Langtang Valley Trekking

I ended up booking HSJ's 11 day Langtang Valley Trek by emailing directly with Himalayan Social Journey. Junu and Usha were always extremely prompt with their email responses and always answered any questions I had - from equipment to bring, to accommodations on the trail, and flight information. We went with Himalayan Social Journey because of the number of positive reviews and the agreeable pricing. Our experience over our 11 day trek showed we made a correct decision. After landing at KTM airport, we were greeted outside by person holding a sign with our name on it. After a 10 minute drive, we were checked into Himalayan Suite Hotel. The next day, as part of our trek plan, we were given a tour of various sights around Kathmandu by "Dip" who provided great information about the various locations. That evening we had dinner with our guide, Mingmar Sherpa. Mingmar would turn out to be a fantastic guide and friend for our trek. The drive from Kathmandu to Syapru Besi takes about 5-6 hours (with a lunch stop) and HSJ had arranged a shared jeep for us. Even if you do not get motion sickness easily, I recommend Dramamine as a portion of the drive is on rocky "roads." The trek through the valley was absolutely gorgeous. Mingmar and our porter Madav were simply fantastic and had a great repour with my wife and I. Mingmar was the quintessential professional guide, always providing great information about local area and checking to make sure we had what we needed. For an April trek, temperatures ranged from warm during the day (70s F) at lower altitudes to cold at night at the higher altitudes (25 F) - pack in layers! HSJ provided us sleeping bags that were great at the higher altitudes. Breakfast is included during the trek but HSJ provided the option to prepay lunch and dinner which we did. This avoided having to carry much extra cash during the trek, although you can still purchase extra items if needed. All meals were quite filling and usually consisted of noodle or rice dishes (Dal Bhat). Most days we generally started around 630/700AM. With various rest/photo breaks and lunch, we generally were done by around 2-3PM. Mingmar and Madav taught us a few card games and we enjoyed just hanging out with them in the evenings talking or playing games. The culmination of our trek was the climb up the 4600m Kyanjin Ri. Mingmar's expertise was on full display as he lead us up (and eventually down!), finding the right paths and setting a doable pace. It was definitely a challenge but the views from the top were just spectacular. In all aspects, we had such am absolutely fantastic time. Himalayan Social Journey made setting up our trek a painless experience and our fantastic guide Mingmar made the whole journey enjoyable. We will definitely consider HSJ in the future and would specifically request Mingmar as our guide.

Just completed the 6-day trek and it was a wonderful experience! I was planning to do the trek in december but was worried about the weather however HSJ recommended me to go ahead as it is off season during the start of december with great weather and few tourists. They were right! It was indeed a great time to do the trek as i got to fully immerse myself in the mountains and enjoy the clear 10/10 views without worry. By no means was this an easy trek for me due to the steep and long ascends however i was accompanied by one of the best guides/porter and new nepalese brother Mingmar Sherpa who took very good care of me and paced the trek according to my abilities. Thank you HSJ for organising this program and i highly recommend this trek to all if you are up for some insanely majestic views that one could only dream of :)

Trekked the Langtang Valley and Gosaikund-Kathmandu trail. Won't lie - it was a challenging trek with very steep and very long ascents and descents. But the views were awesome and sense of accomplishment valuable. Facilities were basic but that's to be expected and part of the experience - this is not glamping! Our guide Bishnu and porter PK couldn't do enough for us - was well looked after and they both made sure we had as best a time as possible. HSJ was well organised - was supposed to trek Manaslu but landslides closed this trail the day before I was to leave and HSJ swung into option mode and within hours had the trek through Langtang and Gosaikund prepared. Great trek, excellent company!