Having booked flights to Kathmandu in advance, we looked for someone to help us with a travel program and came across Sarala and Madam Tours through a personal recommendation. Sarala was very helpful in setting up an itinerary, which she revised a couple of times to accommodate our requests so that we were happy with the final version for the program. It was set to a 10-day visit, entailing a tour of Kathmandu´s Unesco heritage sites, temples and palaces, a stay in Pokhara, 4-days trekking in Annapurna up to Poon Hill and the visit of the ancient village Bandipur. It so happened, that we had the opportunity to meet with Sarala in Stockholm before the tour, which was very helpful for the planning.
Arriving in Kathmandu, we received a warm welcome at the airport by Sarala and she arranged a jeep with driver for us. They drove us to the hotel where she went through the details once again for the up-coming days. During the rest of our visit in Nepal, she stayed in daily contact with us, always making sure that we were ok. After trekking, she also met up with us in Bandipur, on our way back to Kathmandu.
The first days in Kathmandu gave us an insight into this marvellous city, full of spiritual atmosphere and cultural heritage. A tour guide, who turned out to be very knowledgeable, took us through some of the many exiting places during a half-day sightseeing-tour. Despite poor road conditions and traffic yam during the following day´s travel to Pokhara (and back again), we always felt safe on route, thanks to our experienced driver. Along with our driver, our trekking guide Tek also accompanied us on the Kathmandu-Pokhara drive. Tek went through our packings and informed us about the expected conditions and made sure we had our questions answered.
From Pokhara we set off for the mountain and trekking. There, we experienced the breathtakingly beautiful views of the Annapurna mountains and the shifting landscape from hills to mountains. Together with our fantastic and caring trekking-guide Tek and the porters, we felt like a confident team – to climbing the uncountable steps, seeing the rising sun from Poon hill, staying in neat teahouses, and trailing down through rhododendron forest and fields of cultivation, as buffalos and other animals seemingly at peace with the nature passed our way. One of us also celebrated birthday at Poon hill along with the rising sun and songs. A marvellous moment really.
All in all, Sarala and Madam Tours provided us with a life-time experience, always taking very good care of us with her kindness and personal warmth. Also, the fact that Sarala and the people she engaged around the trip are Nepalis, gave us the possibility to learn from first-hand source about the Nepalese culture, which we highly appreciated. Most rememberable of all is, however, the true friendliness and warmth of the Nepali people!