Our guide Ram Hari Kandel

On arriving in Kathmandu, our first priority was to arrange our trek. The people at the Potalla Guest House suggested two agencies, and sent Kumar a hotel employee, to take us to their offices. We decided to go with The Himalayan Waves Trekking Agency. It was an agency I had read about on the Internet and we were impressed by the professional way it was run.

Our intention was to just hire a porter to carry our gear, but Deepak, the representative we spoke with, convinced us to go with a guide and a porter. His reasoning was that the guides speak English and could tell us more about the countryside we were visiting and the culture of the area, thus making our trek more enjoyable. We were convinced and I thank Deepak for being so persuasive. It was one of the best decisions we made.

We met our guide and porter at the Himalayan Waves office the night before we were to leave and made the final arrangements. The agency arranged for our trekking permits also.

Our guide Ram Hari Kandel was 33 years old in 1996 and lived, a three hour bus ride and a three hour walk from Kathmandu. He and his brother Ram Ji, and Hari, our porter, a cousin, shared a rented room in Kathmandu for the trekking season. He is married and had a five year old daughter and a new son born around the 18th October 1996. Since then he has another son and a daughter.
Ram has been to guide training school for trekking and has had a lot of experience on most of the trekking routes in Nepal.It seemed to us that many of the other guides looked to him for advice and direction.

Hari Kandel our porter was 32 and lived in the same village as Ram. At the time he did not speak much English, but I feel he understood quite a bit. He had five children, the oldest being eleven at the time. He is a delightful person and Pauline sponsered him to go to school to learn English. He hopes to become a guide also. This trek was Hari's first time over the Thorung La.

These two young men made wonderful companions, looking after our every need. They were very professional but still were a lot of fun to walk with. They sang and joked and constantly chattered to each other. We were invited into the kitchens of many of the teahouses we stayed at giving us a better idea of the culture of the country. Ram was also very careful about going slowly when at higher elevations to prevent Acute Mountain Sickness.

Nov 2002:I have kept in contact with Ram and he is now a certified government guide. He and his brother Ram Ji have formed their own trekking company
Cross-Country Treks and Travell (P.) Ltd.
They can be contacted directly through their web site above or at
cctreksnepal@hotmail.com and cctreks@ntc.net.np

Snail mail address
Ram Hari Kandel 
Thamel, Kathmandu
Nepal, P.O. Box# 10342
Telephone: (00-977-1)359752

Contact me at
woodmanj@kos.net