Annapurna Sanctuary trek

has anyone had any expeience with Himalayan Expeditions?
are they worth the $$$$$ or better to do the trek independantly?

I'm not familiar with Himalayan Expeditions, but there are many reliable trekking agencies. If you'd like a specific recommendation, send me a PM. You can do the trek independently, but I think most people will have a richer and safer experience going through a reliable trekking agency. When I hire a guide, independent trekkers that I meet along the way are constantly asking my guide questions. From their questions, I think they miss out on a lot.

That's what I think too Tom. You'll save heaps of money by booking with local agency so why not go with a guide who'll make a wonderful travelling companion as well.

Do it yourself! Its only 4 or 5 days to ABC and you can't possibly get lost as there's tons of trekkers this time of year and just one route once you get past Chomrong . Just get the map and a book possibly and go.

Many things to consider here, convenience, "safety", companions, ease of mind, cost. Each of us place different weight on these depending on experience, knowledge, wealth, peer pressure, whatever.

Let's just say that the mountains look the same to all, be it individual spending 8 dollars per day, or fancy safari trekker who paid $120 per day to live in a moving camp surounded by servants...

My choice has always been going with wife or friends, with porter, porter-guide or guide and porters depending on the size of the group, but paying our own way. It costs about 20-25 USD per day at the moment and gives great flexibility.

We used Himalayan Glacier in 05 after they were recommended to us by KEEP. The guide and porter were excellent. We learnt a lot from our guide and certainly appreciated not carrying our gear and knowing that we were always on the right track. After a long day trekking our guide always took us to nice guesthouses and always ensured we were happy. I didn't think they cost a lot more than other companies - we booked them when we were in Kathmandu and left 2 days later no worries.

thank you everyone for the response.
I have treked EBC and Island Peak in the past (long time ago) and I am trying to fit the trek in before a business trip to China/Japan
If anybody has recommendations for a guide/trekking agency in Pokhra I would appreciate it.
Also, from KTM to Pokhra is it best to o by air or is the road trip worth it?
namaste

Bus trip from KTM to Pokhara takes about 7 hours (on a 'tourist bus') - you usually arrive at Pokhara around 2:30 pm. That's the time it took (including couple of checkpoints along the way) after the monsoon season, in early October. Not sure about road condition in June - has the monsoon started yet?
If you decide to fly from KTM to Pokhara, take a seat on the right hand side, where you'll see some awesome mountain views. I flew once - the flight to Pokhara was on time, but the return flight to KTM was delayed 5 hours. So I could have gotten back to KTM faster on a bus.
You can do ABC (Annapurna Sanctuary) by yourself. You can't get lost - it's a popular trek and there's only 1 way in and out after Chomrong. But it's good to have a guide - to carry some of your stuff, in case of sickness, accident, etc. I found that I learn more about the people and the culture from my guide. If you want info on a porter/guide for the Annapurna region, please PM me. He's excellent, I've used him 5 times. Happy travels.