We had the BEST time with NHT! Originally, we were in Nepal in March 2020 to do this trek but decided to fly home instead of continuing with the trek... read more due to the pandemic. When we met with NHT to tell them our decision to go home, they were more than gracious - they let us know our deposit would never expire and even offered to let us use a trekking bag to bring home all the stuff we had purchased there for the trek! Flash forward to almost two years later and we finally got to go back to Nepal to do the EBC trek (December 2021). Ganga and his team were wonderful communicating with us via e-mail before we left. Any questions or concerns we had were responded to quickly. Once we arrived in Nepal, we were completely cared for the entire time!
Our guide, Paban, made our trip a once-in-a-lifetime experience (I still don't think I would have made it to basecamp without him). He was kind, patient, knowledgeable, encouraging, and funny. There are some really long stretches of uphill climbs on the trail. At any point on the trail, I could ask him, "how much further to____?" and he would know exactly how much longer we had to go. Also, every morning he briefed us on the day's trail, how much water to bring, etc. It was great knowing what to expect each day. He was also incredibly encouraging - he really believed we could make it and said so. This encouraged us to keep going even when we were tired or discouraged. Paban was also great at knowing when to walk with us (and make small talk, tell us facts, etc.) and when to give us space by ourselves. As an introvert, it was nice not having someone wanting to chat the entire time. Nothing was ever a burden for him either. He went above and beyond to make sure we were also comfortable and happy (getting us the best rooms, making sure the showers were hot enough, carrying my backpack, etc.). When you are in a place that is rugged, you don't know the language, your body is doing weird things in response to the altitude, you are tired, etc. - you'll want a guide from NHT. As we were coming back down from base camp, we ran into a group from NHT going up. They had the same level of attentiveness and service from their guide too.
Also, when we were delayed a day on the mountain returning to Kathmandu due to cloud cover, Paban and Ganga did everything they could to get us down. When it became apparent in late afternoon the clouds weren't going to allow any planes or helicopters into Lukla, NHT made sure we got seats on the first plane out the next day. This was extremely important to us as we had flights home later that same day. Without them and their connections, I'm sure we wouldn't have been on the first plane out. They also were able to put a rush on our COVID PCR tests once we got back to Kathmandu so we had the necessary documentation to go home and wouldn't have to change our flights.
