Kimkim Trip Reviews for Nepal

We were really pleased with the service provided by Sangita! We decided to visit Nepal in a last minute fashion and did not have time to plan for our trip in details. We told Sangita our expectations and she put together a wonderful plan for us. It turns out to be exactly the experience we would like to have! It's an amazing 11 day in Nepal thanks to her. We highly recommend her service regardless of whether you have time to plan for your trip in details.

1. The drivers (both arranged by KimKim as well as booked through the hotels on our free and easy leg) were responsible, professional and caring.
2. We are disappointed by the assigned guide even though we still tipped him on the understanding that guides rely on tips for bulk of their pay. The assigned guide for Bhakatpur and Namo Buddha on both days seem wanting to end his day early and was rushing us to complete the Bhakatpur city tour. On Namo Buddha, he initially suggested we hike down the dirt road (road by car approaching Namo Buddha) and only told us of the other hike down from the Namo Buddha stupa after I insisted. This is despite my specific advice that I wanted a short hike incorporated which I know is quite scenic. We were left to hike on our own which we did not mind. Then after we met back at Namo Buddha in the hope to take part in the Tara chanting which was delayed that day - we had the impression that we were taking too much time when we insisted to wait from 3 pm to 4 pm at the monastery.

Compared with guides that we have come across in Bhutan, S Korea and Europe, the guide in Nepal do not appear as professional and give us the impression that it is always what is in it for me. We will not be keen to use further guide service in our future trips in Nepal so long we have maps as having a guide is as good as not having any.
3. On the hotels, the next time we will provide better clarity on our needs as the Patan hotel was quite eye opening and one that we are not used to nor feel safe. Besides the reviews by other travelers, it will be good to provide some details of the traditional homes that one can expect which is very different from a typical hotel.

It was spectacular. Both Barahi jungle lodge and Tiger Tops were excellent. The former was new with all of the amenities while the latter was quaint, rustic with a true feel of living in the jungle.
The guides at both were knowledgeable and informative. We saw all wildlife, except for tigers.
The time spent with the elephants was special.
Overall, I recommend this most highly.

We had a wonderful trip through KimKim/Himalayan Trails. We got great support from Erin locally, and we really enjoyed spending time with our guide, Tindu. Nepal is a beautiful place and we will always cherish our trip. Our journey went smoothly and we had absolutely no issues with the planning or booking process, plus everything was perfectly arranged during our time in Nepal.

We did the 5-day Balthali trek with our guide, Ang Gelu Sherpa.
It was a throughly enjoyable experience! Our guide was very experienced (has done Everest summit twice!) and knowledgeable and took care of us, while also being friendly and happy to exchange stories and information about each others cultures/countries/previous treks.
We were able to meet the locals, eat decent Nepali and continental meal options 3 times a day and had adequate accommodation at the tea houses.
The accommodation on the first night in Nagarkot was particularly nice.

We also enjoyed the cultural tour of Kathmandu with our guide Surendra, He showed us around Darbar square and Patan among other places and told us the interesting historical background of each site!

Finally, our trip coordinator (Tashi), was great. He picked us up from the airport and checked in regularly to make sure we were enjoying things. He also provided a lift back to the airport and gave us his blessings at the end of the trip which was nice!

From my experience, I would highly recommend this company!

Absolutely fantastic from beginning to end! Top guide, incredible attention, 0 issues!

Overall, one of the top experiences you can have,

Ngima and his team were very quick to respond and helpful with all our questions, and adapt the trip as circumstances changed, overall we had a great trip.

From start to finish, dealing with Kripa was easy. We wanted a holiday suitable for a family of four (kids age 7 & 11), to include sightseeing, trekking & safari. Kripa took all of our needs into account & tailor-made our holiday, happily adding or removing options as requested. It was completely stress free & when a couple of things went wrong with flight delays & cancellations she moved quickly to adapt our travelling needs.
The hotels booked for us were exactly suited to our needs.
The Poon Hill trek was the highlight, & although it wasn't always easy with the extra needs of kids, Pemba, our guide & our porters were there to organise & support us.
The 2 days sightseeing in Kathmandu were perfect, and again our guide was superb, engaging with the children & making sure they were enjoying themselves.
The homestay in Chitwan was fabulous too & well worth experiencing. The only complaint there was the heat after being in the cooler mountains!!
All in all it was an amazing experience, professionally organised & all our concerns were taken care of. It made such a difference knowing that everything was taken care of & that we could ask any question, however trivial at any time. We would definitely use KimKim in the future & who knows, maybe even return to do some more trekking in Nepal. Thank you, Kripa & all your associates.

Amazing trip. The guide and porter were so friendly and helpful- and just great fun. The Annapurna trek was tiring but worth every step up and down -there were a lot of ups and downs. The tea houses were an amazing experience but you have to go with the flow. Local people all very friendly and helpful. The mountain views were spectacular.

Special thanks to Erin at Kimkim for all the help and assistance organising everything for us and being onhand when we needed them.

Steve & Deb

We found the trip really well organised and the KimKim team very helpful and adaptable if we needed something changing. The scenery was stunning and the accommodation was always comfortable. We received full board throughout and this was always of a great standard. Our guide was knowledgeable and ensured our safety throughout the trip, however we did encounter language barriers when we needed to know certain things, and found that he wasn’t always giving us local knowledge when other guides were doing this. He seemed quite shy however he did ensure that we had a very successful trip. Our porter was also excellent and made the trip much more manageable. Thanks for an unforgettable experience!

Ngima and his team are great. They were really responsive and helped out with whatever we had questions/issues with. I already recommended them to friends to book their hike in the Himalaya at Nigma’s agency. Thank you for all your help. We will see you again.

Bipin was an absolute gem. We loved him so much!

However, we were charged extra for a boat ride at Tiger Tops, which the people there initially said was included. They made it seem like it was KimKim's fault for not including the additional boat ride. Regardless of whose fault it was, we ended up paying $60, after initially being told it was included and taking the ride. This was the most outstanding instance of a few in which it felt like KimKim representatives could have better communicated with the places where we stayed. For another example, even though our itinerary said we'd be hiking in Nagarkot, we had to specifically ask for a hike from Bipin because he said it wasn't originally included.

The itinerary also was very vague. Maybe a more detailed itinerary cold help with these problems, and it would definitely help on our end in terms of knowing exactly what we'd paid for and what the days will look like.

What a great experience! Ngima was extremely helpful during the booking process and accommodated all our needs. The trip was extremely well planned and we left Nepal with the certainty we will visit again this wonderful country.

The match with the local organisation was excellent. The local organisation turned out to be very flexible.
A porter who turned ill was quickly replaced and there was a great anticipation on changing wheather conditions.
Our guide was really amazing in her organisation and motivation on the group, the clients as well as the porters.
Great work!

We had a truly memorable experience in Nepal. The services rendered from the start was prompt and impeccable. Thank you everyone especially Naresh, Kunga and Erin!

Tough, upexpected weather overall. Guide was great and knowledgeable, and accommodating. Had a good memorable trip as such.

Kimkim connected my husband and I to Ngima from NMMT. We communicated via kimkim's easy online platform, and Ngima answered all our questions and suggestions in a timely and sensitive manner. Ngima's coordination of hotels, in-country flights, guides, drivers, trekking, and cultural tours were invaluable.

In Nepal, we did a day of sightseeing in Kathmandu to see Swayambhunath, Pashupatinath, and Patan Durbar Square. Our guide in Kathmandu, Kedar, was outstanding: incredibly informative, kind, and obviously well-known and liked by many in the city (everywhere we went he was greeting and shaking hands with other tour guides)! We learned a lot and would recommend all first-comers to Nepal to experience Kathmandu with a guide. The driver organized by Ngima was also wonderful and made moving around the city easy.

After sightseeing, we departed from Pokhara for the Poon Hill Trek. We were accompanied by Chhongba (guide) and Dawa (porter). Both of them ensured all our needs were well taken care of. At times, Chhongba seemed a bit checked out and spent a large amount of time on his cell phone. (Cell service appears uninterrupted for Nepalis with national coverage along this trek, which is great for safety but hearing the guides’ YouTube videos and music at teahouses took away from our desire to disconnect.) Chhongba was willing to answer the questions we asked him, but he offered relatively little information on his own. Next time we would advocate to cover more miles per day; we ended up at the teahouses and in Pokhara by 1pm the last three days of the trek and would have liked to spend more time walking each day. The trek is BEAUTIFUL, and we enjoyed every minute on the trail. Overall, Chhongba and Dawa were kind and helpful on our trek and they allowed us to relax and not worry about the details. We had a stressful exit from Nepal due to delays on Yeti airlines, and Chhongba, Lakpa (Ngima's son), and driver in Kathmandu were essential to helping us make our international flight in time.

Overall, it was a great experience!! We will highly recommend kimkim, NMMT and Nepal to friends and family. We will definitely be back to do another trek (hopefully Everest Base Camp) and would book with kimkim and Ngima again.

My Father-In-Law and I had a fantastic trip to Nepal! I want to thank Kim Kim for providing an excellent platform for planning and communication. The are no words for how wonderful Kunchok and the Responsible Treks Team were. Everyone was very patient, flexible, and attentive to our varying interests and needs. Our trip was a whirlwind Buddhist pilgrimage/sight-seeing adventure/cultural experience/trek--in the Kathmandu Valley area, Bandipur, Pokhara, and Annapurna. The guides Raman and Pratiksha provided unparalleled expertise and good company. Our trekking guide Chhiring became like a new brother to me. He really went out of his way to share and shape my experience. I hope to return as soon as I can! Thank you for sharing your beautiful country with me.

Planning, execution and communication was perfect. Guides and drivers were the best. I cannot give one suggestion for improvement . For any future trips I will go to KimKim first for booking.

My friend booked this trip and I joined last minute, the communication with Erin in the booking process was really difficult, which she blamed on the time difference but that was just an excuse. My time difference with Erin was only 2 hrs and 45 min as I'm not located in the US and apart from that, she could go more than 24 hrs to reply. She never even apologised for this.

Once I confirmed the trip I never even got a confirmation that my money arrived until we followed up, which was unprofessional.

Upon arrival in Kathmandu I had two guys waiting for me at the arrivals. Once I got to the car I realised one guy was a scam as he just asked me for money. The representative told me to just give it to him otherwise he would fight him. This isn't directly the fault of KimKim, but the representative at the airport should have definitely stepped up.

The next morning Erin came to meet us at our hotel for a briefing, now working myself in the travel industry, I might have had high hopes as I've briefed many clients myself but this was just disappointing. There wasn't any clear information we got. She went through the program, but all she said was, today you will go for sightseeing, on the day you arrive back from Bhutan you will go for sightseeing.. No further details regarding the sightseeings.. We also had to confirm a couple of other details with her and when we asked her a question she seemed a bit annoyed answering it and that everything was just supposed to be obvious. I felt uncomfortable asking her any further questions from there. She also was a bit unclear with her program as she thought on the last day we were staying in Kathmandu and I had to make it clear that this wasn't the program.
I also asked her during the booking process if I could get a discount as I won't be doing any activities on the last day as I had an early flight out of Kathmandu and my friends only left late evening. She said that was calculated properly but once I asked during the briefing she didn't even remember my friends had any sightseeings that day. So I even doubted whether or not I paid too much for my trip.

At the end of the first day of sightseeing we received a rather cold message from her regarding tipping. I believe that our guide complained we didn't tip her, which is understanding but we thought we tip at the end of service and we knew we had the guide again for the last two days during our trip so we knew we had to tip her at that time, not at the end of each day.. Again something that should have been made clear from Erin's side during the briefing not writing us a vague and cold message about it later onwards. Apart from that, I believe tipping is based on how satisfied you are with the service, so if we weren't satisfied I think asking for a tip from Erin's side onwards the guide isn't the right way to go about it.

Now regarding the hotels, we stayed at the Patan Inn and Millas Guesthouse, both places were super lovely and amazing food, would definitely stay there again if I would return to Kathmandu.

Our guides name was Pratikshya and she was a super lovely and knowledgeable woman. I enjoyed every minute spent with her. She was very polite, explained in nice details but didn't overdo it and she was always on time and very professional. If I was to ever return to Kathmandu I would also use her again as a guide.

So to sum it all up, the guide and the hotels were really nice and a great pick for us but Erin's services were very disappointing. However to be honest, we already had a feeling that our interaction with Erin wasn't going to be so great as we noticed during the booking process.