Dr Simon Cunin,
The Pinibld, Hyssington, Montgomery, Powys S Y15 6A Y United Kingdom.
Phone 01588 620614
email: simon@medex.org.uk
Worfd Wide Web: www.medex.org.uk

To Whom it May Concern:
It gives me great pleasure to write this letter of commendation for Sherpa Brother Ltd. It was with some trepidation that we placed our business with Mr Tenji Sherpa's company as ours was a large and complicated expedition and on our previous expeditions we had only dealt with the Major Kathmandu trekking companies. My fears, however, were completely unfounded as the service provided by Sherpa Brothers easily surpassed the service previously received from Thamserku Trekking and Himalayan Expeditions.

Ours was a complex expedition to the remote Hongu Valley involving some 57 members and 1,000kg of delicate and expensive research equipment. We were on trek for 5 weeks and many of us climbed Mera Peak as well as an elaborate programme of high altitude medical research at Chamlang's northern base camp (5,000m). The approach was by air to Tumlingtar and then a lengthy trek through Maoist controlled country to the Mera La at 5,400 metres before descending to our research camp. Half of the expedition exited by the technically challenging Mingbo La and Amphu Lapcha passes into the Khumbu. The whole expedition flew back to Kathmandu from Lukla.

In the run up to the expedition we agreed a firm and binding contract. This was made easy by Tenji's use of email. He reacted promptly to our queries and the contract, once agreed, was fully implemented and honoured. In the agreement we included an environmental code and a porter welfare agreement. Sherpa Brothers made every effort to achieve these strict standards.
Tenji was responsible for clearing all of our equipment through customs and he achieved this with apparent ease. He arrange storage of this equipment ant its flight by helecopter to our base camp. All of this went without a hitch despite a national strike. He also arranged without difficult all necessary raido and satellite permits.

Given that we were undertaking a long and arduous trek it was essential that our sirdars, sherpa guides,climbing sherpas and cooks were of the highest quality. Many of our members were very experienced indeed, for one member this was his 13th expeditions to Nepal. Without exception all our members reported that their Sherpa crews were the best that they had encountered. Sherpa Sherpa Brothers Treks &Expedition Pvt. Ltd must be congratulated for securing the services or such a talented tem. Te remoteness of our route that provisioning and re-supplu had to be meticulously planned. This,again was effortlessly achieved. Food throughout the expedition was both abundant and of the higest quality. Members with special dietary needs were very well catered for.

Thirty five of our members summated Mera(6,400m) and once again the logistics of the ascents were flawless.

At the end of the expedition we encountered no difficulties in agreeing the final bill. Tenji proved totally honest and reliable in all business and dealing the whole expedition came back within budget.

Medex has now organized 3 major multifaceted trekking, mountaineering and research expeditions and has acquired a good appreciation of the services that can be expected of a trekking agent. The service from Sherpa Brothers Treks &Expedition Pvt. Ltd. Was excellent and we has already asked Tenji to help us our plan next expedition to west Nepal. I have no doubt that we will, once again, receive excellent care.

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It has always been a dream of ours to go trekking in the Himalayas. Our experience has been mainly in the Alps so we couldn’t wait to see what we were missing!

Friends of ours from Dhaka (The Grays and The Leaches) had done a similar trekking with their children 6 months earlier and highly recommended Tenji Sherpa from Sherpa Brothers Trekking Company.

We contacted three companies, noting that we wanted to stay away from the tourists and camp in tents for a 4-day trek from Pohkara. We would be two families with 5 children ages 1-8 years old. Tenji’s company was willing to take us on and gave us a fair quote so off we went. He was even able to make the local hotel reservations and store our luggage in Kathmandu that we would not need on the trek.

We weren’t sure exactly what to expect. However, it was a bit of a surprise when we walked straight out of the airport and continued on foot for our 4-day trek in a loop (never seeing any other trekkers) which eventually brought us back to Pohkara.

Our walking experiences among the adults ranged but that made no difference as there was always a member of Tenji’s team up front and someone in back in case of any difficulties.

Two days straight up… and we never seemed to go down. The trekking pace to keep up with the sherpas, wearing only flip flops, was incredible. Many of the children were carried in baskets by porters or walked, holding a porter’s hand as the terrain was quite rough. At first, we tried to keep up, a test or our endurance! We quickly felt safe to let the children go ahead up the paths with them while we walked a little slower behind. Slipping on rocks or pulling leaches off our boots, there was always a hand to help before we even needed to ask.

From the very beginning, the children were drawn to the friendly sherpas; they would walk holding their hands, play with them at breaks, or take a ride in the basket when they wanted to have to break from the rigorous trails. Even the 4-5 year olds, walked for 2 hour stretches or even ran up stairs at times! Our youngest trekker at one sat in an infant carrier with a porter carrying an umbrella over his head at all times to shield him from sun and rain. He did get his exercise by running around the campgrounds and in and out of the tent during meals and at the end of the day’s trek.

Three hours of incredible views and breathtaking scenery would end with a beautiful picnic style lunch. Tenji always confirmed the menus so that there was something the children liked. Then, after tea and coffee, another gruelling 2-2 1/2 hours walking, ending in quaint villages and our own private camping ground where we would enjoy local beers, snacks, a shower and then a delicious meal. The fantastic cook even baked and decorated a cake for our last dinner on the trek!

Mornings we were awakened to tea being brought to our tents and a wash bowl. We would dress for the day, quickly repack and then sit down to a lovely breakfast. A quick break and then we were off again for another day of trekking, ignoring the tight calf muscles and taking in the snow capped mountains and lake views.

Though it was definitely difficult on the legs and the mind, it was also an incredible experience refreshing our minds and our spirits. We tackled leeches, slippery rocks, rickety bridges and aching muscles. We felt stronger in spirit and in body, closer to nature and very bonded with our trekking team.

We enjoyed this experience immensely. The kindness of the entire team made this a powerful experience and a memorable October break for all of us!