Kimkim Trip Reviews

No trip halfway around the world could ever be perfect. If you want perfect, maybe go to Monaco, not Nepal. I started working online with Kimkim in the early spring of 2017 to book a trip for my family to Nepal with no prior knowledge of where to go or how to get it done. The Kimkim website first impressed me with the large number of trekking options available. It was a bit overwhelming to the Nepal novice, but as I exchanged information with Mads at Kimkim, he patiently helped me come up with an itinerary. My family of 5 wanted to combine trekking and sightseeing during our trip. All of us are in reasonably good physical condition, but we came with no real experience with hardcore trekking, mountain climbing, high altitude activities, etc. Kimkim built a trip plan that took all of this into account, along with our preferences for lodging along the way.

We just got back from our trip and all of us agree that Kimkim delivered on everything we asked for. To start with, the guides assigned to our family were outstanding. These were some very smart, impressive people. They taught us a lot about Nepal and made a huge difference in overall experience. Every step of the way, the local people assigned to my family were attentive, patient and friendly. We really couldn’t have asked for more.

I’ll be honest, the trekking was close to the limits of what we could handle, but that is not a complaint. We expected hiking around Nepal to be physically demanding and strenuous and it most certainly was. If you’re not in good physical condition, you need to be very thoughtful about signing up for this type of activity. The trekking route we took in the Khumbu region was physically challenging, often dangerous and busy with other people (and animals) headed in both directions. We loved every minute of it. A fascinating, beautiful place. My aching knees (get trekking poles) and altitude-induced headaches were a small price to pay for the experience. At the end of our 5 day trekking schedule, we were tired, sore, cold and sorry that it was over. I would have gladly gone on for another 5 days (assuming my knees held up). Great, great, great experience.

Back in Kathmandu, our guide took us to more amazing places than I can remember to wrap up our trip. It really was an almost perfect combination of trekking and cultural experience. I give Kimkim full credit for putting it all together for us.

It seems trivial to bitch about anything after such a great experience, but if you need proof I’m not an employee of the company, here is our list of grievances:
- We weren’t fully prepared for the possibility of flight delays getting out of Kathmandu into the mountains. It’s not that Kimkim didn’t warn us, we just didn’t pay much attention. We spent the better part of a day waiting for a flight because of bad weather. That was not fun. If I had it to do over again, I would either add another day or two to the trip to allow for this possibility or talk to Kimkim about hiring a helicopter to ensure you’ll get to your destination on time. Lesson learned.
- There’s no heat and often no hot water in the sleeping rooms, even in the more upscale lodges we booked. You realize pretty quickly that this is not unusual for Nepal. Bring the warm clothes Kimkim suggests and you’ll be fine. It wasn’t a big deal for me, but other members of the family were a bit more put off by this. You won’t always be comfortable, so just be prepared (thermal underwear helps a lot).
- Electricity is not easy to deliver to many places in Nepal, so it is generally dimly lit and downright dark in most of the place you’ll go. Bring your own lighting for reading if you think this will bother you.
- If a lodge advertises they have Wi-Fi Internet service, it doesn’t mean much. They may not have it at all or it may not be working when you arrive. You may go for several days without being able to contact friends and family back home. Just be prepared for this and unplug from the grid for a few days. Character-building. 
- Walking around Kathmandu is stressful. Some fun-loving Nepali decided it would be fun to run his motorcycle up the back of my leg a few times to mess with the tourist. I was not amused, but I kept myself under control (barely) and let him pass. You’ll need to be prepared for the chaos and traffic jams in Kathmandu and embrace them as part of the overall experience. There’s no avoiding it and it’s not a reason to stay in your hotel. Just get your game face on.

A few other comments: The food was great, we didn’t get sick, the people were generally very friendly and courteous, the airport is a bit of a hot mess and the prices are all cheap to very reasonable.

If you’re thinking of going to Nepal for the first time, all I can suggest is get yourself in good shape, practice being patient, bring all the cash you think you’ll need with you (don’t rely on ATM machines, credit cards generally worked fine) and use Kimkim to book your trip. They did a fantastic job for us and we can recommend them without any reservations.

Great trip and once-in-a-lifetime experience. Thank you Mads, Pasang, Rajive and Raj. I hope to book another trip with you someday in the future.

We wouldn't have changed a thing, except maybe that I lost the sole of my shoe five minutes into hiking!! Ha No but seriously, everything was perfect. Raj, Anura and team really put together a trip that included a little bit of everything, which truly gave us a clear taste and feel of Nepal. They were able to put together a full and comprehensive trip for us within our week timeframe, and I couldn't be more grateful!! We love Nepal!!! And I'll definitely be using KimKim for future trip planning!!!

Raj was always responsive and even downloaded a Marco Polo app so that we could communicate better, since our timezones were so different, which was very helpful. He was great from the beginning on and was very patient will all my million questions and worries. He was really great!!!

Wonderful, wonderful experience, booking was seamless and easy. The entire trip was absolutely just amazing. The service was top notch, the equipment was top notch and I have made new friends. There truly is not enough nice things I can say about Quechua Treks and James. This was an amazing trip. The food was excellent as well. I am already in the process of booking several other trips through kimkim and Quechua Treks.

James is amazing. Perfect communication and kept in contact. I'm actually not sure he ever sleeps because he answered every question I had promptly and I work nights!!!!

We loved Elephant Pass yoga retreat! The yoga, people, food were incredible. Wonderful adventure. Samon was excellent tour guide in Kerala/Cochin. He was always on time, spoke English well and took us to a beautiful shop. We met many kind people on the houseboat. Everything was perfect, making for a great first impression of India. Thank you.

Several accommodations were outstanding - Palazzo Failla Hotel in Monica and Hotel Olympia in Venice were great and exceeded out expectations. However, the hotel in Catania, Hotel Alla Giudecca was in a good location but was pretty "spartan" and dark; the kitchenette for our purposes was unnecessary. The hotel in Catania, Hotel Etna 316, was also only marginally acceptable. Again it was in a good, central location. Problems include: it had poor air conditioning; our room was literally connected to the breakfast dining area and was noisy; the host who greeted us, Marco, was rude and obnoxious, and instead of answering our basic questions about the neighborhood, safety, etc, he felt compelled to brag about himself and avoid answering our questions. Also, somewhat curiously, they demanded to hold our room key at the front desk when we went out.
The tour guide in Siracusa, Eva Greco, was outstanding and should always be recommended for her knowledge and personality. Our guide in Venice, Fiona Giusto was also very solid.
The transports to hotels and back to the airport were also very dependable, calling the hotels to remind/confirm our departure times.
One of the highlights of the trip was wine tasting and lunch at Cantina Planeta Buonovini. They had a great presentation, excellent wines, and a great lunch in an outdoor setting.

Giorgia was very responsive to the several questions we had while on the trip, and sent reminder messages to us about tour times and connections. Her choices for accommodations and tour guides were, overall, excellent.

There were several mishaps in the execution of the trip which weren't Preeti's fault and she was willing and able to help us make the best out of these situations

One of the best trips I've had arranged with an agent and I've done +20 agent coordinated trips. Impressed with Kimkim from top to bottom.

It was an excellent trip by Ngima and his team. We had one day that was less than perfect due to our guide (Tshering) under estimating our hiking time (5 hours vs 12 hours) which led to a challenging and over strenuous day. Other than that the entire trip was excellent, including the two porters (Lale - excellent; Bikram - good).

We booked quite late, but some of the things between Kim Kim, Experience Jordan, and the driver were not so clear; although things were always resolved quickly.

Good advice on the trip, and how to best allocate time.

It was definitely an amazing trip. Except for Day 4, the continuous trek, which could have been split. We walked/hiked/climbed down for almost 12 hours that day and it is quite possible that the time extends considering most of us are not professional climbers. Rest everything was really very good. I thank social tours for our guide Robin who was so courteous and well mannered throughout. Thank you Team kimkim for making this happen for me. Cheers!

Our guide, Naresh, was brilliant... Nothing was too much trouble and everyone else wanted him to be their guide. He knew where to get the best pictures and was always helpful, his English is really good and he was easy to understand. He always looked out for me and made sure I was okay and always made me eat lots of food.
I wouldn’t have wanted any other guide and would definitely want him to be my guide again if he would have me of course.

The trip Mads planned was exactly what I asked for with great views of Everest throughout but trying to stay away from the crowds. Mads always answered any questions in a timely manor and gave additional information.

Everything was very seamless and smooth sailing. Our driver,Denver was extremely helpful and couldn't do enough for us. Having a private driver allows so much more flexibility to tailor to our specific interests. It was great to learn about the history and visit this beautiful country. An incredibly well organized trip. Many thanks

Bishnu was amazing and so was the porter Sujan. They were unbelievably friendly and made the whole trip amazing. I would recommend them for a raise. Bishny heeled us feel like locals in no time.

The only thing that really wasn't Amanda's issue but would have helped us plan a little more. Was the 15kg bag limit per person. It made it a little difficult on Amanda to organise last minute bag storage for us. Maybe that info cold be added to the Trek gear info so it can be sorted out before the trip starts.

Our guide Sangay went out of his way to provide us with the additional activities that we requested. This included visiting the Faculty of Traditional Medicine in Thiumpu, walking accross a suspension bridge, purchasing certain meditation items and some of Bhutan’s products (honey). This he managed despite our very full and busy schedule. The flight times were out of the control of the tour operators. The time of our booking was late due to a previous tour falling through and this restricted the available flights at the optimal times. The flight times to and from Bhutan restricted the time and activities possible on the first and last day. This was disappointing because the other days were full of interesting and enjoyable activities and left us longing for more time.

Mads managed to put together a tour which packed in a lot despite the late notice. He was very responsive to requests and extremely prompt and thorough with communication and information.
Mads choice of accommodation suited us perfectly. He also organised, at very short notice, to swap a vesper for a Royal Enfield motorcycle when one of our group expressed a desire to ride one! I would not hesitate to use Mads again for a trip/holiday or to recommend him to others (which I have already done)

There were a couple of problems when we were using the private transfers. We couldn't find the drivers and had to call the car service a couple times. The drivers were actually there but they were hard to find. They usually had a sign with our name but those times we couldn't find them, the drivers were in a high traffic area or not holding the sign up at all. When we called the car service number we provided, they often did not speak English so it was difficult to communicate the problem. Otherwise, the transfers were fine.

Giorgia was very attentive and answered questions quickly. When we had problems with the private transfers or with a tour guide meeting point, she was attempting to troubleshoot and find solutions. She always checked in with us to make sure everything was going well and was very friendly.

The first thing is that I had never done an organised tour before. Of course with the regulations in Bhutan it is the only way to see the country that I had wanted to visit for so long.  In my early exchanges with Vishal he made me extremely comfortable that a tour did not mean bus rides with many people; controlled timings on visits to places; and having to ensure we experienced the country at the pace of the slowest person in the group. Vishal carefully asked me what it was I wanted to see in Bhutan, which Places drew me to the county, and what kind of experience I wanted to take away.  He built an itinerary that combined my need to experience the history, the landmarks, the culture and the trekking, suggesting timeframes that would encompass all of these things without needing to rush, and giving me options throughout the itinerary that gave complete flexibility for us to enjoy. The planning became an exciting part of the trip (as it should be) and was an excellent experience.

Guide and porter were both great. Very friendly, calm and understanding.
The trek itself was ok as well but the 3rd was just too much.
As we already knew beforehand that it will be a long day, we couldn't really enjoy the view at the peak because we had the feeling that we need to rush in order to get all the distance covered within daylight. Although we hurried, we did not manage to arrive Junbesi by daylight. The last 2 hours we were trekking in the dark. Further the trek on this day was really hard and there were several Situations where i was really scared to death. The Trek was full with stones, it was tight and slippery and next to some really high cliffs. I spent 4 hours of the day Just praying to survive. I know this might sound a bit dramatic but I was really facing big fears. Our Guide was really helpful and supported us best possible. I would split the 3rd day and only walk till Lunch. There is No need for a full restday in Junbesi, if the day before is devided into 2 days..

The team of Himalayan trails was very helpful on planning, booking and solving problems that arouse in our trip. The few things that could have been better were may be, due to misunderstanding with our guide, but nothing really important! We appreciate so much that they did their best to make our trip possible and successful.

Mads was always very helpful! He answered our questions soon giving us good options and confidence.

The guide and porter were fantastic and we had an amazing time. Raj did a good job responding to our questions. Anura Rai, however, was absolutely horrible at communicating really all details for the trip. The bulk communication we received from her was VERY last minute...we were already at the airport enroute.

Raj was good but we were very disappointed with the lack of information provided by Anura.

Ngima was fantastic

The itinerary - Giorgia worked with us to create the trip that was suited to us, at a fair price.
She was always there if we wanted to contact her with any queries or comments.
The hotels - Were all in great locations, and were very good to excellent rooms. There was only one that was unsuitable, and this complaint was quickly rectified by the hotel and Giorgia. The staff were always helpful and friendly, and were always expecting us.
The connections - All connections were met, the drivers were on time, English-speaking and well-briefed.
Extra activities - All activities that we booked were arranged with excellent guides, and were great experiences for us. Tour guides were professional and fluent, and activities such as food tours of particular towns and the cooking class were outstanding value for money.

All this meant that we were able to be confident in our itinerary, certain about what would happen, and therefore fully able to experience the trip without worry.

Thanks to Giorgia of Kimkim for her great work in organising and implementing what was an excellent and memorable two-week immersion into Sicily. We have great memories for life.

Robert Lewis and Ros Gilchrist