Kimkim Trip Reviews for Nepal

Sangita was fantastic in helping us organise our 2 week stay in Nepal and all the travel in between places. She was very responsive and ensured everything went smoothly, checking in on us daily once we arrived. Likewise Bipin who welcomed us in Katmandu was very knowledgable and made sure we settled in comfortably.
Highlights include our 5 day poon hill trek, the hilltop town of Bandipur as well as safari in Bardiya National park.

Our holiday was memorable! Everything was perfect and we highly recommend travelling with kimkim.
Kripa was very patient in answering our many questions and was fantastic in organising the two weeks.
We did the 9-day trek to Ama Dablam base camp and visited Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.
The trek was fabulous. Our guide Suman was very helpful, punctual, friendly and always cheerful.
In addition, all the transport organised by kimkim was on time and the people we met were very friendly and helpful.

Thank you kimkim for this fabulous holiday and for letting us discover a part of Nepal!

Simply amazing. Awesome flexibility on planning before departed. Amazing guides. Logistics went like clockwork, even when we decided to change plans on a day. Instant responses from Amanda to any question - hate we time of day! Could not recommend this trip highly enough to anyone. Best tour ever….

Raj and Bipin organized an 11 day trek to Langtang and Gosaikunda for me. Raj was responsive and patient as he worked with my preferences and scheduling constraints and made sure that I was prepared for the trip before I left home. Once I arrived in Kathmandu, Bipin briefed me before the trip as well as debriefed me afterwards. I appreciated their professionalism, responsiveness, and friendliness throughout. Thanks to them, the trek itself was exactly what I wanted: long days of hiking through alpine terrain with enough moments to appreciate the surroundings.

Hotel Review

Hotel Holy Himalaya

Kathmandu

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Review

Free day | Kyanjin Ri Hike

Kyangjin Gompa

My trip to Nepal was great.
Sherpa Ngima was all the time ofering me all I needed douring my stay there. He was very friendly and profesional. He's a reliably person. All his tourus guides and drivers were exelent too.

Pemba, my sherpa douring my trekking from Lukla to Namche Bazaar and back to Lukla was great, we made a good team together, he's a trustworthy man, and even more importantly a very good person.

I learned a lot about your whanderful country and people. It was a pleasure for me to be able to share those incredible moments with all of you!!!

Activity Reviews

Trek from Phakding to Namche

Namche Bazaar

The landscape couldn't be better. What a an amazing place! Pemba, my sherpa douring my trek was great, we made a good team together, he's a trustworthy man, and even more importantly a very good person.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Free Day and Evening Trek Briefing

Kathmandu

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Trek from Namche to Lukla

Nepal

The landscape couldn't be better. What a an amazing place! Pemba, my sherpa douring my trek was great, we made a good team together, he's a trustworthy man, and even more importantly a very good person.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Acclimatization day in Namche Bazaar

Namche Bazaar

The Himalayan views were the best!

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Fly from Rammechap to Lukla, Trek to Phakding

Phakding

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

This was our first trip to Nepal. 8 days only. Thanks to Ngima for arranging this trip for us and keeping in touch with us every step of the way.
Lakpa, our guardian angel and driver stayed with us during the entire trip and we learned so much about Nepal from him. His attention and enthusiasm made all the difference!
In Kathmandu area, we loved discovering the Newari culture and the town of Bhaktapur the most. Pohkara was also lots of fun and walking the trails in Nagarkot was nice too. Knowing our interest for genuine local food our local guide, Kamaal, took us to several tiny local food outlets we would hv never found on our own. We just loved it.
We did not stray far from main areas this time, and we also enjoyed the white water rafting with a fun team. Next time we intend to explore other areas farther afield, with kimkim of course!

Hotel Reviews

Da Yatra Courtyard Hotel & Resort

Pokhara

A 2 star hotel with big ugly rooms and bathrooms. Its clean and functional, and is very conveniently located close to tge lake and restaurants but certainly not pleasant. Website says luxury hotel, definitely a far cry !! Most horrible breakfast with cold and stale food. Terrible coffee and tea. On second day, we decided to get our breakfast outside instead to get decent coffee and danish pastry. Definitely not recommended.

Authenticity & Character

Redo all interiors, make a small cafe opening to street. Get oroper management.

Location

Close to lake area

Staff

Staff was pleasant.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Design, wiring, furniture, bedding, towels,

Hotel Country Villa

Nagarkot

Lovely hotel with a Swiss spirit. Great location for hiking.

Authenticity & Character

Lovely , well maintained. Felt like Swiss !!

Location

Great views of the mountains

Staff

Nice and pleasant

Cleanliness & Comfort

Rooms are good, lovely balconies and heater working well.(necessary in the hills)

Hotel Ambassador

Kathmandu

Excellent hotel. Great rooms! Good rooftop restaurant. Breakfast OK, but staff lazy.

Authenticity & Character

Ok.

Location

Easy to walk to Thamel and other places

Staff

FnB staff lazy.

Cleanliness & Comfort

Well appoibted

Activity Reviews

Explore Kathmandu: Bouddhanath, Pashupatinath, and Patan Durbar Square

Kathmandu

Excellent guiding by Kamaal and Lakpa who really adapted to our needs.

Quality of Experience

Going to local places.

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Personal attention and knowledge

Transport

Comfortable car

Depart Kathmandu

Kathmandu

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Pokhara Sightseeing Tour

Pokhara

Ok. Nothing too much really, but guide was pleasant and Lakpa very attentive to our needs

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Car used.

Welcome to Kathmandu

Kathmandu Int. Airport (KTM)

Loved the personal welcome from Ngima and Lakpa.

Quality of Experience

Personal

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Everyone very pleasant

Transport

Good jeep. Perfect for Kathmandu.

Amanda was fantastic in helping us identify a trek that met all of our requirements, and answering our many questions. The briefing meeting after we arrived in Kathmandu was also really helpful. We trekked in the Rolwaling Valley and it was beautiful and the hike itself posed a good level of challenge. There were not too many other hikers around so it was peaceful, just what we were looking for. Our guide was nice and helpful but unfortunately didn't know the area so well having only been there twice before, and encouraged us to add a section to our trek that she hadn't previously done and was keen to do, but which turned out to be far too challenging for us - so I suggest checking with Amanda in advance how well your guide knows the area. The porter and drivers we had were very good. Overall a great trip.

Many thanks to KimKim for Raj of Social Tours (Nepal) & Sherab of Bhutan Travel Club & their addressing all of the details of this glorious trip. Leki Tshering, guide (for hiking as well) in Bhutan, was exceptional, full of life, an educator & ambassador. I was immersed in nature, social & religious learning. Our driver, Kim, was always helpful & courteous. In Nepal I hiked from village to village, (all steps) through beautiful farmlands & traveled through different parts of the country, lodging in locally owned home stays, a pleasant experience. Some of the properties for lodging were an oasis…just what is needed after an arduous few days of trekking. & then there was a hiccup in Bhutan which Sherab tended to with care and immediacy. His dedication to providing an over the top travel experience is greatly appreciated. I am so thankful for such a lovely experience.

Ngima and his team did an outstanding job from the planning stages all the way. Ngima was very prompt in responding to all my queries and helped us plan our trip without any problems.
We were welcomed at the airport by Lakpa who was very friendly and helpful and he took us around everywhere till we left.
Our trekking guide Ang and our porter Kungha were just as amazing as all others on the team. Very accommodating, kind and helpful.
Ngima is a wonderful tour operator. He made all arrangements for our stay and flights in spite of bad weather and flight cancellations. He worked very hard to get us a rescue helicopter when things got bad in Poonhill.
We will be definitely using Kimkim travels again and Ngima’s team in Nepal for our next expedition.

Thank you for reaching out and asking about our trip. It exceeded all of our expectations! First, Kimkim and Himalayan Trails executed everything perfectly. The people that surrounded us were always very professional, caring and made the trip seamless.

Rajiv did a great job of introducing us to the important historical sites in Kathmandu and Patan. What a great day that was. We were in informational overload and I had to let it sink in before going back and reading more about the sites we saw.

Our guide, Wang Chu, and porter, Neema , we’re first rate. I think one of the most important things a guide can do is understand his clients and Wang Chu was able to do that very quickly. He made adjustments throughout the trip that catered to what we were looking for and made our experience unbelievable. We often times felt like we were the only ones on the circuit and saw things I know other groups did not get to witness.

The trek itself was difficult at times but rewarding in every instance. The scenery was spectacular and Wang Chu taught us a great deal about the culture, livelihood and history of the Nepalese people as we trekked from village to village. What a great classroom and teacher!

I am glad we chose the Manislu circuit and I would recommend that to anyone interested in trekking the Himalayans. It offered a good challenge, varied landscapes and what felt like a relatively less travelled path.

Thank you for setting everything up for us and sticking with us for almost two years due to travel restrictions!

Again, thank you, Kripa, Rajiv, Sanzeb, Wang Chu, Neema and the whole staff at Kimkim and Himalayan Trails for making it a wonderful, memorable trip!

David Makepeace

Raj planned a 11 day trip to Nepal for us. During the planning stages he provided quick and very detailed responses to our questions and also made himself available for a couple of video chats. He has a great team of local guides. Our trekking guide Rabin was exceptional. After we landed in Nepal the itinerary had to be modified a bit but Raj and team took care of it and everything went well without a hitch. His team was very easy to reach during the trip - we always got a response in a timely manner.

Looking forward to a return visit!!!

Hotel Reviews

Buddha Maya Garden

Lumbini

Authenticity & Character

Lovely facility - like a huge old bungalow. Could use a bit of updating but definitely recommend.

Location

Staff

Very helpful staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Temple Tree Resort & Spa

Pokhara

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Hotel Ambassador

Kathmandu

Well located, great people, great restaurant

Authenticity & Character

Location

Staff

Cleanliness & Comfort

Activity Reviews

Drive to Trailhead & Trek to Ghandruk

Pokhara

We changed our trek. But the whole experience was just amazing. Can’t say enough about Rabin - super nice guy and extremely knowledgeable.

Quality of Experience

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Traditional Welcome Dinner

Kathmandu

Lovely dinner in a lovely place. Enjoyed chatting with Bipin and Rabin.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

Kathmandu Heritage Tour

Kathmandu

The tour was done in about 4 hours, even after we added Patan Durbar square which presumably was not in the plan. Felt rushed. So many things to take in. Could have definitely used more time.

Sunset Walk at Soyambhu

Kathmandu

Could have used more time here - did not last 3 hours.

Transport

We had an AMAZING trip with Sherpa Wangchhu and our porter, Nima, on the Tamang Heritage Trail. It was a true pleasure to stay with locals in towns like Tatopani and Gatlang, where they made us incredible meals, straight from their farms. We learned so much about the Tamang people and were inspired to see how much they've rebuilt since the earthquake. We had amazing views of the mountains and valley every day, and there was no shortage of cows, goats, and donkeys along the way. The trekking itself wasn't too challenging and with plenty of time, we could always take it slow if needed. Our favorite part was sipping milk tea at the end of a day of adventuring around the mountains. We highly recommend this trek and the amazing Kim Kim staff.!

My guide Pemba was amazing. We sat down every afternoon to worked through the following day. And When I was tired he helped me with my backpack, which was way too often.
Thanks ☺️

Activity Review

Trek from Kharikhola to Paiya (2770m).

Nepal

It was a really beautiful section of the walk

Quality of Experience

Very good coordination with Amanda prior the trip and the route were customized to what I am seeking. The guides and porter are very friendly and helpful. Although I have to abandon the rest of my trek due to lack of stamina and kneecaps pain, the company helped to arrange transport to the other hotels we have to rebooked. Appreciate the kind gesture and it is indeed a worry free trip. Thank you very much for the patience. Will definitely use the service again.

Amanda planned an amazing Itinerary, beautiful interesting lodgings and places full with historical sights yet comfortable. The first 3 night was excellent & I was looking forward to the rest of the stay but due to personal physical issue, we had to cancel the rest of the trip. Ms Kripa the coordinator in Kathmandu office was v helpful & arrange for daily transfers to our last few days and airport. Always checking if we need any assistance. Warm & great service. Will book again

The overall planning and booking experience with KimKim was excellent except the first appointment call. When I showed my interesting in KimKim trip, I was asked to book a 15min time slot to talk to a local (California) person. And I found this person has no value added. I asked many questions in the call and none was answered. I would have given a 5 stars if there is no such an annoy call.

The KimKim payment and communication system are very convenient. All the communications and attachment are well kept in the system and easy to read. The response from Ngima is incredibly fast and accurate. Nigma answered our questions with patient and with no nonsense. His expertise and knowledge provided me a trustworthy feeling.

KimKim assigned a local driver Lhakpa to us. Lhakpa has very fluent English. Lhakpa drove us to and from airport and also during our sightseeing tours in Kathmandu. He gave us a very nice overall introduction of Nepal and Kathmandu. He was also a good photographer and knew the "should not miss" photography spots.

The most important person in this trip is no doubt our Sherpa guide, Furba. I would like to show my deepest appreciation to him to make this trip safe and memorable. He is responsible, knowledgeable, and considerate. He spotted wild animals to us, for example Himalayan tahr. He pointed and named every peaks to us during the entire trip. Due to the unstable weather, he had to modify our itinerary from day to day to optimize the trip. He also tried his best to accommodate all our requests during the entire trip. For example, we requested to have single rooms for both of us. He told us in some remote village the availability is very limited and because of the high demand, a single supplement might not possible, but he will do his best. At the end, we had single supplement on every nights in our trip. Furba has done an excellent job.

The last person I would to mention is our porter, Lhakpa. He has taken good care of our luggage, especially during a few raining days.

The mountain scenery is the best in the world. The images of the peaks, Mt Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam, Cho Oyu, Cholatse, Tabuche, etc., are imprinted in my brain. However, the most critical part of this trip is the persons provided the service to you. Thank you again for the persons I mentioned above.

Activity Reviews

Acclimatization day in Namche Bazaar

Namche Bazaar

The hike from Namche to Hotel Everest View was very pleasure. It was very impressive of the Namche town viewed from above on the trail to Hotel Everest View. The close up views of Mt Everest, Lohtse, and Ama Dablam are unforgettable.

Trek from Dzongla to Gokyo (15,584 feet / 4750 m) via Cho La Pass

Gokyo

From the get go Ngima instilled confidence with his prompt replies to my questions during the initial planning stages. We had limited time and wanted to fit in as much as possible without having to worry about transport and transfers from one destination to the next. The Poon Hill trek was memorable, not least because our guide Dafuri and porter, Ngima had the best sense of humour and kept us going by gauging our ability perfectly and taking care to make sure that we were safe and comfortable at all times. We also spent the evenings teaching each other card games and we had a lot of fun. Our driver from Pokhara back to Kathmandu via Bandipur, drove with skill and patience through monsoon rain, landslides and festival traffic. We always felt safe despite some tricky conditions and were able to enjoy the amazing sights and scenery along the way. Everyone we met contributed to a memorable experience and knowing someone always had our backs meant we could just enjoy the trip and appreciate Nepal to the fullest.

Activity Review

Trek from Ghorepani to Tadapani (8,562 feet / 2,610 m), Sunrise at Poon Hill

Nepal

Definitely the highlight. The climb of the previous day was challenging and the extra trek uphill to see the sunrise seemed never ending but it was so worth it. The cup of coffee at the top probably one of the best ever and the views just breathtaking.

Quality of Experience

Food

Guides, Drivers and Staff

Transport

2 Star rating for response to bad weather in Lower Mustang

The 2-star rating applies to the entire team handling our trip.

The highlight of our trip to Nepal was supposed to be our mountain biking trip. Bad weather and poor anticipation and replanning made it an experience we rather forget quickly. We had planned to bike in the Lower Mustang region. While we did travel to Pokhara during rainy weather we never made it to Jomson as there were no flights and landslides blocked the roads. While the team is not responsible for the weather, the implication could and should have been anticipated. We pushed for a replan after an idle day in Pokhara. We ended up traveling to the Everest area where the weather was much better. We lost 3 days. Unfortunately, our guide wasn't very familiar with the trails. She wasn't prepared for the Everest area. We ended up going down two trails that were nothing short of dangerous and required a lot of walking with our bikes. Out of the 8 days of bike rental, I rode my bike 3 days (the bike broke down on the last day and I hiked the trail while my friend and out guide did the ride). The reason for given 2 stars instead of 1 is that the team was helpful, we had some nice experiences at the tea houses, changed plans to have a change to see Mt Everest (which worked out well), ... Again, it all started with bad weather, but the local team could have done a much better job preparing and triggering an alternative plan. We ended up spending about $500 / day (without bike rental) per person, for one hotel room (with double beds). That looks expensive given typical cost of a room ($10 - $20 / night, 1, 2 or 3 rooms as needed for driver and guide as well), meals ($4-$8, need to cover guide and driver), car and driver (on one of the days in KTM we got our own driver (not included in the kimkim fees) and paid $45 for car and driver for the day), guide, ... (we also paid over $200 in tips for guide, driver, ...).

A trip that definitely didn't meet expectations. Luckily the time we spent on our own gave us a chance to learn a lot about the country. And our guide showed us a wonderful monastery and helped us with a great morning experience seeing the Himalaya and Mt Everest (but that was really too little for $5k / 2 people).

I hope that our less than desirable experience will lead to some better back-up planning and makes a difference for future visitors who encounter similar weather conditions. Jan and I did enjoy the country and we look forward to another change to explore it (better).

Thanks for listening.

Niels

I want to say thanks to Kunchok and his team for a wonderful experience. My brother and I visited Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Nagarkot for a week long trip in October 2022. The trip was an adventure and we had the opportunity to trek, explore the towns, and go river rafting. Kunchok was an excellent host and made sure everything went smoothly. We had enough downtime to enjoy the experience and I highly recommend KimKim and Kunchok in particular.

Thank you Amanda, Kripa and Subash for the most amazing trip to Nepal!

Your excellent preparation, guidance, diligence and humour made every second of our trip so special.

The atmosphere in Nepal is best described as simply magical and it doesn't take long until it pulls you in completely. Thanks to the "all in" service attitude of the wonderful kimkim team, we had nothing to worry about or take care of, we could just concentrate on soaking up all images and vibes of this beautiful country with its lovely, friendly people all around.

Our trip itinerary was worked out, hotels booked, every car ride arranged, meeting times scheduled, all planes trips organized for us - all we had to do was kick back, enjoy and not worry about a single thing! It all worked out like clockwork.

Amanda did an excellent job figuring out what exactly we wanted to see way before our trip, had a great upbeat attitude that made planning the trip even more fun. She understood perfectly well what we wanted to experience and she put it all into a very carefully selected and planned out itinerary. One that could only be worked out by someone knowing the country very well!

Kripa thank you for taking such good care of us during our stay in Nepal. You were the anchor and support who was always there in the background pulling all the strings and making miracles happen. It also felt great to have you call in and ask if everything is going well and if we are doing great. We felt very pampered!

Subash, our wonderful and very attentive guide showed us corners and customs of Nepal that we otherwise would never have found by ourselves. He paid close attention to where our interests were when we first met and catered exactly to our needs with the sights he showed us and the information he provided about them. As my teenage daughter was travelling with her nosy Mum, this was sometimes a stretch, but he managed beautifully! He was very finely in tune with us to always make the experience comfortable and interesting at the same time for both of us.

We have since returned and still Nepal is lingering in our thoughts and our bodies. And as well as this experience will always stay in our hearts and lives forever, so will it be tied to the people who helped create it.

Thank you very deeply to all of you
Namaste!