Traveller reviews

“We just completed our 16 day base camp treck which was absolutely amazing, our main guide bini from Himalayan social journeys was an absolute legend, he made the trip what it was. Don’t expect 5 star hotels or fine dining in this trip but what was offered and given was the best they had and it was enough. I mean you can’t expect much when you’re 3000-5500m above sea level. And the professionalism and knowledge of the guides saved us many times with helpful tips on what to eat and what to sleep in etc etc. great trip all round but very hard not for the light hearted!”

“Just a few days ago my family and I completed the EBC trek, thanks to HSJ and our amazing guide Mingmar Sherpa. Mingmar and his crew, PK and the yak team, looked after us every step of the way... encouraging, explaining and helping us in every conceivable way. They carried our bags, ordered our meals, brought us tea and coffee and got up in the middle of the night to look after some in our group who were unwell. All with a smile and amazing good grace. Even on our return to KTM, Mingmar continued to look after us; arranging transport, making sure our transfers were smooth, and even helping us shop and get the best deals. I would have no hesitation in recommending HSJ and especially Mingmar Sherpa. Ask for him by name... I guarantee you wont be disappointed. Thank you Mingmar and thank you HSJ. If we come this way again, we will definitely look you up!”

“We completed our Everest base camp trip with Himalayan social journey in October 2019. We had a fantastic trip with a great group of guides who really looked after us. Our lead guide Mingmar met us at KTM airport and arranged our transport to our hotel. We were then supplied with sleeping bags and duffle bags for our trip. Day 1 We had a sightseeing trip of Kathmandu with a very informative guide and then we drove to Ramechhap to fly to Lukla. We met our other 2 guides (PK and Kubir) in Lukla and they were on hand for everything, all day on our treks walking with us, giving us information as we went and always ensuring we were eating enough and drinking enough water and were well enough to complete our trek every day. Each evening our lead guide Mingmar would check in with everyone to make sure we are ok and to give us the plan for the next day. If we ever needed anything we could go to our guides and they would sort it out for us. The trek itself is fantastic and we had an amazing time. Special thanks to Mingmar Sherpa, Pradip Khadka and Kubir Magar for being great guides and looking after us on our EBC trek, and making it such an amazing experience!”

“The most challenging, but most rewarding thing I have done in my entire life. 9 days walking up, surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery, 4 days walking back down. Ask for Mingmar Sherpa, a competent leader, I felt safe and informed the whole journey. I would love to return to the Himalayas for another trek again one day.”

“We just completed 16 days trek to EBC which was amazing. Our guide Predip was fantastic always ensuring our safety , very patient,informative and his objective was to ensure we successfully completed the trek. HSJ were also very helpful in the planning of the trip and always there for us. The trek was harder than I expected, actually a lot harder, but memories and adventure was priceless. Never forget and luckily I suffered no altitude sickness. The flight to Lukla was fine, no issues at all, only negative was the four hour bus ride to Ramechhap airport. Make sure you have comfortable SUV for the trip, a very bumpy road. Accommodation on the trek was basic and clean and food was great. Definitely buy a local data sim card (NCELL) because was able to get reception on most days, nice to send back photos and keep in touch with family. Last few days we stayed at Mulberry Hotel , which I can thoroughly recommend- great hotel, location and service. This is the second trip with HSJ and definitely would recommend the HSJ and hopefully plan a third trip next year. Stephen and Michael P”

“Himalayan Social Journeys was amazing. They thought of everything when packaging the tour together, they were flexible with our changes and needs and extremely communicative throughout the entire experience. Our guide Tenzen was extremely supportive, knowledgeable and understanding of our needs. He was caring and made exceptions for us as we were novice hikers, particularly as we ventured into the higher altitude. My husband and I were lucky enough to go in an off-peak season, which meant we were the only two in our tour group. This made it easy to get to know our guide (Tenzen) and Porter well. Tenzen was open to educating us about Nepali culture, including the food and language, the names of the mountains and what they meant, and more particularly around what it meant to be a Buddhist. This created a lot of respect and authenticity around the people, land and way of life. My husband and I were completely in awe of the landscape as we had never experienced something so intensely beautiful or equally challenging before, and we will for sure remember it always. Everything was facinating. The weather in November is very cold, but felt we were well prepared. We decided to cancel the last day of hiking and catch a helicopter from Gorekshep to Lukla which was made extremely possible thanks to Tenzen. We also finished our trip/honeymoon at the Gorkana Resort in Kathmandu which is what we needed. Full access to massages, pool, golf, yoga, gym, restaurants, room service, tours etc. We couldn't have finished the trip on a higher note. I would 100% re-book with Himalayan Social Journeys again and if given the opportunity, request Tenzen to be our guide. Our close time together made it sad to leave Nepal. But we will return some time again for one of the other trails in the future.”

“15 day Himalayan adventure. Started in Kathmandu where we met up with 9 other people from Australia and New Zealand as part of a Luxury Escape package. This is a fully guided package with local guides covering city, mountains and jungle tours. Let me firstly say that our guides Mingmar Sherpa and Ram were wonderful in welcoming us to Kathmandu and embraced the whole group. Our first day in Kathmandu was a city cultural tour to see the main historical and religious sites. The tour was both interesting and confronting. Especially seeing the Hindu cremation ceremonies. But it is necessary to see and understand Nepalese social norms. The next day we left Kathmandu and drove 4 hrs to do river rafting. Even though it was the beginning of winter, there was more than enough white water action to get the blood pumping. The scenery was breath taking and the shared experience really bonded the group. We then drove to Pokhara and spent the night to rest up before our 7 day trek. After breakfast we drive about 90 minutes to the base of the Mardi Himal trail. There we met our 4 porters that would carry our luggage for the next 7 days. It is difficult to try and describe the trip in words without using cliches and superlatives. On Friday the 13th it snowed quite heavily, dumping about 50 cm of snow on the trail. This added greater complexity to the climb but gave a wonderful back drop. The mountains dazzled with snow and really added to the experience. I don't want to spoil the experience for you but there are a few things I would like to mention. The accommodation is basic but comfortable. This is to be expected because everything has to be carried up the mountains. Most tea houses we stayed had western style toilets but you will need to squat at some places. The range and quality of the food was very good and as mentioned in previous reviews, fairly priced. Lunch and dinner for 4 adults will set you back between 4000 - 5000 Nepalese Rupiah per day. Make sure you carry enough cash before your trek. I guess the icing on the cake for the while adventure was how we were embraced by the porters and our guides. The shared adversity and experience we had really helped gell the group. They showed us the wonderful soul of Nepalese culture in their laughter, humour, song and dance. Through their giving we were taken into their hearts. After 7 days of travel together we became a family. There would be no way that we could of completed this journey withoutour wonderful guides and porters. If you are reasonably fit, then do not hesitate to have a go. It has to be one of the most wonderful experiences that I have had. I look forward in 2 years time to take on Everest base camp. The experiences I have had with Himalayan Social Journey, our guides and porters is only positive. They went out of their way to ensure we had the best possible time. Thanks from the bottom of my heart goes to our tour leader Mingmar Sherpa and to Ram and the porters that gave me and my family an experience of a lifetime.”

“My partner and I have just finished the Mardi Himal trek and are now relaxing in Chitwan National park before heading home. We had the best time. HSJ was really accommodating from the day we booked. They couldn't do enough for us. When we arrived we met our guide Mingmar Sherpa who looked after us for the duration of the trip. We booked through luxury escapes and had a group of 13 and because some upgraded and some didn't we were lucky enough to get two guides. Mingmar and Ram. They could not do enough for us, they made the trip hassle free and kept us safe. They were very knowledgeable and their English language skills were very good which helped immensely. When some of our group got sick on the second to last day of the climb we were able to split and complete the last climb while Ram stayed to look after the rest of the group. The porters were also amazing. They were polite, funny, cheeky and respectful. There were snow fights, cards, dancing, singing and lots of laughter. A massive shout out to the whole crew who could not have looked after us better. I would recommend this company and especially this team any time. Thanks team. I think I will be back to do EBC and I will be using this company.”

“We (group of 7) went trekking to Poon Hill during December. This was our third time travelling in Nepal. Our guide (Bishnu) was amazing and very helpful throughout the trek! He has a cheerful personality! He was also our guide for Everest Base Camp December 2017. Our porters (Roopesh and Prakash) assisted us and were very fun! Roopesh was also our porter for Annapurna Circuit. I would recommend Himalayan Social Journey as it is definitely a 10/10. Ask for Bishnu, Roopesh and Prakash and you are definitely going to have a good time! Thankyou!!”

“Everest Base Camp Trek is the most phenomenal experience, primarily thanks to Bishnu the guide, and Phunuru the assistant guide. They made the trip - both guides had phenomenal knowledge and were extremely caring and accommodating when support was needed.”

“Amazing views and great service. Our guides were amazingly patient and knowledgeable. I would recommend to all my friends.”

“Our daughter had completed the trek to Everest base camp a year ago with this fantastic company. She loved it so much she asked us to come with her. We had never trekked, nor had we done a group tour before. Not surprisingly we were a little worried before we arrived. Would we be able to complete the trek? How would we go on a tour, always on the move etc. Our worry disappeared the moment we landed at the airport and met our tour guide, Mingmar Sherpa. He instantly put us at ease with his perfect English, his easy going manner and his quick wit. Mingmar stayed with us for the entire trip. Instead of feeling like we were under pressure we felt the exact opposite - relaxed and cared for. Mingmar knew what we wanted or needed BEFORE we even asked. He was a true delight. The whitewater rafting was hilarious and so much fun. We saw monkeys and vultures and just had a great day. Yes we got wet, yes we were a little cold (it’s mid winter),but all of that added to our fun. Our 6 day trek was incredible. We had 2 porters - Deepak and Dikbir and boy were they fantastic. They too worried about our happiness and enjoyment as their main priority. No matter what the day had bought and how heavy the load they had carried .. they just always smiled and helped and were so happy. The weather for us was perfect at the right times - clouds lifted on the morning of our Poonhill summit. Sunrise was breath taking on top of the world. The view was incredible. It rained a little only on part of 1 day ... no problem .. rain covers were purchased (cheaply) and we continued. Snow fell in thick glorious flakes but only for the last 15 mins before we reached Gorapani... instead of being cold we were exhilarated. Snowmen and a thick white blanket just added to the beauty. Then, when we thought it could not get any better .. it did. We peaked another summit, sun shining and a half metre of fresh powder ... and saw, what felt like, the entire world before us. Mountains and hills in every direction. That same day, we faced tough and icy steps over a steep descent. I was scared but the “boys” rallied, held my hand, cleared a safe snow path, and quietly whispered words of encouragement to keep me going. It was a splendid thing that day. I put my fear aside and just believed in the boys, I knew nothing bad would happen in their care. We were a small group of 5, plus the 3 boys! We became a little family so quickly. It was sad to say goodbye to Dikbir and Deepak at the end of the trek. After the trek we had glorious accommodation with hot showers and we ate some amazing meals in Pokhara. Then we headed to Chitwan national Park. Amazing accomodation (we upgraded our package and it was money well spent). We were on the border of the national park and saw wild deer as soon as we arrived. We did the rainforest walk and came across more deer, mongoose, monkey and birds. It was fantastic, but we didn’t met the one horned rhino! Next day, we boarded our gorgeous elephant and headed out again .. YES we saw rhino!!! AND WE SAW A ROYAL BENGAL TIGER! It was rare to see and topped off our trip in a way we could not have imagined. The last few days we spent relaxing at the final resort. Also fantastic. Nepal is amazing. The Nepalese are the kindest people. The scenery is breath taking. Our guide fantastic. Our porters incredible. The trip - one filled with life time memories. We will be back, and we will definitely use Himalayan social journey. Value for money YES!!!”

“What an amazing time!! The scenery was spectacular and what a challenge!! Our guides were wonderful.”

“Went to join the Everest base camp with heli ride return in March 2020, this is definitely one of the most memorable trips I have ever done in my life. I got the idea of doing the EBC trail back in 2013, but at that time, I don’t have the money and partner who is willing to take the “risk” to go Nepal for doing this amazing track. One day, an online advertisement from HSJ with the package is way more affordable that any other tour I got encountered. This company is offering package which is not going to break your bank but still deliver the same quality Mingmar Sherpa our tour guide is one of the best of I have ever seen, without his assistance, I won’t complete this track, I found it very difficult to have long distance walk everyday, Ming is always here to help and looking me all the way from the airport until we ride the helicopter back. It’s also my fault that I am not prepare well enough for this trip. But in the end, we all made it and we finish the track with tears and happiness Ming is doing everything he can do make our wish possible; we catch the first flight from kathmandu to Lukla, we also catch the first flight back from lukla. In the middle he is helping us from luggage handling, food, preparation, everyone is touched with his passion. One thing will always in my mind, an amazing experience, at 07:00am, we are still eating breakfast at Gorakshep (around 4940m), freezing cold, not sure if we can still catch the heli ride due to the snow storm, later at 10:00am in the morning, we were taking hot shower and sleeping on the comfortable bed in Kathmandu (1700m). This will not happen without Ming, my partner and myself were a bit sad for not able to say good bye to Ming Let me say it one more time, Mingmar Sherpa, you are definitely one of the best tour leaders I have ever seen. Thank you very much”

“Really intense days with my guide Mingmar Sherpa, who showed me all over The EBC trek. We go all the way from Kala Pataar to Namchee Bazar in just one day!! 46 km, 5:00 morning till 19:00!”

“An absolutely amazing experience with the best guide, Mingmar Sherpa. The company is first class. I highly recommend this trip to anyone looking for adventure. We also stayed at Himalaya Suite Hotel in Kathmandu which was a great experience also. If you decide to do this ask to have Mingmar Sherpa be your guide. He was so much more than a guide and kept us safe and healthy the whole trip.”

“Do not hesitate to book a trek with this outstanding Nepalese owned company. They are highly professional, caring and well organised and we can't wait to return next year for a further trek with them. During the planning stages of the trek Rameshwar Rijal always dealt with my email enquiries in a swift and highly efficient manner. Unfortunately due to Covid, my plans were delayed by 18 months and changed a few times, but this was never a problem for Rameshwar. Thank you so much for being so flexible and understanding and endlessly patient and helpful. From the smooth airport pick up on our arrival in Nepal to the drop off at our next hotel on day 15 we had an absolutely fabulous time thanks to HSJ. Having completed the EBC trek in July 2015 (also reviewed on Tripadvisor) and the ABC trek in July 2018, my daughter and I decided to do the EBC trek again and we would definitely recommend trekking in early November. The sky was clear blue all day every day so that the views (and photographs) were absolutely stunning all of the time. And their were never many other tourists around in the villages and rarely on the trails, so that we always enjoyed the feeling of isolation as we trekked. We were very fortunate that at our request Bishnu Basnet was available again to guide us and it was lovely to have his son Sonam as our porter. At 62 years I was very keen to trek at my own speed and therefore did not want to join a group and we were so pleased that HSJ were able to arrange this for us. And Bishnu was excellent at allowing us to decide how far we wanted to trek each day and rearranging our accommodation if necessary, sometimes at very short notice, to fit in with this. As budget travellers we were very pleasantly surprised at the standard of the guest houses that we stayed in and the food was always of good quality and variety and reasonably priced bearing in mind the cost of getting it to the higher villages. We would highly recommend trekking with HSJ and will be returning next year to trek with them again.”

“My stay at the Himalayan suite has been amazing!! The people have been so kind and proven themselves invaluable when planning our trip. I highly recommend staying here. When arrive ask for Mingmar Sherpa. He is the man! Very kind and incredibly knowledgeable about the trip.”

“life time experience with mingmaar sherpa on the everest, we did the everest base camp trek and it was the best experience ever. it is hard to express in words what an amazing trip we had breathtaking scenery. massive thank you himalayan social journey and special thanks to mingmaar for making a trip of life time any one considering this trip i would highly recommend them to anyone thinking of trekking in Nepal.”

“I trekked in a small group to Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar. We were well looked after by our supportive and knowledgeable guide Bishnu who has lived his whole life in the region and was passionate to share information about the flora and fauna and stories from the area including the local legend of the Yeti. Bishnu made sure we were safe at all times and monitored our health throughout the trek by checking our blood oxygen levels and resting heart rates at regular intervals. At the same time Bishnu made sure we made our own decisions about our capabilities and were not pressured to do anything we felt was beyond us. Neither were we discouraged when making choices of what we felt we were capable of. Bishnu was there to support and guide all the way. Our lodgings were basic but comfortable in keeping with the tradition in the region. All meals were hearty and delicious and we were well nourished and hydrated throughout our journey. Thank you Bishnu and Himalayan Social Journey for the trip of a lifetime.”

“We did the 16 day Everest base camp expedition and it was the most amazing experience. Our guide Mingmar Sherpa was the best and could not do enough for us. He made sure everything ran smoothly and was kind and patient with us all whilst we were hiking. My boyfriends birthday was whilst we were at Basecamp and Mingmar arranged a birthday celebration for him! The views are beautiful and it is worth every penny. If you are considering booking then request Mingmar as your guide- he definitely made our experience fantastic.”

“I did the 16 day Everest Base camp expedition, and it was one of the best travel experiences I've had. There were a total of 6 travellers in the tour group, and we all bonded so well. I also have to give praise to our guide Mingmar... he was exceptional in his knowledge of the expedition, his patience with the tour group, his care for our well-being, and for his unyielding efforts to make sure that all travellers were being taken care of at all times. For anyone interested in trekking with Himalayan Social Journey, I highly recommend that you request Mingmar as your travel guide.”

“My 2nd trip to Nepal and again with HSJ, 1st was to Poon Hill and this time to EBC. The 1st trek experience with Mingmar went amazingly well back in 2019 and he made sure by the end of the trek that i get back to Nepal to discover other regions. EBC was beyond my capabilities, so i thought, but Mingmar encouraging words gave me confidence to attempt this trek. With the assistance of porters Jhanak, Shyam he lead the group of 6 trekkers with utter professionalism, in good humour and exceptional leadership & social skills. Everyone in the group was taken care of well all throughout the trek, all of our needs were catered for even in the tea houses. Mingmar, being an experienced local guide and above all a very humble, simple & trustworthy person, ensured that we were eating and acclimatizing well; we would all trust him on when the down jacket or the sleeping bag were needed, or when we should be having the garlic soup :) He made sure that we had the best of accommodations that we could in each region as well, very happy that he managed to get us single rooms all throughout. The choice of guide is crucial for a trek to be successful and i would highly recommend Mingmar as guide for any trek in Nepal, i am glad that my 2nd trek went well and the whole group made it to EBC under his lead and supervision. Hoping to be back soon for another trek with Mingmar and HSJ!”

“Thanks to Mingmar and Jhanak we made it to EBC. Any time you try for an adventure trek you will realise that the sucess or failure of the goal you are aiming for is sometimes not dependant on your own abilities but on the resiliance of the people in your group and the determination of your guide to get the best result possible for you. Because of Mingmar`s efforts through Plane delays,weather delays,accomodation scourced at the last minute,monotioring group health and fitness,and with Jhanak always having a smile for us we all made it to EBC. That`s probably why he has a hundred percent record for delivering his charges to their goals. I would not have made it without those two behind me and also the porters that went in advance of our group of six and to the group themselves . We all helped each other with encouragement and advice and smiles. After all ,thats why we do these things ,....smiles. Thanks also to Ram the man in charge at Himilayan Social Journey because he is the one behind the scenes that makes Mingmar`s job possible and our trek possible too . I can recomend HSJ to anyone coming to Nepal and ask for Mingmar.”