I first met Bijay Lama in October 2014, when he was an assistant guide on a trek that a friend and I did in the Langtang region of Nepal. At the time Bijay was employed as a guide by Exodus Travels. During the trek my friend and I found Bijay to be a friendly and helpful guide, who spoke good English. At the end of the trek we agreed to remain in contact with Bijay and have since become good friends, keeping in regular contact by email and Skype. In the spring of 2017 I decided to return to Nepal with my wife and the friend who accompanied me in 2014. This was to be my third visit to Nepal and my wifes first. We decided we would like to visit the Khopra Danda region and the Annapurna Sanctuary. We also decided that we wanted to travel independently, so that we had the flexibility of trekking at our own pace and seeing places not normally visited on a package holiday. We spoke to Bijay about the trip we were planning and asked him if he would organise our transportation within Nepal, necessary trekking permits, accommodation, and hire of porters. He said he could do this and that he would give us an inclusive cost for the trip, excluding the cost of Nepalese visas, flights from the UK to Nepal, and food in Nepal. After arriving in Nepal we spent a couple of days in Kathmandu, during which Bijay briefed us on the trek, organised exchange of currency, and arranged the hire of walking crampons. On the morning of our departure to Pokhara to start the trek, we were introduced to our three porters. These were relatives and friends of Bijay who had previous experience as guides and porters. Our trek comprised 15 days walking through beautiful countryside to Khopra Danda and the Annapurna Sanctuary. The accommodation we stayed in at Khopra Danda was situated on a narrow ridge that gave superb views of Dhaulagiri and surrounding peaks. It was well worth the effort required to get there. The Annapurna Sanctuary is approached via the narrow steep sided valley of the Modi Khola. Once in the Sanctuary you are surrounded by impressive 7000m – 8000m peaks including Annapurna South, Annapurna 1 and Machapuchare. We were fortunate to experience good weather in the Sanctuary, and there were very few other people about. We considered it a real privilege to be able to spend time in such a spectacular location. The whole trek was a great success. Our porters were friendly, enjoyed a joke or two, and were great company. The accommodation was of the standard we were expecting, basic but clean and comfortable, and serving decent quality food. We were impressed by Bijay’s organisation of the trek, and how everything went to plan with no serious problems. On arrival back in Kathmandu Bijay organised a guide and a taxi for a day, to take us on a sightseeing tour of some of the cities main temple sites. Again this was an enjoyable experience as our guide was friendly and knowledgable. Since our visit to Nepal in 2017 Bijay has set up his own trekking company ‘Popular Treks’ with members of his family and friends, all of whom are experienced guides and porters who have worked in the main trekking areas in Nepal. We wish him and his company every success in the future. We would like to thank Bijay for organising our trek in 2017 and for his friendship, and we look forward to our next visit to Nepal and trekking holiday with Bijay.