From porter to pioneer.

In Kathmandu he carried loads for trekking groups while studying political science, history and culture on his own. The mountains rewarded hard work: he was promoted from porter to kitchen boy, to sherpa, to assistant guide and finally to lead guide, thanks to his strength on tough trails, the English he kept improving and his habit of putting travellers first.

He earned his government trekking guide licence and trained in mountain climbing, rescue and first aid.

After eleven years in the mountains, Ram started his own company in 2004: Mountain Delights Treks & Expedition, licensed by the Government of Nepal. From the start it was meant to give young people the opening he had to fight for, and it still hires guides from the regions they lead and buys food and supplies locally.

Many of the travellers from those first years came back, and many became friends of the family.

As a guide, Ram had already used his savings to keep children from his area in school. In 2005 he founded the Tukee Nepal Society. Swedish travellers he guided – Mikael Person, Ewa and Dan Söderberg – visited his village, saw children studying outdoors next to a crumbling school, and set up a support organisation in Sweden.

Today the society sponsors the education of more than 200 children every year and runs health camps, school and sanitation building, electrification, and women's empowerment and farming projects. Part of what Mountain Delights earns goes into this work, and our medical and community treks take travellers there.

Nirmala began her journey in the trekking industry working at Mountain Delights, the company her husband founded. What she learned here led her to found her own company, Women Adventures.

Mountain Delights still offers female guides and porters on request.

Their son Himal now works in the family company as Sales and Project Manager. He looks after sales and the projects the team is running, so that the way Mountain Delights was built – personal, careful and close to the communities it works with – carries on.

Parbat Sapkota, also part of the family, looks after IT and social media: the website, the online advertising and the photos and stories you see from the trail.