Kimkim Trip Reviews

The local team did a great job taking care of us and helping with all our needs! This went beyond the organized part of the tour (buying trekking shoes our organizing transport out of Kathmandu) and we could always count on them

I really had a great experience in Nepal thanks to Kencho and the guide, Mr. Sherpa. It was really a sweet escape and I just had a blast. Everyone was so nice and helpful (starting from the pickup-drop), the resort was great, the track and tour was also memorable. I am so happy that the trip really captured what I want and I really look forward to be in Nepal again

Summary

These guys know their stuff and can handle much more difficult challenges than ours.

Background

John and I started walking about a year ago and decided that it would be a good challenge to go trekking in Nepal. We are 67 and 64 years old and no previous trekking experience.

We first looked at holiday packages to Nepal, many are 14 day packages with 3-4 days trekking. That wasn’t enough trekking for us. Google search recommended using trekking companies being members of the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal. Himalayan Trails is on the members list and are also a travel agency with excellent reviews on TripAdvisor. We live in Australia and Himalayan Trails has a sales representative from Australia, Amanda Delecca who handled our package.

Package Development

Contact and financial control was through the US online travel agency Kim Kim website portal. Amanda considered our inexperience, age and general health to design options for us. We chose the lower Annapurna Circuit. After several “conversations” through the Kim Kim portal we extended the 6 day loop to 8 days with a “rest” day at Ghorepani.

On the lead up to our trip Amanda communicated with us giving encouragement and sent helpful tip sheets for arrival and departure, what to pack, etc.

We wanted some cultural experience in our package. Our final itinerary is below.

Day 1. Arrive from Australia.

Day 2. Catch-up day in Kathmandu to meet Amanda and our trekking guide to help us get those last minute items - buy or hire.

Day 3. Sightseeing Pashupati Ceremonial area, Boudhanath Stupa and Swoyambhunath.

Amanda suggested we fly to Pokhara. The flight takes 25 minutes and saves a day on the road. So for about $200 we saved 2 full days travel.

Days 4-11. Fly to Pokhara and drive 45 minutes to start trekking at Phedi to Potana, trek to Landruk, to Grandruk, to Tadapani, to Ghorepani, up Poon Hill pre dawn and return to Ghorepani, to Tikhedhunga, to Hile (20 minutes to catch vehicle for 2 hour drive to Pokhara). This direction around the loop avoided the huge number of steps on the first day ensuring our continued enjoyment.

Day 12. After our trekking we had 2 nights in Pokhara, giving us one and a half days sightseeing on our own.

Day 13-15. On return to Kathmandu, Himalayan Trails met us at the airport and took us up to Namobuddha, the next day to Bhaktapur, then we were off.

The Actual Experience

I have travelled a little bit now and my wife and I often book a package at our country destination, such as in Jordan, or Morocco. It is always a consideration as to whether we would be met at the airport. In this case the guide and driver were there holding a sign so we knew we had “landed”.

From there everything went as promised. Guides and drivers were all very good, not rushed, knew their stuff, and were patient while I took photos, or had to repeat information. All vehicles were modern and clean in as new condition. We got the sense that they considered it a privilege to work for Himalayan Trails. We had a different guide and driver on our return, they knew their areas, being a Buddhist and living in Bhaktapur.

The most important people were our trekking guide and porter. Turns out they were both from the Sherpa region. Our guide “No-wun” was very experienced having been on mountaineering expeditions since he was 14, on Mt Everest and leading climbing expeditions on other mountains. No-wun checked everything we hired, bought, or used. On the trail he set a comfortable pace for us, rested us when needed, checked our rooms, monitored the kitchens, looked after all our needs.

Our porter “Peppi” walked with us following up behind, waiting when one of us stopped. Eventually Peppi joined with John and I singing on trail.

All four of us easily interacted like old friends.

Each day we trekked 3-5 hours with two 6 hour days. It meant we were checked into our tea house most days by 2pm avoiding the need to trek in the afternoon storms. In March the sun shines in the morning and clouds and rain come in the afternoon. We had plenty of time to dodge the hail and explore local villages on our own.

Accommodation Food and Facilities

The hotels and resorts in Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara were excellent. Our first was The Inn Patan right next to the central square. It was originally a large family home. So convenient to historic sites. John and I walked around at dusk. The room was big and faced a back courtyard so very quiet, beds very comfortable and menu cosmopolitan enough for us both.

In Pokhara we stayed in the Temple Tree Resort. It was definitely a resort! Beautiful property, big rooms and really hot showers. Prices for food and clothes washing were high, so we ate out at Moondance cafe each meal and I got my washing done across the street in a small laundry opposite the entrance for next to nothing, so I gave the lady double. We visited the Gurkha Museum and the International Mountaineering Museum on our first day; and went for a boat ride on Lake Fewa and shopping the next.

We stayed at the Namobuddha Resort high on a Hill. It was very unusual with separate buildings, vegetarian food, and a sense of serenity. We sat outside having a vodka before going to the main building for dinner. Rooms were generous, the bathroom was in a separate building and massive! Loved the food there.

Our last few nights were at 1905 Suites. We were blown away by this boutique property. We ate dinner in and the food was amazing.

Some summing up the hotel and resort part of the package - all properties were privately owned and offered completely different experiences, rooms and food excellent, bathrooms functional. We would recommend any of them to our friends.

Accommodation on the trail was “Tea Houses”. All offered us twin rooms with a simple, but comfortable bed in dormitory style accommodation. Meals were limited, with the same menu appearing almost everywhere. All the food we tried was good - especially given where we were! The Chicken Dal Bhat was my local favourite. Those with sweet tooth can try mars roll, or chocolate pudding!

We had a mix of washroom arrangements, but most were ensuite. All places had an English type toilet in the room, and at least one English communal toilet. Hot water ranged from almost cold to scolding, so test your water first. We trekked early March so we had limited number of other trekkers. The only Tea House that was a bit average was the one a Tadapani. Our favourite was the one in Ghorepani called Superview Hotel. All Tea Houses had wi-fi, but power was not reliable. If you take a lot of video then take a power bank with you. I used mine once to recharge.

All our expectations for a great trip and trekking were well exceeded.

We had a debrief with Amanda on our last day - just where we started at Himalayan Java Coffee at the entrance to Thamel. Great place. We spent an hour with her going through all aspects of our trip before saying goodbye. It was evident that Amanda had been in contact daily with our guides and hotels/resorts and was across our whole trip.

Conclusion

Well there is much that I cannot say in this short space, but our experience with Himalayan Trails was outstanding. Although our trekking was simple and easy (compared to others) we felt we were treated with the same high levels of service and safety. We would confidently recommend them to any of our friends.

Other Things You Should Know

If your going that far to Nepal, take a scenic flight to Mt Everest, after all it is the “big daddy”and see the top of the world go by. We tried it on Day 3 but due to cloud got cancelled on the runway. Himalayan Trails rescheduled us with Buddha Airlines on Day 15. We saw it. Truly awesome experience.

When in Nepal, use taxis. They are not that dear. Negotiate a price up front and get to where you need to be fast. Don’t waste your time travelling - you’ve paid to be there so get to where you want to be quickly.

Be generous. Tip for good service. You don’t have too, but a small amount in European, American, or Australian is nothing to you and is a great deal to the Nepalese.

Happy trekking.

Phil Hewitt
Adelaide Australia

Overall excellent. Good hotel in Kathmandu (Shankar). Amanda and team came to brief us. All well organised and implemented. Day trip around K was not enough (so we spent some more time on our own later). Requested "old folks" walking trip in hills near K was well organised and guide (Dawa) was sympathetic and adjusted pace to suit our knees. Very interesting and comfortable places to stay along route. We requested "view of the mountains" and it was provided! (courtesy of some rain which cleared the smog).

Overall - excellent.

The trip was amazing. Carmen did a great job planning the excursion, she was always available to answer any questions or make last minute accommodations.
Akram was our guide for most of the trip. He was knowledgeable about all the sites we travelled to. Gave us lots of free time to explore. His english is impeccable but most impressive was his driving skills. Couldn't ask for a better guide.
Petra was unbelievable. We were there for 2 nights and 1 full day. If you like hiking I would recommend 2 to 3 days there. A lot more to see then just the treasury.
Overall the trip was 5 stars

We worked with Adam, then Ging from Garasshopper Adventures. Other than some issues with the weather, the entire trip was nearly flawless. Our guides were top notch. Knowledgeable, helpful and personable. We especially liked Thang and Nguyen. I would highly recommend Kimkim and Grasshopper.

We had an awesome experience in Iceland and really thank both KimKim and Midgard. I would definitely use KimKim again the next time we go on international travel for a bit of adventure. They contacted me immediately and set me up with a local Iceland representative, Anna from Midgard. Anna did a great job, especially considering I was booking things at the last minute and my wife decided to join the trip after most of our plans were already set up. Anna was flexible and stayed at the budget that we set. My only advice to other travelers is to book earlier than I did – we really got serious about five weeks before our trip. It understandably took a while for Anna to coordinate with me on what we would like – I did not come in with a clear agenda and, instead, let Anna guide me along the way.

When we got to Iceland, Midgard was amazing. The best description is they treated us like family. They were on time for every event and organized our trip flawlessly. The staff are knowledgeable, accommodating, and friendly – it was a real treat to see Iceland off the beaten path and to meet its wonderful people through Midgard.

If we return to Iceland in the future, we would definitely use Midgard.

Costa Rica is a beautiful country with extremely welcoming and genuinely nice people. Overall we had a nice vacation in Costa Rica but mostly because we were able to roll with the things we found disappointing. We found that all the tours/adventures booked for us by Randall were excellent. The tour guides were extremely knowledgeable and the tours/adventures themselves were well executed. The guides were always on time and went out of their way to be welcoming.

The accommodations were from OK to terrible. The Country Inn in San Jose was fine. There was no real restaurant to have dinner at night. The casino next door that did have dinner, was not an appropriate place to have my young son visit.

The hotel in La Fortuna, was serviceable. We did not enjoy the bunkhouse feel of the room. Although the grounds were nice, the hotel room was just ok. Again, there was no restaurant for dinner and we had to walk to town in the dark when we arrived, not knowing where we were going.

Finally, the hotel in Puerto Viejo, the Cariblue, was terrible. Even though we switched rooms, the second room had roaches, had a shower that didn't drain well, curtains that didn't provide privacy and was generally built with old shoddy materials. It was really depressing. And although it had views of the ocean, they were across a busy road with loud motorcycles, construction trucks and other vehicles. It was very loud all night. We did call Coast to Coast about our disappointment, but nothing was done. We felt trapped and frustrated.

I have to say that in my dealings with Randall prior to our trip, I felt he tried very hard to meet our expectations for our trip. However, we obviously were not on the same page (with him or Kim Kim) regarding what I wanted for our vacation in terms of accommodations and beach feel. We expected to stay at much higher quality hotels, like at the Tabacon where we enjoyed the hot springs. And, the Caribbean side was not what I was looking for during the "beach" portion of our vacation. We found the Caribbean much more suited to the "surfer" crowd and was not appropriate for the family vacation we wanted. It was a real party scene and not the tranquil wide open beaches we were hoping to relax on. Most of our tour guides told us that that would be found on the Pacific side. We were really upset that we spent most of our time on the Caribbean. Also we also did not realize that we would be in a van for over 12 hours (at least 4 hours through a congested commercial area that was not very attractive) getting from one location to another. I wished that had been made clear.

In terms of our dealings with Coast to Coast in Costa Rica, I have mixed reviews. Our driver, Jose, was always on time, was very knowledgeable and stopped at restaurants he knew along the way for lunch/snacks. We really appreciated that. However, we did not enjoy being in his older, loud van for 8 hours. We also found him to be an aggressive driver and he seemed upset when we told him to be more careful. We also found him moody, especially after the trip back to San Jose, after we had complained about our hotel to Randall. This made for an unpleasant ride back.

I put the blame on Kim Kim, Coast to Coast and myself for not discerning or appropriately communicating what we were getting/asking for. You should let your customers know that you provide middle of the road accommodations for a middle market. I will not recommend any of your companies to my friends.

Debra Hernandez

Sidrah - was amazing as our tour coordinator. She worked with us and accommodated our requests for changes as we had some last minute scheduled business meetings. She was really on the ball- and proactive in checking with us and making sure we were ok with all arrangements. She was wonderful to work with and very responsive and prompt. The only problem we had was with the arrangement of the islands tour in Cartagena- we had planned to have a English speaking guide, however that request was lost in communication with Sidrah. As a result of this- we cut short our trip as we were unable to understand the captains of our boat and were not able to learn/ enjoy our trip with them.

Bogota guide- Tatiana- We rated her 6 out of 10- as her English and the accent was hard for us to understand. She was really polite and flexible,however lacked the organization and knowledge that we were looking for. For example- she did not budget enough time for lunch and we almost missed our Graffitti tour. Otherwise- she was really flexible and helped us with things ourtside of the tour as well.

Coffee region Guide- Juan David- 7/10- Was really knowledgeable and great to have around

Cartagena Guide- Densy- 9/10- Her knowledge of the city and history was amazing. She was passionate and really knowledgeable. The only negative about her was her English accent as the children had a hard time understanding her.

We had an absolutely wonderful time. The planning and logistics were impeccable by Miha. Lodging and venue selections exceeded our expectations.

The best selection was picking Domen to be our guide. He was the consummate guide and host for our two days on the road. Knowledgeable, passionate about his country, personable and flexible. Besides the main venues we wanted to see, he took us to out of the way “local” spots and venues so we saw amazing natural beauty and had time to interact with local business people. We hated to leave!

Finally, thanks to Urban Hotel for refunding our first night due to flight delays, and special thanks again to Miha for arranging transport for our son on his last day.

I would 100% recommend KimKim. Our local specialist Nathalie was quick to respond and answer our questions. She put together an amazing trip for myself and friend. She took care of arranging our tours, hotels and flights. Nathalie stayed in touched with us while in Colombia and ensured our trip was going as planned.

Road trip with Ernesto. Had Ed put together a 10 day road trip through Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo, had the great fortune of being paired up with Nesti. Here is the kind of guide who makes a journey. While sticking to the basic itinerary, he was always flexible, with grace and humor at all times. Had a great time, travelled many miles, had great dining experiences (none of the stupid crap with pre-arranged, tour approved restaurants) and many opportunities to travel the road less traveled. I've been to over 70 countries and this has been one of my favorite trips, I cannot say enough about the beauty of Albania, its unspoiled vibe, friendliness of her people, and of course the superb services of Nesti and Drive Albania. Go before it all changes!
-Dave Spaeth March 2018

Every part of my trip went like clockwork exactly according to plan. Both of the lodges that I went to were very good although Settlers Drift was the best. The rangers and wild life was also excellent.
All my car transfers wore on time with good drivers and my Avis hire car was good and as planned

I booked this trip as a surprise for my husbands 40th birthday. Carmen was amazing in putting the itinerary together and answering all of my many questions, no question to stupid, ensuring it was a birthday to remember!
From Jerash to the Dead Sea we saw so many amazing sites with our driver Bashar nothing was any trouble!
For the birthday day itself we went to Petra which no words can describe it’s beauty and wonder! Followed by a night under the stars at Wadi Rum.
Even on returning home Carmen and her KimKim team have been amazing as I left my Bose headphones in the car transfer to the airport!!! Carmen had tracked them down and sent them home to me.
First time using KimKim and I’m sure not the last! Fantastic service from everyone!!

Mads was so quick to suggest the great trek designed specifically for my 10 yr old daughter and I. He responded fast to any questions we had in the organisation phase too, nothing was too much bother for him.
Amanda contacted us in Kathmandu and it was lovely to meet her and Niresh (our guide) prior to commencing our adventure the next day.
Niresh was a gentle, knowledgeable guide who answered all of my silly local questions and shared so much of his knowledge and experience with us. He took care of everything each day (even my daughters ravenous apetite!!) .
Receiving a special thank you gift from Amanda at HT after our adventures had finished was a beautiful surprise! And the follow up phone call the next day was great too.
We can’t wait to book another trek!! Communication and in country support was second to none x

The whole trip was so great and beyond my expectation. Our leader Alex, was the most professional outdoor adventure leader I've met. He speaks English so well and took good care of everyone. He encouraged me a lot before our hiking to Volcano Acatenango. He made great meals for us during hiking. And he is a really nice guy with kindness and humanism. I appreciate a lot that Old Town Outfitters provided me a so comfortable and enjoyable trip. Other guides and drivers I met during the trip were also great. Luv them all.

We had a wonderful 8 days in Nepal. Our itineray was very professionally organised by Amanda Delecca from start to finish. I could not fault her communication skills which was the reason we chose Amanda versus other tour operators. Amanda even arranged to meet us personally on arrival at our hotel to make sure everything was ok for the trip and to introduce us to our guides. Because of our limited time in Nepal Amanda had a good understanding of the amount of time we would need in each place including Kathmandu and Pokhara and our 3 day trek to Dhampus and Astam. Every detail was taken care of including pickup and drop off at the airports, our accommodation at Mums Garden in Pokhara and hotel Manaslu in Kathmandu which were both comfortable and clean and the Eco lodges on our trek even had hot water. I would like to make a special mention of our amazing treking guide Tendu who was very caring and went out of his way to make sure everything was ok throughout our time away and also the lovely quietly spoken sherpa Lakpa.They both travelled 8 hours on the bus from Kathmandu to Pokhara to accompany us on the trek. The highlight of the trek was to wake up early on our last day at Astam Ecco Village to see that the rain and mist had cleared and we had a magnificent view of the Annupurna mountains. Thank you all concerned for a most memorable time in Nepal. Helen and Ralph Arbon

All of the services were provided just as promised.

The boat ride from Taganga to Playa Cristal was quite unpleasant. (The return trip was OK.) The sea was quite rough. My wife and I felt like we were being tossed around in a clothes dryer for close to an hour. We were bounced very hard on wooden benches with no cushions. I felt very sore for several days after the boat ride. You should warn people about how unpleasant the journey can be.

The drive between Cartagena and Santa Marta was also a bit scary at times, as the drivers tried to pass trucks.

We just returned from our Petra/Wadi Rum trip and it was an outstanding experience. The entire 4 days were great - filled with many new tastes, mind-blowing sites, and relaxation. Working with Carmen was smooth and easy. Our driver - Mohammad Karajeh - went out of his way offering guidance, coffees, tastes of native foods, etc. He really added touches that made our trip so memorable. My only suggestion might be to offer a range for the tent stay in Wadi Rum...I believe we might have chosen a place that had hot water. (The place was stunning and this is a minor issue). Last piece of advice: stay 2 days in Petra and 2 in Wadi Rum - so much to take in, so much to see!

Colombia is one of the most beautiful, diverse places I have ever visited. I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to experience city life, nature life, and island life all in one place!! Our trip started in Bogota - a huge city, thankfully our guide Tatiana showed us the way, and helped make lasting memories hiking up the Monserrate pathway! Would highly recommend the graffiti bike tour as well! Next stop - the coffee reason, the most stunning place with beautiful mountains and a jungle feel! The people are very kind, although I would recommend knowing some Spanish! We tried the best coffee in a Salento village!! We had the most wonderful guide to show us the way through Cocora Valley - a once in a lifetime hike!! Additionally our guide David, showed us the quainte Quindio villages, another unique beautiful area of Colombia. To end our trip we stopped in Cartagena, and the Rosario Islands - this place is magical! The town of Cartagena has great vibes and friendly people, and the islands have their own feel of a tropical paradise!! Every hotel we stayed in was well kept, clean and absolutely amazing! I would highly recommend using KimKim to help you plan your next adventure!!