Having known Prem & Maina Rai for over ten years, I cannot imagine better trekking guides. Whatever your desires for your trek, from the idlest, slow leisurely paced wanderings to the toughest challenges (if you wish to to the highest lake in the World, they will get you there!), they can meet them. They take wonderful care of you….with much laughter and enjoyment.
My last experience of travel with Prem & Maina was the trek to Everest Base Camp, November – December 2009. My companions were very fit but I had thought I would have to stay at Namche Bazaar, having had a hip replacement and arthritic knees, at the age of 66. But they were happy and confident that we would sing and dance on the Kalapathar peak 5545m and, thanks to their great spirits and competence, we did. And picnicked and took photos for four hours in the sun, overlooking Everest and watching distant avalanches! This was a tribute to their total care for every aspect of our well-being. We all stayed healthy with just one incidence of Altitude Mountain Sickness (which can just happen anytime); Prem has life saving skills to deal with this, and a mere half an hour of his garlic head Massage brought me round.
Both Prem and Mina, who have been practicing their skills for years at their clinic in Pokhara, are highly skilled in ayurvedic massage and, unbelievably, managed to include their massage oils in all the baggage they were carrying; we returned healthier in every respect, and I am sure it was a tribute to their skilled massage that I arrived home much fitter and with no need for painkillers! This is not to mention their skills in cooking (wherever lodge owners allow them in their kitchens), story telling, knowledge of flora and fauna, and Prem’s ability to rush over nearby peaks and bring back excellent photos of the wild life and dramatic footage.
Fortunate indeed are any trekkers who have Prem and Maina or either one of them alone, for their guide to the beauty and challenges of the Nepalese mountains.
Christine, Mathew & Chris G, London,
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