Ines & Bijay Rai - Founder
Travel Footstep is not a booking platform. It is not a call centre. It is Bijay and Ines. Two people who have spent years walking the trails, sleeping in the lodges, and getting to know Nepal from the inside out.
Bijay grew up in Nepal. He knows the mountains, the villages, and the people along the way not from a brochure, but from a lifetime of living it.
Ines came from Germany, fell in love with the Himalayas, and never really left. Together they built Nepal Himalaya Reisen in 2013, serving guests from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for over a decade. Travel Footstep is their new global platform same people, same values, now open to travellers from everywhere.
During trekking season, both of them are on the ground in Nepal. That means when you have a question, you reach someone who was on that exact trail last month. When something changes weather, permits, logistics you hear it from people who actually know what it means.
Every trip is planned personally. No fixed packages pulled off a shelf. You tell us your dates, your pace, what matters to you and we build the journey around that.
This is what makes the difference. Not a logo. Not a certificate. The people behind it.
Bijay Rai (From Porter to Pioneer in Himalayan Tourism)
My story with the mountains started in 1998. Not as a traveller, but as a porter. 30 kilos on my back, high passes above 5,000 metres, and not a single day I wanted to be anywhere else.Those years shaped everything. I learned how weather turns above 4,000 metres, which trails break you and which ones stop you in your tracks – not from exhaustion, but from pure beauty.
By 2008 I was a certified guide. Since then I have walked every major trekking region of Nepal more than 20 times. Island Peak, Mera, Ama Dablam, Himlung,not just summits on a list. Places I know like old friends.
In 2013, Ines and I founded Nepal Himalaya Reisen. Not for business. Because we could not imagine doing anything else.
Today, through Travel Footstep, I still plan every journey personally. When you ask me about a route, I was probably there last season.
That is the difference.
Pratima Rai
I grew up in the hills of Khotang in eastern Nepal, a place where the mountains are not a backdrop, but simply life. From early on, I was part of it all. My brother Bijay and his wife Ines built Nepal Himalaya Reisen, and I grew up around their guests, their stories, and their passion for the Himalayas.
I joined treks as an assistant guide, helped welcome travellers, and slowly fell in love with what this work really means the moment someone stands somewhere they never expected to be and just goes quiet.
Later I travelled through India, crossed into Bhutan, and understood that this entire region has something rare. Not just landscapes. A way of living that stays with you.
Today I am based in Australia, working as a registered nurse, but Travel Footstep is never far. I help plan journeys through Nepal, India and Bhutan, and I bring the same care to both of my worlds: people matter, details matter and no two journeys should ever feel the same.
Umesh Rai
I grew up in the lower Solu, right in the heart of the Everest region. As a child, I watched trekkers pass through our village – dusty boots, wide eyes, big smiles on the way back down. That image never left me.
I studied Hospitality Management in Kathmandu, went abroad, met travellers from every corner of the world, and heard the same thing over and over:
Nepal is on my list. Now, based in Australia, I help make that happen.
For me, Sagarmatha is not just a mountain. It is where I come from. And that changes everything about how I plan a journey there.
Gyanendra Rai
I grew up in Khotang, the same hills as Pratima, and like Bijay I started on the trails as a porter. That is where this all begins for our family – not in an office, but with boots on the ground.
Over the years I worked my way through every part of this business. Guide, tour organiser, guest coordinator. I have done it all, and I still do. I have also climbed several Himalayan peaks myself, which makes a difference when you are planning someone else’s adventure.
Today I help run Travel Footstep from Australia handling operations, planning journeys, and making sure every detail is right before you even land in Kathmandu.
Walk with us. Explore with heart.
Pranita Rai
Namaste!
Im Pranita and the youngest in the Travelfoot Step Company. I was born in Khotang and have been part of the Nepal Himalaya Reisen family since 2020.
Every guest who arrives in Kathmandu comes through me first – documents, logistics, that first warm welcome on the ground.
Tourism is not just a job for me. It is the family I grew up in. Now with Travel Footstep, I am proud to be part of sharing Nepal with the world one journey at a time.