Michael and Tina Kraus
Austria (Ultimate Kanchenjunga Trek)
Tina and me want to thank you for all you did for us - before-while and after our Ultimate Kanchenjunga Trek in november 2012.
The trip was specially taylormade for the two of us and from the beginning (booking) to the end it was one of the best things we have ever done.
With Uden Sherpa, Dhan Kumar (4-star cook) and the whole trekking team we were guided from Bagdogra and back in a caring and professional way so we had the feeling to be packed in cotton :)
The trek itself is absolutely brilliant and the way RIMO solved our problems when I got seriously sick on the trek was just brilliant. The rescue operation by helicopter, the medical treatment and the booking of earlier flights home including all the help with the insurances was remarkable and specially the fact that RIMO pre-financed the costs for us (my credit card did not work) left us stunned and feeling like travelling with friends.
Especially we want to thank Uden (he's a hell of a guide), Alka and Yangdu for all their patience and support.
It was our second time with RIMO and for sure we can tell that when we will come back to the himalayan-region (and it will be soon) for us there will only be RIMO to manage our trip !!
You really gave proof to the fact that you are the "HIMALAYAN Specialist"!
Looking forward to the next meeting.
Dave Linthicum and Peggy Brosnan
Bristol, MD, USA (Source of Ganges)
June 30, 2013 - In the Garhwal Himalayan Mountains near the Chardham sites of Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Gangotri on June 16-18, 2013, several thousand pilgrims died. We did not. We were there with Rimo Expeditions. It may not be overreaching to suggest that the two facts are connected.
The torrential rain turned to snow, which after about 15 cm changed back to rain. Not just rain, but the heaviest monsoon in this region of Uttarkhand in 88 years of records. It didn't stop. We were stopped short of the Ganges source pilgrimage site of Gaumauk by a raging tributary across the trail, and we and our Rimo staff (Uden, Raj Kumar, Santabir, Sonam) made a wise decision to turn around and head back to our Mountain Hardware tents.
That decision was wise. The mountainsides began falling at about noon. They kept falling, landslide after landslide. Rimo had located our tents the day before safely, but the landslides were so huge that car-sized boulders would take, as us Americans say in baseball, "a bad bounce" and start hurtling sideways to within a couple hundred meters of our tent. Time to move, Uden said, and the whole Rimo staff and porters began running to move all of our tents.
June 18 - The rain finally stopped. Time to move. But there was no trail left. We went first. Above Gangotri, one cliff had a waterfall to cross where one slip meant certain death in the Bhagiwati River below. The Rimo staff set a fixed rope (a local trek leader had just arrived from Gangotri downstream and helped but their rope was only ¼ of the length of what Rimo had.) Uden and Sonam cut steps with an ice axe, and not just Peggy and I but 100 or so pilgrims behind us all crossed safely!.....Who knows how many lives Rimo saved.
A porter (not with a Rimo group) in the snow a few kilometres up the valley from us that day was not so lucky, and passed away. He was a friend of a number of our porters, and all of our porters were worried about their family and friends downriver near devastated Uttarkashi……but they continued to help us and others in a wonderful fashion!
June 19 - At the 27 km point of our scramble downriver, I heard voices at my feet, a driver in his bus in Dharali with a shovel trying to dig the mud out which was almost up to the roof. That night, and the next, we waited in Harsil with thousands of others until the Indian Army airlifted Uden and Peggy and me and others to Dharasu and then Dera Dun. It was terribly painful to see the faces of family and friends hold up pictures to us as we left the air force base, asking if we could remember seeing their loved ones.
The Rimo staff did far more than help us. With Rimo\\\'s and Motup\\\'s years of mountaineering experience and training and with Yangdu and others making phone calls including even contacting the US Embassy for us (since we needed embassy approval to get onto an Indian Army rescue helicopter), we knew we would be ok. Within 20 hours of getting off the rescue helicopter in Dehra Dun, Uden and Alka and Dorje and Thinless had us in Leh to do another trek (shorter, drier!)
But what Rimo did to help pilgrims from all over India needs to be mentioned. Fixing ropes and finding routes, Rimo may have saved dozens and helped thousands, not just us. In fact, Motup and Yangdu had an entire seven-person Rimo team with Kunsang leading it moving up from Uttarkashi toward us at Harsil Army Base, and they worked from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. helping pilgrims across kilometres of cliffs and landslides (where, a week before, we had driven on the now non-existent road.)
Kedarnath and Badrinath were even worse. Yangdu fielded many phone calls regarding a group of western trekkers on our Kalindi Khal intended route, a few days ahead of us in several meters of snow. In past years they had used Rimo. Not this year. Not good. Last we heard that had made it to Badrinath somehow, and were still stranded there.
It needs to be said…. Sometimes you can \\\"get by\\\" a bit cheaper and you don\\\'t need the equipment and training and experience of Rimo. Sometimes. June 16-18, 2013 was not one of those times. Rimo was critical to our survival and that of many others.
In a perfect Himalayan world, the wonderful Indian army and ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Patrol) will be right there to help. But the Himalayan world is never \\\"perfect\\\", and we were very glad that we had the second-best thing to the Indian army with us the whole way: Rimo.
(veterans of three treks with Rimo Expeditions)
Mary Lou McGanney
Ladakh
I'd like to thank you for providing us with the opportunity for an extraordinary week in Ladakh. The country is beautiful and interesting and I'm sure we would have enjoyed seeing it under any circumstances. The extraordinary part of our visit was our guide, Skalzang Rigzin. His knowledge of the history and people of Ladakh is boundless. His good nature and charm were a lovely bonus for us. And his skills as he led two trekking novices, one of whom is considerably older than the average trekker, were superb. He was constantly encouraging, always ready to lend a hand, and thoroughly familiar with every inch of our journey.
Our driver, Galak, too, was amazingly skillful at his job. He, too, went out of his way to make our stay in Ladakh comfortable.
We are grateful to Rimo Expeditions for maintaining such an extraordinary level of professionalism.
Thank you again.
Thomas Taugnitz
Singalila Trek, Darjeeling Oct 2016
Dear Mrs. Yangdu,
now we are home and we want to say thanks for the professional organizing of the travel. Our guide Dawa was an excellent person to show and to explain us a lot of thinks and so we could make a wounderful trip and new experience as well. The staff was great and the meals were tasty and wholesome.
Best regards.
Mary
Markha Valley Trek, Sept 2016
Hi Yangdu,
Just a quick note to say thank you to all at RImo for giving us such a great time in Ladakh. Pemba Sherpa was a wonderful guide both on and off trek, and Ladakh is a fascinating part of the world - we’ll be back!
Franz, Austria
Zanskar Trek, August 2016
Dear Yangdu,
Now all our group members are back home after our fantastic trekking tour.
Thanks again for best organisation and a helpful and simpatico crew!
Doc (Dr. Milind, Mumbai)
Stok Kangri , August 2016
Dear Yangdu,
Our group had a very memorable Stok Kangri trek and climb. The services were really good, special mention should be made about the food. The variety in food provided by the staff was really out of the world. Everybody was very happy. Even the Sherpa staff with kitchen boys were very helpful and did their jobs up to the mark.
All the other arrangements were up to mark and over all it was a great organization from your side.
Phil, Australia
Markha Valley – July 2016
Hi Yangdu,
This is just a brief note to pass on my thanks to Rimo for a great experience with the Markha Valley trek which we recently completed.
My daughter and I were very impressed with the whole experience from start to finish. The team (Dipesh and all the guys who cooked, set up camp and handled the horses) were friendly, helpful, cheerful, and worked tirelessly every day to make it an enjoyable, safe and comfortable experience.
Everyone else we dealt with- Thinles, Skalzang, Rigzen i n Leh (and Alka by email) - were friendly and helpful.
It was clear to us on the trek that Rimo were the most professional and well-organised crew out there.
You can be proud of the team you have got at Rimo.
As an aside we were also very happy with the quality of service (and food) at the Snow Land in Leh.
If I hear of people wanting to trek in the region I will be happy to recommend you to them.
Thanks.