Explore Himalayas with Mount Face Nepal

We were together with friends on this trip. Dipu helped us a lot with our hike, always staying in touch to help us during the trekking. The lodges and flight tickets were booked beforehand.

The best vacation with friends, organized for us by Mount Face. We had an unforgettable trek to the Evresta Base Camp and Gokyo Lakes. I recommend this wonderful company to everyone, we will definitely come back again!

From the airport pickup in Kathmandu where Dipu offered us a welcome gift to the Valentine’s Day cake brought by helicopter to Annapurna Base Camp, there is a short of superlatives to the quality of care that was provided to us.
Dipu organized everything for us with huge flexibility and the constant ambition to exceed our expectations.
We had an amazing time at the Annapurna Base Camp via Poon Hill with everything being super smooth and also in Bhutan with the agency organizing us a last minute tour.
I can’t recommend Mountain Face Nepal enough.

All logistics and worries were handled, which allowed me to focus on enjoying the climb. Great communication prior, during and after.

Guides/porters

Dipu and Ram, our two guides, were fantastic to work with. Exceptionally friendly and hospitable, and willing to match my rather chaotic energy on trail. At the same time, professional and meticulous in planning the days’ routes – we got a good briefing every evening about what we’d be doing the next day. They also cater to hikers of different levels of experience – rest assured that if you’re a slower hiker, they’ll be cheerfully with you every step of the way. (And you want to go fast, they’ll let you run ahead – just meet up with everyone at the next rest stop.) The porters (Matsyendra, Dinesh, Ram (a different Ram), Raju, Praveen) were a fun and helpful bunch too – Dinesh gave me his buff after I left my beanie on a bush and never saw it again, and if I recall Praveen did most of the trek in a pair of suede Nikes. Shoutout to Dipu for going the extra mile when I texted him some days before the trip to ask about a drone permit; he went down to the district office to get things sorted out for me and charged nothing for it. So: exceptional service.

Itinerary

Mount Face provided end-to-end service on this trip. Met us at the airport, brought us to the hotel, arranged for all our flights and rides within Nepal. A nice touch was that for the flights to/from Pokhara, they made sure we got the best seats – I managed to see the nearly the whole of the magnificent Annapurna Massif passing us by.

The itinerary was very well planned – each day on the trek was very different, and we were also given sightseeing in Pokhara and Kathmandu as a fun bonus. The itinerary was a very good mix of pre-planned and spontaneous stuff; if you wanted to walk into a thangka painting school to learn more, Dipu would happily accommodate. If you wanted to tour a Himalayan village, that would be organised; if you wanted to stay at the hotel and watch the sunset, you’d be free to do that too.

One of the highlights was a spontaneous (and delicious) barbecue we had on the rooftop of our hotel at Jhinu Danda prepared by the porters. A bunch of us ending up dancing on the roof too (the Jackson’s 5 “ABC” featured), because why not? And at the Jhinu hot springs, the porters managed to find and fill one of the empty pools for us to use.

Accommodation, food

Our accommodation was excellent, within the natural constraints imposed by being high in the Himalayas. Dipu seems to know exactly which roofs of which buildings offer the best views, and plans meals, tea breaks, and overnight stops accordingly. The view from the roof of our hotel in Ghandruk in particular was heart-stopping, and a couple of us enjoyed a full sunset and sunrise there. While it did get cold at night, we were given fair warning and a very comprehensive packing list, so that never became an issue. The food we enjoyed on trail was excellent and cheap, and several of us joked that this might be the only trail we did where we’d leave fatter than when we started. (Tip: load up on the dal bhat and Gurung bread sets.)

The regular tea breaks we had on trail were very pleasant – gave all the hikers strung out along the trail to bunch back up, and just generally chill for a bit. Twice (at Ghandrunk, and in the sub-zero cold of base camp) the few of us who got up very early for the sunrise were surprised by Dipu and the porters magicking out of nowhere with hot tea. We were the only group who got this treatment, so that says something.

Safety

We were very well taken care of. Dipu gave us lots of warning about altitude sickness and tips for staying warm. He’s also got a stash of Diamox on him, so don’t worry about that. The concern for safety went beyond the usual things to stuff like advice on how to deal with donkeys (stay on the inside of the path) and what to eat/drink (avoid too much dairy/alcohol on the way up, but feel free on the way down). Since I was one of the more experienced hikers and generally ok with being a little cold I carried little more of my own gear (mostly camera stuff), but was constantly being gently prodded to unload more stuff on the porters and layer up, which I found very endearing.

I slashed a chunk of two fingers wide open (I ran up a staircase at the hotel in Lower Sinuwa a little too fast and caught a sharp metal edge on the railing) on day 2 of the trek, and was immediately tended to by Dipu and Ram, who promptly sterilised/bandaged the wound and changed the dressing regularly. So firsthand, I can say the first aid is solid!

Cost

For what you’re getting, this is *cheap* -- we paid a smidge under $1200 per head for 10+ days of trekking/sightseeing, and basically all food, travel, and accommodation was covered. Remember to tip generously!