeed. We soaked in the customs and lifestyle of the area of the Annapurna and the customs of the tribe of the Gurung, thanks to Ngima.

Usually after the work day at 5 or 6 pm, there is nothing special to do in such kind of trekking. We chat and play cards, make jokes and laugh together. Damn! we played even gestures. Cool. In the group, some used to speak Nepali and others little Nepali and English. Some even used to speak English and Spanish too. Ngima has the good command over English and Spanish. Therefore, he tried to link everyone in the group. The people in the group were tactful in a sense that they handled every situation very carefully. They offered clean meal and we truly enjoyed their conversation. The team was quite careful in our safety when we felt like doing something different.

Ngima has got more than 12 years experience in this field. He is aware of the danger of avalanche, altitude, sickness and possible injury. In a word, I think you can find people as good as Ngima and his team in Nepal , but better it seems impossible. I make trip every day and I always intercropped in between one to Nepal or India . It is my second trip to Nepal and my third to India . I did trekking in Annapurna in 2007. If I can manage time in the future, I will be doing trekking with these people and strongly recommend you as well. They will make your trip a life time experience. That is for sure.

If you have any queries regarding the trek, then please feel free to either mail me at fportela@mundo-r.com or call me at 91 699 46 62.

Our best regards and Namste
Yours Friends,

Fernando Portela.
Spain

Spanish version

Nuestra experiencia con la agencia Annapurna Foot-hills Treks & Expedition y especialmente con su responsable Ngima Nuru Sherpa y sus porteadores, Mima y Gelo, es realmente digna de destacar. Los conocí por internet en el foro de Lonley Planet. Otras veces que había viajado a la India también contacté con guías de la misma forma. Siempre tuve buenas experiencias pero nunca sabes que tipo de gente te vas a encontrar y en quién confiar un trekking de este tipo.

La experiencia no pudo ser mejor. Nos traemos un recuerdo maravilloso del viaje, paisajes, gente ... pero nunca creí que parte de esa experiencia fuera el trato y la relación con guías y porteadores. En total éramos seis personas, dos amigas, yo, Ngima y los dos porteadores. Un buen equipo. Veíamos otros grupos también reducidos de cinco o seis personas en los cuales no había un grupo como tal. Por un lado los viajeros y por otro los porteadores y el sherpa. Nosotros nos empapamos de las costumbres y forma de vida de la zona de los Annapurnas y de las costumbres de la tribu de los Gurung, gracias a Ngima.

En este tipo de trekking una vez que acabas la jornada diaria, a las 5 o 6 de la tarde no tienes nada que hacer. Nosotros hablábamos, jugábamos a las cartas (nos enseñaron juegos y nosotros a ellos), nos reíamos mucho. Coño!! incluso jugábamos al gestos. Buenísimo. Uno que sólo hablaba nepalí, otro algo de inglés y nepalí. Ngima, Nepalí, Inglés y bastante bien el español, yo algo de inglés y mis amigas solo español. Y Ngima el enlace de todo. Son una gente realmente excepcional. Y al mismo tiempo, algo que también se agradece, muy discretos. Es decir sólo participaban en tu vida, conversaciones o en las comidas si tú se lo ofrecías, si no te dejaban a tu rollo. Eso también es importante. A veces te apetece hacer la jornada caminando a tu bola. Pero eso sí siempre extremadamente preocupados por tu seguridad y de que todo esté en orden.

Ngima creo que tiene más de 12 años de experiencia en estos temas. El conoce el peligro de avalanchas, a que hora pasar por determinados sitios según la estación de que se trate, mal de altura, posibles lesiones…. En una palabra, creo que podéis encontrar gente tan buena como Ngima y su equipo en Nepal, pero mejor me parece imposible. Todos los años hago un viaje pero siempre intercalo en el medio uno a Nepal o la India. Es mi segundo viaje a Nepal y mi tercero a la India. Mi trekking por los Annapurnas lo realicé en Noviembre de 2007 y esperó hacer otro en 2009. Por supuesto con esta gente. Os la recomiendo de verdad. Suponen la diferencia entre hacer un trekking espectacular o hacer un trekking realmente inolvidable.

Si tenéis alguna pregunta sobre el trekking me podéis escribir a My móbil phone is 699 91 46 62,
fportela@mundo-r.com
Our best regards.
NAMASTE.

Your friend,
Fernando Portela.
Spain