We had a wonderful trip with Ace Vision. They were perfectly adaptable to our time frame for when we wished to start the trek and end the trek with a couple of modifications for an accelerated descent. First we had a nice reception at the airport. Our initial guide Ganesh was not able to meet us due to inclement weather prohibiting his flight, Our first hotel was clean and restful and the food and evening event were welcomed after a long plane flight from the USA. We had an issue with obtaining a plane flight to Lukla from KTM the next day. They switched our tickets from plane to helicopter and we very much enjoyed the experience; staying on target for our trek. The trip started directly after landing in Lukla. We slowly acclimatized our way up to the Everest Base Camp with our superb guides over several days. We had two excellent porters, Mingma and Nabin, who allowed us to enjoy the trek with just moderately light backpacks, as we had brought our mountaineering gear for Island Peak. The guides Bikash and Pemba were absolutely superb. I cannot speak highly enough of their professionalism and constant vigilance of our safety, acclimatization, and enjoyment. They made the trip outstanding by including local knowledge and bringing in regional culture such as attending the street celebration of the light festival Diwali. They showed us the Sherpa Culture Museum, the Sagarmatha National Park Museum, and two Buddhist temples including the one maintaining ostensible Yeti remains. Bikash and Pemba ensured we had everything we needed including hot tea three times per day at minimum and orders for breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the Tea Houses were stayed at and passed by on our journey. Be sure to try the Chicken Chili as it is not Traditional USA Chili but Chili Pepper sauteed chicken, that really hits the spot on this sort of trek. We were able to do two short side hikes on our acclimatization days which added to the experience. Pemba took us down to the Glacier run at Everest Base camp (EBC) for pictures and to intimate the Khumbu experience. After visiting EBC we went back down and around to prepare for ascent of Island Peak. Island Peak was a great side trip to add on for those who like such things. Pemba being an official mountaineering guide, who has ascended Mount Everest several times, ensured we were properly trained/reviewed on ascenders, rope technique, and harness checks. He checked all our equipment thoroughly and provided us with Ice axes and ascenders. The package included gear, though we wanted to bring our own gear that we were thoroughly comfortable with. Island peak is a formidable task to climb to over 20,000 feet and do it quickly with gear on. You need to be as fit as you possibly can and specifically train for vertical in heavy boots. After Island Peak we made our descent back to Lukla. Our flight out of Lukla was canceled along with several hundred other trekkers, which meant we would miss our international flight that evening. You should probably try to get a buffer day or two in your schedule to make sure you get out of Lukla to KTM in time for your international flight. Ace Vision worked with us to get a helicopter from Lukla to KTM that afternoon, which was a great relief. We were again met at the airport and taken to a nice hotel for hot showers and hot savory comfort food. That was well received so that we could truly relax on our international flights out of Nepal being sparkly clean and satiated. Suggestions and Last Thoughts: I can say you will not get hungry on the trip and they make sure you are always well fed. We were pleasantly surprised at the selection choices on the menus for the Tea Houses, which are almost identical for each establishment. You don't need to bring food. They even have snickers bars if you want - pretty much everywhere. There is plenty of opportunity for specialty coffee as well. Consider taking diamox to assist with acclimatization and help prevent developing headaches. You may wish to arrange paying a bit more and reserve helicopter rides as plane travel can be frequently shut down early in the day due to bad weather. Remember that though the temperatures in this region are not brutally cold the tea houses are not heated and so you will be breathing in cold air all day and all night - below zero Celsius air at night. Many people we saw including ourselves caught the Khumbu cough coupled with an upper respiratory tract infection that was going around. This can be devastating and we saw numerous helicopter rescues for people who became sick. Some had to curtail their adventures including about 50% not making Island Peak. You may consider having a back up plan for taking a helicopter down the mountain from one of the villages that allows pick up and absolutely everyone should have travel medical insurance. We saw very healthy young trekkers who were fit succumb to the Khumbu cough to the point they had to cut their trek short. Also, hot showers are almost non-existent so be prepared for Military style super quick showers if possible and using a rag with hot water in a bowl. Lastly I cannot speak highly enough about Bikash and Pemba and our wonderful porters Mingma and Nabin. Ace Vision did a great job selecting these guides and porters and I suggest you ask for them specifically, should you choose to use Ace Vision. Again we really appreciated the flexibility Ace Vision executed to ensure we could switch the plane flights to helicopter and stay on our tight time table. They really want to please their clients and they work to do so. Prosperous regards and please consider enjoy a trip of a lifetime to Nepal and EBC, its a trip guaranteed you will never forget!
73 reviews
