Testimonials

  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

  That was so a great day I should recommand this tour to every people that want to know about Tibet, and you will enjoy for sure! Thank you for this... read more amazing moment!More

  My best day in Nepal and was spent with Thupten Gyatso learning about Tibetan culture and Buddhism. He is an excellent teacher with superb English skills who teaches you... read more about the history and issues the Tibetan people have faced. We learned about Tibetan crafts, medicine,...More

  I highly recommend this tour for everybody visiting Pokhara. My friend and I didn’t have solid plans coming here but read about this tour and were largely taken back by... read more the rich culture and history involved. The full day tour is a complete experience that...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!

  This is a very nice tour. While visiting the beautiful Tibetan village and monastery, I also learned a lot of culture and history about Tibet. Thupten has given a good... read more lesson on what we want to know about Tibet.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!

  If you are intrigued by Tibetan culture and want to know more, go nowhere else but with Thupten in his Tibetan Encounters Day Tours (you can also do 1/2 days)... read more he knows so much about Tibet, culture, people, you will come away with a wealth...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.

  I did a full day tour with Tibetan Encounter and had a great and meaningful day. Thupten is a great guide with a lot of knowledge and even more passion.... read more I can really recommend this tour because it teaches so much about tibetans (in exile),...More