Testimonials

  This has got to be the most comprehensive and knowledgeable tours we have even done, but never boring. We learnt so much about Tibet and their plight. We highly recommend... read more it anyone who is in Pokhara. Probably the best tour we have done in Nepal...More

  We went on the morning tour of the Tibetan refugee settlement in Pokhara with Thupten Gyatso, our host and driver for the day. Thupten collected us at our hotel at... read more 05:45 and proceeded to take us to the Pema Ts’al Satya Buddhist Monastery, where we saw the young monks participating in the morning puja (prayer). After, Thupten took us to a family home in one of the Tibetan settlement areas outside of Pokhara. Thupten’s English is very good, and he was able to explain and provide context of his Tibetan culture throughout our tour. We drank butter tea and ate a barley porridge with baked bread. After, we were taken back to the monastery to speak with Ngawang, a 26 year old monk who answered all our questions and spoke with us at length about his life as a Buddhist monk. He was very friendly and seemed to relish the opportunity to speak English with us, as he was also very well-spoken. The final leg of our morning tour ended at the Tashling Tibetan refugee settlement, where we were shown a demonstration of the traditional carpet-making skills of the older Tibetan women in Tashling. There was also a very informative exhibition detailing the history of the Tibetan people’s settlement in Nepal and India. A Tibetan doctor also answered our questions about his medicinal practices and offered to give us a free check-up.
We ended our tour with Thupten at a Tibetan restaurant, eating momos and thenthuk noodle soup. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Thupten, and would encourage anyone who is interested to learn about the Tibetan refugees in Nepal first-hand to go on this tour. Thank you for your time, Thupten, and we wish you all the best with your tours!

  We went on the morning tour of the Tibetan refugee settlement in Pokhara with Thupten Gyatso, our host and driver for the day. Thupten collected us at our hotel at... read more 05:45 and proceeded to take us to the Pema Ts’al Satya Buddhist Monastery, where we saw the young monks participating in the morning puja (prayer). After, Thupten took us to a family home in one of the Tibetan settlement areas outside of Pokhara. Thupten’s English is very good, and he was able to explain and provide context of his Tibetan culture throughout our tour. We drank butter tea and ate a barley porridge with baked bread. After, we were taken back to the monastery to speak with Ngawang, a 26 year old monk who answered all our questions and spoke with us at length about his life as a Buddhist monk. He was very friendly and seemed to relish the opportunity to speak English with us, as he was also very well-spoken. The final leg of our morning tour ended at the Tashling Tibetan refugee settlement, where we were shown a demonstration of the traditional carpet-making skills of the older Tibetan women in Tashling. There was also a very informative exhibition detailing the history of the Tibetan people’s settlement in Nepal and India. A Tibetan doctor also answered our questions about his medicinal practices and offered to give us a free check-up.
We ended our tour with Thupten at a Tibetan restaurant, eating momos and thenthuk noodle soup. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Thupten, and would encourage anyone who is interested to learn about the Tibetan refugees in Nepal first-hand to go on this tour. Thank you for your time, Thupten, and we wish you all the best with your tours!

  I am so, so glad I booked this tour on a whim! Thupten is an incredible tour guide, providing a wealth of knowledge about Tibet, Tibetans in Nepal, the Dalai... read more Lama, and Tibetan Buddhism, yet he stays humble and open to questions and deep discussion....More

  What a day we had with Thupten as our guide. He was very knowledgeable about Tibetan history and culture and his English is really very good.
During our visits... read more to Tibetan villages we had authentic Tibetan food and learned lots of fascinating facts. We were able to talk to a Tibetan Monk and asked him many questions that he was happy to answer.
We visited a Tibetan Doctor which was fascinating and finally had butter tea and Tsampa in a lovely welcoming family home.
We could write so much more but try it for yourselves. We highly recommend this fascinating look into Tibetan life.

  Thupten Gyatso has been the best guide we have during our trip to Nepal. He was able to focus the attention of the whole family into his explainations. He has... read more taught us all about the Tibetan culture in full detail and answered any single question that we had. Although the tour lastet lots of time and the heat was quite an issue, he manage to make different activities in an interective way. More

  We booked this tour as we wanted to experience tibetan culture and something different from daily life in and around Pokhara lakeside. This tour was so much more than we... read more were anticipating! Thupten is such an excellent guide, from the moment we met we were filled with information regarding Tibetan life, culture and history, and his passion for sharing this with visitors was really a pleasure to experience.

In the 4 hours, we visited and had a very insightful chat with a Buddhist monk, observed the monks during evening puja at a monastery and then had afternoon tea in a Tibetan family home which were all excellent. However, the knowledge shared with us by Thupten undoubtedly was the highlight of the day for us. This trip opened our eyes to the Tibetan culture and gave us some wonderful memories. All in all, a highly recommended must-do tour if you are visiting the area!

  We found this tour on a walk through Pokhara, which made us interested. During the morning tour, Thupten Gyatso showed us through different Tibetan villages, which have prospered a lot... read more during the last decades. The infrastructure comprises not only houses and shops, but also schools,...More

  This tour is one of best day tours we have ever done. Our guide himself was a Tibetan Refugee so to learn first hand about his experiences was amazing. His... read more knowledge of Tibetan history is outstanding. We highly recommend anyone in the Pokhara area to...More

  Mr. Thupten’s tour was definitely the highlight of my trip to Nepal! I read all the excellent reviews before booking this tour, but the actual experience certainly exceeded my... read more expectations. I am a solo traveller and I was alone on this tour. From the minute Mr. Thutpen picked me up from the hotel, I was fascinated by his passion and knowledge. He welcomed me by gifting me a traditional ceremonial white scarf. We started our tour in a Buddhist monastery where I had a unique chance to have a one-on-one meeting with one of the senior monks. The monk spoke excellent English and he gave me a unique insight into the life of Buddhist monks at the monastery. One of the younger monks offered me a tea which I thought was very kind. I could sit with the monk for hours and listen to him speak about Buddhism and the monastery, but we had to move on to the next part of our tour. We went to a different monastery to attend a prayer. I was lucky because the Tibetan New Year was just around the corner, so I had the chance to see a special prayer ceremony. Finally, after walking around the monastery, we went to the Tibetan village to visit one of the local families’ home. There, I had the chance to taste the Tibetan butter tea, bread and some sort of porridge. Mr. Thupten spoke with passion and pride about the Tibetan culture, history, traditions and Buddhism. I especially enjoyed him talking about His Holiness Dalai Lama. Mr. Thupten answered all of my questions and we even exceeded our time because we got so deeply into our conversation.
Mr Tukpen is a second-generation Tibetan refugee in Nepal himself, so provides such an authentic insight into the life of Tibetan community in Nepal, that probably no local Nepali tour guide could give. His passion for his job was obvious throughout the whole tour. He is so knowledgeable and well spoken. I would like to thank Mr. Thupten once again for an excellent and unique experience which has enriched my knowledge of Tibetan culture & Buddhism. I will definitely recommend this tour to all my friends who are planning to visit Pokhara!