I would recommend Ni (Narayan) with absolute confidence.  My husband and I were fortunate to take the ABC trek last February with him.  It will be one of my most memorable holidays and I genuinely feel that Ni was a major contributor to that.  He speaks very good English for a start so we were quickly able to build up a rapport  and within a day it felt we were just trekking with a friend!  That said he was also very professional - always considering our safety and our abilities. He seemed to have the happy knack of picking the cleanest, friendliest and warmest lodges with the best food - not that it is a knack, but something he has learned over the many years as a guide in the area.  

If you are considering using an independent guide, you could do no better than to employ Ni.  I can recommend him to you without reservation, I am confident that you would not be disapointed in your choice.

If you would like to contact me to verify this information please feel free to email me on
suewake@hotmail.com

just as a footnote.  After we left Pokhara we travelled to a Safari Park by public bus.  To our dismay when we arrived we realised that we had left our camera with all our fantastic photos of ABC on one of the buses.  We phoned Ni and told him our sorry tale.  Ni went into action and from Pokhara he found out which bus company we had travelled with, from there he contacted the driver who was able to locate the camera on the floor where we had sat.  The next day he arranged for the camera to be taken back and left at the hotel for us to pick up at the end of the Safari.