The spring season has well and truly arrived here in Nepal and with it, a few intrepid travellers with more on the horizon as the expedition season kicks off next month.
Last Thursday evening The Ministry of Tourism released new rules for those wishing to visit the country with the aim of providing a boost to the ailing tourism sector, while making the whole process easier for visitors.
As of now, if you have received both vaccines you no longer have to provide a negative PCR test prior to arrival, you will however need to show proof of your vaccinations. Your airline however, may still require a negative test to allow you to fly. If not fully vaccinated, you are still required to show a negative PCR test taken no longer than 72hrs before your first departure flight. All visitors must however take a test upon arrival in Nepal and as long as the result comes back negative, they are allowed to proceed with their planned trip. They must isolate in a hotel until their negative result comes back, thus essentially doing away with the current mandatory 7-day quarantine. All guests to the country will have to show a valid hotel booking for when they arrive. Visas are still not being issued on arrival, except under certain circumstances and should be obtained in advance of your trip from your nearest Nepali embassy. If you do not have access to an embassy, you must obtain a letter of recommendation from the Tourism Department of Nepal to enable you to get a visa on arrival. Everyone must have comprehensive travel insurance.
On a more personal level, we are thankfully up and running again after a full year of stillness and it feels fantastic on so many different levels to be working once more, but especially that we are able to get our team out and about again, doing what they do so well.
While Dawa is enjoying himself up in the Kumbhu with a client, trekking to Base Camp, Gokyo and over two of the three passes, Amrit, supported by the rest of our team is leading a 3-month Adventure Guide Programme on behalf of our partner, Pure Exploration.
Three weeks in and already our student group has completed their Advanced Wilderness First Aid course alongside their Rock 1 syllabus (an introduction to rock climbing), all while camped out in the forest in Hattiban to the south of Kathmandu. They also had an impromptu lesson on risk assessment and evacuation in the face of a forest fire, as the hills up above them went up in flames, as due to a severe lack of winter rains, the country is tinder dry.
After the weekend back in Kathmandu, they headed off to Helambu and Langtang for their first self-supported trek. This will not be an ordinary trek, as the mountain paths of the national parks will become their classroom. Alongside carrying all their own kit and cooking their own food, they will be learning the art of navigation and map reading, leave no trace, back country nutrition and cooking, leadership skills, environmental ethics, risk assessment, all things weather and much, much more.
From the mountains they head west to their next base in a little village near Bandipur, about half way to Pokhara. Here the volume gets ramped up as they move on to advanced rock-climbing skills, swift water rescue techniques and a second, bigger and more gnarly trek expedition.
Assuming everything remains stable, the world’s leaders can learn to play nicely and share the Covid vaccines that are available we are hopeful for an even better autumn season.
Get dreaming, start planning, the Himalayas are calling you.
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