Hi,

Just wanted to pass some advice onto fellow travelers / trekkers. My boyfriend and I just finished doing the Everest Base Camp trek (13 days) and I wanted to recommend our guide, Raj Nepal. His website is www.rajnepal.com you can find all his contact details there.

Raj was extremely knowledgeable about the region we were trekking in (he has trekked all over Nepal though so I'm sure the same is true of other regions.) He also had a lot of experience with AMS, which was very comforting to us, especially as my boyfriend started feeling ill towards our highest point. Luckily we made it to 5600m without incident

He was great company on the trek, happy to share his views and knowledge about Nepalese culture, politics etc and lots of craic in the evenings as well teaching us Nepalese card games and generally keeping us entertained.

All of the accommodation we stayed in was of a high standard and he always made sure we were well fed, including bringing fresh fruit for us from Kathmandu in his pack and doling it out along the trail. (A real treat at that altitude and we didn't see any other guides doing it either.) He also provided afternoon tea and biscuits.

It was an all inclusive package (accommodation, food, guide & porter - pay for your own alcohol and desserts) and his rates were extremely competitive, especially considering the really high cost of food in the Everest region. His treatment of our porter, Tek, was also excellent.

Before we left for the trek he helped us rent any equipment we needed for excellent rates. By the end of the trek we considered Raj our friend, not just our guide. He brought us to his house where he cooked us a delicious dinner and introduced us to his family. We will definitely avail of his services again when we return to Nepal to do another trek, except next time he has invited to stay in his house and not in a hotel in Kathmandu.

I know choosing a guide is a big decision, we agonized over it ourselves and were really nervous about how it would turn out. As it turned out we were really lucky to have come across Raj. We've traveled to 16 different countries over the last 12 months, the Everest trek is one of the best things we did and Raj had a lot to do with that.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Happy trekking!
Lydia Murphy

Thanks for the recommendation, Lydia. Great to have first hand knowledge of a good experience.

thanks a lot Lydia, its really helpful...Keep sharing your info

Always great to have a personal recommendation. I remember shopping around for a guide in Pokhara last year for the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. Me and my friend ultimately decided the quality would probably be similar through all the trekking offices and went with the one available through her hotel. Him and our porter turned out to be great guys and we had a lot of fun with them singing songs and dancing at some of the tea houses.

I'd easily recommend going with another local guide over a western company for my Nepal treks.

Here's a photo after the taxi dropped us off at the starting location (from left: guide, friend, porter):