Kimkim Trip Reviews

Our driver and our guide (Carla) were great. We even have a continuing contact with her now we liked her so much. Her English is good and she was great at explaining the bad political current climate we couldn't understand. We had to change our plans because if it and Milenka had our back as well as she could with the last minute changes.

Erin, the Himalayan Trails staff, our guide Wongchu and the team of porters were all stellar throughout our whole experience - from the 10 month pre-trek planning and prep phase, to the moment we stepped out of the Kathmandu airport and all the way back again to our departure. As pretty well fit 50 year olds we found the Gokyo Ri/Lakes circuit challenging, namely due to the altitude. But the length of the trek and the acclimatization days did seem to help ease the associated symptoms. Some highlights: the agro-based sherpa culture village/landscape of Rimjung; the sheer bazaar-ness of the location, size and activity of Namche Bazar; the altitude sickness presentation in Machherma; summiting Gokyo Ri with the accompanying 360 degree view of the Himalayas including, of course, Mt. Everest; crossing Renjo La Pass; and just meeting and witnessing the beautiful, hardworking, ancient Himalayan and Sherpa peoples going about there daily lives.

We recently came back from a great trip to Chile

While we had a general sense of what we wanted to see & do, we elected to utilize Kimkim to assist us in our planning

They put us in contact with Nicholas at TURISMO MILODON travel based in Santiago Chile who did an especially great job and promptly responded to all emails and text messages

Prior to our trip we inquired about some of the excursions that we were interested in (Santiago, Valparaiso, Atacama, Torres del Paine)

Nicholas came back with an assortment of suggestions that met our needs (especially since we can't stand some activities on the high elevation in Atacama)

We also needed some guidance on hotels. Again, he provided multiple options (at different price points). All the hotels met or exceeded our expectations. The Hotel Vendaval in Puerto Natalas deserves special attention. The staff was extremely accommodating, and the hotel construction was unique – natural wood, minimal carpeting and a large rooftop deck/lounge with great views

Roberto (our guide for the Santiago and Valparaiso excursions) was very knowledgeable on the history and various sites we visited. Language was not a problem as he spoke excellent English

One other excursion we had was a full day private tour at Matetic vineyard which included horseback riding, winery tour and tasting and a great lunch at their Restaurant (Equilibrio’s). Their Sovereign Blanc and Syrah wines were both excellent and are recommended

Our guide for the Valle de Luna excursion (Oct 16) was very thorough and gave an excellent tour

More importantly, a BIG THANKS to Nicholas who was proactive in monitoring the civil unrest situation that developed in Santiago during our visit and suggested we switch to a different hotel for our last night. He was able to get us a room at an airport hotel which worked out great since our return flight was moved up 10 hrs. to a morning departure

All in all, we had a great experience and highly recommend using Kimkim

We are looking forward to returning to Chile

Except for the weather our trip was a wonderful experience and Sam and Rocio had no control over that. The local guides Susanna, Earnesto and Eva were so willing to share their knowledge with us and the time we spent with them enhanced our trip greatly. Thanks also for recommending hotels which were we excellently located. Thanks especially for recommending that we stay in Getaria rather than San Sebastián. We never would have thought it except as stop to visit the Balenciaga Museum.
Based on our experienced with Sam, Rocio and the guided we have already recommended kimkim to a friend planning a trip to Greece.

We were a group of 4 adults and 4 adventurous children (age 7-10) and had a really great introduction to Nepal covering trekking, wildlife in the Chitwan National Park and an immersion to Kathmandu which included a very insightful market visit and a brilliant cooking lesson - supported by Raj and the team.
In the run up to the trip we found the team to respond quickly, answer a host of questions and adapt the itinerary to meet our changing requirements. We took a couple of internal flights to cut down travel time on the road that were delayed several hours - come to the airport prepared for delays, and many of the roads were very bumpy - again be prepared! The t-shirts and water bottles which were gifted to us were appreciated as well as the briefing session on arrival so we could ask any unanswered questions face to face e.g. how much to tip the guides/ porters, how cold it would be up the mountains etc.
My only advice would to be very clear how far you wish to trek each day and how able/ active your party are. We felt we could have gone further and seen plenty more - and having briefed this in we were disappointed that our trekking was over much earlier than we had hoped each day with limited possibility to make changes while en route.

Our driver Hasan was friendly, a good communicator and was always prompt at any rendezvous and gave us clear directions and meeting points. He was generous with advice and information.
Amanda our trip organiser was helpful and insightful, giving useful advice on trip creation and sights not to miss along the way.
We felt looked after from the meeting at airport arrivals to the return to departures.

This trip was organised incredibly well. Tashi was able to factor in Kathmandu’s culture, a trek to Poon Hill and experience the jungle in Chitwan within 12 days.
Tashi continually replied promptly and would always help me with any questions and queries I had about the trip. He was friendly and professional when we met at the airport, and talked me through the trip and helped me find trekking gear.
My guide, Pemafuti, and porter were both incredible during my trek and made me feel comfortable during my trip. There were experienced, friendly and allowed me to use one of their trekking poles when mine broke.
Poon Hill was by far the most memorable part of my trip.
I would highly recommend doing the itinerary that I followed, as I covered so much in such a short amount of days. I felt accomplished yet I didn’t feel I rushed any part of my trip.

Our group of seven recently came back from a trek in Nepal through your company and i thought it may be helpful to provide some feedback on our experience. Overall, we had a fantastic time and found all the staff professional, positive, and very attentive. We really appreciated that Erin was able to book not just our trek, but also our kathmandu hotel, our Surkhet hotel, and our internal flight to Surkhet. That was so convenient for us and made our lives much better. Everythimg was taken care of and we didn't have to worry about even one night's accomodations. 

Sonam, our guide...Our guide was fantastic!! She was a highlight of our trip!!! She seemed to genuinely care about us having a good experience. She had a great attitude and was so positive and fun! She was a great communicator, explained what to expect very well, and laid out each day clearly. She was also very good at estimating how long it would take to get to our destination, something Nepalis aren't always good at. She was a delight to spend two weeks with! I would highly reccommend her as a guide to anyone. Since our group was mostly women, we loved that we had a female guide!!

The porters and assistant guide...The porters enthusisam and pleasant personalities were a delight to be around. We really liked that they didn't smoke like we saw many others doing. They all worked so hard and anytime we asked them for anything they were right there to help us. They were fantastic!!!!

The food on the trek...The food was plentiful with a lot of variety. We all ordered different things and felt very accomodated. We all found the food delicious and got our fill. It was better than we expected!!

Hotel Manaslu...Our kathmandu hotel was great! The food, accomodations, staff were all great. It was our little refuge from the bustle of kathmandu life. 
The hotel in Surkhet...Our Surkhet hotel was far more than we thought we would get there. The hotel driver was there to pick us up at the airport, the food was great, and the staff very accomodating.

Trekking accomodations...Our first Hotel, ABC Hotel, was very dirty and we just sucked it up and endured. It was quite horrible and we were worried the whole trek would be like that. It got better almost with each hotel and we enjoyed all the other ones. We loved the hot showers and the rooms that had comforters!!! The clothes lines were really nice too. A couple of rooms had trash cans and we felt like we won the lottery.

Erin...Erin was always quick to respond to our questions while we were planning and getting ready in the US. Her enthusiasm came through in her messages, and once we met her she was equally enthusiastic. She was bery smiley and friendly and clearly enjoyed working with people. We had an issue with getting the permits and giving our passports to one of the staff people and she came to our hotel right away. She was good at solving problems in a timely manner. My only constructive feedback for Erin would be to be more definitive and less loosey-goosey about things. When we asked if we needed crampons or microspikes, she said we can bring them if we have them. We really didn't know if we needed to bring them or not. When asked about bringing snacks she said we could if we wanted to, but really we needed to bring them. When asked about bringing a sleep pad she said we could bring one if we wanted to, but we never needed one and several people in our group brought them. The beds on the trek all had sleep pads that were very nice. I don't know if Erin has done this trek, but if not, maybe it would be helpful to do it so she can better answer client questions with more certainty and less ambiguity to help people better prepare for their trip. 

The handouts...Some of the information we got pre-departure seemed pretty out dated. 
The tipping information seemed incorrect based on what others told us. 
We didn't need to bring nalgene bottles as they filtered water rather than bolied it. Several of us didn't bring a bladder because of this information, and wished we had one. 
Airport tax is no longer charged on departure. 

The need for crampons or microspikes was very wishy washy. I think you should tell everyone to bring micro spikes. If they don't need them its fine, but if they are needed, it's essential to have them. 

Sometimes it felt like the info was generic to any trek, but it would be nice to have information that was specific to our trek.

Some additional info that would have been helpful...Bring snacks because on the big pass day you won't have acces to food. 

It would be better to get a little more description on what to expect on the trails. We were sort of in the dark as to what to expect and pack for. We got the packing list, but it would have been helpful to know that we would be in both very hot weather as well as very, very cold weather. 
Our time hiked was greater than every day on the description. 

Trekking poles are essential for stream crossings, balance on cliffs, and downhill stints.
It would be helpful to know that the trekking itinerary is an estimate of where we would stay, and that the trek may change based on weather, hiking strength, or accomodations. It would be nice to know that the descriptions we got weren't set in stone if they aren't. 

It would be very helpful to have an idea as to how much various things cost along the trek. Specifically, a hot shower is $5 to $6. Beer is about $6. And wifi ranges from $2 to $5. This would help us to figure out how much money to bring on the trail. It would also be good to know that there are a few handcrafted items we may like to buy along the way. 

The night before the pass and on the pass day  we were told that we should drink warm water, not cold. We were supplied with half hot and half cold water so we wouldnt drink cold water. We were then charged $36 for having the water boiled. We weren't told in advance that we'd be charged for the water and weren't given a choice as to whether we wanted hot water or not. It would have been nice to have been told in advance that we'd be charged, then given the choice as to wheher we wanted it or not. 

We thought we were going to have two rest  days, but we had none and hiked everyday. It would have been nice to know that we really had no rest days to mentally prepare ourselves. 

Our trip, organised very professionally by Luciana, was great. We had limitted time and hit the highlights. Foz du Iguassu, a stay in an Amazon jungle lodge, and a couple of days in Rio. All great experiences. The ride under the falls in a huge speed boat was exhilarating, and an unexpected highlight. We had some unexpected flight delays (2!) , and Luciana was fantastic in reorganising pickups, hotels, tours etc, to get us back on schedule. We had a great time. Thanks Luciana.

My friend and I do not normally take planned tours when we travel, but we were thrilled with this experience in Morocco with kimkim and Morocco Off the Beaten Path. First of all, Evan made our planning easy; neither of us had time to really plan this trip and Evan was very accessible and made the planning process stress free. He answered our questions and met up with our interests and budget.
From the beginning of our time in Morrocco to the time we returned to the Casablanca airport, our Tour Guide Issmail was welcoming, friendly and responsive. He gave us context to what we saw and experienced, made sure we were at ease and safe and was always responsive to what we asked for (i.e. stops, information).
All of our riads (hotels) were beautifully decorated and interesting. Our favorite was the palatial riad at Fez and the rustic one in the Atlas Mountains.
We enjoyed our tours around Fez and Marrakech. Yassine of Morroco Off the Beaten Track joined us in Fez and he added to our experience. In Marrakech, we learned a lot from our tour guide.
Overall, our trip was a beautiful, fun and memorable cultural experience - just what we were hoping for. And, we hope to return with a bit more time to spend at the seaside and in the Sahara.

Michele and his team did a wonderful job. My expectations were high for this trip; and, my expectations were left in the dust for what my experiences actually were on this trip. The accommodations were top notch. The itinerary that was made for me, was spot on, perfect. Michele and his team were able to notify me immediately of an issue with one of the excursions I was going to take, avoiding me driving out of my way to find out it had been cancelled. The few questions I had, their response was nearly immediate. I would highly recommend using them if you know nothing about the wonderful place of Iceland.

We had a fantastic experience and would highly recommend Morocco Immersion! Sharon was great and super responsive in planning the trip, and our guide on-the-ground Amnay was fantastic.

We were very pleased with our experience in Egypt and would recommend your firm without any hesitation. It was reassuring to us as first-time visitors to know there was always someone to meet us and help us navigate our transition from plane to hotel, particularly at the Cairo airport, which lacks adequate signage for wayfarers. The accommodations were first rate, and we received a double upgrade at the Four Seasons at Sharm el Sheikh. Dalia was our favorite guide. The Egyptian Museum is probably incomprehensible without a knowledgeable guide like her, and we really appreciated her efforts to face us as she spoke instead of speaking to the windshield of the vehicle as at least one of our greeters did. It was also nice that she was very attentive to us and minimized conversations on the phone while she was with us. Our trip was a great value and a great experience.

Rodrigo was fantastic!

Did some things well but some little things weren't quite so good. To be fair this was part of a big trip and didn't pay enough attention til at the time so maybe should have picked up some things earlier. Hotels chosen were great and any activities arranged were well done. Responses were always very quick but all by email, no personal touch but that may be an age thing. I did have to ring them once as had left some jewellery behind on one of the islands but otherwise would have had no voice contact at all. They were very good at organizing my jewellery to get to me. Some more detail would have been helpful on what was needed and what to expect. Like on the boat trip did we need to bring our own towel or was one provided for swimming. I did ask, was told take a towel but one was provided. To also to be fair our previous trip we had a driver the whole time and this was a lot more hands off affair so dont want to compare or judge on that.

We had a wonderful trip to Zion, Bryce and the Grand Canyon national parks, and to the Antelope Canyons. The self-guided guide prepared by Cami was very useful in pointing us to places to stay and dine, and popular areas to visit/see based on our schedule. We just followed the guide and had the best time! Thank you Cami!

Just not used to not meeting Dimitris for the whole trip - next time need to give me WARNING about the Hotel in Santorini being Down on the cliff - i was panic because i was not sure how to move the my 2 luggage by my self claim ing over 50 steep steps

Oooh we really enjoyed it! It was so impressive, such a beautiful landscape and country. The people are really friendly and the food was good. Fortunately we were lucky with the weather so the view was amazing. Tendu was a nice guide, he really took care of us.
The only little negative thing was that the driver didn't find our hotel where we stayed after the trekking tour. So we had to help him with google maps. But it can happen, so we forgot it immediately when we arrived.

In general it was easy to organise and good recommendations were given. The problem was that the hotels and experiences that were booked did not meet our expectations or the description provided by kimkim and once the issues were raised they were not addressed by Kimkim

My guide and driver were great.
The only issues would be the hotels in Machu Picchu and urabamba.
In Machu Picchu I was right next to the train which made its way every 2 hours not allowing for any sleep nor peace.
The setting in Urubamba was beautiful but the entry door was completely sealed making it loud for people walking bye and bugs were ever present.
Thanks