Nirajan Dawadi, a rising star of Ace the Himalaya has been with us since the year 2016. With every year that’s passed, his demand from clients increases and he never fails to surprise us with his excellent reviews and responses he gathers from them. He is easily liked by all our clients because of his sense of humor, his cheerfulness and his dedication towards his work.
He says “Travelling makes me happy, it’s what I do best, and along new friends that I make in every trip, I tend to enjoy the journey myself thus creating lifetime experiences for those I travel with”. According to him, meeting new groups of people is intriguing. Sharing each other’s culture, teaching each other the language, sharing stories of personal or professional life and talking about the trekking routes is what excites him the most.
We managed to ask him a few questions about the treks, his experience as a travel guide, his favorite trekking route and many more. Let us see what he has to share with us.
What is a normal day like for you on a trek? “A day in the life of the guide”.
When on trek, I wake up at around 6am, gather for breakfast with my clients at 7 in the morning and head back the trail to the next destination. I talk with my fellow travelers, explain to them about the sites time and again, tell them stories, share my past trek experience and many more. I frequently remind my clients to walk slow and drink lots of water throughout the trail.
We stop by for lunch at around 11:30 am depending upon the pace and situation of the walk. It’s necessary to check my client’s health conditions every time we stop for some rest. After lunch we resume the trek and keep on walking till we reach the guesthouse for the night. The dinner is served at 7 pm during where I brief my clients for the next day and the rest of the night is for resting.
That’s how my standard trekking day looks like.
What has been the most challenging moment for you as a guide?
I remember an incident that happened before I joined Ace. I used to work with another company and in the trail of Yak Kharka to Manang, one of my clients fell seriously ill during the night time. There was not much option rather than carrying him to the place where we could find some help.
Me along with some friends carried him to Manang, and asked for a vehicle to rescue him to the nearest hospital possible. We carried him for around 5 to 6 hours to reach Manang. That was probably the most challenging experience as a guide.
Other than that, it’s not that tough of a job as I enjoy every bit of it. Sometimes, in some cases, the clients can be difficult because they are outside of their comfort zone. I remind myself it is my job to ensure they are as comfortable as possible.
What is your favorite trekking route?
My favorite trekking route of all times is the Upper Mustang trail. Upper Mustang is a heaven on earth. The landscape, the sceneries, the mountains, the monasteries, the culture; everything about this place is absolutely beautiful.
What I like the most about this trail is the ancient and raw guesthouses, made with the same culture and no modernization. I can feel their purity, the rawness, the depth of their culture and traditions and many more. The uniqueness of the trail inspires me the best thus I love the place the most.
What is it like working for Ace?
The best thing about working at Ace is that there is not much impact of the off-season, in my work at least. I don’t need to stay home the whole off-season as there are work opportunities that keep coming my way time and again be it a short trip or treks. The staffs at Ace are helpful and friendly too. They encourage and motivate to work good which helps me a lot.
Did the earthquake affect your work?
Initially, yes. Because the number of customers reduced a lot as they thought that Nepal is totally destroyed. But the Annnapurna region, the Everest region were not much affected as compared to the Manaslu and Langtang region. The flow of travelers resumed after few months so as I look back now, the earthquake didn’t affect my work that much. I resumed my work soon after the aftershocks started to reduce.
What do you like the most about guiding?
To be very honest, I myself am a passionate traveler and if you give me a job that I’m already passionate about, I would do it with ease. Additionally I get to meet new bunch of people every time, listen to their stories, get inspired by their thoughts and experiences, learn about their culture, explore their ideas and make a new friend all in all.
I also enjoy showing off our assets, our mountains, our culture, our god gifted nature and many more to the fellow travelers. Visiting the mountains over and again makes me feel alive and that is what I enjoy the most about my work.
What is your most impressive climb until now?
I climbed Thorong La Pass at around 2 hours from Phedi. It actually takes around 5 hours to reach the pass from Phedi however, I managed to complete it within the shortest span of time. This is the most impressive climb I’ve made so far.
Tell us something about your family.
Well, I come from a small family with only me and my mother. I am originally from Borlang, Gorkha district, later migrated to Ratnanagar Chitwan. Currently I live with my mother in Kathmandu. She is a non-working woman, a housewife and also the strongest person I always look up to.
This was what Nirajan had to share about his experience, his hard work and his passion towards his work. We wish him all the luck in future endeavors and appreciate him for being part of the Ace family.
