Paul Hough

I just returned to the U.S. after trekking to Everest Base Camp via Gokyo Lakes (aka, the long way). In short, it was an adventure of a lifetime. I can’t say enough about how Ian Taylor’s entire team made this so seamless. Prior to the trek I spent months asking Laura numerous questions which she always answered promptly and cheerfully. But it’s when you get to Nepal that you really see the value of having a local office to assist clients on any unexpected issue that might come up.

I arrived for my tour a day early, but my luggage did not arrive with me. Fortunately, it showed up the night before we left for Lukla but Dawa Sherpa had already arranged a loaner duffle, trekking poles, parka, sleeping bag, microspikes, and cold weather gloves. I had much in a backpack but was prepared to rebuy necessary gear in Thamel when Kay Sherpa called to tell me bags were found and on the way. ITT’s local office made all the behind-the-scenes contacts with the airline making my issue much less stressful.

On the trek, we had the greatest Sherpas who made it clear that their sole purpose was to help us succeed. There were cheerful, knowledgeable, encouraging and a pleasure to hike with. Sadly, we had some team members who came down with altitude sickness and food poisoning. It was this adversity that really showed the value of having local back shop support in Kathmandu.

Our lead Sherpa was in direct contact with Global Rescue for affected clients but the back shop was equally essential for changing hotel reservations, assisting with flight changes, and every other personal issue that arose. I stayed an extra week to tour Kathmandu and learned that schedule changes were an issue for many tour groups. I saw either Dawa or Kay at the hotel lobby virtually every day and can’t imagine the struggle people might have whose tour group lacked this support. If everything goes right, you don’t need this help, but you can’t count on things being perfect. But you can count on Kay and Dawa!

For local tours, Kay and Dawa had many recommendations and were also able to arrange guides and driver support with pick-up at the hotel. Did I mention that I had a great time? I made it up Gokyo Ri, Chola Pass, and Everest Base Camp plus toured everything worth seeing in the area. And I did it with confidence thanks to ITT’s local team. I highly recommend ITT for your Everest Base Camp trip!