KE Adventure travel

By: Gill Plum, Warrington, UK

I picked this trip because I'd done the Toubkal trip 2 years ago & enjoyed it immensely. I didn't expect this trip to be better but it was. A great little trip & highly recommended for a short winter getaway. Felt like I'd been away far longer than just a week. Excellent!

By: Al Donatio, Franconia, USA

I would like to commend the KE staff for proposing an alternative itinerary given the unstable political situation at the time. I had many follow up questions which were addressed and made me feel comfortable that the trip would be a success.

The hotel stays in the bigger cities were quite luxurious and comfortable. Sleeping in village schoolhouses, monasteries and local homes while on trek really added to the overall experience of living amoung the Chin people. The food was plentiful and excellent: fresh fruit and vegetables; freshly killed chickens and goat (always my favorite on a KE trip).

The support crew could not have been more helpful and happy. I heard laughter from them the entire trip. One of my favorite characters on the trip was our driver in Bagan. He was humerous during our long drives and offered his commentary on local sights. Our local guide, Sai, did an outstanding job of sharing his passion and knowledge of the Burma history and customs. He never tired of showing us the temples and monasteries. He was attentive to all of our needs. On trek, he looked out for us and made sure we had enough to eat and drink (rum sours before dinner every night was a nice treat) and that our accomodations were satisfactory.

I had a great time. I felt like an explorer as we hiked the Chin hills. We passed through villages that had probably only met a handful of Westerners. They were the happiest people that I have ever met on trek. Although they did not speak English, they always had a smile, a wave and most of all laughter. Every time they laughed it brought a big smile to my face. We would take their photo, show it to them and listen to their laughter. Meeting the Chin people was the highlight of the trip for me.

Please inform future trip members to bring a thermarest. I brought mine, but others did not and regretted it. You should also set expectations with future trip members that this is not Nepal. The country is still learning about porter support and transporting equipment.Once the original itinerary changed from trekking/mountain climbing in the Eastern Himalaya to hiking in the Chin hills, I knew things would be different. The trade off was we spent more time with the local people and that was the hightlight for me. KE is my Adventure travel company of choice.

By: Jessica Kavanagh, Ireland

Journeys and Nyi Nyi Tun were both excellent. There was not a single time when plans went awry, buses didn't turn up or hotels weren't expecting us. I was very impressed with the level of organisation at both a macro and micro level. I would certainly recommend a KE holiday to others and will hopefully manage to book a second trip with KE in 2012

By: Peter Croudace, Ayr

Trek food was good as always although it'd be really nice if we got a I was impressed with Charlie Buscoe. Balances individual demands with those of the group. His assistant was impressive too. Impressed with Rimo. All arrangements went well. daily choc/snack bar like we do in Nepal. They should probably not serve the noodle pudding thingy as it's not popular (or particularly nice!). Trekking crew were superb. No complaints, they worked very hard and always smiled.Ringzin and the sherpas were excellent.

By: Laura Gate, Cheshire, UK

Simona our leader was excellent, she paced the trip well and we had a good amount of free time. She explained a lot about the history and environment. She provided good lunches and was pleasant and friendly.

By: Nancy Martin, California, USA

Sarah was both our local agent and guide. She was very efficient, knowledgeable, fit, energetic and fun. Can't say enough good about Sarah. We wanted to do more hiking than was outlined in the original plan, and she made it all happen. She did extras for us. She was strong and kept us 8 women in tow. It was like herding cats. She's 5 star. The trip exceeded my expectations, which were very high. I loved very aspect of the trip..every day was varied. Hiking terrain was diverse...mtns., forests, lakes, villages,the sea. Our accommodations were fine; the food good. Our days started fairly early, which was good. Sarah is intelligent, organized. loves what she does, where she is and it comes through in such a positive way. The people of the communities we passed through really responded to her and respected her. I organized the private trip; selected Corsica as a destination, and researched who went there. I have traveled with KE 5 times, and all of my trips have been great.

By: Gary Love, Tennessee, USA

The trip was fantastic, and the porters and guides made the difference between success and failure. I cannot thank them enough. Onex, our guide, provided excellent leadership and his crew provided outstanding support to all of us.

This was the greatest adventure that I have ever attempted. No doubt that I would have never made it without the support of the KE staff and the local support personel. Onex went way out of his way to make sure that I could contact my family in the USA while I was away, and I thank him very much. This was a wondeful experience.

It was way more difficult mentally and physically than I would have ever dreamed of. I was in excellent shape but there is no way I could have prepared for the conditions that I experienced climbing the mountain.

By: Julie Brockbank, Windermere, Cumbria

My husband and myself cannot recommend both KE and the local agents highly enough. The service throughout was to a very high standard and the whole trip flowed so well, the organisation and attention to detail was excellent. We saw amazing amounts of wildlife largely due to local knowledge of our very experienced guides. I think we both underestimated the difficulty involved in trekking in high temperatures and extreme humidity, however we both made a successful summit of Kinabulu. We would like to thank everyone involved for making the once in a lifetime trip so enjoyable. Thank you again for the wonderful service.

By: Simon Rainback, Poole, UK

Fantastic holiday and the trip of a lifetime. There were no major issues and overall the service and support for first rate. We will definitely be back (once we know what to do next!!!)

Eliasi (our guide) was a super star, he helped up massively when trying to update our charity face book page which is something that we were struggling with given the reception of our mobiles. Top top man. We could not have asked for more the entire experience and crew were fantastic.

Summit day was fantastic, although by far it was the most demanding. The trip exceeded expectations and also it was a lot harder than we thought it would be. I would recommend that people take an extra day either at the beginning or the end as you start and end the trip exhausted with all the travelling.

By: Maureen Marshall, Wigan, Greater Manchester

Rajendra, the local leader, is extremely knowledgeable about local ecology, especially the bird life. The acclimatization programme worked fine, largely thanks to him. He went way beyond the call of duty in getting back to Kathmandu a bag I had inadvertently left at Jomsom, calling in favours from his wide range of contacts, and making a special trip out to the airport.

No AMS, no diarrhoea - never needed to open the medical kit except for one Elastoplast for a cold-cracked thumb.

I really enjoyed the holiday, though as always the hole-in-the-ground toilets took a bit of getting used to.

I most enjoyed just being in the mountains and walking in such amazing surroundings. After overnight snow, the trail through white-sprinkled greenery was magical. Blue sheep, vultures and lammergeier. Weird plants like the cobra lily. Bhaktipur sightseeing was really interesting too. The lodges were (some of them!) better than the dossier implied.

I chose KE after many previous trips over the years.