I know a great place

I have started writing a gastronomic guide to the tourism district of Thamel in Kathmandu. Its up at the website www.iknowagreatplace.com and you can find it directly here. This is a new initiative from www.responsibletravel.com and is a wonderful place to add your travel tips.

Thought this qualified as a travel advisory! :-)

Trekking back on Track!

Going by what is being reported, we might be just back on track, after seven/eight long years of being in the slump. News reports are now showing that the trekking business is rebounding back in giant leaps. Looks like "change" (the big buzzword nowadays in the world) in government was what was required in Nepal too.

picture courtesy: rajesh k.c www.rajeshkc.com

Even the Khumbu reported choked villages in October, full of trekkers, and situation of not finding accomodation starting to happen. Read this in this Nepalitimes Article.

It is difficult to say if this is a blessing or a curse. Tourism entrepreneurs who are reading this might have a shine in their eyes, and even have tears of joy (we are back in business! yaaah!) but the trekker who wants to peacefully enjoy his walking holiday will be like, how can I avoid this rush (damn, sounds like mass tourism!)

There is good news for both parties though. And you can read it in that article hyperlinked above, or in the synopsis right here. Some years ago, the idea of a trans Himalayan trekking route, stretching from Pakistan, and including Tibet, Nepal for most of the way, India and Sikkim began to emerge, and was called the Great Himalayan Trail. The idea was to create this trail that would take several months to complete, but would offer options for people to enter at a particular point and exit at another, giving rise to possibilities of several custom trips (and side trips)... this might save the industry in Nepal... creating increased possibilities for both industry professionals and for the clients alike, so that everyone does not have to tread the same ground.

This has multiple benefits of course. The trekking dominated tourism of Nepal, has mostly been limited to the Annapurna Region, the Everest Region and the Lantang Region, in that order. It is not that trekkers do not go to other areas, but few and far between (good for them, but a small critical mass is required for the industry as a whole and the infrastructure to develop). Also, for too long, these three areas have been the only ones to benefit directly form the tourism Dollar (Oops, should I rather say Euro or Pound?) so its high time the rest of Nepal (which is equally if not more beautiful) gets its share too.

Only recently has new routes such as the Chepang Hill Trail (to Chitwan), Renjo La Trail (Everest Region), the Tamang Heritage Trail (Langtang Region), and Nar Phu Valley trips (Annapurna Region) been worked on and marketed. Good news is trekking these new routes can result in (thankfully) smaller number of other trekkers.

Of course, traditional off the beaten trails like Dolpo, Kanchenjunga, Gauri Shankar Area and Humla have always been there and are reasonably developed, but for normal holiday makers with normal budgets, these are a bit expensive.

ADVISORY:

1. Time your trek in the beginning or end of the tourism season. This will ensure that the villages are not crowded. You will also do something really responsible by doing this. Help spread the tourism season a bit more. Nepal is still beautiful. So when is this

Spring before season timings: early Feb or late April, May
Fall before season timings: End August or Late November, December

2. Be drastic, and choose to come in summer. Yeah, yeah everyone talks about the monsoon and all, but there are tons of areas in the rain shadow, and trekking in summer can be real real cool up there! Places like Manang, Mustang (ok, thats a bit expensive), Gosainkunda etc, can be real fun. We actually even have a big group coming next year in June - (peak summer/rainy season)to go up to Everest Base Camp, and i tell you, they WILL have a blast!

3. Forget the race to EBC, ABC, Kanjin Gompa, and try some of the Off the Beaten Trails... You will notice a drastic difference in the charm of trekking there.

4. Wait a few years, train a lot, and hit the Trans Himalayan Trail for three months, from Pakistan to the Northeastern border of India.

See you in the mountains!

Advisory: Riots in Kathmandu

So this morning brought fresh news of the student protest in Kathmandu, inspiring me (I wish there were better things that would inspire me) to write up another advisory on travel to Nepal. So here goes.

What happened: YCL (read young maoists) in some remote district captured some youth and kidnapped them. They were later found dead and buried. YCL of course, denies that they were involved. Whatever.

(by the way, this picture is not from this riot. I just pulled it off the internet. courtesy: someone)

Of course, this has started a wave of anti-YCL demonstrations, and in Nepal, demonstrating means burning tyres, throwing stones, closing down shops and establishments, stopping cars and vehicular traffic, and having a friendly tussle with the police, abiet careful if you are in the middle.

However, to put matters to prespective, student protests usually extend around campuses in Kathmandu, and here is a google earth map of kathmandu to show you where the riots and protests would be focussed on. Just aviod the areas marked with circles. Sometimes they also tend to walk towards Singha Durbar, and this can be loud and bloisterous, but never as violent as when they are in their own backyards.



So the advisory is:

1. Avoid hotspots, shake your head in wonder at our system, and carry on with your trip.
2. If you are coming soon, try and pad your trip. Generally a good rule, as Nepal tends to pull surprises at you, and if you end up having an extra day in the end, you will not regret it anyways.
3. Ask locals whats going on and what to avoid. There is no resource better than the situation on the ground, and in Kathmandu, the word of mouth way works best.
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On another topic, today was also a mixed feelings day for me about Nepal, if you are interested, read it here on the socialtours.com blog

So where is the Industry now?

This follows something that I have written about before, but it is important in my mind that we revisit it. Where is the tourism industry in Nepal today?

The tourism industry had taken quite a hit in the 10 or so years of insurgency in Nepal, which finally seems to have closed its chapter. We have other problems, but hopefully insurgency at a nationwide scale as before will not come now that the Maoists have come overground.

However, the industry proved its resilience, growing even during some peak turmoil years, after the initial shock and lowest point in 2001. I personally think that part of this growth was also a global trend, fueled by the 9/11 attacks, the Bali bombing, the Madrid bombing, and the London bombings, which all proved to people that there were worse problems than in Nepal, and really, we are not really safe anywhere. So people kept coming, and the tourism industry had enough people coming to keep it striving. It also did other things.

It made the industry resilient. The industry had learnt that they have to fend for themselves, and traditional agents in the markets were quick to be disloyal when the advisories went sour. This made companies making efforts at reaching to the market, going into trade fairs, starting building better websites and marketing direct. Clients now are dealing with better websites, service, and more professional companies than before.

Companies are also now more conscious of market requirements and responsibility issues. In 2006, a project on marketing of sustainable products of Nepal by UNEP, SNV, Nepal Tourism Board and the Nepal Government, got over 50 private sector operators join the Sustainable Tourism Network. Several of them got selected for the MAST project and received training and even attended some trade shows as part of the marketing effort. It does not prove much, but shows that operators are conscious and willing to make changes for the market.

Internationalism is also coming in. Nepal recently hosted a major international mountain biking championship, actively does an international kayak championship every year, and boasts the highest marathon in the world, the Everest Marathon, which starts at 5350 meters or so at the Everest Base Camp and ends at 3440 at Namche Bazaar. (interesting fact: the first race was won by a Nepalese trekking cook!)

So the message is: Nepal is more than ready. If anything good came out of the insurgency, it did make the industry more resilient and professional.

Travel Advisory Summary

The US Travel Advisory (read the full advisory here) 

Not updated since May 2008 (that in itself is a good sign), the only thing that is still relevant now is probably the fact that the political rallies and demonstrations in the Valley and outside the valley tend to get violent sometimes, 

My advise: Please listen to what is happening when you are in the country. These things tend to be localized, so long as you avoid the areas, there is no danger to you.

The British Travel Advisory (read the FCO advice here)

Updated on 30th October, this is recent, and talks about the same issues really. Says there are chances of acts of Terrorism, strikes and general closures and to avoid hotspots.

My comment: I think this is pretty clean, though most of the acts of violence they quote are from around May 2008... nothing much has happened recently.

The Australian Travel Advise (read it here)

The Australians have tagged it at "high degree of caution" citing extortion on trekking trails, general strikes,  political rallies that turn violent, pick-pocketing and petty crime in the city, and even Taxis not agreeing to use the meter as examples.

My take on this: I think it is a bit "over the top"...  you have to be cautious, but nowadays when you travel anywhere in the world you have to exercise caution. A high degree of caution seems to indicate that you are attempting to enter a war zone!

I think these three advisories are indicative of the scores out there. The big problem is clear in all of them... the political gymnastics taking place, and the quick turn of events that is classical of how Nepal works.

So, as I tell in most of my posts

1. Have a little bit of extra time... you could get delayed due to the "hassle factor" of a check post, or a general strike... but if you have padded your trip well, you should be fine

2. Do exercise caution: No doubts there. You need to avoid hotspots, and know where something is planned, if it ever is! Rely on local information for this. All the advisories are clear on that... keep in touch with a local operator and keep your self informed. Most operators will provide this information for free anyways.

3. Be a bit flexible: ready to go with the flow. Travel in Nepal is full of  the unpredictable, you got to be the type to enjoy the inspiration that change brings... (somehow I cannot seem to even type the word 'change' without thinking of the American elections - Obama should brand it or something)

Enjoy! See you in the mountains!