Reviews

September/October 2012 – 16 days trek to Langtang – Gosainkunda – Helambu with High Camp Trekking – Norsang Lama.

Having been for the first time in Nepal, we (three Austrians from Vienna and Salzburg) chose High Camp Trekking as our Trekking Tour Operator in Nepal, and we could not have done better. A family – run enterprise, High Camp Trekking offers the experience in the trekking and mountaineering business of more than one generation. Knowledge of how to organize and run trekking tours is being handed down from father to sons. Norsang Lama, manager of High Camp Trekking, not only gave us a helping hand in finalizing our individual trekking tour plan, but was also answering patiently and expertly to all out questions; and we were having quite a lot of them, concerning weather condisitons, trekking gear, packing weight,…!

The deal was made cler in Kathmandu on our arrival day. Price were reasonable, and we got good value for money. Everything went smoothly: Norsang came to pick us up at the guesthouse early next morning and, accompanied by his cousins Satya Man Tamang and Chamar Tamang, our guide and porter, put us on the bus to Syabru Besi; a day’s hike from Kathmandu, the road winding its way up and down along mountain crests in dizzy heights.

From Syabru Besi onwards it is all about walking, 1.000 meters of altitude up, 1.000 meters of altitude down again. Satya Man and Chamar did their best to make the trekking a pleasure to us; they were attentive to our needs, good-humoured, always willing to offer a helping hand, briefing us on each day’s hike, looking out for nice teahouses to stay. The more so, they have been sharing their experiences and their knowledge of the local people, their lives and their traditions with us. They showed us around gompas, yak cheese factories and whatever there was worth seeing. It was never any problem to change the daily itienrary according to our needs, having a rest day there, enjoying the spectacular scenery of ice-capped mountains and subtropical valleys, and speeding up the other day. All in all, we were having a great time, thanks to Norsang and his team, and the 16 days went by quickly.

We recommend High Camp Trekking as a reliable, professionally working trekking operator for any trekking destination in Nepal. We will certainly book with them again when being back in Nepal. For any further infromatoin, please contact me.

It was our (my husband and I) first time trekking for 8 days and at high altitude. Both of us were a little worried about the altitude and not being in our best shape, including knee problems. ABC was great though at times rather challenging but we had a great time with Norsang and his brother who took totally care of us. We probably go back this year for EBC or Mustang and will chose him as our guide again. If you have any questions please contact me.

I made the EBC trekking with Norsang the last March-April 2012 for 15 days. At the beginning, my boyfriend and I weren’t so sure to hire a guide without passing form an agency, but saw post on Internet and we called Norsang. We met him; he was really prepared and planned the entire journey showing us all the steps. He asked us the entire amount before to Lukla and this was really odd for us, in Italy we usually don’t pay everything before, how can we trust a guide coming from Nepal without any guarantee? But we trusted, and it was worthy! Norsang chose for us the best lodges, he follows you every step you take, answers all the questions and knows everything about Everest Region! Jangbu Sherpa, our porter is a very nice guy; both of them are a nice company after the hard trekking. We played cards together, Norsang taught me a Nepalese card game, it was really funny to spend some time with him! You can choose everything you want from the menu and he offers you tea and coffee in every occasion. Another thing of utmost importance is that he doesn’t make you rush in going up, he know every symptom of altitude sickness and is completely aware of you condition during the trip. We actually had no big problem of altitude even because we listened to him and his advices. Norsang is a real, genuine Nepalese guy, a faithful guide, polite and fully prepared. I strongly recommend Norsang Lama to anyone wants to do this amazing experience. This is my recommend Norsang Lam to anyone wants to do this amazing experience. This is my email: Barbara.muntoni@hotmail.it, you can ask me anything about the trekking and Norsang and I can send you photos and I can give u in private my mobile if you do not trust, like we did at first sight!!

Enjoy your trek with Norsang!!!

My boyfriend and I also use this guide whilst we were out in Nepal – we were recommended by a friend who used him when she did Everest Base Camp. We decided to do the Annapurna Circuit plus Base Camp.

We met with Norsang in Thamel when we arrived in Nepal and we told him what we wanted to do and how much time we had etc. He told us about a few trips that were possible and we eventually came up with this one.

It was the most amazing trip and wouldn’t have been the same without him and Ngema our porter (Norsang’s nephew).

We spent 20 days trekking in November 2011 and Norsang was able to answer all of our questions from the birds to the trees to the mountains and religion. It was a very cultural trek with so much history.

Some people say that it is possible to do the trek without a guide, which may be true but you miss so much when you are on your own and we learnt such a lot from Norsang which meant that we understood so much more of Nepal when we visited different areas.

We paid all of our money to him up front, which we were dubious about at the start as we didn’t know him but I wouldn’t say that this was a problem at all.

He made sure we were happy and safe and had full bellies at all times and made sure that we knew everything about altitude sickness which we didn’t get in the end thanks to his slower pace higher up and acclimatization walks. We also took Diamox, under his recommendation and we were both fine and only suffered a bit of tingling in our face (a side effect of the drug)!

I would recommend Norsang to ANYONE that was thinking about going Trekking in Nepal, I would love to go back and visit him and do another trek with him when I have the time! There are so many guides out there that claim to do everything that he does but I wouldn’t choose anyone without a recommendation because you hear so many stories about dodgy guides and it would be so sad to lose your money and have a bad experience.

Feel free to Email me if you have any questions and enjoy your trek!

I went to Nepal this past October (2011) and trekked to Gokyo Lake/Ri 5357m high with Norsang and High Camp Trekking after reading the recommendations on internet. Thanks! He was completely brilliant, from start to finish. Not only is he extremely knowledgeable and professional, but also a wonderful person. We went on great acclimatization hikes, which seemed to not be a given with all guides, and when we had problems with illness he recommended we take an extra rest day at Dole rather than Marchhermo, which was completely the right decision. For inexperienced trekkers such as ourselves, it was great to have someone we could completely trust with us.

If I go to Nepal again (When, hopefully…) I would definitely go with Norsang again. I recommend his company to anyone, irrespective of experience. If you have any questions please e-mail.

Have a fun in Nepal, its an awesome place!

Sincerely,
Mark