Political Protests, Everest Base Camp Trek, Sickness, and Scams. How the dream trek turned into something quite different.
6 Months before the trip my personal astrologer told me to not go to Nepal. I wish I would have listened to her.
Candace Machado
I have spent the last 7 months contemplating what I would want to say about my trip to Nepal. The Everest Base Camp Dream Trek turned into anything but a dream. It ended up being a strange version of a lifetime movie.
You know that feeling you get when you book a trip to a far away land and the excitement consumes you? That is what it was like for myself and the group I went with leading up to the trip. September 2025 we were scheduled to fly into Nepal for a retreat and Everest Base Camp trek. 48 Hours before we are supposed to fly out the Political Protests broke out in Nepal. A full uprising made international news. As we were watching this unfold back home we had decisions to make. Do we go still while the protests are going on, potential safety risks, and the fear of the unknown; or do we cancel the trip and try again another time. It became a unanimous decision for us to still forge ahead and make the trip knowing there could be extra risks we were not planning for. We reached out to the guide Company www.holidaytoursnepal.com. This was a company that I had vetted for the last year and they came highly recommended by a person I knew. The company assured me that it was safe to come over. If I would have known then what I know now I would have never have chosen this company.
One of my group members never made it to Nepal as she got stuck coming over as the airport in Nepal had been shut down. The starting of the trip posed many challenges even before we got out of the US.
We arrived in Nepal, everything was still under lockdown, curfews, and armed guards outside of Lo Mustang Hotel in Kathmandu. You could sense that there still was safety concerns and as the beginning of the trip began the lockdowns were released, curfews lifted, reporters and candlelight peaceful protests, and it seems as though it was business as usual except for the remnants of burned vehicles, barricades still in the streets, and burned buildings.
As the trip carried on I could physically see that the female guide was preoccupied within her own emotional challenges from the protests and it appeared life challenges and financial challenges she was facing. She was aloof at some moments, irritable at others, and emotional at others. She shared stories with me about another US citizen who had come a year prior and had scammed her out of 1,000s of dollars for their non profit company. I have to wonder now knowing what I experienced if that was a red flag in the beginning of the trip. She had told myself and our initial group about her efforts with the protests and how they were taking food to people who were impacted. My group and I pulled money together and supported the cause financially. Helping others is not something I will ever regret. We were never given receipts or confirmation of our money or food donations on the guides end.
We carried on with the trip attending local monestaries, spiritual dwellings, hikes, cremation ceremonies, and cultural spaces. The group started to inform me that they did not feel comfortable around the female guide when I was not around as she would treat them differently when I was not present. This was a second red flag in the beginning. But still we carried on. Now one could justify it as the female guide was under duress from the stress from the last week but I have to question it all now.
This is where things slowly started to take a turn in the trip
The two additional group members who were doing the Everest Base Camp Trek with me arrived several days after we did. The other group was planning to leave the next day to make the journey back home. One of my group members who was supposed to come on the trip backed out last minute and unbeknownst to me did not pay her deposit to the guide company ahead of time. As I was navigating that situation of getting that person to pay her deposit to the guide company I could tell the female guide grew more and more irritable. It ended up being a somewhat easy fix and we were able to get everything squared away somewhat quickly with difference in time Zones etc. So, the original Base camp group was now three people.
My last group members flight in Nepal ended up being cancelled without her knowing and she was scrambling to figure out how to get home. The guide company stepped in and told her they could get her a flight rebooked for that evening. They also told her they would get her a deal as they had connections with the airlines. She attempted to pay the cost upfront but the guide company told her she could pay them when she got back to the states. Unfortunately I was not present for this interaction. The airline rebooking costed her 1700 dollars and the guide company never gave her a receipt of the breakdown costs. When she had looked online the flights that day were half the cost. Where did the rest of the money go? The female guide had harrassed the group member with over 28 text messages and additional calls through whatsapp. Although I wasn’t there for the interactions and had no real time knowledge of what had transpired the female guide started to harrass me in the last 72 hours of the trip. Mind you all money was paid and receipts were verified for both above people. Problem solved. right? Wrong!
So the trek begins or at least I think it does!
In the beginning the guide company the female and male guides had informed me that the cost we paid for the base camp trek would cover all costs, flights, hotels, meals, etc. Weather ended up being a challenge for the next 4 days as we would wake up every morning at 4am, race to the airport, and sit in the airport for 8-10 hours per day waiting to see if weather would clear. After the second day the guide company had an evening discussion with the base camp group about timing and that we were going to miss our original flights back home. There was a discussion about shaving off days for acclimation to try and accomodate schedules. I ended up telling the guide company in that discussion that we had prior discussions together that shaving off acclimation days could be dangerous and risky for the participants. I did not feel comfortable doing that and had said I was removing myself from that discussion for the evening. I seemed to be the only one that had concerns or ate least voiced them at that point. Something felt very off. The second day the guide company had said they had concerns about getting the original flight out due to weather and had talked with us about doing a private helicopter ride with a company they personally knew. That ride ended up being an additional cost of 2400 dollars which included paying for the guides helicopter ride. We woke up on the fourth day got the clear go ahead at 3:30 am in the morning. We raced to the airport and had an hour window opening before bad weather again. Weather is very unpredictable over there. We were off to Lukla!
The start of the dream trek or so I thought?
I found myself getting sick within the first 24 hours, realized just how isolated we really were on the trek, and noticed the guides had minimal supplies for sickness. Everyone else in the group seemed to be okay health wise while I was with them. At that point I had been receiving incessant messages through whatsapp from the female guide. While the second day had arrived I had already received several messages from her about me “supposedly” overcharging group members for the trip, trying to triangulate group members, creating behind the scenes chaos to some group members to the point that three of the group members who had already made it back to the states had to block the female guide, her employees, and their family members for harrassing them. Mind you while all this was happening I was hiking up base camp trek with her husband and two sherpas and my two other group members. The situation became uncomfortable. The second day of the trek was 10 hours of stairs and quiet harrassment through messages, and feeling sicker by the minute. The two group members that were in my group decided that they wanted to go ahead on the trek and the guide, sherpa and them went ahead. I was left with a 20 year old sherpa who did not speak fluent english. I made it to Namache Bazarre at almost 9:30 pm that night. I was so sick but still attempted to power through the day. I Had to be carried to my room by the guide and the sherpas. I didn’t see my group members until the next day.
I had finally made it to the Gateway of Everest, also known as Namche Bazarr. By the time I woke up at Namche, it had been decided that my two group members did not want to acclimate in Namche and they would begin the trek on their own with the guide and sherpa. We spoke briefly in the morning and they proceeded on. The male guide informed me he had concerns about the group splitting up but there was nothing I could do at that point. I was still extremely sick in Namche and the guide told me to stay in Namche and I could meet them the next day. The continual harrassing text messages from the female guide persisted while in Namche. Mind you Namche has little to no cell phone service and everything was spotty even with all my gadgets I brought with me. I had to speak to the male guide before he left to tell him that his wife had been incessantly messaging me while there. He at that point told me not to worry about all her messages as she was stressed out because they just lost out on 10,000 dollars due to another group backing out on them. That was red flag number three, four, five, six. She wrote me texts that the group members I went with didn’t like me, they believed her, they were upset with me, and the list goes on. It got to the point where I had to turn my phone off. As the day in Namche went on I became extremely sick and had to make the decision to turn back down the mountain. I couldn’t hold anything down, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, body aches, pains, dehydrated. The guide was with the group in another location so all conversations happened through message. We scheduled for me to go back down the next day but got me a horse named Everest to see Everest. I at least got to see Everest with my own eyes, and then off I went down the Mountains. The Sherpa that was with me contacted the female guide and told her I was refusing everything on that dissent down which was entirely untrue. I received several calls and text messages of her telling me “you better listen to me and stop creating problems for my staff”. Mind you the 20 year old sherpa did not speak english and there was no interpretor with us. I continued to be sick, made it back to Kathmandu the next day. What should have been a wonderful experience was met with harrassment, lies, incessant messages, and a lack of emotional safety and support. The other two group members never experienced any of this which I am greatful for.
The last 36 hours of the trip everything fell apart and the nightmare began
I arrived in Kathmandu, the female guide met me at the hotel. I knew that she was upset per her prior text messages and so I knew it would be an unpleasant interaction. She informed me I owed her more money for the “extra costs”. She said “I know her you are and I think your a liar” You need to pay me. As we sat in the hotel lobby. I had told her, I am sick, I am going up to my room, I am setting a boundary with her and we can speak again tomorrow. She also said that I had owed her for hotel costs that had already been paid for. The atms were down due to a “fiscal year” in Kathmandu, the systems were not able to do a money transaction at the hotel, and there was no way for me to give the female guide the “ extra money costs” . I went up to my hotel room. The incessant messages started again. Then the threats began with Nepali Tourist police if I didnt come down stairs. That is where her and her male staff took me aside in a conference room and she berated me for 45 minutes about how I was bad person, I owed her money, Im a liar, she knew I was a US Mayor, she was going to reach out to News outlets back home and tell them that I cheated her out of money. MInd you once again, I have receipts to back up every transaction that was given to them and the atm withdrawals. She escalated her behavior in that conference room. I removed myself from that situation. She started the text messages again and said “ you will listen to me” and then proceeded with threatening messages for the next hour. Threatening the Nepali Tourist Police. I spoke to my husband, we got me an emergency flight home that evening. I packed my bags in 15 minutes and honestly did a james bond manuever out of the hotel. I knew the hotel staff was friends with the female guide and I wasn’t about to tip them off that I was leaving. I quietly exited the hotel, front desk staff stopped me and said “where are you going”. I told them I was going out and I would be back. I told the taxi driver that I would pay him double if he could get me to the airport quickly. And off I went to the airport.
While at the airport I had put my hood over my head and put a hat on. I knew that the guide company had various people who worked at the airport but I didnt know who they were. My nerves were shaking, I was at that point hyper vigilant of my surroundings. The text messages continued while I was at the airport. The female guide made additional unsubstantiated accusations. At that point she had flown off the rails and the person I had met a week prior was not the person conversing with me. The Air India security stole my gps tracker while there. I flew into India airport and I receieved another text messages from the female guide saying she will be at the hotel early in the morning as she needs to speak with me and I better listen to her. I did not respond to her messages. As I was flying out of India all I could think of was get me out of Indian airspace because I knew the guide company had friends that worked at India airport as well from prior discussions. I had started making the flight over the Atlantic Ocean when the text messages started again. Once I landed in the US i won’t lie I had an honest breakdown in the bathroom. I literally was crying and had never imagined I would be so happy to be in the US. The female guide and the male guide started to harrass me at that point through messages claiming I owed them money. I needed to pay them extra, they knew who I was and they were not going to stop. The female guide had went to the hotel the next day at 5:15am to have that “talk” with me. What is a guide company doing going up to a hotel room at 5:15 am unannounced. The hotel staff let her up to the room I was staying in and let her in that room. She proceeded to send me and group members messages, we all had to clock her, the guide company, and their family members. I had blocked her, wished her well and thought that was the end of it.
OR so I thought
I arrived home, was still extremely sick from the trip while all this was going on. Started to receive messages from reporters that the female guide company had called them and messaged them to “expose” the corrupt mayor. ( Mind you no corrpution on my end other than putting up Pride Flags for Pride month). The guide company never knew I was a mayor prior to the trip. I had informed the reporters that reports had been filed with Nepali tourist police and the tourism board and that I wouldn’t be able to comment at this time about the situation with the guide company. The reporters and I had talked about a follow up article on my company trip to Nepal during the protests and my time there, minus the guide company issues.
The article came out and my two stalkers that I had and the female guide company met each other through the comments section of that article and they proceeded to do a part 1 and a part 2 video of how I never paid them their money and how I was a liar, fake, fraud. The guide company illegally obtained CCTV video footage of me and the female guide talking in the hotel. The hotel illegally gave up the video footage of these interactions. My stalkers posted all the information along with the videos of the erroneous allegations in a very public manner that had nothing to do with my role as a mayor.
The continuation of public harrassment continued for about two weeks with the guide company through facebook groups etc. I wrote about the incident in several Everest base camp trek groups to warn others to not use this company and to be weery of the hotel and their inappropriate behaviors. Some people believed me, some people turned on me, some people believed the lies. The one thing that hold true is I have proof and documentation of all money transactions, discussions, recordings of interactions, etc. These were just a few of the messages that were sent in the last several days over there.
The quiet emotional unraveling that no one seen after I got home
That experience caused a lot of hardships and created emotional strain, nightmares, public reputation tarnished with lies, relationships with group members severed, mild ptsd, anxiety, and confusion of what happened over there in the final days of that trip. I got to see Everest but it came at a cost that Im not sure I would do again. The the dream trek turns into a nightmare the dream becomes shattered and you are the only one left to pick up the pieces.
