You are in About RIMO | Client Reviews   CLIENT REVIEWS My friend Diana Albery and I recently travelled with your guide and crew on a six day trek out of Darjeeling and along the Singallila Ridge.I just wanted you let you know how very pleased and thrilled we were with the trip. It was booked through CAT and I have emailed them to say how well everything went and how impressed we were with the trip. The Guide Palzor was just amazing.He was so enthusiastic about his Country, and so keen that we should enjoy everything. He really made our trip the best thing we have ever done.I have trekked lots of times with different companies, but now will only book through you and CAT. A big thanks to our Guide and the entire crew. The food was amazing by the way! Pauline Hill, UK(Singalila Ridge Trek) The main reason of my message is to tell you once more that we were so happy and content with our Ladakh/Zanskar Tour and the excellent care of RIMO collective and Richen with her team in particular. Two weeks ago we had a photo session with our other friends and it was a long night with a lot of wonderful reminiscences. Therefore there is no doubt that we spread our satisfaction of travel wherever we talk about this journey and the perfect support of RIMO expeditions. Congratulation also to the two Awards of Excellence - we feel that those are justified in any case ! Thank you very much for your help in this question. All our best wishes and kind regards for you two and the whole Rimo-Team Klaus and Gerlind, (Leh & Zanskar) A quick email to thank you and your staff for the successful organisation of yet another Himalayan adventure for me. Although we had a fair bit of sickness on this one we all still managed to have a terrific time. Nima and Topchen were simply fantastic. Topchen with his cooking, never boring and always of the highest quality, and Nima with his organising and guiding skills. An extra word about Nima. He really did save the day on many occasions. He took on the responsibility of the day to day running of the trek and shown great leadership and organising skills. He was the "glue" that held the trek together when things, from time to time, got a bit wobbly. His role in ensuring that Carol was evacuated safely was pivotal. He also took on the added responsibility of ensuring we stayed on the track for the second half of the walk when it became apparent that our Bhutanese guide hadn't actually not done this section of the trek before. I'm sure he had many sleepless nights worrying about finding the next day's route and camping site but never displayed his anxiety to the group. Always positive with a ready smile and strength of leadership that was comforting to me and the group. You should be very proud of both him and Topchen. They are superb ambassadors for Rimo. It would be remiss of me not to to mention Dhenup's role in the success of our trek. He was outstanding in ensuring that all our needs were met during, before and after the trek. His attention to detail was exemplary and left all members of the group with feeling that Bhutanese hospitality is second to none. His role in looking after both Kate and Carol when they had to leave the trek was "beyond the call of duty" and will never be forgotten by these two ladies. So, once again, thankyou for another wonderful Himalayan experience and I look forward to working with you on organising the Dolpo/Mustang trip next June. This will be my 10th trip with Rimo. Fancy that eh??? Geoff Bailey, Australia(Snowman Trek, Bhutan) We want to thank you again for taking so much time to talk with us when we were in Delhi on first November. We were glad we got to thank you both in person for all the excellent arrangements and help with our trekking and trip overall, and so we say again how great they all were. We also want to be sure we say now, in case we didn't when we met, how terrific the entire trek crew was. As we imagine you already know, Rigzin is a superb trek leader: always helpful, knowledgeable, and a lovely travel companion with a fine sense of humor. We learned a lot from him about trekking, mountaineering, the villages we visited and their residents, India, Ladakh, which added much to the pleasure of our journey. If we can trek again as we hope to do, we would be delighted to go with Rigzin again. Kuber is not only an excellent cook, but also was willing to share his cook tent with us on a few cold nights at Tapovan & elsewhere, which we very much appreciated. As we mentioned to you, these treks were the first time we dared to eat salad in India, which was delicious and healthy, so we are grateful for the careful hygiene that the staff maintains. Subh Singh is also very fine and was much help to us on some difficult parts of the trails, as was Rigzin. Surya was always smiling, helpful, and supportive too. We also tell you again that we appreciated the good equipment. The tent we had was spacious and good for keeping out wind. (Fortunately,we didn't need to learn whether it's good at keeping out rain, but we think that it would be.) Having an English toilet seat and hot water bottles on cold nights were also appreciated. We also thank you for the information about visiting and trekking in Kashmir near Srinagar and Ladakh. When we know more about our schedule, we will also look further at other treks on your website and would also ask for your recommendations. We would definitely want to trek again with Rimo! If you would like to give our names as references, we would be pleased to tell other potential Rimo guests about the high quality of staff, trek, arrangements --- everything! We think you have our contact information, but have repeated it below. Warm regards, Louise and Steve Louise Elving and Stephen Carr, Cambridge,USA (Kuari Pass & Sources of Ganges) I'd just like to thank you very much indeed for everything you did. Your support and the work of your staff was outstanding. They were particularly good at adapting to all the changes we made. Thinles was particularly good both in his efficiency, adaptability and delightful manner, as were both our cooks. I greatly look forward to working with you again in the future. Again many thanks. Sir Bonington's Website: http://www.bonington.com/welcome.htm Read about Sir Chris on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Bonington Sir Chris Bonington, UK We all want to thank you very much for your excellent organization, we could experience on our trip to Ladakh every day. We all enjoyed your hospitality very much and could relax, since all the obstacles we could experience were out of the way. The hospitality at Leh was great, the visit to the monasteries and the driver at Leh were a pleasure.We were lucky to have the same driver to Kyagar and more lucky to have Rinchen as a very competent guide to the monasteries in the Nubra Valley - her explanations were excellent and we learned a lot. The trekking over the lasermola was a great experience, the guidance by Rinchen was perfect, she is a well qualified nurse to help her clients in health problems and the crew was very helpful and very friendly - we were treated very well. The trip to Delhi - Agra - Jaipur - Delhi was a very good extension: We enjoyed the trip very much. Thomas Vollrath, (Nubra Valley) Sorry to communicate so late. I got a bit busy with pending work. Any ways let me thank you on behalf of all of us for planning such wonderful holiday for us. we really enjoyed our stay in Leh, The hotels, Transport, the driver, our experience in leh was amazing. Rafting was an icing on the cake. Convey thanks to Dorjay for a warm welcome and see off at the Leh airport. Convey our thanks to Stanzin for taking us safe and comfortable. He is really an expert driver and a good person. I will post his photos in few days , please hand it over to him when it reaches you. Thank you once again, we will definitely come back to Leh once again. Bye Nita Jagad, After 3 weeks in Ladakh, Zanskar and India we are well back home.As we could not meet you after returning from Zanskar, we now want to thank you very much for the excellent organization and for giving us Skarma as our guide. He was really the best guide we ever had. He was always polite and patiently, had a lot of knowledge about the culture, the landscape and the population. He was our guide, our manager and sometimes our cook. Also the worse situation with the crazy driver from Padum he managed sovereign. Congratulation to you to have such a staff! For us it was really great luck we had. Tashi the driver from Leh was the best of all the 6 drivers we had on our itinerary. Once more thank you! Elisabeth and Reinhard, (Ladakh and Rajasthan) This is just a short message to confirm that I got back to the UK without any mishap. I would like to thank you and Rimo Expeditions for organising this trip for me. I was very pleased with the efficiency with which everything was organised, and the professionalism of everyone at Rimo who I met. In particular, my thanks to Nima who was an excellent guide and good company in the mountains. Best regards Roger Nix, UK(Ladakh) We came back safely to Innsbruck and want to thank you and your organisation for our perfect trip. We are still thankful for all your help and think that "Rimo" really is the perfect partner for us. We were glad that is was possible to send Pemba to Nubra . For us he is the best Sirdar with all his knowledge and flexibility. Of course we will recommend Rimo Expeditions to all our friends.But also for the Rajasthan part of our travel we are very thankful again. Our driver was perfect in any way, not only as a driver, but also with his knowledge about the places we were able to visit. Also the hotels were exactly the places we wanted to stay in, old fashioned and original, but with all modern comfort. With many thanks again to all of you. Sincerely yours Gert & Anita, Austria (Nubra Trek, Ladakh & Rajasthan) Thanks very much for the excellent itinerary and arrangements for our trip to Bhutan last week. Everything was wonderful -- the accommodation, the food, the vehicle that we rode around in, the guide, the driver, and even the weather. It is a very hospitable country and we really enjoyed our brief visit there. I wish to apologize for making a couple of requests that were unnecessary and not realistic. Both hotels were wonderful, each in their own way. The hotel in Paro was unique and had much character. The hotel in Thimpu was very luxurious, and the service at both hotels was excellent. Also, we enjoyed a delightful evening / dinner in the home of Mr and Mrs Tshering in Thimpu on Monday, Oct 24. Marvin, (Bhutan) I travel frequently--I try to accomplish at least one adventure travel trip each year. I have traveled with Rimo Expeditions several times, and they are unmatched in their customer service. India can be a difficult country to travel to, but wonderful with the right company. We were met by Pawan's smiling face at the Indira Gandhi International airport, and transported to the elegant Claridges Hotel. What a wonderful, easy way to ease our jet lagged souls into frenetic, crazy Delhi! Arriving early in Leh, we relaxed at the comfortable Hotel Kanglachen, enjoying a cup of tea in the beautiful courtyard. Rimo had allotted us two days to enjoy Leh, and get acclimated to being at 12000 feet. There is plenty to do in the Leh area including shopping, visiting monasteries and enjoying the local restaurants. We began our trek two days later, driving across the world's highest drivable pass (over 18,000 ft) to the Nubra Valley, where we were surprised to spend our first "Trek" night at the Rimo Hotel--in a beautiful Shangri La setting! Our Trekking guide, Uden Sherpa, was outstanding, informative, and a ton of fun! The trek was carefully calibrated so we were able to acclimate as we climbed. I reached a personal "high"--camping above 16,000 feet! We crossed Lasermola Pass (about 18,000 ft) without feeling the usual altitude discomfort that I have felt climbing Mt. Rainier, Kilimanjaro and other high altitude destinations. And did I mention the food?! Our meals were an amazing combination of healthy, nutritious, delicious gourmet restaurant quality fare, all cooked over an open fire in a simple cook tent! I could go on and on about my fabulous experience with Rimo Expeditions--feel free to contact me directly if you'd like to hear more! Website: http://masonvideo.com/ Mele Mason, Omaha, USA My wife (Lori) and I were on the recent Bhutan expedition that Geoff Bailey organised. We were the couple who left midway as Geoffrey walked in. We were 'first time trekkers' so did not know what to expect. First of all thank you to you and your administrative team for re-organising our trip at short notice The fact that we were able to do at least half of the trip was wonderful and your efforts on our behalf were appreciated. But more importantly thank you for your staff. Nima and Topchen were outstanding. I was in awe of Topchen's variety of menu and quality of food plus his willingness to please And as for Nima what an outstanding professional. He made all the difference to the quality of the experience. His organisational skills, sense of calm control and ability to lead were exceptional. You have a truly wonderful employee. Thank you, your staff and organisation. John Patterson, Australia(Snowman Trek - Bhutan) On behalf of the expedition team, I would like to thank you for kindly supporting our expedition. We had a very successful trip and were able to establish three first ascents of pk 5,480m, pk 5,877m (Dauru), and Ranglana (5,554m). Despite particularly heavy monsoons this year, we were lucky enough to have some stable weather for the duration of our ascents. I particularly wanted to acknowledge the help of Rimo team that established our base camp; especially noting Norbu, Dawa, Indra, Kem Singh and Sub Singh. The team was absolutely fantastic and extremely helpful. Their ability to cook the most incredible food meant that we were fresh and well rested for our summit attempts and we owe you all a great deal of gratitude. I would like to wish you all the best. We are currently in the process of distributing trip reports and pictures to climbing and mountaineering specific media outlets (for example Alpinist, UKClimbing.com, the British Mountaineering Council, the Mount Everest Foundation, the Alpine Club (British and American) and the Himalayan Journal) and will be expressing our gratitude to Rimo for the part that they played in the success of our expedition. Kunal Masania, Imperial College, London Namaste. We have been meaning to send you a note of thanks since our return, but are just now able to sit down and reflect upon the amazing introduction we had to India. We have been on international treks with a number of companies on several continents, but from start to finish none compare to the trip we booked through Rimo Expeditions. Considering the events that unfolded in Ladakh just prior to our arrival, it is amazing that you were able to organize and coordinate such an adventure. All of the Rimo personnel we encountered on our trip were beyond compare, from guides, cooks, drivers, horse tenders, and porters. Kunzang was a patient and caring leader. It was especially nice having him guide us on our continued travels. His guidance was indispensable and very much appreciated. Paulzor is well on his way to following in Kunzang's footsteps. He was very engaging and knowledgeable. We were particularly touched by the birthday celebration the crew prepared for Les during our trek. We don't think it is an exaggeration to state that the trip was absolutely magical. We have never experienced such personalized care and concern. We look forward to traveling with Rimo again in the future. We will not hesitate to recommend Rimo to anyone who solicits our opinion. We wish you and all of Rimo Expeditions the best; our thoughts and prayers continue to be with you, your staff, and the flood-affected people of Ladakh. We find inspiration in their strength and resilience. Shannon Goodwin, Richland, USA I did not want to delay my sincere gratitude to rimo expedition by email any further and I would like to take this opportunity to send you a compliment letter. On behalf of Sune, Tony and myself we would like to thank you for all the time, effort, planning and scheduling you and your team have put into our trip. We could not have wished for a better holiday, than the one you have arranged for us! We were absolutely delighted by your choice of hotels, the knowledgeable local guides, the safe driving skills of our driver, the warm welcomes in each city by your representatives (especially big thanks to Delhi office Mr. Pavan - he was very efficient and of great help when our return ticket back to BLR got cancelled) and last but not least we were very very impressed by YOU, Yangdu" and your 24hrs hotline and your amazing way of managing our entire trip! Dear Yangdu and team, once again we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts - for the most memorable trip in our lives. We have made all together more than 1000 photo´s , so we will always be able to live the moments through the photo´s we have made. Many Many many Thanks! And we will spread the word and make sure Rimo expedition will get on the map as the best travel agency for INDIA! Dewi Sentot, Taipei Back home in England seems a million miles away from our trip to Ladakh, but wonderful memories are still with me. The experiences I shared with me. The experience I shared with the people I saw have inspired me and wetted my appetite for the mountains again. I would like to thanks everyone at RIMO EXPEDITIONS for their kind help and professional attitude during our trip. Having lost my toes through frostbite, I fine trekking and climbing a difficult task, but everyone understood my problems and we all work together extremely well. Please fine enclosed a copy of my book Once Bitten as a gift for you to read once again, thanks for all your help. Nigel Vardy, England It's a week now after a satisfied group flew back to Holland after a successful Sikkim-trip. As always: thank you so much for all the support and expertise from RIMO. I would especially like to mention the very valuable and wonderful support of Rajiv, and I was also very impressed with Palden, the guide who took over from Hishay after he had to leave us to take care of his family. Palden combines a very good sense of being friendly - yet always remains professional towards the clients. He is a very good 'discussion-partner' to take weigh up pro's and con's before taking decisions with regards to the trekking, and works very hard, clearly inspiring the rest of the local crew - and the clients. I would love to work with him again in the future! The clients were all in love with Norbu's cooking skills, and some of the kitchencrew (such as the assistant cook and one of the 'older' kitchenhelpers were performing above average as well). Greetings from Holland and best wishes, Elsbeth, Holland We really appreciate your efforts to make this trek a wonderful experience! We already are making plans for next year and hope to be able to contact you soon. We also wish all of you and to all other Rimo team members a peaceful year 2011. Thomas and Irene, Austria I would like to thank you for everything you did in connection with the wonderfull trek along the Singalila range and the district of Darjeeling. Everything was organized perfect, your staff in Dehli, Bagdogra and on the trek was obliging with all of us and the cook was absolutley great. Please say hellow to Norbu Lama, Ang Tashi Sherpa (the best guide I ever had), to Norbu Tamang and your husband we met by chance at the Windamere Hotel. Ernst, Zurich, Switzerland We would like to thank you again for this outstanding trekking- peak we performed with RIMO-EXPEDITIONS and especially: Tashi Gyaltsen our guide always keeping a close watch to see that all goes well, Santosh our cook always thoughtful to give us an appetite, Gombo who take care of us for the 2 summits, Namgail who drove the jeep at the beginning and at the end and all the others as they were always pay attention to please us. Looking forward to trek with you again. Best Regards Chantal & Alain Boucaut, France(Ladakh) "Our trip to Ladakh was wonderful and I am just writing to tell you that we are extremely happy with your organization. The trek was perfectly organized, the equipment professional, the crew superefficient and nice, the cook worked wonders." Daphne, France (Ladakh) "RIMO", You are great, each one of you. Motup, you are well- represented with your employees, each one is quite different from the others , yet each fulfills his or her prescribed roll so well and leaves clients with the feeling that we are in the hands of the best". Birdwatching and wildlife tour, (Rajasthan and wildlife parks of India) The organization was faultless and Bhim and his trek team really looked after me . The tent was superb, and the trekking equipment no problem. Wonderful service and the best possible report for all of them Tim Hudson, UK "Extremely impressive the perfect organization! This was so nice for my friends to see: Germany in general is very often linked with "perfect organization", your organization, however, set an even higher benchmark. Special thanks once more for your flexibility in organization and care shown to Eva and Werner who very much enjoyed their stay in Darjeeling." Alfons Frank, Germany(Darjeeling) At 5'10" with long blonde hair, Wendy was easy to spot in any crowd. In Delhi, India, it was almost too easy. It was nearly 9:00 at night when a young man entered the hotel lobby, took a quick glance around, and made a beeline in her direction. "You must be Wendy; I am Pawan, your guide from Rimo." He had arrived to escort Wendy and me to the station for a night train to Kathgodam, the starting point of our 10-day trek in the Himalayas. One eight-hour train ride and one six hour jeep ride later, we arrived at our campsite just outside the small town of Song. Immediately we were captivated by the sound of the rushing river beside the campsite, and entranced by the realization that we were in the foothills of the Himalayas. "Would you like to meet the team?" asked Pawan, drawing us out of our reverie. "They are two Sherpas and one local Kumaoni." "Sherpas?!?" I echoed, incredulous. In my mind Sherpas were almost mythical figures, renown for their superhuman strength and stamina. They are known to westerners for guiding climbers up Mt. Everest. How is it that we have Sherpas on our little jaunt through Uttaranchal? Aren't they busy with real climbers in Nepal? Do we have to pay extra for real Sherpas? My questions would have to wait. Pawan led us to the cooking tent, where we were introduced to three smiling men. "This is Mul Dorje, our head cook." I shook the hand of the tanned and decidedly Asian-looking fellow. "This is Santa Bir, the assistant cook." I reached first for his hand, then looked up into the sweetest face I have ever seen. He radiated gentleness, and over the next ten days, his actions more than lived up to his appearance. "And this is Tara Singh; he is in charge of the porters." Ah, this man looked like a "local", as indeed he was. It was his job to assemble ten or more men from the nearby village to carry our personal gear, community food, tents, and equipment up, down and around the mountains for the next ten days. This was no small responsibility resting on his shoulders. I was still grinning when Santa Bir arrived at our tent bearing afternoon tea and biscuits on a silver tray. This seemed like a scene from the movie "Out of Africa". Meryl Streep and Robert Redford were having a wild adventure out in the bush, but it was a highly civilized existence nonetheless, as was our Rimo trek. Having experienced guided expeditions on seven continents, I feel that I am in a position to compare Rimo's service and standards to others around the world. While there are many companies that offer good, average, or poor service, Rimo ranks with those that offer an exceptional experience to the traveler. And having completed four treks with Rimo (Uttaranchal, Ladakh, West Bengal and Sikkim), I can attest to the consistency of their excellent service. The genius behind this success lies in the husband and wife team of Motup and Yangdu. While both have impressive climbing backgrounds, Motup excels at forming solid relationships with the legions of sub-contractors who support Rimo treks, from hotel owners to yak herders. Yangdu is an organizational wizard who can juggle an entire season of trekking arrangements and still give attention to the details that make your experience special. Here is a small example: My birthday fell during one of the treks. One night I arrived at the dinner tent and was surprised to find it decorated with balloons and streamers. The cook had prepared a 7-course dinner followed by dessert, a beautifully decorated birthday cake, prepared, miraculously, on a propane burner. The best part was being serenaded by the Sherpas in an unforgettable rendition of "Happy Birthday". All of this took place four days into the trek, at an altitude of 16,000 feet! Even Betty Crocker herself would have a hard time baking a perfect cake at that altitude! Another day my guide took me off the main trail, into a local village. "Yangdu said that you like to experience the local culture," he explained. After a few cups of butter tea and a bowl of home-grown apricots, we bade goodbye to our friendly hosts and returned to the trail. For starters, India is a very complicated country. Add to this trekking routes that typically take the traveller into remote areas. Even under the best of circumstances, plans can sometimes go awry. For example, when Wendy arrived in India, the airline had lost one of her bags. We had built in a rest day in Delhi, and thus had an extra day for the airline to deliver the goods...but that didn't happen. Finally we had to begin our trek. Yangdu arranged for Rimo staff to pick up the luggage and give it to a Sherpa who would "spare no expense" to deliver the heavy duffel as soon as humanly possible. He took the overnight train as we had done, hired a taxi, and must have hit the trail at a gallop, as he arrived one entire day before we had calculated it would be possible to catch up with our trekking team. We later learned that the baggage had arrived at the airport 12 hours later than scheduled. This man definitely earned his nickname of "Super Sherpa". Even when things don't go well in the universe, Rimo makes it turn out right for the client. In addition to light and fluffy birthday cakes, Rimo's cooks seem to be able to whip up just about anything you can imagine. One day I opened up my lunch box on the trail, only to find, among other tasty goodies, almond crescent rolls which had been "baked" fresh that morning! Another day as I was acclimatizing at about 12,000', I thought I didn't have any appetite. Then the cook arrived with homemade momos, traditional Nepali steamed dumplings. Suffice it to say that I still can't believe I ate them all! Many people wonder whether I ever suffered from "traveller's stomach" during my extended travels. I can honestly say that I have never gotten sick on a Rimo trek. My guide Pawan once said that he would challenge any 5-star hotel to maintain a higher level of hygiene than his kitchen tent. I have certainly found this claim to be both real and consistent. As for Wendy? She returned to the States transformed by her experience in the Himalayas. She hopes to create small Internet businesses that can be managed from sites in India, thereby providing employment opportunities in remote villages. We had an outstanding experience with Rimo, but truly, to paraphrase Lance Armstrong, it was not just about the trek. JoAnn Yoshimoto, Seattle, USA