Off the beaten Track-AMAZING

When I first got in touch with Kishwor I told him that my mother and I were looking for a trek that was the moderate length, minimal people and culture. It had been my dream to go trekking in Nepal since I was a little kid I was putting a lot of faith in Kishwor considering it was my "trip of a lifetime". What he delivered us FAR exceeded anything id ever imagined.

Given what we were looking for, Kishwor presented us with the Nar Phu Valley trek itinerary he had made. After some brief independent research, we decided it looked pretty good so we signed up.

From even before we got there, Kishwor had everything taken care of. He had packing lists sent to us. Updates on trail and weather conditions ahead of time. Once we arrived Hotel, food, even going through our gear with us to make sure we had it all sorted.

The trek:
I won't be able to adequately convey how amazing a trek the Nar Phu Valley was in a few words. To summarize it in a sentence or two though; we hiked through just about every terrain Nepal has to offer - allowing us to really appreciate the depth the country has to offer in culture and environment. Simple but comfortable tea houses, only seeing a handful of other trekkers the full 9 days on the trail meant the tea houses welcomed us to cozy up beside the kitchen fire to eat dinner while they went about their daily routine. The farther we got into the Himalayas the more beautiful snow-capped mountains we encountered- really solidifying to us that this trek has everything we could ask for.

As much as the actual trek itself was amazing, having Kishwor with us- SO knowledgeable and engaged in mountain life- made the trip what it was. So many laughs were shared and interesting conversations had while we were trekking that I never once considered listening to my earphones while walking 6-8 hours for 9 straight days. (which, as a millennial in 2019 means, means a lot)

The Nar Phu valley trek doesn't boast the iconic mountain ranges places like Everest do but when you haven't run into another traveler in 4 days and you're sitting beside a fire watching the sun come up over a snow-capped peak, drinking a cup of warm masala tea listening to a monk saying prayers in the distance- what more could you ask for?

Pros/ Highlights: Day spent in Phu, staying at the monastery, good footing on trails

Cons: Long days hiking- We loved this and enjoyed the challenge but a reasonable level of fitness is required to enjoy it I believe.

P.S. Don't eat the dried apples you can buy in some of the villages (Food poisoning at 4000m elevation is THE WORST)- thankfully kishwor made sure I was taken good care of until I was better, checking my oxygenation on an SPO2 monitor regularly and getting some calories into me so I was able to continue the trek happily!