Reviews

Most Inspirational Moment

Watching the sunrise over Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri and 'Fishtail' from Poon Hill and Tadopani The Nepali's; the friendliest and most welcoming people I've met and all in the face of the most extreme circumstances imaginable - truly humbling.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Lakpa was very friendly, knowledgeable, fun, and keen to share his country and its customs with us. However, he and his colleagues, Durga and Sonam, really shone through in the face of adversity. They remained calm in the minutes after the earthquake, gathering what little information was available to them at the time and taking decisive action to ensure the safety of the group and offering advice to others travelling without guides both immediately and over the next 4 days until we reached Pokhara; and all at a time when they were no doubt concerned about their own families and friends. I'm eternally grateful to them all and I hope we meet again one day.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Travel light; you won't need as much as you think - non-essential and spare items can be left in Kathmandu while trekking. A strong pair of worn-in walking boots are essential as the terrain is steep, but the views make it worthwhile. Embrace the country, it's cultures and it's people and you'll have an experience you'll never forget.

Suggestions

Exodus were fantastic following the earthquake; our families were informed of our safety and kept up to date daily with our whereabouts and revised itinerary through the London and Kathmandu offices by email as our own communications were disrupted.

Most Inspirational Moment

Suppose to be the Nepali Flat Trek but eventually it has become an earthquake.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Very helpful, very patient, calm and with great sense of humor. Great companion. His huge experience and knowledge become essential and crucial during earthquake when nobody knew what to do.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't take too many stuff, make sure your kit bag is as light as possible otherwise you will feel bad knowing that somebody has to carry it for you. Invest in light gear and good sleeping bag. Make sure you have reliable trekking boots and blister plasters. Inform your relatives before trip where exactly you go, who with and give them contact details to your travel company. Be cheerful and enjoy every moment down there :)

Suggestions

Have fun :)

Most Inspirational Moment

1. Walking up to ABC in the sunshine. 2. Walking along the terraces, through villages and talking to local people.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Gum, our leader was everything that a good expedition leader should be; knowledgeable, dependable, caring and resourceful.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take microspikes in case the walk up/down to ABC is snowy, as in our case.

Most Inspirational Moment

Sunrise illuminating the massive South Face of Annapurna I (one of the 14 8000'ers). Mesmerising and so photogenic.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Prasant Subedi was an extremely fine leader of our group. Always good humoured. Informative. Coped well as various illnesses hit many in the group.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Bring a good sleeping bag. While not essential for the majority of the walk in Oct/Nov, Annapurna BC is very cold at night.

Suggestions

My first trek in Nepal. A definite winner!!

Most Inspirational Moment

Too many to mention. Every day brought new highs (literally and metaphorically). Reaching Ulleri at the end of the hard first day climb was delightful, and gave a palpable sense of achievement. Ghorepani/Poon Hill was good, but very very busy. Reaching Hinku Cave, in the footprints of the giants (Chris Bonington et al) was very humbling. The Base Camps each held their own delights, and the massage at Jhinudanda at the end of 9 days walking was stupendous! The massage was so good, I started day 10 with muscles as relaxed as on day 1. Highly recommended!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Prasant was excellent - constantly cheerful and optimistic and extremely hard-working. He was an inspiration to us all. He is highly experienced and Exodus is very lucky to have him on their staff. He's a great team leader and worked hard to make sure the other guides and porters were well looked after. As a result, we felt that the whole group, trekkers, guides and porters, were working together at all stages.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take the warmest sleeping bag you can - it was very cold at the Base Camps. Don't take too many clothes - you won't use them all - but do make sure you have gear for all weathers. We had very little rain while we were walking, but we were lucky. Take trail mix/energy or cereal bars for a quick energy fix.

Suggestions

Don't hesitate to do it but get as fit as you can before you go. Even the longest and hardest days were no more demanding than a long day on the high Lakeland peaks.

Most Inspirational Moment

Watching the sunrise in Annapurna Sanctuary. All of it really, the beautiful sunbirds, kingfishers, Himalayan bulbuls, the milky rivers in full force, thundering waterfalls, mica rocks glinting in the sunshine, the stunning stars and night sky at Annapurna Base Camp.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Keshar was excellent, aware of everyone's needs, looked after us all brilliantly.

Advice for Potential Travellers

If you have any love of mountain trekking at all, do this one. Take binoculars, the birding is SPECTACULAR, should have a special birding trip. That was my only regret as would have liked a little more time birdwatching and a little less on tea stops. However, Nepal is a poor country and this is not a luxury trip. If you cannot manage a vegetarian diet under any circumstances, then perhaps not for you. The Dhal-Bhat is nourishing and delicious and different at every tea-house. Free refills! It is cold at altitude, have a 3/4 season sleeping bag, you will need it. Plenty of wet wipes needed, showers not available every day. Be prepared for smelly toilets. Wet weather gear a must. We had 1 day of downpours but were soaked through. There is competition for space around the wood stoves to get dried off! Be reasonably fit, you will enjoy it more. The only other Grade 4 Exodus holiday I had done was Sierra Aitana, and that is not at altitude. I managed this reasonably, but wish I had done that extra training.. The porters are the life-saving backbone to this holiday. They are truly amazing. Do not penalize them by having a bag of more than 10kg. Shop in Pokhara, Kathmandu a bit more expensive.

Suggestions

If you like walking and mountains there is none better. This is our 10th exodus trip and the Himalayas always come out top. Don't think too hard about this one, just book it!

Most Inspirational Moment

Sunrise at Annapurna sanctuary is a stunning sight. From the basecamp to the summit is over 4000 metres and would take over three weeks to reach from there. The sun catches the top rim of the sanctuary in the clear air and gradually lights up this amazing amphitheatre of mountains over 8000 m high.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Keshar was fantastic in all aspects of leadership. He was always ahead of the game, thinking ahead, organising food, helping the slower members and ensuring a smooth trip throughout. His love for Nepal is an inspiration, helping causes within his country such as clean water and schools. He has a wide knowledge of local flora and fauna and always had a story or description along the way.  His sense of humour kept us all happy with his entertaining tricks and yeti impersonation. He looked after the porters and other guides, introducing them all with a story and involved us in their lives and helping us appreciate the work they do. Without the porters there would be no trek. He also had an uncanny knack of writing all his notes on paper napkins. A first class guide.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Get fit before you go, some people find the steps tough going, but most days are no harder than a big Lake District walk. Toilets are basic, but you get used to that, showers are interesting, so be prepared for a quick cold wash some days.Most people had tummy upsets at some stage, so immodium was very welcome. Food was generally good considering that it's all carried up there. Dal Bhat is always reliable. Sleeping was better than most alpine dorms, with rarely more than 3 to a room, but take wax earplugs, walls are very thin! Get up before sunrise and enjoy the mornings, after all the sun rises at 6 am ish, and you have to be ready to walk by 7.30, so don't waste the sunrises, especially if you like photography. You can charge camera batteries usually, but take a spare and keep them charged. It's cold at the top, so sleep with your batteries.Take a small umbrella, if there rain it's easier to use than drying off wet gear in the evenings, it's also a sunshade if its hot.Poon hill sunrise is great, but very busy as many treks converge here. Tadapani has a great sunrise too and there were only a handfull of people enjoying it.    

Suggestions

Trekking is big business in Nepal and there are a lot of trekkers. The paths are the main roads in the mountains, so expect traffic, porters, trekkers, donkeys, it's all part of everyday life, so enjoy it!  Nepal is poor and the infrastructure creaks at times, so be patient.Kathmandu is an experience, very crowded and at times difficult to cope with, but also vibrant, colourful and massively atmospheric. Walk to Durbar square, visit Bhaktapur outside the main city. An oasis of calm and a window into the past. The guide can organise the bus for this.Photography wise, I took an SLR and a tripod for sunrises etc, 4 batteries and 96gb of memory.  Use a good zoom, say 18-200, a polariser in the mountains. Shoot panoramics too. In town, use a fast prime lens. 

Most Inspirational Moment

The afternoon spent in the Sanctuary was the highlight, but only just. The whole trek was filled with 'wow' moments and views.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Prasant was a competent, friendly and sociable. His local knowledge and experience were excellent. He looked after the group, and made sure that the fittest members of the group could walk at a pace that suited them, while simultaneously making sure that the slower ones were encouraged and had a guide with them at all times. His organisational skills appeared to be generally good, although these did seem to fall down on a couple of occasions when there was some confusion and delay over allocation of rooms at the higher teahouses. He also failed to organise the mountain flight from Kathmandu for the 4 group members who wanted it; although it appeared that this was at least in part the airline's fault (our names did not make it on to their flight list), we were left without the flight we wanted despite requesting it several day beforehand. I would suggest that in future people insist on getting actual tickets for these flights, rather than an email booking, as everyone we saw with tickets at the airport got on to their flights with no problems.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Obviously make sure you have enough warm clothing (mostly for the evenings and early mornings - the temperature drops dramatically when the sun goes down), a hat to keep the sun off during the day, and a good sleeping bag. Although most of the teahouses did have blankets or quilts available, I wouldn't have wanted to risk them running out. If you need new gear and have any chance of flying out early and spending some extra time in Kathmandu before the trek, don't take any trekking clothing or a sleeping bag with you at all; you can spend a day shopping in Thamel and buy everything you need at massively reduced prices compared to the UK. Take your camera to bed with you at night to prevent the battery losing charge due to the cold. Take plenty of wet wipes - you may not feel like getting in to a luke warm shower when the air temperature is near zero! - and loo roll. None of us spent as much on food and drink on trek as the trip notes suggest, although the prices do rise the further the supplies have had to be carried. The sizeable dormitories I was expecting at the higher teahouses were mostly just twin bedded rooms with an extra bed added to sleep 3. Finally, have some sympathy for the porters, and don't take more than you need!

Suggestions

This was a thoroughly enjoyable trek, and I would recommend it to anyone with a reasonable level of fitness and a love of mountain scenery. However, it is not a wilderness experience! The path to the Sanctuary is often quite narrow, and the only route. It can get quite busy at times, and on several occasions we found ourselves either stuck behind a slower moving group, or having to stop to let porters or groups going the opposite way pass.Finally, a word of caution. Two of us went on the Chitwan extension after the trek, but found that it didn't live up to our expectations. The drive (in an aging Nissan Sunny with a leaky exhaust and nearly 200,000 on the clock, as opposed to the 4x4/high clearance vehicle that the rough roads really demanded) took over 6 hours each way, rather than the 4-5 hrs advertised. The actual time spent in the reserve was a day and a half, and the "full programme of activities" on the whole day there included a lot of waitng around in between said activities. The promised "before breakfast" activities, and the ox cart ride, completely failed to materialise, despite us bringing this to the attention of the staff (none of whom were affiliated to Exodus in any way). The food was indifferent at best, and the "hut" accomodation was a twin room on the upstairs floor of a house. All in all, neither of us felt that the product justified the description, or that at £400+ we had got good value for money.

Most Inspirational Moment

Visiting new places.We were well looked after and given space to do what we wanted.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Prem was really interesting, supportive and inspirational.

Advice for Potential Travellers

do it. You will love it!

Suggestions

Thank you

Most Inspirational Moment

The first view of the range above base camp, including Annapurna (One & Two) and "Fish Tail", was truely memorable.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Our local tour leader was wonderful; very patient, trustworthy, knowledgeable and fun; although he did cheat at cards a bit!

Advice for Potential Travellers

Take ice grips / crampons if going early season.  We walked through ice and snow on some very steep paths for the two days to Annapurna base camp.  A good level of fitness beforehand and some experience of hill walking made the trip much more enjoyable.

Suggestions

If you get a chance go for it!