Client Reviews

I’m towards the tail end of my 10 day EBC trek arranged by Discover Altitude. Overall, I’ve been very happy with the trip so far. Santosh did his best to make sure my trip went according to plan. He was also extremely accommodating to my request for alterations to itinerary during the trip. Always ready to help, no questions asked.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank my guide, Sandip Lama. He is an energetic and hardworking young man that went above and beyond to make me trip as comfortable as possible. He’s also flexible in accommodating my last minute change request. For example, when I saw Ama Dablam for the first time, I was blown by its beauty and came up with the idea of doing a side trip to its base camp. It’s require at least half a days time. Sandip agreed without any hesitation and helped with the trip planning. In the end, the side trip didn’t happen simply because I ran out of steam. As a guide, Sandip’s main responsibility is leading me with the trip. But he also offered to carry my bag when I got very tired. This is what I call above and beyond. Again, thank you Sandip and I hope we’ll embark on my adventures in the future!

Discover Altitude is the best trekking guide / tour operator in Nepal. Two days ago my friend and I reached Everest Base Camp on May 4th (trekking day 8).

On day 9, helicopter picked us up at Gorakshep - last tea house before EBC. Helicopter transported us back to Kathmandu via Lukla — 2.5 hour stop for refueling and other logistics. Hiking back down 3 extra days is not for everyone.

Reaching EBC was a small miracle for me. I was the biggest person (XXL) trekking. I trained for over a year… lost significant amount of weight to even attempt EBC. Everything had to go perfectly and it did. Planning was key. Some days were incredibly challenging and required very-very slow / steady pace.

At every step my guide was right there to support as needed. On some hills my guide was 12 inches behind me in case I lost balance from exhaustion.

We were blessed to have Amar as our guide and his younger brother, Shukla, as porter. They did everything for us … from finding bathrooms, ordering meals, dealing with hotels, first aid, and fun to talk with too. Multiple times during the trek other guides whispered to us that Amar is one of the best guides in the region.

We opted for the luxury tour with nicer hotels + helicopter ride to Lukla to start + helicopter return from the top. Paying extra for luxury tour is worth every penny. We met some hikers not having a good experience. Painfully obvious they chose the wrong guide / tour operator.

If you are in perfect shape and you’ve trekked Nepal many times before- maybe having the best guide isn’t as critical. But for us we relied on our guides for every decision … even down to what to eat and drink at different altitudes.

TIPS:

1- take diamox right from the start (1 day before starting the trek)

2- take helicopter to/from Lukla. If you don’t take helicopter, be prepared to sit around for days waiting on weather to clear for airplane flight. People stuck at the airport waiting multiple days to get out aren’t having a good time.

3- go vegetarian. You’ll love ra-ra noodle vegetable soup

4- bring tons of electrolyte packets and drink 5 liters/day

5- pack for very cold days at the end (EBC). Both outer-wear gear and warm jackets for nights at the hotel. Be prepared for extremely dry air at night. Bring nasal spray to help breath through your nose.

6- get plenty NPR cash in Lukla or Kathmandu. In a pinch, tea house hotels can run your CC to give you NPR cash… will cost 10% extra charge.

7- tip your guides as generously as you can

8- don’t bring huge camera unless you are ok lugging the extra weight. Newer iPhone or Android do fantastic job.

9- go slow. Don’t skip rest (acclimatizing) days.

10- Book your trip with Discover Altitude. Kumar will email you immediately with details to help you customize your trip. He will work through every question / idea with patience. We had at least a dozen unusual requests including special activities in Kathmandu after the trek. Kumar and our guides made them all happen. Remember to request booking at nicer hotels.

11- go with friend or family you really enjoy being with for two weeks. Having someone to motivate you and just hang out together makes the trip so much better.

12- day 2 to Namche might be your hardest day, particularly after Hillary Bridge… 1-2 hours straight uphill at the end. Don’t give up. Go slow and ask for help (horse available if can’t make it up that hill).

We reached out to a number of treking companies, quite last minute when the opportunity came up to go to Nepal. We got a lot of responses but in the end, Discover Altitude had exactly what we were looking for and very helpful along the way. When we arrived in Kathmandu we met at their office and they went into detail about what we could expect and answered all our weird questions!!(first timers!)
We were picked up by an excellent driver, met our guide ahead of time( that was the only confusion was if we were getting a guide/ a guide/porter or a guide and porter, it all worked out very well despite zero training on our part. On the last day we hiked up out of Namche,to the helicopter that took us over base camp with a short landing on Kala Patthar before returning back to Lukla and then Kathmandu where Discover Altitude picked us up and generally looked after us from start to finish including a couple of day tours around Kathmandu. It was spectacular , Santosh and Kumar were very caring and you could tell how proud they were of their company and employees.

Kumar was so helpful from the moment I was introduced to him. He listened intently so he could work out the best tour based on our discussion. He was open, transparent, and always prompt to reply to my many messages. He went over and above his call of duty as my visa had expired and without hesitation assisted me in ensuring it was all sorted. He is extremely knowledgeable and was happy to share his knowledge if you make it known to him just how keen you are to hear stories.
I would highly recommend Kumar and his team and feel like this review will be sufficient to not have to look any further as he is one of the best you'll ever find in Kathmandu.

I appreciate nice approach from our guide and porter. They took care of us and we could enjoy breathtaking views and moments in beautiful nature near Manaslu. The agency had everything very well prepared in advance. We did customized 10 Manaslu circuit days trek instead of 12 days. It was difficult but still manageable due to great help of our porter. Thanks a lot.

This was my first trek in Nepal and it was truly amazing. The trip was very well organized, our guide Thakur was very friendly and always selected great places for rest and food. Our porter Chandra was very helpful and always in the good mood, although he needed to carry a lot more than we did.
The surrounding of Manaslu is amazing piece of nature full of wild animals, beautiful plants, breathtaking views and nice locals in the villages. Also the journey to the start of the trek by local transport was unforgettable experience.
I would recommend this tour to all trekkers, who are looking for great adventure in beautiful mountains and don't want to share the track with crowds as it could happen at the better known treks around Everest or Annapurna.
You should be ready to step out of the comfort zone for few moments - yes, few ascents were challenging due to high altitude and it was very cold one night we spent at Dharmasala - the last village before Larkey Pass.
After our comeback to Kathmandu we had very nice lunch with Kumar and Santosh - the guys from Discover Altitude who told us many interesting facts about life in Nepal.
All in all it was one of the best experiences in my life and in few years I will definitely come back to Nepal and go for another trek with Discover Altitude.

Excellent. Very intelligent crew and warm-hearted people.😃🙏❤️ Good Organisation and professional. I can recommend for all, young or older. The best company in Nepal. I will soon back in Nepal and I will immediately with the Agency. You can go to the office and trink tee or coffee together and organize together the Trip to everywhere. Trust and professional makes the travel better. And the crew so nice and funny 😀❤️🙏😃

I truly enjoyed my group tour for the annual Holi Festival in Kathmandu. I booked this tour last minute, and was so happy about the communications and timely response. The tour operator was kind enough to pick me up from my hotel since it was close to the starting point. The entire experience was well organize and so much fun! Highly recommended.