Destination: Nepal

LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION

Dangers & Annoyances

Despite the continual stream of bad news headlines that flows out of Kathmandu, the most touristed areas of Nepal remain remarkably safe.
You can minimise the likelihood of bumping into trouble by heeding the following general advice:

Register with your embassy in Kathmandu.
Seek out local advice on safe/unsafe areas, but be sceptical of official tourist information and trekking touts.
Keep an eye on the local press to find out about impending strikes, demonstrations and curfews.
Don’t ever break curfews – instructions have been given to shoot those who are found breaking curfew.
Don’t travel during bandhs (strikes) or blockades. Get very nervous if you notice that you are the only car on the streets of Kathmandu!
Be flexible with your travel arrangements in case your transport is affected by a bandh or security situation.
Avoid marches, demonstrations or disturbances, as they can quickly turn violent.
Don’t trek alone, even on a day hike. Lone women should avoid travelling alone with a male guide.
Be familiar with the symptoms of altitude sickness when trekking and observe sensible acclimatisation.
Consider flying to destinations outside Kathmandu to avoid travelling through areas where there have been disturbances.
Avoid travelling by night buses and keep bus travel in general to a minimum.
Be prepared to pay the Maoists a ‘tax’ if approached while trekking and budget the cash for that eventuality. Trekkers have on occasion been beaten up for not paying this tax. It's just not worth arguing with these guys.
Keep photocopies of your passport, visa, flight ticket and travellers cheques separate from the originals.

Registering with Your Embassy

Officials of all embassies in Nepal stress the benefits of registering with them, telling them where you are trekking, and reporting in again when you return. The offices of the Kathmandu Environmental Education Project and the Himalayan Rescue Association stock registration forms from most embassies, so it’s simple to provide the information.
You can also register online with the US Embassy, Australian Embassy and New Zealand Embassy (click on ‘India’), and by sending an email to the British Embassy. Include the contact details of your next of kin, and your travel dates, itinerary, passport number and insurance details.

Government Travel Advice

The following governments publish useful travel advisories, highlighting entry requirements, medical facilities, areas with health and safety risks, civil unrest or other dangers, and are generally bang up to date.

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (%1300 139 281)
Canadian Consular Affairs (%1-800-267 6788)
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (%04-439 8000)
UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (%0845-8502829)
US Department of State (%1-888-407-4747, 1-202-501-4444)

Scams

Be wary of deals offered by gem dealers (especially in Thamel, Kathmandu) that involve you buying stones to sell for a ‘vast profit’ at home. The dealers’ stories vary, but are usually along the lines of the dealer not being able to export the stones without paying heavy taxes, so the idea is you take them and meet another dealer when you get home, who will sell them to a local contact and you both share the profit. Travellers falling for this ruse is not as unusual as you might expect.

Other scams include young kids asking for milk; you buy the milk at a designated store at an inflated price, the kid then returns the milk and pockets some of the mark-up (you can prevent this by opening the milk).

Be wary of kids who seem to know the capital of any country you can think of; a request for money will arrive at some point. Then there are the ‘holy men’ who will do their best to plant a tika (a red paste denoting blessing) on your forehead, only to then demand significant payment.
Credit card scam is not unusual; travellers have bought some souvenirs only to find thousand of dollars worth of Internet porn subscriptions chalked up on their bill.

Strikes & Demonstrations

Nepal’s political process involves frequent demonstrations and strikes – some called by politicians, some by student groups and some by Maoists, and some by all three! Most common are street processions and rallies in the centre of Kathmandu. It’s best to avoid large groups of slogan-chanting youths, in case you end up on the downstream side of a police lathi charge (a team of police wielding bamboo staves) or worse.

The US Embassy website gives details of upcoming demonstrations and strikes (click on ‘Demonstration Alert’).

A normal procession or demonstration is a julus. If things escalate there may be a chakka jam (jam the wheels), when all vehicles stay off the street, or a bandh, when all shops, schools and offices are closed as well. When roads are closed the government generally runs buses with armed policemen from the airport to major hotels, returning to the airport from Tridevi Marg at the east end of Thamel.

Theft

While petty theft is not on the scale that exists in many countries, reports of theft from hotel rooms in tourist areas (including along trekking routes) are commonplace, and theft with violence is not unheard of. Never store valuables or money in your hotel room.
One of the most common forms of theft is the rifling of backpacks on the roofs of buses. Try to make your pack as theft-proof as possible – small padlocks and cover bags are a good deterrent.

There’s little chance of ever retrieving your gear if it is stolen, and even getting a police report for an insurance claim can be difficult. Try the tourist police, or if there aren’t any, the local police station. If you’re not getting anywhere, go to Interpol (%01-4412602) at the Police Headquarters in Naxal, Kathmandu. The documentation requires a passport photo and photocopies of your passport and visa; the process takes two days.

Traffic, Pollution & Hassle

Traffic on Kathmandu’s streets is a rumpus of pollution-belching vehicles with two, three and four wheels. The combination of ancient vehicles, low-quality fuel and lack of emission controls makes the streets of Kathmandu particularly dirty, noisy and unpleasant. Traffic rules exist, but are rarely enforced; be especially careful when crossing streets or riding a bicycle – traffic is supposed to travel on the left side of the road, but many drivers simply choose the most convenient side, which can make walking in Kathmandu a deeply stressful experience. Remember that pedestrians account for over 40% of all traffic fatalities in Nepal.
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Consider bringing a face mask to filter out dust and emission particles, especially if you plan to ride a bicycle or motorcycle in Kathmandu.
A minor hassle in Thamel comes from the barrage of irritating flute sellers, tiger-balm hawkers, chess-set sellers, musical-instrument vendors, hashish suppliers, travel-agency touts, freelance trekking guides and rickshaw drivers. In Kathmandu’s and Patan’s Durbar Squares you’ll also come across a string of would-be guides whose trade has been hit badly by the downturn in tourism. There’s less hassle in Bhaktapur, though there are some persistent thangka (Tibetan paintings on cotton) touts.

Trekking & Hiking

Fired up by the gung-ho stories of adventurous travellers, it is also easy to forget that mountainous terrain carries an inherent risk. There are posters plastered around Kathmandu with the faces of missing trekkers and travellers. Several solo trekkers go missing every year from the Everest region and one foreign trekker was murdered in Langtang in 2002. In October 2005 two women hikers disappeared (in two separate cases) while hiking in the Nagarjun Forest Reserve, just 5km from Kathmandu. Several tourists have been robbed along the trails to the World Peace Pagoda and Sarangkot, outside Pokhara.

In rural areas of Nepal rescue services are limited and medical facilities are primitive or nonexistent. Moreover, the Maoist insurgency has destroyed many rural phone lines and forced the closure of some park offices and police posts, which have traditionally provided security, information and emergency services for trekkers.

Only a tiny minority of trekkers end up in trouble, but accidents can often be avoided or the risks minimised if people have a realistic understanding of trekking requirements. At a minimum you should never trek alone.

Travelling to Nepal?
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