Specialize in Nepal & Tibet Tour Operator

Clients References

Hello Stefanie,
We went to Nepal in 1997 and spent a good deal of time trekking with Basnet. We hope to return to Nepal again soon, and will certainly contact Parikrama Treks, as Basnet was informative, reliable and a very good person to be with. We have no hesitation in recommending him, his local knowledge, local contacts and commitment to his customers were invaluable. He has certificate Mountain Guide and Climbing qualifications. Parikrama Treks is his company, and we have no doubt whatsoever that his enthusiasm, reliability and attention to detail will apply to all the staff at Parikrama. We will certainly use Parikrama again - they come highly recommended! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did - wish we were there!!

Best regards ,
Dave Polden and Polly
Dave@polden20.freeserve.co.uk

Dear Basnet,
Thank you so very much for giving us the most perfect holiday in Nepal.  We were so looking forward to it and absolutely everything exceeded out expectations.  Really we had the best time and it was totally down to you and your hard work that is was so perfect.  We will always remember this trip and really look forward to planning a much bigger trip with you in the future.
With best wishes, and hopes for rain soon.
Julia

Julia Woodman <julia_woodman@me.com>

Dear Mr Basnet
We had a safe and pleasant trip.  Once again, many thanks for arranging the adventure of a lifetime ? it's been hard to re-adjust to the normal family and work life, but we'll never forget the trip and your excellent service.
 
Kind regards from Gloucestershire, England
 
Mark Terry-Lush

mark@renegademedia.net
 

OTHER REFERENCES:
"David Begg" David@ActiveHotels.com
"John and Aurelia Payson" Paysonk@swain.main.nc.us
"rogerandvanessa" rogerandvanessa@tinyworld.co.uk
"Mike Belshaw" mikebelshaw@hotmail.com
"Martin Keller" babusar@bluemail.ch
"serge wolfer" wolfer.serge@freesurf.ch
"Elisabeth & Gerd Pircher" thepircherfamily@bigfoot.com
"stephen ting" sting@telus.net
"Elisabeth & Gerd Pircher" thepircherfamily@bigfoot.com
"Riad ramedy" rrramedy@inco.com.lb
"Sylvain KALIFA" Sylvain.Kalifa@socgen.com
"Pat Fromm" fromm_pat@csi.com
"Pircher Family" ThePircherFamily@bigfoot.com
"Rick & Sarah Mayes" mayes@netvigator.com
"Deborah Tynes" dtynes@attmysite.com
"Zieleniec, Wlodek, CMWN" wzieleniec@att.com
"turystyka" bmok-1@pulsar.net.pl
"Marek Arcimowicz" explorer@netservice.com.pl or 11explorer@netservice.com.pl
Mobile: (+48)(0) 601 78 24
"Uccioli Umberto" ucciolumb@libero.it
"mario marani" farmatel_2000@yahoo.it
"tania dolce" taniadolce@hotmail.com
"Fabio Lalli" flalli@katamail.com

Letter of Recommendation...
Dear Mr. Basnet,

We have now returned safely to the United States after our month in Nepal, and we wanted to write and thank you very warmly for a most fantastic experience in the trek around Annapurna. Although we waited for four years to come to Nepal, the actual experience we had was more than worth the wait and the anticipation.

It was most challenging - physically and mentally - to complete the Annapurna Circuit, but we came out of it much stronger than before, and with a real and lasting appreciation for the people of the Himalaya mountains.

It also seems that we must have good 'karma' because our choice to come to Nepal and trek during the monsoon season was actually a beneficial one. The rain was very little and we had the mountains and the lodges to ourselves, which made the experience so much more enjoyable.

Many thanks are due to yourself and the excellent organization and planning of the trek. We appreciated very much your agreement to let us have the three porters for the trek. All of them were excellent - always in a good mood and always willing to help and do as much as possible. We also appreciated Indra, the very experienced guide that you assigned to us. He knew exactly when to let us take the lead and when to step in and decide something or to encourage us. We felt secure in this knowledge.

We thank you for the most competent way in which you handled the situation with our lost voucher and plane tickets, return from Chitwan. Your actions and contacts saved us much stress and inconvenience, and we appreciate it. Many thanks are also due to Raj, whose patience throughout the two days in which my luggage was lost was incredible. He was most helpful with all details and very friendly, yet professional, in the way that he helped us through Kathmandu and the trek preparation.

So once again, we would like to thank you for an excellent vacation and trekking experience. We hope that your business will continue to prosper and that you will obtain the success that you deserve. In the future, we would like to return to Nepal one day to explore another part of your beautiful country.

Please give our regards to Raj, Indra, Birga, Teg, and Naben, as well as best regards to yourself and your family.

Sherry Stephenson, Matthew and Corinne (SStephenson@oas.org)

Letter of Recommendation...
Bob

I did a trip with Basnet back in 1997 (I think) so things might have changed. However if I had another chance to go back I would definitely go with Basnet and his Parikrama Expeditions business. We had an absolute ball and were extremely well looked after by him and his team. One of the best trips ever. I didn't know I was on his website. In summary:-

The hiking trip (6 nights) was to the Annurpurna region and combined with a white water rafting trip (5 nights with another organization).

We hiked a route which was well off the beaten track which Basnet had a special permit to use. We stayed in 1-2 men tents. I was with 7 friends. We had Basent leading plus 2 other guides plus 13porters, 1 cook and 2 assistant cooks. This might sound over kill but I learnt it was quite normal - certainly something we didn't request but at the end of the day we were not complaining. To put things in more perspective, one porter would carry 3 of our rucksacks !. Those not carrying our rucksacks (the majority) had equal loads consisting of tents, tables and chairs etc.. Your question about teahouses or tents - it doesn't really matter with this luxury but weather might play a part (probably should stress take a good sleeping bag suitable for the conditions).

We hiked around Annapurna - after the first night we didn't see another hiking team until we returned to Pokhara - this was in the high season (September).

Camped to 3,500m. We all made it but altitude sickness did kick in. We had a chance to do a one day turnaround up to the snow level at around 4000 - 5000 m but I personally had to reject because of the altitude ( I was very
very fit at the time but this doesn't come into play with altitude sickness). Actually I started to vomit and was taken down 500m with a small team - this made all the difference and I caught up with the rest
the next day.

Singing and dancing around the fire each night with the porters, drinking Nepalese rum was a highlight. Their folk songs are contagious so be warned, even without the alcohol. Food was excellent and clean - nobody had a problem. The cook could even bake cakes at 3,500 m.

We felt safe- probably a more important issue in Nepal after the Maoist matter.

Background on Basnet based on my trip and subsequent infrequent correspondence:- he is a very honest and hard working man. Nothing is a problem and he will do anything to help. His generosity was overwhelming. I understand he was a sherpa for many years working for another company before setting up his own business. I think we were one of the first groups he took through his own business. I would imagine Basnet's company is probably better now with the experience he has under his belt dealing with Europeans. When we did the trip, Basnet had never left the Nepal / Tibet region but I had some correspondence with him a couple of years ago and he was going to London to promote his business (the movie Crocodile Dudee comes to mind).

If you are planning to go to Everest Base Camp, at least you are going outside the main season which should be quieter. I would also imagine winter will be setting in by then so better be prepared for this.

Hope that helps.

Mike
(PS - where are you based ?)
(PPS - please drop a note if you do book through Basnet - let me know how you went on)
(mikebelshaw@hotmail.com)

Letter of Recommendation...
Hi Bob,

Pleased to supply you with all the information needed about Parikrama expeditions and Nepal. In fact, it was not our first relation with this company, My older brother went with them to the Jomsom trek 3 years ago and he was very satisfied so we tried them again last year and we were also very satisfied. Really it is a small company, but the man takes good care of his clients and he supplies intimate services and takes care of the very small details. Also the guides and porters the employees are very helpful and I don't exaggerate if I said that the guide was acting all the times like our mother. He took care of all the details in the tea houses like serving the food and choosing a good tea house... etc, this might not seem important for you now, but when you arrive exhausted at the end of the day to the tea house, you will appreciate that for sure. At the end he became our friend. Also the company owner was waiting for us in the airport when we first arrived and also accompanied us when we left ( Also he offered us beautiful gifts).

As for tea houses and tents, We've done the southern part of the Annapurna circuit all the way to Tilicho lake and used the service of tea houses rather than camping. In fact there were few people camping because tea houses are cheap. If in your place I would have chosen tea houses especially for the shelter they supply against cold and wind at high altitudes and for their hot showers, and believe me there is a lot of cold and wind,Also for the international friendship between trekkers in the evenings arround the dinner table. I haven't been to the EBC so I can't supply you with infos but I'm planning to go their in the near future, But for any other detail Please don't hesitate to contact again.

All the luck,
Riyad Ramedi (riyadramedi@hotmail.com)