reviews
Read holiday reviews by Mountain Kingdoms travellers.
What a fantastic trip. I have wanted to visit Bhutan for some time and was not disappointed. We had a wonderful guide Karma who ensured we got the most from the experience. I really enjoyed walking parts of the trans Bhutan trail and camping. The hotels were all very nice and the food was great. I would definitely recommend this trip.
This gentle walking holiday was the best way to experience some of the wonders of Croatia. Our guide, Marko was excellent, ensuring the pace of the itinerary worked well for our small group.
Ganesh Himal trek is a camping trek, with all that entails, including a significant crew of porters to carry all the kit. While tea houses are popular, we chose a camping trek deliberately and never once regretted it. The trek takes you off the beaten track, through remote villages and up mountain trails through farm terraces, forest, and up over Singla Pass. You do need to take heed of the level of fitness you require. We are in our early 60s, and keen walkers, but we still found it challenging, adding to the sense of achievement on completing the trek. There were stunning views in the mornings, with some unseasonal cloud in the afternoons and evenings reflecting changing weather patterns. We were the only ones on the trek, paying a very reasonable supplement to ensure the trip went ahead. Our guide was excellent. Very experienced and a natural leader. Lacking formal education he’d learned English on the job. He was absolutely professional and made well judged decisions along the route. He was evidently in full charge of his team, yet he treated the porters and cooking crew with great care and consideration. Indeed the whole team (9 in all) were great. They even managed to make a birthday cake over a campfire, and the whole team picked flowers to celebrate the occasion. We were the first trek through most of the route that season, and clearly lots of the villagers weren’t used to seeing that many westerners, welcoming us with politeness and smiles, especially the children, keen to practice their few words of English. That the novelty hasn’t worn off for the locals is a reflection of what this trek is all about. We wanted to meet people, and through our guide found out so much about their lives, the state of things in the mountain communities, and about their hopes and fears for the future. We felt that might have been harder on some of the more well-known treks, and was a key reason for deciding on this one. Mountain Kingdoms were super efficient, as were their agents in country, with all of the arrangements going like clockwork - no mean achievement is a less well developed nation like Nepal. All in all , and hope others will continue to follow this route, keen to open their tent in the morning to views of snow capped peaks in the morning sunshine.
Loved everything. Upper Dolpo so so so remote and so so so spectacular. Every day was incredible. Scenery so varied over the three weeks trek. Villages very individual and varied with extensive crops or animals. Very welcoming locals and stunningly beautiful (& many ancient) Monasteries (though very few monks). New “roads” arriving to connect these remote areas although most only useable by mule and motorbikes in dry conditions and will likely always be hindrered by land slips.
A fantastic trip, road building is continuing at a rapid pace, go now before it's too late to see the beauty and remoteness of this stunning area and meet it's wonderful people.
The things I most enjoyed: A beautiful part of the world to walk. I never tired of the artwork on all the buildings, whether they were people's homes or amazing temples. The preserved heritage sites. The hotels were wonderful but i really preferred the couple of nights camping. Our visit to a homestay was very special. Bhutanese people were unfailingly charming and helpful. Our guide and driver were both first class.
A marvellous holiday. It gave us some insight into the history of Japan. It was interesting to see life in rural Japan. Tokyo is a vibrant city and Kyoto a more relaxed place. Our guide was delightful and very well informed. I would certainly recommend this trip.
We loved the 'wilderness' of the trek as at other points the area was very busy. Our guide and assistant guide were brilliant and did everything they could to make our trek enjoyable. The morning scenery was stunning but otherwise we were a bit unlucky with the weather, as it clouded over by lunch time quite often. Also we had snow at the pass which for me made the descent a bit tricky as the paths weren't visible (and it was pea-soup). Anyway we're in the mountains and its unpredictable. It was a vigorous trek, the first two days being all up hill. The descriptions were accurate and I would highly recommend this trek to anyone who appreciated the remoteness
The people and culture of Bhutan were truly inspirational, and the guide was able to explain Buddism very well. He took us to all sorts of places and that were not in the itinerary. Mountain Kingdoms Guides and Drivers were excellent, especially Karma, and they insured my safety and treatment when I contracted dysentery. The landscapes and views were wonderful.
I liked the holiday as I learned a lot about Armenia and its history. The guide for the trip was very knowledgable. The food was very tasty.