Friday, June 08, 2012

Travel Advisory | 08 June 2012

We just got out of a week or two of crazy turmoil in Nepal. General strikes (everything closes down generally, depending on how much muscle the groups announcing the strikes can flex) were everywhere in the country, and Nepal's Constituent Assembly's historic failure to present a draft of the Constitution after four extensions in four years made worldwide headlines.

So now, we are back to the international travel community doubting safety of travel into Nepal. Hence this travel advisory.

Since 27th May, there has been no strikes (actually I correct myself, because one group did announce a strike in the Terai - southern border areas with India - today) of significance. We expect this trend to come up again, as we grapple with the confusion of a near failed state.

What is important however is to realise what the strikes mean for travel.

1. It is difficult to plan the trip to the airport in Kathmandu, or out of it. Government has special busses that ply to different areas of the city to convenience the tourists, but these are few and far between. Plan your transit to the airport.

2. Stay in the mountains or small towns. These are hardly affected by these strikes.

3. Pad your trip to Nepal. Undue delays are possible.

4. Talk to locals. They know which areas of the city to avoid. Its not such a small city, and demonstrations only take place near power centers.

Did that help?

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