Kimkim Trip Reviews

Great trip. Great guides. Better than we imagined. I'd do it again!

All was great-both the driver (Nema) and the guild(Lobzang) did as I asked. I like to see the real world so I tend to travel to places off the beaten path. They showed me the back places of your lovely country. Plan to return. The only mess up was the amount charged per day but Vishal explained the situation and all was straighten out. Well done to all that welcomed be to Bhutan.

Overall, very happy with Ang Gelu and Kunga. Both of them compliment each other, and they understood our trekking style.

Ang Gelu - Extremely patient person. Seriously, I can't tell you how many times I stopped during the first few days. He never left my side. Always trekking behind me at my pace. Sometimes slow and sometimes really fast. His stamina is spot on. It's evident he loves the mountains, the way he talks about them, later part of the trek. He made sure we got proper meals during the day and also made sure we ordered food that was good in that particular restaurants. Whatever that he felt we shouldn't be eating he lets us know. There were many times after the trek when we took naps before dinner, and he came to our rooms with the menu asking for our orders in advance so that we don't have to wait for the food for long. He also made sure we stopped for tea breaks in between. He never rushed us, never raised his voice. There was a rest day where the room we got was near the storeroom, and the entire night we had mice running around and in our bags. We did not get any sleep at all that night and thankfully it was a rest day. We told him about it in the morning, and he spoke to the owner and got us a new room. AWAY from the mice. Ever since then he made sure the rooms we got were never near a storeroom. A very kind soft-spoken man. He also makes sure Kunga is ok while trekking and even offered him gloves on the morning of the pass. I have to say the day of the pass was the most gruelling out of all the days. Being up there was beautiful. But while descending, Mattis and myself had slight altitude sickness and had massive headaches. When we stopped for lunch in the mountains, we took a short nap. He knew we were both exhausted and even though we might be getting late to get to the guesthouse, he never rushed us at all. He also offered to carry my pack, which I politely declined. I knew we were all exhausted from the day and I consider all of us a team :) We were one of the last few to get to the guesthouse before sunset. He's honestly a good Sherpa.

Kunga - He is seriously like a ninja. For such a small frame, I'm in awe of how much he can carry, trek fast and eat like a horse after all that! Honestly, he's so fast, that later on during the trek, Ang Gelu sends him ahead to make sure we get comfortable rooms in the guesthouse since there were many trekkers on the way. He would be waiting for us at the guesthouse with our bags in the rooms holding the keys. As Kunga English is limited, it was hard to speak to him, but Ang Gelu was our translated. Later we brought out the cards and Mattis, Kunga and Ang Gelu had a good time playing cards and breaking the ice. Especially with Kunga as he's really shy.

Few things: During our briefing in the hotel, we spoke about height sickness pills, and we were assured that Ang Gelu would be bringing them. We did not know he did not have any, a day before heading to Dharamsala. I don't think he realised that he should have brought some in case we needed them. We brought some just in case, but we also feel a Sherpa should carry some with him.

Also, we knew accommodation would be limited in Dharamsala (the night before the pass). What we didn't realise was that it was just enough tents for trekkers but sherpas and porters had to sleep in the main canteen. With no heat or beds. We only found out in the morning. Even with such conditions, the Sherpas and porters still had their game face on early in the morning making sure their clients had breakfast and hot water before starting the trek. The Sherpa and the porters work the hardest, and somehow they did not even have proper sleeping beds to rest. We heard Dharamsala would be building a guesthouse eventually, but we hope in the meantime, that Sherpas and porters have comfortable sleeping areas so that they too can adequately rest a day before the pass.

We also notice they don't eat together with their clients. Not sure if this is a cultural thing. There were a few times both Ang Gelu and Kunga dined with us, but most of the time it's after we retire to bed. Sometimes Ang Gelu sends Kunga to have dinner first while he stays and waits for us to finish meal regardless of how long we take. Mattis and I would have been happy to have dinner together with Ang Gelu and Kunga after a whole day of trekking. We assume it could also be that they would want to have dinner together with their fellow Sherpas and porters. Which makes sense as well.

All in all, we had such a fabulous time doing the Manaslu trek. It's a beautiful route that changes every day. We had a great time with Ang Gelu and Kunga that once we got back to Kathmandu, we met them the next day for lunch. Will recommend your company to future trekkers for sure. A professional and competent team of Sherpas and porters.

Thank you Ngima for arranging this for us from start to finish. A special heartfelt thanks to Ang Gelu and Kunga for making this a trek that we will never forget. Great company with plenty of memories to last a lifetime.

Weather was terrible for five and one half days. The trip back from Vic on the last day was beautiful as were the beaches, waterfalls and glaciers along the way. Our last night we got to see the northern lights. Food the whole trip was great. We enjoyed all the hotels.

I am so thankful to have used KimKim for my trip to Peru and have Stephanie as my local specialist. We had only 7 days to explore Lima, Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Pichu and Stephanie made it all fit perfectly. Every detail was figured out, which was such a relief because travel between these sites requires multiple forms of transport -- from arrival at the airport to departure from the trip we had train tickets or buses tickets or private drivers waiting for us at each leg. She made sure all of our tours had excellent English speakers (on later legs of my travel that I planned on my own, I quickly learned how varied English capabilities can be and how difficult it can be to determine the quality of English of the guides without local knowledge of the companies). Every tour/driver/guide we worked with were incredibly professional, punctual, polite, kind and helpful. Stephanie was readily available when we had a minor payment issue at one hotel and took care of it. I can't say enough about our experience traveling with KimKim and Stephanie! Thank you! You truly took the stress out of travel and made a wonderful, memorable experience for me and my brother!

Amanda was really helpful and flexible with our change in plans. I was so busy in the run up to the holiday that it was great to have someone else taking care of all the details. Our guide Mingmar was very experienced and professional (hugely overqualified for taking us up a 4000m peak which for Nepal is no more than a hill...) and the views were spectacular.

The whole trip was fantastic and thanks Erin for putting me in touch with Amanda!

Amanda (with Himalayan Trails) was very helpful throughout the trek coordination process. She had timely replies, good advice, and helped me suss through all the many options for my Nepal hiking experience. Plus, she made the time to meet me in Kathmandu before I left with my guide. I'll strongly consider booking my next trek with Himalayan Trails.

Nathalia was awsome. Very responsive to my particular requests, available for issues, great suggestions, knowledgeable about Colombia, and planned a trip that was very easy.

We had a fantastic memorable holiday experience in Norway. Both Tromso and Malangen were stunningly beautiful. The trips and the guides were excellent; we loved the dog sledding and the overnight Sami experience. The holiday was both adventurous and cultural; learning about the Sami people was fascinating and the environment and scenery were amazing.

We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights on two occasions, both in Tromso., which is quite an experience!

We are very grateful to Linda, who arranged our holiday for us, she did a great job! The accommodation and food were first class.

We will be recommending kimkim to our friends. Thank you for a memorable experience.

We took months to plan our trip and Amanda was patient and quick to reply to any question we had. Once we arrived in Kathmandu, everything was taken care of. Our guide and porter, father and son duo Mingma and his son Darje really went out of their way to take care of us during the entire trip. The Khopra Danda community Trek allowed us to visit many local villages, with Mingma and Darje explaining the local custom, we learnt so much about Nepal. We are very impressed with Himalayan Trails as a tour company, even the staff members who picked us up at the airport or hotel were very professional and friendly. If we decide to go on another trekking tour in the future, we will not hesitate to travel with them again.

Mark and I had a great trip thanks to Carmen and the travel team she organized for our time in Jordan. Everything went as planned and the sights and schedule of activities exceeded our expectations.
I will definitely recommend Kimkim to my friends and will be using Kimkim for my upcoming trips.
Thank you very much!

Ingrid did an amazing job planning our trip and with our hike in Bergen. The hotels she picked were great - nice rooms, friendly service, and close to activities so that we could walk every where. She truly did a marvelous job. The companies she booked for the hike in Stavanger and the fjord tour and snow shoeing hike in Flam were great as well - professional, good equipment and full of information about the area.

I was set up with a very good schedule. Got to see some of what others do not get to see. This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for me and it was important to get as many of the importantant sites seen before heading home. Kimkim did that.

Guides were fairly proficient in English. They may not have pronounced all the words correctly but I knew what they were saying. And all of them were very helpful. They tried to answer all my questions, provided extra services like gem and jewellry shopping, and were able to explain some of the quirkiness that is Myanmar.

Myanmar is a must see.

Randall has been very responsible in tailoring our tour according to my request, with many back and forth. It’s been a great pleasure to work with him on putting the tour together.

My Guide in Bogota, Tatiana, my guide in the coffee region, Alejandro, my guide in Medellin,Joachim, were all fantastic. The guides in Cartagena,were Old School, Boring and not cool.-dont remember their names. All hotels were excellent Opera,Diez,Bantu, except the Hacienda in the coffee region.Bosques del Saman-the food was really mediocre and the front desk guy didnt speak English well and didnt communicate well. I was freezing at night and had to walk thru a big field to get to my room. The swimming pool area was not great. It was really a 3-31/2 star place- not 4-41/2 as requested. Setting was pretty.

All the drivers were great.
The cooking class and salsa classes were fun.
I went on a trip on my own -with a group to Guatape- from Medellin- that should be a must do-which was fantastic.
I hired a guide to take me out at night in Medellin to dance clubs - that was really fun.

I probably travelled a bit too much-for the period of time- next time I would cut out one place- but that was my request.

You need to emphasis to bring clothing for cold and rain- it rained everywhere except Cartagena.

On the whole I loved Colombia- the people, the country side and the cities so well organized and beautiful. I will definitely be back!!

We booked with kimkim for our week in Vietnam, mainly for travel (car transport, mid-week airfare, lodging, etc.), as well as one full-day tour of the Mekong Delta. After a small hiccup in the communication during the trip planning, I have to say that everything went smoothly. Transport was on time, the lodging was excellent and had great locale, and our Mekong Delra tour guide, Lucy, was very good. It became clear that we were actually experiencing a local travel agency (that we gave a review for, too), and that kimkim is actually more of a middle-man service, but that's no bother. I would book with kimkim again for their choice of agency and talented guides.

We had a fantastic holiday in Sri Lanka. It is such a diverse country that it is hard to identify a single highlight, but the safari at Wilpattu, the luxury of Tea Trails at Hatton, and Galle were certainly memorable. Sigiriya, Kandy, and Trincomalee were also very enjoyable and interesting.

Our driver, Rukan, was very good. Nothing was too much trouble and he got us where we needed to be safely and in good order. He was knowledgeable about everywhere we went and if he ever didn’t know where he was going we didn’t notice.

The accommodation we booked was always close to what we expected and in some cases much better. Jungle Beach at Trincomalee was very comfortable and restful, Heritance Kandalama was fascinating architecturally, and Tea Trails at Hatton was wonderfully indulgent. We also enjoyed Fort Printers in Galle; it was centrally located and very comfortable.

Elina and Gareth were so much fun and really did everything they could to make sure we had an enjoyable trip. Elina always answered all my questions in a very timely manner- so much that I wondered if she ever slept! I wouldn’t hesitate to book a trip with them again.

Bob and I had an incredible and very varied trip to Chile for our honeymoon. We spent the first 5 days of it in Patagonia, where we did the "W" route. Our guide, Camilla, was the perfect person to take me, and inexperienced hiker, from place to place. She took such good care of us, and her pacing was perfect to get us where we needed to go without making me totally work out. Her cheerfulness and enthusiasm were such a treat.

After that we spent a day in Santiago and three days in Cochagua Valley doing wine tours and eating unbelievably good food. Our guides for the wine tour, Jose and Fransisco, were a lot of fun and really knowledgeable. We enjoyed all of the tours and tastings we did and were grateful to meet everyone there.

The two highlights of the wine-touring part of our trip were lunch at Fuegos de Alpata, the restaurant at Montes vineyard. Both the food and views were unbelievable, and it took us several hours afterwards to be able to recover and for the haze to wear off. The second was our accommodation - Hotel Quinta Maria. The massive and colorful room in the middle of a gorgeous garden was pretty great, but the best part of the stay was the hospitality of the hotel's owner, Eduardo, who took great care of us and made us a multi-course breakfast, including home-grown fruit and eggs from his own chickens, each morning.

Overall, we couldn't have asked for a better experience and are very grateful for James and Mayra's planning and decision-making. They captured exactly what we wanted.

Our trip to India was amazing! Everyone was very happy about everything, from accommodation, to transportation, guides, and activities.
Prashant was a really good guide in Goa and easy to get along with. Especially when everyone loves nature, as we hiked for a bit. The 2 others guides in goa were great as well (I unfortunately can’t remember their exact names.. :/ )
In Kerala, our driver Dileep was really great. He drove (frankly!) but carefully. And brought us to any places we wanted to go to, from temples sightseeing to shopping and eating in local places. He was very flexible with schedule and always was trying to please us. Thumbs up!
There was just a little confusion and misunderstanding in some part of the itinerary for the Kerala houseboat. But it all turned out well at the end.

Overall, it was a great trip and it seems impossible to choose a favorite place.

Thanks!