\n I was planning to join my daughter in Nepal at Easter, and go
\n trekking in the Annapurna region. Diana Penny at Bufo Ventures was going
\n to book a guide and a porter for us. I booked my own flight to
\n Kathmandu in mid January, then a couple of days later the King took
\n over Nepal and cut off all communications. Cancelling my ticket
\n would have cost a lot, so if Nepal turned out to be a completely
\n no-go area, the contingency plan was to meet in Delhi instead, and
\n go to Rajasthan. But I've wanted to go to the Himalayas for
\n half a century – so we decided to wait and see. The FCO were, and
\n still are, advising extreme caution and their reports makes quite
\n alarming reading.\n <\/p>\n
\n It took some weeks to get first-hand information from Highland
\n Sherpa, the trekking agency Diana's husband runs. By early
\n March, Kathmandu was quiet, but strictly under the control of the
\n King and the military police. In the west of the country the
\n Maoists were causing some problems and there was some localised
\n fighting in the Pokhara region. For tourists, the only
\n inconvenience was some random roadblocks and demands for money.\n <\/p>\n
\n We were advised to switch our plans from Annapurna to Everest, and
\n that's what we did. Luckily we were able to book flights to
\n Lukla – everyone else had the same idea, so flights were scarce.
\n There are no Maoists in that area and the Nepalese are very anxious
\n to keep their trekking and tourism expanding as everybody relies on
\n it for an income.\n <\/p>\n
\n So for eight glorious days we trekked up towards Everest, getting
\n as high as Dingboche before descending by a different route. The
\n local people were charming and hospitable and most of the time you
\n are never far from food, drink and shelter. We met people who had
\n been to Annapurna and had been accosted by Maoists and parted with
\n their 1000 rupees on demand – and even had their photos taken with
\n them! You get a receipt for your 'payment', so if you are
\n held up by another gang, you can show your receipt and will usually
\n be let off. It amounts to less than £10, but you wouldn't want
\n to do it every day or you would have to double your budget! (On our
\n first night, our bill for a double room, plus lunch, evening meal
\n and breakfast for two came to 1300 rupees – a little over £10). One
\n solo trekker we met said she had spent £57 on her nine-day trek,
\n but she admitted she didn't have many showers, as they cost
\n over £1!\n <\/p>\n
\n The only other restriction in places where there is a military
\n presence is a curfew at sundown. Above Lukla, we only saw a few
\n soldiers – near the ticket office for the Sagarmatha National Park
\n on the outskirts of Namche Bazaar. Their camp is just above the
\n village and it has a very interesting visitor centre you can go
\n into – that's in addition to Sherpa Museum and the History
\n Museum of the Himalayas, under reconstruction in Namche, both close
\n by the camp. In Lukla itself I was challenged politely by a soldier
\n as I returned to my lodge near the airport after watching the
\n sunset at a neighbouring Lodge. In Kathmandu there are still shops
\n and restaurants open in the tourist Thamel district long after
\n dark, so your walk back to outlying hotels may be in darkened
\n streets, but represents no problem.\n <\/p>\n
\n There are also well-advertised strikes throughout the country from
\n time to time, so if you are relying on public transport these might
\n delay you. Trekkers were flying back to Kathmandu from Lukla,
\n rather than risk the 5-day walk to Jiri only to find the bus back
\n to town (an 11-hour) journey, wasn't running!\n <\/p>\n
\n So if you have the time to walk the extra miles, or can afford the
\n air fare to Lukla, don't miss out on seeing Everest. The main
\n trails are easy to follow, though not often signposted. There are
\n plenty of lodges and teashops to stop at. On the longer ascents you
\n are usually warned that you are passing 'the last stopping
\n place'. Stopping is essential, as gaining height slowly is the
\n best way to ward off altitude sickness. So you stop to admire the
\n magnificent views, rather than keep looking around and stumbling.
\n You stop to let yaks pass you, standing safely against the
\n mountain, not the outer edge of the path! You stop to let porters
\n carrying enormous loads overtake you. You stop to chat to fellow
\n trekkers – its amazing how often you meet up with the same people.
\n It's a fantastic trip, so DON'T LET THE PRESS PUT YOU OFF.
\n The monsoon season starts at the end of May – so hurry!\n <\/p>\n
I was planning to join my daughter in Nepal at Easter, and go trekking in the Annapurna region. Diana Penny at Bufo Ventures was going to book a guide and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main-article"],"yoast_head":"\n