Nepal Hiking Himalayas was recommended to us from another organization that trekked with them before. We had texted Nava the owner of the company. He made a very good impression on us, so we signed up with him.

There were twelve (12) members from our hiking club that signed up for the Everest Base Camp trek. Though we are an older group, most of us had been hiking regularly for years locally and abroad. Between the altitude sickness and some members catching a cold,we had some very unexpected difficulties during the hike. We know that without our experienced guide, this could have been a very different experience. Parsuz was always aware and kept an eye on each hiker for their safety and well being. He almost knew what each member needed, sometimes even before we knew what we needed.

When a couple of our members struggled during their hike to Gorak Shep (remember, there is only about 53% of oxygen than at sea level), Parsuz knew how to quickly hire a horse and escort them safely to the lodge that night. The next morning, four of our members became very ill, he was able to arrange for a helicopter to pick them up and take them to Lukla, then a quick flight out to Kathmandu. We worried, but much less with Parsuz. He took care of all of the details and gave the rest of us enough confidence to continue our trek to Everest Base Camp and make our three days trek back down to Lukla.

As mentioned, our group was older, between the ages of 50-76. I’m sure most groups will not need as much attention as our group did. However, If you are looking for an experienced and trustworthy guide that knows the trails, and the culture to take care of any emergencies, you don’t need to look any further than Parsuz Jamattel or Nepal Hiking Himalayas.

I don’t want to forget to mention all the nice little things that Parsuz and his company did for us. They picked us up from the airport with marigold garlands. Everyone spoke English and some Korean. Though the food wasn’t terrible on the EBC trek, it wasn’t great. The menu was exactly the same everywhere. Another member on the guide team was Phuruba, who cooked. He made the nicest dishes to go with our meals at the tea houses that made it bearable. One day, Phuruba made us a braised chicken stew, which was just amazing!!!

Not everything went according to plan, but because we had a good guide we were able to make the best of it and still say we had an amazing trip. We hiked at the peak of the season between October 8-18 (7 days hike up and 3 days down). The teahouses were so full, they had foreigners sleeping on the dining room floors in some villages. We were very grateful that Parsuz was able to get us rooms at each village, some even had private bathrooms in our rooms.

Flights in an out of Lukla is never predictable even in their best season. When we arrived in Kathmadu, all the flights to Lukla were cancelled. Nava knew to book a van for us to take us on a four-hour ride to Ramechhap Airport to get us to Lukla. At the very end of our trip, again the flight out of Lukla was delayed and cancelled due to the weather. Half our group was able to get on a special charter plane for a nominable additonal fee. The other half ended up taking a helicopter to Kathmandu. Though we consider ourselves savvy travelors, Nepali cuture is very different and we would not have fared as well without our guide. We met plenty of travelors that were stuck for days in Lukla trying to figure out how to get out.

In spite of this trip being the most intimidating (harsh landscape, -10 degree weather, struggling to catch our breath), it was a most inspiring trip.