s_j_hanson
14th December 2004, 07:07 PM
My wife and I just completed a great 13 day trip to the Annapurna Sactuary/Annapurna Base Camp. We had a great guide who we would like to recommend to anyone interested. Here is his contact information:
Name: Dan Bahadur Gurung
email: dbgurungnp@yahoo.com
Mobile Phone: 9846023223
Post: c/o Hotel Hungrey Eye, Lakeside Bidam 6, Pokhara, Nepal
He is a young 44 years old with over 15 years experience who takes his job very seriously and does a great job. I especially recommend that you take a guide if you are American, such as my wife and myself, French or Belgian to help you deal with the Moaist presence. Dan did a great job of keeping us clear from any interactions or problems despite trekking in an area where they were obviosly present. The above mentioned nationals are apparently disliked by the Moaists, especially Americans and may be forced to pay extremely steep taxes. I recommend not trekking with your passport or anything else that exposes your nationality if from these countries.
The cost for us for one guide and one porter was US$ 25/day for each of us and included accomidation and food. Our porters name was Mita, he was great but we don't have any contact info for him. The cost varies by where and how long you trek. If you go directly to the guide/porter then you should save considerably.
Dan is from Dhampus and seemed to know every guide, porter and guest house owner we met. I think this would hold for the whole Annapurna area, but not for treks outside this region.
We also met another guide who seemed quite good. Here is his contact information. I only know him as Ganesh but here is the contact information he gave us:
Tel: 977-61-521520
Email: wwjte@cnet.wlink.com.np
bdparajuli@hotmail.com
The name of the company he works for Khampa Treks. Dan also thought he was a good guy.
Companies provide some accountability but they also skim off money that I would prefer go directly to the guide and porter. That said, I saw many people who hired a guide, especially independently w/o a reference, who ended up getting someone who didn't know what they were doing.
You may contact us directly at s_j_hanson@yahoo.com or after January 15th, 2005 in the U.S. at 1.503.235.2693.
Happy Trekking!
Name: Dan Bahadur Gurung
email: dbgurungnp@yahoo.com
Mobile Phone: 9846023223
Post: c/o Hotel Hungrey Eye, Lakeside Bidam 6, Pokhara, Nepal
He is a young 44 years old with over 15 years experience who takes his job very seriously and does a great job. I especially recommend that you take a guide if you are American, such as my wife and myself, French or Belgian to help you deal with the Moaist presence. Dan did a great job of keeping us clear from any interactions or problems despite trekking in an area where they were obviosly present. The above mentioned nationals are apparently disliked by the Moaists, especially Americans and may be forced to pay extremely steep taxes. I recommend not trekking with your passport or anything else that exposes your nationality if from these countries.
The cost for us for one guide and one porter was US$ 25/day for each of us and included accomidation and food. Our porters name was Mita, he was great but we don't have any contact info for him. The cost varies by where and how long you trek. If you go directly to the guide/porter then you should save considerably.
Dan is from Dhampus and seemed to know every guide, porter and guest house owner we met. I think this would hold for the whole Annapurna area, but not for treks outside this region.
We also met another guide who seemed quite good. Here is his contact information. I only know him as Ganesh but here is the contact information he gave us:
Tel: 977-61-521520
Email: wwjte@cnet.wlink.com.np
bdparajuli@hotmail.com
The name of the company he works for Khampa Treks. Dan also thought he was a good guy.
Companies provide some accountability but they also skim off money that I would prefer go directly to the guide and porter. That said, I saw many people who hired a guide, especially independently w/o a reference, who ended up getting someone who didn't know what they were doing.
You may contact us directly at s_j_hanson@yahoo.com or after January 15th, 2005 in the U.S. at 1.503.235.2693.
Happy Trekking!