Himalayan Travel Guides ADVENTURES in NEPAL Marit Bakke and Olav Myrholt 1 Cover photos: Front page: Chisopani on the Royal Trek, Middle Hills. Photo: Olav Myrholt Back page: Curious kids on the Humla offering ‘Namaste’. Photo: Amrit Ale 1 Adventures in Nepal Discovering the country and the people Marit Bakke and Olav Myrholt 1 MT.KAILASH 6712M. INDIA INDIA International Boundary Highway Bridge Regional Boundary Major Road Peak Zonal Boundary Minor Road Pass (La) Zonal Boundary Trail Temple National Park Boundary Railway Airport River Airfield 2 CHINA (TIBET) INDIA 3 Copyright © Norway-Nepal Association 2016 Copyright maps: Himalayan Map House 2016 All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means (electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copy right holders. ISBN: 978-9937-649-71-1 ® Published and distributed by: Himalayan Map House (P.) Ltd. Basantapur, Kathmandu, Nepal GPO Box: 20784 Phone: 977 1 4244965,4231220 Fax: 977 1 4228340 Email: [email protected] www.himalayan-maphouse.com Design: Santosh Maharjan Pawan Shakya The publication of this book was made possible by a grant from the Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu. 4 CONTENTS Preface 7 Acknowledgments 8 Why visit Nepal? 9 Part I. NEPAL 11 Geographic regions 11 Climate 13 People of Nepal 13 Caste system and inequality 16 Refugees in Nepal 17 Political history 18 Culture 22 Religion 25 Part II. A VULNERABLE COUNTRY 27 Production 27 Agriculture and forestry 27 Industry and trade 27 Tourism 28 Social conditions 28 Standard of living 30 Education 30 Health 32 Infrastructure 35 Development in Nepal 36 Frameworks for development 36 Does development aid work? 36 Grounds for optimism 37 Part III. GOOD TO KNOW 39 Good to know before departure 39 What type of tourist? 39 Length of stay 41 When to go 41 Arranging your visit in advance or not 42 Consider your capabilities 43 Going with a group, or on your own 43 Transport 44 5 Visa and contact information 44 Luggage, passport, valuable, money 45 Where to stay 45 Trekking fees 47 Equipment 47 Traveller’s health in Nepal 48 Language 51 Crime 51 Earthquake 51 Behaviour in everyday life 51 Good to know during the tour 55 General recommendations 55 Safe trekking 55 Travel and trekking ethics 57 Good to know at the end of the tour 59 Part IV ADVENTURES IN NEPAL 61 Nepal’s national parks 62 A note on distances 62 Characteristics of treks and activities 62 Now it is up to you 63 How to use the information 63 1-2 DAY TRIPS AND ADVENTURES 71 3-4 DAYS TREKS AND ADVENTURES 81 5-10 DAYS TREKS AND ADVENTURES 107 11-14 DAYS TREKS AND ADVENTURES 135 2-3 WEEKS TREKS AND ADVENTURES 163 TREKS AND ADVENTURESFOR MORE THAN 3 WEEKS 185 Trekking the Great Himalayan Trail 196 EXPEDITIONS AND MOUNTAINEERING 198 SPECIAL ACTIVITIES 199 APPENDIX 210 6 Preface There are thousands of tour operators in Nepal and around the world, keen on sending travellers to Nepal, and trying to tell you what is best for you. It will help both your peace of mind and the health of tourism in Nepal if you arrive equipped with knowledge, critical awareness and sound expectations. This book is written with the aim of assisting your planning and offering realistic perspectives on what you can achieve within the time available and depending on your interests and level of fitness. We hope this book will inspire you to visit Nepal and, once there, be an informed tourist when meeting people and experiencing the country’s diverse cultures and traditions. In Nepal you will build up a rich store of memories from which you can always draw, yet can never exhaust. This book is also an attempt to promote a healthier, more responsible and sustainable tourism industry for the good of Nepal’s development and its inhabitants. Our aim is to spark your interest in less-visited areas, take the pressure off congested routes, and thereby help to spread the employment and income that tourism brings. We have catalogued many treks, tours and non-motorised adventures throughout Nepal. You will not find a ‘Top 10’ list because that would restrict your options – we want you to look beyond the main icons of Nepal, such as the Everest area, Annapurna and Langtang. Areas outside the core regions do not get the attention they deserve, and visitors miss out on fabulous experiences and attractions. By the time you turn the last page of Adventures in Nepal, you should be ready to search the bookshops and websites for more specific information and maps. And then you can confidently book your ticket and travel to Nepal. Part I offers a brief introduction to Nepal’s geography, environment and climate, its people, political history, culture and religion. Part II touches on the social, economic and cultural vulnerability of Nepal as a developing country and how tourists can contribute to change this condition. Part III gives an introduction to Nepal as a tourist destination, focusing on information and recommendations when planning a visit as well as advice for socially and culturally appropriate behaviour during and after travels in Nepal. We have integrated some aspects of the mountain trekking culture in our home country, Norway, where environmental and sustainable concerns have been prominent ever since the Norwegian Trekking Association was established in 1868. Part IV presents brief descriptions of more than one hundred tours, treks and events in Nepal. Many of them have been popular for decades. More importantly, we want to draw attention to alternative, less-known trails and treks in areas where few tourists go. With about 50 visits between us, the authors first came to Nepal because of the mountains, returning later mainly because of its people. We hope you will do the same – experience, enjoy and respect nature and the people. Oslo, Norway, November 1, 2016 Marit Bakke and Olav Myrholt 7 Acknowledgments Many people have been involved in making this book come true. We thank the Norwegian Ambassador to Nepal since 2013, Kjell Tormod Pettersen, for initiating this book project, aimed at countering some negative aspects of commercialisation of the trekking industry in Nepal and offering alternative and wider perspectives for foreigners and Nepalis who seek adventures in the hills and mountains of Nepal. We are grateful to the Norway-Nepal Association Board for its endorsement of our proposal, and the decision to publish this book. The Norwegian Embassy in Kathmandu facilitated deeply appreciated funding to cover the cost of publication. Pawan Shakya and Santosh Maharjan at Himalayan Map House have taken good care of layout and printing. Also Prajapati Sandesh has assisted with the layout. David Durkan was actively involved in the initial planning of the project and has given valuable comments during the writing process. We also thank Anuradha and Øyvind Amundsgaard, Øyvind Bruland, Hari Dhakal, Kanak Dixit, Lena Fauske, Susan Höivik, Ann Jones, Arjun Karki, Yogi Kayastha, Gabrielle Kerr, Leyla Kutlu, Manohar Pradhan and Madhusudan Subedi for reading the manuscript and providing valuable comments. In 2012 the Norway-Nepal Association launched an electronic version of the book NEPAL: Om landet og folket (NEPAL: The country and its people). Marit Bakke and Olav Myrholt were in the editorial group, together with Lena Fauske and Annelies Ollieuz. The positive response to the 2012 publication encouraged Marit and Olav to retain much of its structure and content, but the text has been thoroughly revised and updated for this publication. Part IV is completely new. The photographer’s name is acknowledged with each picture. Here we wish to thank everyone who donated their photographs. There are also some photos taken by Knut Palmstrøm. In 1957 he spent five months in Kathmandu as a United Nations representative, assesssing labor market conditions in Nepal, and he also took many photos. A few years ago his son, Arild Palmstrøm, generously donated his father’s photo collection to the Norway-Nepal Association. This is the first time some of these unique photos have been published. Apart from the layout and printing, this book is produced entirely on a voluntary basis. We have done our best to ensure accurate information, and we apologise for any mistakes. However, we cannot take legal responsibility for any problems that may arise. 8 Why visit Nepal? What is ‘adventure tourism’? It can mean base- jumping off cliffs in parachutes, bungee jumping from a high bridge or climbing Everest – but it also encompasses much more. Adventures involve going beyond your everyday realm and experiences, being challenged physically and mentally, and creating memories. Nepal has a rich cultural heritage that is worth exploring, and hosts a range of spectacular natural wonders found only in Nepal. In the course of not so Bhaktapur in 1957. Knut Palmstøm many kilometres you can go from subtropical flora and fauna, via alpine valleys and desert From the 1980s tourism grew into a serious landscapes, all the way to the top of the planet’s industry, expanding to areas outside the highest snow-covered peaks. This book, aimed Kathmandu Valley. The profits were invested at all those wishing to visit Nepal, takes a broad in education for Nepal’s children, for upgrading perspective: we see adventure tourism as a private homes to lodges, and eventually building self-sustaining movement, rooted in nature and specialised lodges. These lodges – along with culture. better trails and roads extending further into the mountains, small airstrips, and a wealth Trekking and mountaineering in Nepal of guidebooks and articles – contributed to a today developed from traditional European substantial growth in the tourist and trekking mountaineering, where experienced climbers industry.