Kimkim Trip Reviews for Nepal

The trip of a lifetime! The whole experience even managed to exceed my already high expectations. Our guide, Sonam, looked after us with exceptional care, attention and patience. She paced out our trek perfectly and made sure that we were always feeling well. What's more, her bubbly personality and positive attitude made her delightful to be around. She even stayed up late one night to make me a cake upon discovering that it was my birthday the following day. All in all she really made the difference to our trip. The porters were also great and funny and went well out of their way to ensure we always had what we needed.

The communication with Erin was great throughout the whole process and the trek she suggested was exactly what we were after. She organised a refund for my accommodation when my connecting flight was cancelled and was always on hand to answer our questions.

So overall a wonderful experience and very happy clients all round. Look no further for your trip to Nepal!

The Trek
The Nar and Phu trek was incredible and we can’t recommend it enough. The vistas were utterly awesome and the variation between days was great. The towns were interesting and the monastery at Nar phedi was a highlight. It was rare to see other western hikers (perhaps one or two groups per day) which was exactly as we’d hoped. It was physically challenging but aside from a bit of a few altitude headaches and sore legs, we made it through without any problems. The accomodation was simple but more than adequate and the food was what was expected (dhal bhat) with some other delicious surprises. I’m a big guy (6”5 and 220 lbs) and eat a lot so brought plenty of extra snacks as the volume of food in the distant regions could be a little on the smaller side.

The guiding team
Our guide, Sonam, was truly exceptional. She was bright, sweet, friendly and a very knowledgeable as well as being exceptionally well organised and caring for our group (making sure we didn’t ascend too fast etc). Our group cannot speak highly enough of her! Our porters Thilen and Peckma (apologies if I’ve misspelt their names) were very helpful and funny. The drivers through the treacherous route between Besishahar and Koto were also excellent.

Correspondence and KimKim
Erin was extremely helpful, timely and succinct with her correspondence before the trip and when we were on the ground. When a flight change altered our stay in Kathmandu she assisted us with a generous refund for accommodation.

All in all the trip was perfect. We will definitely use Himalaya Trails and KimKim again and try our hardest to work with Sonam (our exceptional guide) and the same porter team on our next trip.

From the beginning of contacting Kimkim till the end, we had an amazing trekking experience in the Annapurna region. Thank you to Chhewang for the preliminary interaction and for responding to all our queries in a timely and informative manner. We were lucky to have Rikzin Lama as our guide. He was helpful, knowledgable, professional and very easy going. Our porter Bharat was a great travel companion and helped us at every occasion he can. We are ever grateful to Rikzin and Bharat who have made this trip such a memorable experience we will cherish for a very long time. I highly recommend them without any hesitation to anyone to wants to have a stress free trekking in Nepal.

We were really pleased with the service provided by Sangita! We decided to visit Nepal in a last minute fashion and did not have time to plan for our trip in details. We told Sangita our expectations and she put together a wonderful plan for us. It turns out to be exactly the experience we would like to have! It's an amazing 11 day in Nepal thanks to her. We highly recommend her service regardless of whether you have time to plan for your trip in details.

1. The drivers (both arranged by KimKim as well as booked through the hotels on our free and easy leg) were responsible, professional and caring.
2. We are disappointed by the assigned guide even though we still tipped him on the understanding that guides rely on tips for bulk of their pay. The assigned guide for Bhakatpur and Namo Buddha on both days seem wanting to end his day early and was rushing us to complete the Bhakatpur city tour. On Namo Buddha, he initially suggested we hike down the dirt road (road by car approaching Namo Buddha) and only told us of the other hike down from the Namo Buddha stupa after I insisted. This is despite my specific advice that I wanted a short hike incorporated which I know is quite scenic. We were left to hike on our own which we did not mind. Then after we met back at Namo Buddha in the hope to take part in the Tara chanting which was delayed that day - we had the impression that we were taking too much time when we insisted to wait from 3 pm to 4 pm at the monastery.

Compared with guides that we have come across in Bhutan, S Korea and Europe, the guide in Nepal do not appear as professional and give us the impression that it is always what is in it for me. We will not be keen to use further guide service in our future trips in Nepal so long we have maps as having a guide is as good as not having any.
3. On the hotels, the next time we will provide better clarity on our needs as the Patan hotel was quite eye opening and one that we are not used to nor feel safe. Besides the reviews by other travelers, it will be good to provide some details of the traditional homes that one can expect which is very different from a typical hotel.

It was spectacular. Both Barahi jungle lodge and Tiger Tops were excellent. The former was new with all of the amenities while the latter was quaint, rustic with a true feel of living in the jungle.
The guides at both were knowledgeable and informative. We saw all wildlife, except for tigers.
The time spent with the elephants was special.
Overall, I recommend this most highly.

We had a wonderful trip through KimKim/Himalayan Trails. We got great support from Erin locally, and we really enjoyed spending time with our guide, Tindu. Nepal is a beautiful place and we will always cherish our trip. Our journey went smoothly and we had absolutely no issues with the planning or booking process, plus everything was perfectly arranged during our time in Nepal.

We did the 5-day Balthali trek with our guide, Ang Gelu Sherpa.
It was a throughly enjoyable experience! Our guide was very experienced (has done Everest summit twice!) and knowledgeable and took care of us, while also being friendly and happy to exchange stories and information about each others cultures/countries/previous treks.
We were able to meet the locals, eat decent Nepali and continental meal options 3 times a day and had adequate accommodation at the tea houses.
The accommodation on the first night in Nagarkot was particularly nice.

We also enjoyed the cultural tour of Kathmandu with our guide Surendra, He showed us around Darbar square and Patan among other places and told us the interesting historical background of each site!

Finally, our trip coordinator (Tashi), was great. He picked us up from the airport and checked in regularly to make sure we were enjoying things. He also provided a lift back to the airport and gave us his blessings at the end of the trip which was nice!

From my experience, I would highly recommend this company!

Absolutely fantastic from beginning to end! Top guide, incredible attention, 0 issues!

Overall, one of the top experiences you can have,

Ngima and his team were very quick to respond and helpful with all our questions, and adapt the trip as circumstances changed, overall we had a great trip.

From start to finish, dealing with Kripa was easy. We wanted a holiday suitable for a family of four (kids age 7 & 11), to include sightseeing, trekking & safari. Kripa took all of our needs into account & tailor-made our holiday, happily adding or removing options as requested. It was completely stress free & when a couple of things went wrong with flight delays & cancellations she moved quickly to adapt our travelling needs.
The hotels booked for us were exactly suited to our needs.
The Poon Hill trek was the highlight, & although it wasn't always easy with the extra needs of kids, Pemba, our guide & our porters were there to organise & support us.
The 2 days sightseeing in Kathmandu were perfect, and again our guide was superb, engaging with the children & making sure they were enjoying themselves.
The homestay in Chitwan was fabulous too & well worth experiencing. The only complaint there was the heat after being in the cooler mountains!!
All in all it was an amazing experience, professionally organised & all our concerns were taken care of. It made such a difference knowing that everything was taken care of & that we could ask any question, however trivial at any time. We would definitely use KimKim in the future & who knows, maybe even return to do some more trekking in Nepal. Thank you, Kripa & all your associates.

Amazing trip. The guide and porter were so friendly and helpful- and just great fun. The Annapurna trek was tiring but worth every step up and down -there were a lot of ups and downs. The tea houses were an amazing experience but you have to go with the flow. Local people all very friendly and helpful. The mountain views were spectacular.

Special thanks to Erin at Kimkim for all the help and assistance organising everything for us and being onhand when we needed them.

Steve & Deb

We found the trip really well organised and the KimKim team very helpful and adaptable if we needed something changing. The scenery was stunning and the accommodation was always comfortable. We received full board throughout and this was always of a great standard. Our guide was knowledgeable and ensured our safety throughout the trip, however we did encounter language barriers when we needed to know certain things, and found that he wasn’t always giving us local knowledge when other guides were doing this. He seemed quite shy however he did ensure that we had a very successful trip. Our porter was also excellent and made the trip much more manageable. Thanks for an unforgettable experience!

Ngima and his team are great. They were really responsive and helped out with whatever we had questions/issues with. I already recommended them to friends to book their hike in the Himalaya at Nigma’s agency. Thank you for all your help. We will see you again.

Bipin was an absolute gem. We loved him so much!

However, we were charged extra for a boat ride at Tiger Tops, which the people there initially said was included. They made it seem like it was KimKim's fault for not including the additional boat ride. Regardless of whose fault it was, we ended up paying $60, after initially being told it was included and taking the ride. This was the most outstanding instance of a few in which it felt like KimKim representatives could have better communicated with the places where we stayed. For another example, even though our itinerary said we'd be hiking in Nagarkot, we had to specifically ask for a hike from Bipin because he said it wasn't originally included.

The itinerary also was very vague. Maybe a more detailed itinerary cold help with these problems, and it would definitely help on our end in terms of knowing exactly what we'd paid for and what the days will look like.

What a great experience! Ngima was extremely helpful during the booking process and accommodated all our needs. The trip was extremely well planned and we left Nepal with the certainty we will visit again this wonderful country.

The match with the local organisation was excellent. The local organisation turned out to be very flexible.
A porter who turned ill was quickly replaced and there was a great anticipation on changing wheather conditions.
Our guide was really amazing in her organisation and motivation on the group, the clients as well as the porters.
Great work!

We had a truly memorable experience in Nepal. The services rendered from the start was prompt and impeccable. Thank you everyone especially Naresh, Kunga and Erin!

Tough, upexpected weather overall. Guide was great and knowledgeable, and accommodating. Had a good memorable trip as such.

Kimkim connected my husband and I to Ngima from NMMT. We communicated via kimkim's easy online platform, and Ngima answered all our questions and suggestions in a timely and sensitive manner. Ngima's coordination of hotels, in-country flights, guides, drivers, trekking, and cultural tours were invaluable.

In Nepal, we did a day of sightseeing in Kathmandu to see Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, and Patan Durbar Square. Our guide in Kathmandu, Kedar, was outstanding: incredibly informative, kind, and obviously well-known and liked by many in the city (everywhere we went he was greeting and shaking hands with other tour guides)! We learned a lot and would recommend all first-comers to Nepal to experience Kathmandu with a guide. The driver organized by Ngima was also wonderful and made moving around the city easy.

After sightseeing, we departed from Pokhara for the Poon Hill Trek. We were accompanied by Chhongba (guide) and Dawa (porter). Both of them ensured all our needs were well taken care of. At times, Chhongba seemed a bit checked out and spent a large amount of time on his cell phone. (Cell service appears uninterrupted for Nepalis with national coverage along this trek, which is great for safety but hearing the guides’ YouTube videos and music at teahouses took away from our desire to disconnect.) Chhongba was willing to answer the questions we asked him, but he offered relatively little information on his own. Next time we would advocate to cover more miles per day; we ended up at the teahouses and in Pokhara by 1pm the last three days of the trek and would have liked to spend more time walking each day. The trek is BEAUTIFUL, and we enjoyed every minute on the trail. Overall, Chhongba and Dawa were kind and helpful on our trek and they allowed us to relax and not worry about the details. We had a stressful exit from Nepal due to delays on Yeti airlines, and Chhongba, Lakpa (Ngima's son), and driver in Kathmandu were essential to helping us make our international flight in time.

Overall, it was a great experience!! We will highly recommend kimkim, NMMT and Nepal to friends and family. We will definitely be back to do another trek (hopefully Everest Base Camp) and would book with kimkim and Ngima again.