Come to New Nepal!

By Edwin Koo

May 13, 2010

Trekkers account for about 20, 40 or 60 percent of the tourist arrivals in Nepal, depending on whom you ask.

A study focused on the “Prospects of Mountaineering and Trekking Tourism in Nepal”  dated Aug 2008 states that trekking hovers at 16-19 percent of tourist arrivals between 2003-2007.

Another work-in-progress website, which quite obviously has a direct stake in trekking industry, states a whopping 60 percent of tourists come to trek in Nepal.

Last month, I added to that statistic (whatever it is), taking a trek to Langtang National Park, a little north of Kathmandu, and the only trekking route that you probably can’t fly to (Pokhara, Manang, Jomsom of the Annapurna trek and Lukla, trailhead for the Everest trek, are all accessible by domestic flights).

The 8-day affair took my wife and I from the lush forests of the mid-hills (about 2000m above sea level)to the snowy regions beyond Langtang (above 4000m). We carried our own luggage – tents, sleeping bags, pots and pans, etc, walking up to 10 hours on the most gruelling days. My bag probably weighed 20kg; my wife’s load about 10kg. It wasn’t an easy walk because of our insistence on doing it “independently” , sans porters and guide. But all in all, it was great fun, an experience that yields fruits far sweeter than the physically punishing process.

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No matter what the real statistic is, trekking is indelibly linked to Nepal’s tourism. Seldom do I come across a visitor who comes to Nepal but doesn’t go on a  a trek, be it a 3-day quickie or a 3-month expedition.

Trekking is probably so important to the Nepalese economy, a recent ban threatened by a Maoist-affiliated union in the Annapurna region created quite an uproar.  “This will send a negative message in the international arena and this will be very bad for Nepal’s tourism campaign,” Mr Rajendra Bajgain,the general secretary of Nepal’s Trekking Agents Association of Nepal (TAAN) told local daily Republica. Mr Bajgain was, of course, referring to Nepal Tourism Year 2011.

Just as the nationalistic lingo Naya Nepal (new Nepal) has become a running joke among locals, Nepal Tourism Year 2011 has become a close second in drawing sniggers from the bhai next door.

English weekly newspaper Nepali Times ran a front page story showing former Prime Minister and Maoist head honcho Pushpa Kamal Dahal signing a memorandum titled “Together for Tourism”. Its content reads like this: “To make the campaign successful, we express our full commitment not to allow bandas (shutdowns), hartals (strikes) and other activities to take place that will affect (mainly) tourists and tourism services.”  The document quaintly spots a logo on the lower right hand corner “Naturally Nepal:  once is not enough”.

Naturally, once is not enough in Nepal.  Especially when one is talking about bandas and hartals.

When we returned from trekking in Langtang just in time for yet another hartal. For six days (May 2-8), all businesses were shut down and traffic stayed off the roads.  Interestingly, the Maoists allowed the airport and hotels to operate during the strike, perhaps an attempt at keeping their word.

And though many tourists cancelled their trips, some hardcore ones continue to arrive. The ones that booked into higher-end hotels were ferried directly from the arrivals halls in vans and buses marked “Tourists only”. Those on a more modest budget found rickshaws and tricycles (usually used for carrying vegetables – which were not allowed into Kathmandu!) waiting eagerly outside the airport to ferry them and their luggage for anywhere between 200-1000 rupees (US$3-15) per trip.

To be fair, the tourists who were in Nepal during the hartal seem to have enjoyed themselves.

No taxis? No problem! Rent a couple of mountain bikes and go hartal-watch! What’s more, the bike helmets protect from pelting stones and tear gas canisters! Did we also mention tear gas canisters make for cool souvenirs? Plus, no more boring  landscape pictures! Protesters waving Maoist flags make for far cooler travel pictures!

That was indeed the vibe I got from the tourists while I went about town photographing the hartal.

What is rather interesting is that Nepal has never allowed its guests to be hurt in any of these agitations. When my friend asked on FB how were foreigners faring, I told her that every foreigner here belonged to a privileged, untouchable class.  Though another good friend of mine was quick to point out that once in 2005, two German trekkers were hurt in an explosion in the Solukhumbhu area.  OK, safe to say that incidences are so far and few, one actually remembers them when they do happen.

Well, good news amongst the bad news is: 1 million tourists for NTY 2011 still seems a plausible goal.

Though, instead of asking for another 220 milion rupees (US$3.14 million) to be spent on boring TV ads showing mountains and elephants, perhaps the money can be put to better use in an alternative campaign, with a different tag line: Come to New Nepal – Naturally the Land of Hartals, Once is NOT Enough!