Nepal have received very few number of tourists in the last six months as the nation has implemented travel ban for foreign nationals due to Covid-19 concerns. Only tourists with specific purposes other than leisure and travel have arrived to Nepal. When corona virus first hit to Nepal with few number of positive cases, they began to close the international borders and slowly moved on to ban traveling from one district to another as the government imposed nation wide lockdown. The government of Nepal announced a first nation wide lockdown just for a week but the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases forced the government to extend the lockdown which lasted for over four months with almost all of the services and facilities being shut down. Tourists who were traveling in different parts of Nepal were rescued by using all means possible by the concerned authority and were sent back home via repatriation flights.
However, there were still a handful of tourists who decided to stay in Nepal during the pandemic and more importantly the lockdown. Some were trekking while some were stuck in hotels and guest houses but enjoying on their own but with the lockdown on hand and suspension of almost every industries and operators, the tourists who were in Nepal at those period might have faced consequences due to the lack of services.
A family of four who left for Everest Base Camp trek earlier in March did continued their journey throughout the pandemic and the lockdown period. Clanwander, a couple with their two children did made the most out of their journey to EBC despite the lockdown. You could find them in YouTube named Clanwander where they have posted a handful of videos about their journey to Everest Base Camp trek in the times of lockdown and Pandemic. The videos about their EBC trek were posted around four months ago. While looking at the videos, it looked they had to come across limited of facilities and services but they did managed to successfully pull it off. You can also find their article at nepalnow.org where they have shared their experience about their journey to Everest Base Camp. The site features unique authors who share their experience traveling different parts of Nepal. You can find the latest article about cycling in Kathmandu during the time of Covid-19. The best part about these articles is that you get a raw and genuine information about trips and tours in Nepal.
Talking about nepalnow. Org, it is one of the official website of Nepal Tourism Board where you can find a bunch of articles shared by tourists about their journey, experience and trip to Nepal. Not only the articles and stories from the tourists but you will also find travel and tourism related news along with the latest scenario and status of tourism in Nepal. So this site do Nepal Tourism Board could come really handy to know about different information about tours and trips in Nepal if you are planning to travel to this Himalayan nation anytime soon.
Will trekking and mountaineering activities be safe when it resumes in mid October ?
Moving on, Nepal will soon open for tourism as the government has decided to resume trekking and mountaineering activities starting mid- October. The decision includes both domestic and foreign nationals as well, so the travel ban for international tourists to Nepal will soon be lifted with the resumption of trekking. Now looking at the videos of the family who continued their journey despite the Covid-19 and lockdown, it seems that there will not be much of a issue resuming trekking and mountaineering activities in Nepal. The environment at the mountains looked pretty normal and looked safe than most of the places in Nepal. On top of that, Government and the concerned authorities are planning for a safe trip and lockdown is set loose this time, so the services will be available as much possible at the mountains once the trekking activities resumes. So with all the services and facilities made available and following all the safety and health protocols, the trekking and mountaineering in the high mountains of Nepal could be held successfully and safely. Some of the mountain regions are still Covid-19 free zones. So let’s just hope for the positives.
Now with Nepal preparing for the restart of trekking, if the Covid-19 situation improves, we might see the resumption of other tourist activities in Nepal as well. Here is a short video shared by Nepal Tourism Board which was posted 6 months ago just before the pandemic where they have interviewed a few tourist in Kathmandu regarding their trips and experience in Nepal.
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