TID 726 – April 12 – May 06, 2014

Ugen,
I want to thank you again for arranging our recent 14 day trek in Bhutan (April 2014). The whole trip was absolutely superb! The “Above the Clouds Trek” through Laya was just the right choice for us – challenging (but not too much) and beautiful. My ideal was to enjoy the trek while it was happening – not just in recollection afterward. As it turned out, my ideal was exceeded. I enjoyed every single day as it came. After breakfast each day it felt good to be moving again and seeing new sights. The Himalaya mountains were beautiful beyond my anticipation and the people we met were friendly and wonderful. Our guide, Pema, was knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. He was also extremely competent. The cooks and other crew were also professional and fun to be with and get to know.
You and Windhorse provided excellent service from my initial contact a year ago through the end of the trip. I remember making inumerable phone calls with long lists of questions to you when I first started considering Windhorse. I appreciated both your patience and knowledge. As arrangements progressed (deposits, airplane reservations into Bhutan, acquisition of visas, food requests, etc.), you kept track of details and sequencing in a very cooperative and professional manner. Based upon our experience, I would recommend Windhorse very highly for others seeking treks or other kinds of trips in Bhutan.

It was delightful, though coincidence, that you came to Bhutan a couple of days before we started our trek. This gave us the opportunity to meet and to talk for a while. I enjoyed that. It is always nice to be able to put a face with a name and get to know you some.

Because some other of your potential clients may be a little older, it may be helpful that I mention that I am 71 years old. Indeed, I have been a hiker and an athlete for all my life and continue to have good health. But one of my initial questions had to do with age – was I up to it? In asking around (to Windhorse and others) I asked about their experience. All said that they had good success with older clients – older people tend to be experienced, know their limits and are self-disciplined in dealing with those limits. I did two things that helped. (1) I accelerated my conditioning hikes starting about 4 months before the trip and ended with doing 13 mile hikes, gaining 3,000 ft in 5-6 hrs on each of two consecutive days two weeks before leaving for Bhutan. I never had any difficulty with leg strength or endurance on the trek. If anything I was a somewhat over-prepared. (2) Living near Seattle, we had no opportunity to condition to altitude (Mt. Rainier is too stormy except in the summer). We (my son and three friends, ages 28-54 – a group of 5) therefore resolved to start out slow on the trek. At Windhorse’s suggestion we stayed in the Paro, Bhutan area for three days (7,000-10,000 ft. elevation) before beginning the trek. Although our trek took us to 16,000 ft twice, I had absolutely no difficulty with altitude and a few others in our group had only minor symptoms all of which were transitory. When approaching the first high pass, I kept thinking that every step was, for me, a personal best in terms of altitude and, because my 28 year old son was with me, it had an extra feeling of magic.

Whether you have a “Bucket List” or not, a trek in the Bhutanese Himalayas is magic – and especially so if you can bring one of your children.

I will be forever grateful for the experience you have given me.