A friend in Canberra heard that I was planning to trek Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit with family and friends, and recommended Binod. I sent an e-mail to the contact addresses on the hikenepal.com website, and was surprised to receive a phone call from Binod himself a few days later. He immediately impressed me with his pleasant manner and excellent English language skills.

A flurry of e-mails ensued as I negotiated the itinerary and number of porters, and asked a lot of “dumb” questions. Throughout this process Binod responded personally and promptly (subject to WiFi availability on the trek he was guiding!) and in detail. Binod was very flexible, using and improving on our draft itinerary, and taking into account the desire of younger group members to minimise personal costs by carrying their own gear. It was an easy group decision to proceed with Binod, and proved to be an excellent one.

Binod’s flexibility was demonstrated once again as our arrival in Kathmandu was delayed by a four-day airport closure, and our Annapurna Circuit trek became an Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek. Then during the trek one of our number sustained a minor knee injury and we needed to split the group into two parties with different itineraries. Binod handled this effortlessly, assigning porters between the parties and continuing to organise all accommodation, food and so on for both parties.

During the trek, I couldn’t help feeling smug about our choice of guide and the quality of our porters, who were strong, cheerful and happy to indulge my son’s desire to learn and practice some Nepali phrases. We certainly received the highest level of service of any groups I saw during the trek, and our fresh fruit servings were the envy of other trekkers.

Binod himself showed wonderful empathy throughout our experience. I was particularly delighted on first meeting Binod in Kathmandu. One of my “dumb” e-mail questions was regarding availability of traditional Nepalese Bansuri flutes in Kathmandu, because one of our group is a keen flautist who wanted to buy one. At the conclusion of our meeting, Binod produced a Bansuri flute and gave it to our flautist. This was entirely unexpected, generous and thoughtful. We were delighted again on the trek when Binod demonstrated his prowess with the flute, rusty though he claimed to be!

Two of our party planned to stay on in Nepal and do the Everest Base Camp trek. On request, Binod was able to help them plan the additional trek and provide a competitive Hike Nepal quote. Our two trekkers didn’t hesitate, and are currently hiking towards Everest under the guidance of Binod’s associate Tendi Sherpa.

I have no hesitation in recommending Hike Nepal and Binod Mahat to anyone planning a trek in Nepal.

Bill Sargent
Australia