The day we arrived in Nepal, we received an email from Min. He gave us directions from our hotel to his travel agency, where we met and discussed our itinerary. He had arranged everything - air tickets trekking permits and accommodation on the trek. We traveled with our own individual guide and porter, which we found much better than a group trek as you have more time to talk with your companions and get the most out of your experience.

Our guide, Bhola, was fantastic and we learned a lot from his local knowledge and experience. We still keep in contact via email

We highly recommend Pigeon Travel for all aspects of your trip, whether it is trekking, and river rafting or sightseeing activities. They will organize anything you want to do and at the time, you want to do it. The personalized, friendly and flexible service, not to mention value for money, makes Pigeon Travel an excellent choice for you adventure in Nepal.

Briony Doyle and David Galovic
Melbourne, Australia
Email: davidgalovic@hotmail.com ( Personal email)
Date: 10 Dec 2001

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Date: 13/06/06

To Whom It May Concern:

We have traveled to Nepal and Bhutan to trek the Himalayas , but this time pigeon travel has made my travel and trek to Tibet the best trip yet.

From the moment we flew into Katmandu in transit to Lhasa , Min Kc's reception at the airport and subsequent service was excellent. Having been in Katmandu once before this visit was even better because we had our personal guide and driver included in our tour. Shopping for trekking gear was made easy. The guide's insight into the culture was much better than experienced in the past.

Then when we got to Lhasa , the service and excellent care continued. Battling the high altitude we felt cared for with sensitivity. The Tibetan guide he organized for us was excellent. We had a marvelous 3 days of acclimatization, touring and shopping in Lhasa -everything made easy and enjoyable due to the Tibetan guide, Bhu Chong Tse Ring.

The trek was so well organized. We did a 6 day Ganden to Samye Trek. The organization was done to precision. The food prepaid by the chef was tasty and hygienically prepared. The guide was profenional and experienced in taking us through the mountains. The yak men were marvelous. But most importantly, we were comfortable and warm.

It rained at night, but we were warm and dry. We had mats and mattresses to sleep on. We have never been so comfortable trekking. The trek itself was tough because we got up to 5200m and never hovered below 3600m, but the guide was wonderful, always hydrating us, and in the end, carrying both our day packs. Added to this the insight and knowledge we were given into Tibetan Buddhism and culture was marvelous.

We not only visited monasteries, but were taken to prays, chanting and debating series.It was a truly authentic experience. We highly recommend Min Kc's Pigeon Travel for Himalayan travels. Our first trip to Tibet was marvelous due to his tour and trek arrangements.

We will definitely use Pigeon Travel again.

Yours faithfully,

Pat Fink : patfink@optusnet.com.au

Max Fink: paaxx@optushome.com.au

Bimbo Deluxe

Tel: +61 3 9419 8600

376 Brunswick Street

Fitzroy 3065 Victoria Australia

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Dear Min,

THANK YOU very much for all of your arrangements and advice for our trip to Bhutan , Nepal and Tibet .  I especially appreciate your careful verification of my requests regarding flight schedules, visas and other documentation as well as flight codesharing.  It assured me that you were thorough in your preparation and gave me confidence to book our complicated itinerary with you.

We were met at each airport by your representatives and escorted to our hotel or program.  We have no complaint about timeliness, reliability of vehicles used, appearance of the staff.  As it is expensive (and unneeded) to be personally escorted every step of the way, this is very important.  And, thanks for providing the contact information in each country.

The tour program covered a nice variety of activities and sites and we feel we got a taste of each location, peoples and food.  I realize that it was expensive because we had to fly from country to country due to our short time for vacation; otherwise, we feel we got good value for the tour package of hotels, transportation, guides and entrance fees (as well as Bhutanese meals !)

We were fortunate to have good guides in each location.  Pema ( Tibet ) has a good knowledge of his homeland and explained the various aspects of Tibetan Buddhism well.  He has a great love of Tibet and his enthusiasm made the visit enjoyable.  Binod's ( Nepal ) knowledge of both Hinduism and Buddhism is very broad and deep and it was good to understand the similarities and contrasts.  He performed his homework well - all of our shopping requests were met !  Karma ( Bhutan ) was a very entertaining fellow and good company on the long car rides through the valleys and mountains of Bhutan .  He explained many aspects of Bhutanese culture.  We enjoyed several long walks with Birendra ( Nepal ) in Nagarkot, so we hope he wasn't too tired.

And, all guides recommended nice restaurants for our meals - good food, good taste, clean. Transportation was comfortable and all drivers were conscious of safety.  They observed basic speed limits and driving rules; they were careful and paid attention to road conditions and other drivers.  We felt safe to be riding with them.

The weak point was the quality of some of the hotels.  Although I requested 3 star hotels, since they should provide reasonable amenities at a reasonable price, some of the hotels  were in need of repair.  I can understand the use of local building materials and that the quality of repairs are often at a basic level.

Our best wishes to you and all of the guides and drivers who made our trip simply wonderful.

Additional comments from Richard Clint,

"We enjoyed our trips to Tibet , Nepal and Bhutan . All countries hold special significance religiously, historically and each had its own style of beauty. Each was struggling to maintain their ancient cultures while still trying to grow and attract tourists. Tibet was struggling in this battle and frankly their temples and palaces are far too small to support any additional flow of tourists. This, coupled with the lack of support from China to protect the Tibetan way of life, will just accelerate their demise. Nepal was a place of chaotic beauty with literally sensory overload from its rich religious artifacts. Unfortunately, Kathmandu was a prime example of a city that was quickly collapsing under the weight of accelerated growth. Neither their basic living infrastructure nor their administrative support from the government was anywhere near what was required to maintain the existing population. They will have to undergo major transformation in the coming years to turn their situation around. Bhutan was a very well run country with an unspoiled beauty we have seen in very few countries. Their challenge is to continue to manage their growth properly. Everywhere we saw a doubling of growth in roads, cars, construction and in some cities the actual population. We will always remember the intricate Hindu and Buddhist temples of Nepal . We will treasure the Buddhist prayer sessions within the ancient Tibetan monasteries with the locals spinning their prayer wheels, chanting of Om-ma-ni-pe-me-hung with the yak butter bottle smoke drifting upward to illuminate the ancient protectors of the temple. Finally, we will savor the fresh air, beautiful countryside, happy people and impressive fortresses of Bhutan . We hope to return to Bhutan to experience an Himalayan trek to see the rhododendrons blooming right before the monsoon season."

 

Yours truly,

Clint and Janice Dyer

Yokohama , Japan

Apr/May2007 (Please ask address with us , if you want )