Returned yesterday from the Discover Nepal tour.  What an excellent trip, providing a diverse and well rounded intro into Nepal.  Su, our guide is a wonderful man, and made every effort to provide us with the opportunity to see and experience as much as we could. The weather in the first few days let us down, but did not detract from the overall experience.  Highlights for me were seeing the mountains for the first time (on the way to Pokhara) and the Nepalese people.  We visited a deaf school (newly set up a few years ago) and a Tibetan Refugee camp-both were very insightful.  I have taken a series of photos that I shall name the "People of Nepal", which are great. The diversity of the culture and the experiences were second to none.  Our group all got along very well together.   Other highlights were the numerous walks up hills and steps (certain level of fitness required) and the elephant rides and walks in Chitwan.  It was my birthday whilst on trip, and Su did a couple of special things to make it fun. The food was excellent all round, particularly at Nagarkot. We visited a farming village near Kurintar (walked over the suspended bridge to get there). That was fascinating - these people recycle everything.  The cable car ride was great and at the top of the hill/mountain there is a temple (we were the only westerners there)-and the atmosphere was heady and festival like with a lot going on. It also provided another stunning view of the mountains. Great trip-great people.  Finally, I need to mention our fantastic and very patient driver and his helper (he is the best driver in the world-amazing). (DN - 13th July 2011)

What a diverse experience this tour was both in terms of scenery, culture and wildlife. The highlight of the trip was being able to experience the way of life in Nepal rather than just the tourist viewpoint and to see the most amazing scenery. Our excellent guide included an invitation to a local wedding, visiting a school for the deaf, and he included country walks off the beaten track to see the true Nepalese way of life and wildlife. We also had a insight into the Hindu and Buddhist religion, both practised by the Nepalese and of course the amazing trip to Chitwan and the elephant safari. The tiger proved to be elusive but the rhino, bears and hornbill were just a few of the wildlife we saw. This was my first trip with Explore and although I am fit and active, I wish I had prepared myself better as although the trip is classed as a one star, the walks were mostly very steep. (DN- 6th March 2010)

Never having holidayed solo before I was somewhat apprehensive when booking this tour – but having wanted to visit Nepal for over 15 years, I decided to take the plunge. I should never have worried – we were met by our Tour Leader, Deepen and quickly got to know everyone in the group. The group was very mixed, a mixture of solo travellers and couples, aged between about 32 and 69. Rather than run through the whole holiday, I’ll list a few highlights: My first highlight was the visit to Bodnath Stupah – huge and beautiful. Was very disappointed at Nagarkot, as due to the bad weather, it rained for 2 days, we were unable to do the sunrise or sunset walks. However, when we got to Pokhara, Deepen arranged for us to do a sunrise walk at Sarangkot. We walked uphill in the dark, our footsteps lit by our head torches. We got to our view point and stood waiting for the sun to rise. When it did the view of the Annapurna’s was spectacular.  This was what I came to Nepal to see! Pokhara is the place to do your souvenir shopping. Lots of places to eat and if you want somewhere to drink and listen to live music – I can recommend Busy Bees!  We did 3 or 4 walks on the tour – none of which were difficult, and we go to see some beautiful scenery and meet some great locals in the villages we passed through. (These were in Nagarkot, Gorkha & Pokhara) We had the chance to go rafting – but I don’t know whether it was due to the weather, but it was incredibly tame – barely no white water at all – I would give it a miss, unless you can see that the river is ‘white’. Chitwan was interesting – the elephant rides were interesting, though the 2nd one was a bit upsetting as the mahout did seem to hit the elephant an awful lot.  This aside, it was lovely riding so high and surveying all around us.  We didn’t see any tigers (I didn’t really expect to) but we did get to see a Black Rhino and it’s baby. The dug out canoes were certainly an interesting ride – very wobbly –but good fun. The drive back to Kathmandu is a long day, there is the option to fly back.  I went with the bus, and whilst it was a long day, I am glad I did it – we got to see some beautiful scenery and we had plenty of loo and refreshment stops. Back in Kathmandu, the Monkey Temple is worth a visit (Swaynambunath) – amazing temple and fantastic views across Kathmandu Valley. Patan is also worth a visit – you can get a taxi there for a few pounds. The final highlight was the Everest flight, whilst not cheap it was worth every penny. It is a small plane where everyone gets a window seat. If I am honest, the view of Everest itself is not great, however the overall view of all the mountains (including Lhotse & Nuptse amongst others) is amazing. They let us each have 2 trips to the cockpit to take photos from the front of the plane – spectacular!! I had waited 15 years to visit Nepal and was worried it couldn’t possibly live up to what I expected of it.  It certainly did, and some. This is a great tour for a first time visit to Nepal as it covers all the highlights. It is a busy holiday, but there are times set aside where you can do your own thing or just relax. Thoroughly recommend this holiday. Our guide Deepen was great – knew his stuff and made sure that everyone was able to complete the walks – at Ghorka the walk took us up 1500 steps and he made sure that everyone got there and those at the back were not under any pressure to keep up with those up front. He arranged for us to do a sunrise walk and generally ensured we all had a great holiday. (DN- 10th March 2010)