Client Testimonials

Namaste Niru,

I just wanted to thank you and all of the fine people in your organization for the best trek I have ever been on.

I have taken treks all ovver the world and have travelled to 81 countries in my lifetime. Your organization is the VERY BEST travel company I have ever dealt with. Your attention to detail is unsurpassed.

The entire group had a fantastic evening at your home and it was most kind of your wife to cook for us. It was a memorable experience and an evening I shall never forget.

I was sad when Ganesh took me to the airport as I realized this wonderful journey through Nepal was coming to an end. I assure you that you will see me again in 2008 either with a trip Jeff has arranged or on a trip I will coordinate directly with you.

Thank you again for makiing this a very special trip. I had a fantastic time. Please have any potential clients contact me for future references as my experience with your organization was exceptional.

"...there is something in man which responds
to the challenge of this mountain...
the struggle is the struggle of life itself
upward and forever upward..." George Mallory

Jay Almer

<jayalmer@lutron.com>

Holgar I'm happy to write a recommendation fro Niru and his trekking agency.

I know Niru since 1994, when I mad my first trekking with him arround Dhaulagiri and to Mustang.
In this time he worked for a big German trekking agency - Henkalaya and was its best guide.
Later Henkalaya solved his contract with Gorkha Trekking (the old agency for which Niru worked - this was a problem of the chief of the agency and not of Niru.

Since this time Niru started to work with a own agency. We had a lot of very nice trekking tours together.
Niru has very big experience, because he started as porter, worked as guide assistent, cook (he is a excellent cook) and guide for trekking groups and mountian climbing (Everest, Pumori, Ama Dablam, ...). His trekking tours have a excellent service (good tents, very soft matrasses, good dining tent, ....and many things, where I think it isn't necessary). But he provides also for Nepalesian relation good equipment for his stuff (tents, clothing, ...). He has good relations to his stuff. Many come from his village in Solu area or this reagion. Often I walked with the same people, they like to work for Niru, because he pay a fair price. Neverless Niru makes good trekking prices, because he know very well the market and isn't interested to earn the big money. In Dolpo we met a French group, which lost their porters. Our porters helped them oin their rest day. Next day all were back to go with us.

From his income Niru supports the school in his village and pay the teacher.

Trekking with Niru and his stuff is like trekking with friends. Also his other guides are excellent - trained by Niru, some are coming from his village. They and Niru speak quite good English.

For our last tours aside of the normal trails Niru or one of his friends went to check the way. Niru has become a really good friend of me. I was lucky to invite him also to Germany. What I believe, there is no other agency in Nepal with this experiences which offer such a good service for a very good price and with such very kindly people.

You can find other cheap agency, also some good, also some kindly people, but not this combination.
All guests of Niru, which I know were very happy with his tours.

With Niru you can't make a mistake.

I wish you nice vacations in this wonderful country with these nice people.
If I can do something for you, you need more information about trekking in Nepal ... let it me know.

Best regrads

Holger
Germany

In last october we have spend 3 weeks in upper Dolpo region with the crew of Adventure geo trek. They have demonstrated an extreme professionality and skill even in tough situations. Excellent comfort and food compared to the severe conditions we were.
We hardly recommend them and wish you a happy trek.

Luigi and Lella Borroni,
9 via villa della Regina,
10131, Turin, Italy

Hello Niru,
after quite a long time I visited your homepage again.
Here are my remarks:
You could update my recommendation by the following:
2001 Dolpo trek
2003 Kanchentjunga trek
2004 Manaslu trek
2006 Extended Makalu trek (Sherpani col trek)

Whenever I Will plan to travel to Nepal I will do this via Niru's Adventuregeotrek company.
I ever felt absolutely save as well as a deep touch of professional experience combined with an unforgettable way of "easy living"... something we are increasingly going to lose in our western world.

OK, Niru, it is a pity that we haven't met in Austria while you stayed there this summer. I have been there as well, but just a little too late and at a different location. Anyway... hopefully we will meet again somewhere sometime somehow.

If you need support on recommendation please let me know.
The first trek to Dolpo and the fourth one to Ambulapcha col have been most impressive
and absolutely unforgettable for me.

I will keep on thanking you for those unique experiences.

Please keep in mind that you are always welcome to me whenever you come to Europe again.
Please greet my friends Dorje, Chiri, Pasang, Prasad, Pancha, Ganesh (!), Milan and Phedindra (I never forget the nice time with him in Kambachen).

All the best to you all.
Hope your dog does a good job too.

Niru, keep up.
Best regards from Germany.
Yours
Peter Desing
Germany

Niru Rai is the director of Adventure Geo Treks in Nepal, who organized our expedition to Tibet and West Nepal. naturally, Niru is also keen to take advantage of any good ideas that will be of benefit to the business and would be interested to take up discussion with you and G&M to see what can be done.

as a personal note from myself:
i am aware that there are many trek/adventure/expedition companies out there whose main interest is to pocket a client's money and then forget about him as fast as possible. my experiences on our Kilimanjaro and Tibet expeditions proved Adventure Geo Treks and Gane & Marshall to be very professional and we were very well taken care of and very satisfied! i believe that if you are able to work out some good ideas and are able to put them into action together, these are definitely two companies that show character worthy of working with eachother and i'm sure that clients doing business with either you will come out very satisfied. (otherwise i would not have mentioned the idea of introducing you.)

I wish you best of luck and success and if there is anything you think I could be of assistance with don't hesitate to contact me. ...and of course I'd be interested hear if there are any positive developments.

Ken
United Kingdom

We can recommend Niru Rai and his Firm highly. They are very reliable and give an individual and personal service. We felt they were very concerns about giving us a pleasant holiday. They are skilful and experienced, knowing a lot about the mountains. They made our trip to Kalapattar and the stay in Kathmandu very successful. We will use Niru next time going back.

If You have any questions, don't hesitate to make an inquiry.

We wish You good luck.

Per Reidar Andersen
Norwey

Teuchi Hallo Trekkingfreund,

viele Grüße aus Chemnitz in Deutschland sendet Dir Teuchi.

Die Adventure Geo Treks Agentur kann ich dir für eine Nepalreise 100%ig empfehlen. Sowohl von der sehr guten Rundum-Betreuung, von der Verlässlichkeit und der Herzlichkeit der Mitarbeiter, als auch vom Preisleistungsverhältnis her.
Für eine Trekkingtour empfehle ich ein Zelttrekking, welches dem Lodgetrekking eindeutig vorzuziehen ist, da man hier viele Bequemlichkeiten und Vorteile genießen kann. Das beste ist die Unabhängigkeit von Hütten und der Abstand zu anderen Trekkern. Der eigene Koch bereitet täglich wechselnde frische Mahlzeiten zu. Das Wasser wird immer abgekocht, die Teller und Bestecks über Dampf sterilisiert. Das ist in den Hütten meist nicht der Fall, wo nicht so sehr auf Hygiene geachtet wird.

Wenn du noch Fragen hast, bitte melde dich bei mir.
Da ich schon fünf mal Nepal und zweimal Tibet bereist habe, kann ich dir diesbezüglich Tipps und Anregungen geben.
Du wirst die Reise mit Niru´s Adventure Geo Treks Agentur nach Nepal nicht bereuen, sondern als einmaliges Erlebnis in ewiger Erinnerung behalten, das verspreche ich.

Falls du Interesse an Trekking-Reiseberichten an den Everest, den Manaslu, den Dhaulagiri, die Annapurna, den Kangchendzönga, ins Humlagebiet in Westnepal usw. sowie nach Tibet an den Mount Kailash, zum Königreich Guge oder nach Lhasa hast und die genauen Vorzüge einer Reise mit Niru´s Adventure Geo Treks Agentur erläutert haben möchtest, schick mir einfach eine kurze mail.

Zu den Preisen: Ich habe oft die Preise verglichen zwischen den großen Reisebüros, sowie Adventure Geo Treks. Die Unterschiede bei den großen Touren von 25 Tagen sind da schon mal bei 1000 Euro und mehr.

Mit herzlichen Trekking-Grüßen - Namaste

Teuchi aus Deutschland

Klaus Teuchert
Bahnstr. 27
09116 Chemnitz
Deutschland-Germany
teuchi1@arcor.de

Reference letter from Robert.

Dear Niru,
I gave Jeff my opinion on your company and your skills. You find the text below. I hope you are fine.

Best wishes
Robert
Dear Jeff,
my friends and I have been several times trekking in Nepal and before we met Niru 2004 we had two agencies who organized our treks. 2001 we did the Dhaulagiri circuit. On the way it turned out that our sirdar had not enough food to allow us to gain hight slowly. Thus one porter and one of my friends had quite severe problems with the high altitude in hidden valley. Another time with a different agency when surrounding Manaslu the Sirdar did not really know his way around und the the only mountain he could name was Manaslu.

So it was a new experience to have the trek oranized by Niru. 2004 we trekked the Everest region by going from Lukla via Renjo La and Cho La to Island peak. Our Sirdar was Ganesh, a nephew of Niru. He knew every stone on the way and organized the trek very well. Our groop was trekking during the daytime on its own with two guides, but the kitchen crew always was waiting for us to serve us a late breakfast and a meal in the early afternoon. The porters always reached the campground in time and were well equipped.

The two-men tents as well as the rest of the equipment were in a good shape(we especially appreciated the hot water bottles before going into the cold sleeping bags). Ganesh did a very good job when we climbed Island peak. Here you have the possibility to go up there from base camp, which means an ascent from 5000 m to 6200 m and back in one day which can be very hard. Abetter alternative is to go to high camp which is at 5500 m. If you start early you can be alone on the top of the mountain. One problem is that quite a lot of people want to go to high camp, but there is only space for a few tents. Somehow Ganesh managed to set up our tents plus kitchen tent (!!) in time and in addition fixed ropes for us along quite a steep slope which is situated below the peak. The kitchen crew managed to cook a good meal in the evening before our ascent.

In summary, I don't think you can do wrong if you let Niru organize your trek.

Best wishes and have a good trip
Robert

Niru, I have now sent the message below to over 300 friends. I hope you enjoyed it and that it may help to develop future business for Adventure Geo Treks. Jeff

To: friends in address book
We anticipated arriving in the midst of a country in civil war, if our flights would get us into Nepal. Instead, our group of 5 middle-aged men arrived in Katmandu on Apr 28, two days after King Gyanendra gave up absolute power and recalled the Nepalese parliament. In the preceding weeks hundreds of thousands of demonstrators had daily taken over the streets to protest the King's abuse of power. The King had ordered the military to shoot demonstrators, and 17 pro-democracy demonstrators were killed by soldiers. The massive street demonstrations were the culmination of a growing hostility of the people toward the King's antidemocratic practices and his inability to quell the Maoist insurrection, which had spread from certain rural provinces to most of the country.

By the time we arrived in Ktm the demonstrations had ended, the Maoists had declared a 90-day truce, and the major democratic parties had agreed to reconvene Parliament. We found a people delighted with the prospect of lasting peace and excited about the restoration of democracy. Our conversations with Nepalese revealed a deep distrust of the King and hope that the Maoists will be integrated into the political process. We learned that tourism was down by 75%, and there had been cancellations of 50% of booked expeditions. (Two members of our original group of 7 had cancelled out of security concerns just before the declaration of peace.) There were fewer Westerners in Ktm than I'd seen in my 6 expeditions to Nepal, and other than a few intrepid Israelis, our members were the only non-locals on the trails. The fewer trekkers on the trails made narrow bridge crossings quicker and easier, and finding times & places to pee along the trail without being seen by others was less challenging. With fewer customers in the teahouses and our group monopolizing campsites, our all-male group also enjoyed unrestrained farting & belching, which is always enhanced by altitude and unfamiliar foods.After settling in at the Katmandu Guest House and sharing tea with my friend Uttam, the hotel manager, we spent a couple days sightseeing in Ktm, led by Sangha, a guide supplied by our Nepali expedition co., Adventure Geo Treks. We viewed cremations at Pashupati on the banks of the Baghmati, ate lunch overlooking the giant stupa at Bouddhanath, and walked among the monkeys in the high temples of Swoyambho. Particularly interesting to me was an audience at Pashupati with the Milk Baba, a Hindu holy man who has consumed no food or drink other than milk for over 25 years. He is slim, healthy, an engaging conversationalist (thru an interpreter), and offered to prepare a meal for us and his disciples, although he wouldn't partake. We flew up into the high Himalaya and landed on the airstrip in the Sherpa village of Lukla. While the views from the twin-prop plane are spectacular, the landing is always a big thrill as the runway begins above a sheer drop-off of hundreds of feet and ends at a cliff-face, so there is no room for pilot error.

In Lukla we met up with our crew of porters, cook & kitchen staff, sirdar (head guide) and climbing guide, 17 in all, provided by Adventure Geo Treks, who would tend to all our needs over the next 15 days of hiking, camping & climbing. Nepali expedition companies run treks and mountaineering expeditions in the British tradition, which assumes that clients will engage in challenging hiking or climbing but expect to be well fed and pampered at the end of the day. While our porters carried 60 to 80 lbs of supplies up steep and hazardous trails, we carried only day packs with as much or as little as we chose. One of our members even had our sirdar, Ganesh, carry his day pack each day due to a flare up of low back pain.

We spent the first two days trekking the Everest Base Camp trail through the lower Khumbu region, spending the nights at the Sherpa villages of Phak Ding and Namche Bazaar, the trading center of Sherpa and Tibetan commerce along the Base Camp trail. On our "rest day" in Namche Ganesh led us on a 4-hour day hike up to the Everest View Hotel for lunch, then through the village of Khumjung, where we viewed the famous/infamous Yeti skull and the first Hillary school for Sherpa children. [I gave pens, colored pencils and magic markers to all the children I met, partly as bribes for photo ops, as I hope to create a photo exhibit of the children's faces of Nepal with Bateman Photography.] That evening we visited the most famous resident of Namche, Gheylsan Sherpa, who served as one of the three high altitude porters on the first summit of Mt. Everest in 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. I had met and interviewed Gheylsan in 2003 for an article I was writing, and had brought him a copy of the April 2003 edition of Outside Magazine, which had his picture on the cover, but which he had not seen. He had kept the worn and tattered copy of the magazine by his side these three years. His family was delighted with our visit, and served us salted yak butter tea (which we politely choked down) and cookies. Gheylsan and his wife are quite old for Sherpas (late 80s in a country with average life-span of 49), and he has hearing problems. As we left, Mark & Vitto asked me whether we ought to offer them a gift of money, which I summarily dismissed as inappropriate. But then we conferred as a group outside the house, and Ganesh told us that it would be well received. Ganesh and I returned with a gift of 2,000 rupees (just under $30 US) from our group, and Gheylsan was so touched he leaped from his seat to present me with a kata (traditional silk scarf) in appreciation. The next day we branched off the main trail onto a trail new to me; the Gokyo trail. The altitude and wear on middle-aged bodies began taking their toll on our group, as Greg developed severe cold-like symptoms and migraines and I started suffering pressure headaches. Greg and I spent a recovery day in the stream-side village of Machermo, while the others trekked on to Gokyo. The following morning, Bill, Mark & Vitto hiked to the top of Gokyo Ri (5360 me; 17,581 ft), while Greg and I caught up with them for lunch in Gokyo. Beautiful blue lakes -- water on top of the world -- surround Gokyo.

We camped in a yak pasture, called Dragnag, the following night. Vitto confessed over breakfast he'd acquired a severe case of yak-phobia he'd spent the night with a trekking pole in his hand convinced that a giant yak would break thru his tent and gore him. In the morning we scramble climbed up the Cho La, one of the highest and steepest passes in the region (5330 me; 17,482 ft). I was the weeny of Cho La as I'd developed a sinus infection, which sapped my strength, and I had a very difficult time reaching the pass. Our cook, Dorge, showed great patience and sensitivity by staying near me as I struggled to the top of the pass, but without humiliating me with offers of assistance.

We were tested severely with two consecutive very long and difficult days of hiking and scramble climbing. Mark, a reserve colonel in the USMC, attested that the two days were the most physically challenging of his life and more difficult than Marine boot camp. When asked how hard it would be to climb Lobuche East (our planned climbing peak), Ganesh replied with a cheery laugh, that it would be at least 150% harder than Cho La. Mark and Vitto decided that their goal to experience the Himalayas had been met, and they preferred to pass on attempting the climb. In the morning they trekked out with our climbing guide, Norbu, and part of the crew to head back to Lukla. Bill had not intended to attempt the climb of Lobuche, so he took our English-speaking porter, Gopal, and headed up to Everest Base Camp, which was his ultimate goal of the trek having previously visited the Tibetan side of Chomolungma (Everest). Greg and I decided we would lower our sights from Lobuche East (6119 me; 20,070 ft) to the less difficult Pokalde Peak (5806 me; 19,044 ft), which I had climbed in 1998.

To reach Pokalde base camp, the rest of the crew, Greg and I had to scramble up yet a higher pass, Kongma La (5535 me; 18,155 ft). Although Greg's cold symptoms returned, he and Ganesh went out on the snow fields and practiced with ice axe & crampons after we arrived in base camp. I spent about 18 hrs. huddled in my sleeping bag trying to rest & regain strength for the climb. In the morning Greg decided not to chance it, so Ganesh and I went up Pokalde at sunrise; the only ones on the mountain. It was partly cloudy, so our views of the Everest Massif and the other 8,000 meter peaks in the area were a bit disappointing, but the final fifty feet of free climbing rock at over 19,000 feet was one hell of an adrenaline rush.

I collapsed into my tent totally exhausted after our descent, requesting only a wash bowl & puke pan. I wanted to lie in my tent the rest of the day, but, unfortunately, our climbing permit was for Lobuche, not Pokalde, and another team had crested Kongma La just after Ganesh and I descended, and Ganesh wanted us out of base camp before the other group set up its camp and came over to ours asking questions. [We could be fined and Ganesh's guiding license would be at risk for climbing without a permit.] So, after 1/2 hr rest we hurriedly broke camp and began the trek out to Dengboche. Ganesh and I fell behind the rest of our crew as I was laboring at such a slow pace. We got lost in dense fog and had to navigate by listening for the roar of the rushing Imja Khola river, fed by the glacier runoff from Everest. What should have been a 3.5 hr descent to Dengboche turned into 5 hrs of blindly picking our way down rocky mountainsides. While I got grumpier by the hour on exhausted legs, a sweet smile reposed on Ganesh's face and words of encouragement and jokes spilled from his lips -- so typical of the strength and sensitivity I have experienced in Nepalese guides. I rewarded myself with my 2d bucket shower of the trek in Dengboche.

Reunited with Bill and Gopal, we trekked through a vast and blooming rhododendron forest to the Buddhist convent at Deboche and then to Tengboche Monastery. We camped on the monastery grounds from where one can see the majestic white peaks of the greatest mountains in the world, Everest, Lhotse, Lhotse Shar, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Pumo Ri, etc. In the morning Ganesh and I obtained a private audience with the High Lama, Rimpoche Tenzing, who presides over Tengboche Monastery and is the most revered lama of the Sherpa people. I presented him with a copy of The Chrysalis Reader, a book of essays, including one written by me about the 50th Anniversary celebration of the first summit of Mt. Everest at Tengboche Monastery in 2003, which Lama Tenzing and Peter Hillary had hosted. Lama Tenzing seemed quite pleased to receive the book, and spent an hour in conversation with me (Ganesh interpreting). When asked what message I might take from him to friends in the US, he replied, "Tell everyone to cultivate love in their hearts. Tell the truth. And promote love in the heart and truth telling through religious discipline."

We returned to Namche Bazaar and were lucky in our timing to be there for the Saturday market. But it was not as lively as I have seen it in the past, as there were so few tourists and the Tibetan traders, who hike all the way from Tibet to trade with the Sherpas, were few in number, we were told, because the Nepal government now refuses them entry as the Tibetans don't pay taxes.

Our hike back to Lukla ended with the last hour in pouring rain, a good sign that it was time to go home. We had a final night in a lodge with hot showers and a final dinner with our crew; dancing & singing led by Norbu and his 100 verses of "Resper, resper, resperee, sometimes monkey, sometimes donkey ..."

Back in Ktm we reunited with Sangha for more sightseeing in Pataan and Bakhtapur, temple cities in the Katmandu Valley. Bill, Greg & I explored more of Ktm on foot and trawled Thamel, Durbar Square & Durbar Marg for presents to take home. Our last dinner was at Niru Rai's house with his family, Ganesh & Sangha. Niru is the owner of Adventure Geo Treks. The feast consisted of too many courses to count and many glasses of Mrs. Niru's home-brewed rakshi.

My relationship with Niru began 9 months ago by email, when I discovered his company in my research of Nepali expedition companies. I determined that his co. would provide the best experience to our group. We were not disappointed, as the crew performed above our expectations. The food that came out of Dorge's makeshift kitchens each day was extraordinary. Ganesh's cheerful leadership and the crew's typically happy & considerate Nepali personality encouraged our own good humor every day. And we were treated with surprising extras like hot water bottles & liners for our sleeping bags each night and gifts of t-shirts & duffels at the end of the trek.

Although, all the guys agreed that "the best experiences of the trek were the hardest days," the next time, I intend to include more rest days between hard days. And I do regret that none of the other guys were able to experience the technical climb of a Himalayan peak. After our dinner at Niru's, Bill and I walked the darkened streets of Thamel one last time and treated ourselves to a Guinness at Thamel's "authentic" Irish pub. We remarked on how much safer we felt at night on streets in Nepal than we would in American cities, noting that this is a culture in which busy vehicle traffic stops to allow animals safe passage and only the military & the Maoists have guns.

Namaste,
Jeff Rasley, May 2006

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