I came to Nepal do some trekking, preferably the Annapurna circuit. Traveling by myself and during winter time I decided to hire a guide for safety reasons. I checked a few companies in Kathmandu but eventually decided to go with Himalayan Challenge Treks (HCT).

The main reason is that I quickly had the feeling that for the people at HCT it wasn’t all about “the business”. In other agencies I often had the feeling that I was “just” a customer – which is technically correct, but also not ecaxtly what I was looking for. In contrast, whenever I had to come to the office of HCT to discuss about some details about the trek I found myself chatting with the people there for up to an hour, about hiking, Nepal, and all kind of topics. The atmosphere was super friendly and welcoming.

Another point to mention is that HCT discouraged me from doing the Circuit, as weather conditions around that time (early January ’19) were especially tough, and Thorung La, the highest pass of the trek was most likely not possible to cross. (I later met another traveler who did it around this time. It had around -30 degrees and he almost slipped to death once). While this was disappointing to hear, I appreciated the honesty. And they quickly came up with an alternative route: a combination of Mardi Himal high camp and Poon Hill trek, which I eventually did.

I booked the “light” package which basically only included the money for the guide and acommodation for a certain number of days. This allowed me a certain flexibility in my itinerary.

The trek itself was beautiful. My guide Ram was an experienced trekker who could provide useful information about the area we were trekking through. He was friendly, helpful and considerate. In the evenings we sat together and discuss and planned the upcoming day together.

Overall everything went very smoothly, I felt perfectly taken care of and can highly recommend Himalayan Challenge Treks.