Short travel report Nepal:
Anyone looking for a new, personal challenge while seeing different landscape settings in breathtaking scenery should not miss this tour. Constant companions are the impressive mountains between 6000 and 8200 m, old villages, temple complexes and prayer wheels as well as countless herds of buffalo and yak.
With enough time to acclimatise you go up to 5416 m (Thorong La Pass). You start at about 1100 m, walk past banana plants, deciduous forests and waterfalls, cross a steppe-like landscape until at some point it gets barer and simpler. At times you hike in a snow paradise (depending on the weather – e.g. at Tilicho Lake and over the pass). Even after the pass you get to see another type of landscape with a desert-like scenery. On the ascent & descent to Khopra Danda you even go through primary forest/jungle again. It never gets boring! I couldn’t have imagined how varied and beautiful this country is!
The choice of guesthouses was great (by now every guesthouse provides a duvet, so that combined with a sleeping bag it was never cold at night – even at room temperatures of -2°C), our guide Fatha had an answer to every question and took perfect care of us. With geoDiscovery Tours you really book a worry-free package!
Summary of a guided tour:
Booking long-distance trips with an organisation and extra guides isn’t really our thing. But this trip, together with geoDiscovery Tours, has shown that you shouldn’t generalise – and not only because of the uncertainties due to Corona. It was the best decision to do the tour with a local guide and porter! Our guide gave us so many cultural insights, explained things and answered questions about the country, culture and people, which made the round trip and the trek around the Annapurna Massif simply much more beautiful.
Our choice of geoDiscovery Tours was also absolutely right! It was important for us to find a small, more personal organisation in which personal contact, fun and fair working conditions for the local staff really are still the focus, and not just selling a tour / pure profit.
From the very beginning we felt very comfortable, received personal advice tailored to us, always had the latest information on the current situation in Nepal and got all necessary documents (packing list, detailed route description, etc.). On the ground in Nepal we were lucky to meet the owner herself, who took great care of us in the days before our trek and gave us a few important tips for the trek itself – in meeting her you immediately felt that the owner runs the organisation with absolute conviction and passion, and that many of her recommendations and advice come from her own experiences on the mountain! Exactly what we were looking for!
We will never forget your helpfulness, the hospitality and the warmth towards us! From the bottom of our hearts, many thanks to the entire team of geoDiscovery Tours who took care of us and our well-being before, during and after the tour.
Katharina and Jan
Annapurna Circuit with Tilicho Lake
