Nepali Finance Minister Dr. Yubaraj Khatiwada informed that the Cabinet meeting on Monday took the decision to end the lockdown from Tuesday midnight.

Even though the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread in the country, the government has decided to resume tourist activities and long-haul transport services to revive the economy.

However, the government has decided that a few activities will still face a temporary ban, while some activities will be added to the ‘functional’ list.

Services to Resume Operations from July 30

• Hotels, Restaurants
• Tourism activities including Travel, Trekking, Mountaineering

Services to Resume Operations from August 17

• Short and long haul public transportation within and inter-district
• International and domestic commercial flights
• International sports (training and preliminary stage)
• Student admissions and examinations
• International borders

Services that Remain Closed Until Further Notice

• Educational institutions including schools, colleges, tuition centers, among others
• Conferences, seminars and training
• Recreation centers (cinema halls, party palaces, dance bars)
• All kinds of demonstrations, assemblies, gatherings
• All religious/social centers
• Salons, parlors
• Gyms, health clubs
• Group sports, sporting activities in grounds and stadiums
• Libraries, museums, zoos

The post Nepal Uplifts Lockdown With ‘Some’ Restrictions! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The rescue team consists of members from:

• Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA)
• Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA)
• Nepal Army (NA)

Earlier, a team of 12 rescuers led by Bijay KC, member of Trekking Agents’ Association of Nepal (TAAN), had returned empty-handed on January 19, 2020, as they could not carry out any rescue operations due to adverse weather conditions.

Bijay KC said that it will take several weeks to rescue the victims as the rescue operations seem difficult until and unless the snow melts.

Four South Koreans and three Nepalis went missing after being struck by an avalanche in the Annapurna trekking route on January 17, 2020.

According to TAAN, they include:

• South Koreans: Jeong Pil Bong, Lee Min Su, Choi Hyowon, Kim Sookja
• Nepalis: Saroj Pariyar, Chhiring Bhote, Min Bahadur Lama

Till date, around 130 trekkers have been rescued and were under medical treatment.

Although the Nepali Government has declared only 7 trekkers are missing, there are speculations that the number may increase as some trekkers may prefer to go with Free Individual Trekkers (FIT) permit.

Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in twitted that their government will support the Nepali Government in the rescue operations to save the missing trekkers.

Also Read:

• Trekking Nepal: Indigenous Peoples Trail – A Journey Less heard of, but Trek-worthy
• 535 Climbers Successful Scaled 25 Mountains during Autumn
• Lumbini Tourist Arrivals in 2019
• ‘Visit Nepal Year 2020’ Kicked Off with a Bang (With Live Video)
• 13th SAG Concludes: Nepal Bags 51 Golds, India Leads!

The post Another Search and Rescue Team for 7 Missing Trekkers appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Nepali Sansar is back again with its interesting weekly round-up news headlines, this time for the week April 27-May 03, 2019.

As every time, the Himalayan nation has many key happenings in this week as well. Let’s take a look at some of them:

Nepal Top Headlines (April 27-May 03, 2019)

1) A Step Ahead in ICC T20 Rankings

Continuing with its pace in ICC T20 Cricket rankings, Nepal’s position moved three ranks further to 11^th position with 212 points. The improvement in ranking from the previous 14^th to present 11^th is attributed to the Nepali team’s 2-1 win against UAE in the last ODI series. Bangladesh has made it a step further ahead of Nepal, while Pakistan made it to the top with 286 points followed by Sri Lanka (262 points) and England (261 points) and India (260 points).

2) Model School Campaign

In a move introducing new style of functioning in the local education system, PM Oli on May 02, 2019 launched the ‘Model Smart School’ campaign that will promote usage of IT-based teaching system in the country. The Prime Minister launched the campaign marking the 2^nd anniversary of the National IT Day. The drive has been launched from the Bishwo Shanti Secondary School in Kaski, which has officially become the first full technology-friendly IT school in Gandaki State.

3) 4 Tons Trash from Mt. Everest

In a new clean-up drive on Mount Everest, the climbing team has cleared around 3 tons of trash from Mount Everest. The trash collected by a 14-member government team included cans, bottles, plastic and discarded climbing gear.

“The clean-up campaign will be continued in the coming seasons as well. It is our responsibility to keep our mountains clean,” says Dandu Raj Ghimire, Head of Nepal’s tourism department.

4) Govt Committed to Jobs

Marking the 130^th International Labor Day 2019 on May 01, 2019, PM Oli extended his government’s commitment to enhancing job opportunities in the country. Stating that the Prime Minister Employment Program is already under implementation, PM informed that the government officials are currently listing the unemployed Nepali citizens in all local units through a special Employment Service Center. PM also informed that the jobless citizens will receive a subsistence allowance and employment for at least 100 days in a fiscal year.

5) Trekking in Spring

A total of 824 climbers from 100 mountaineering expedition teams have received permissions to summit 27 Himalayan peaks. According to the Tourism Department, out of the total number, 377 climbers from 39 teams were permitted to climb the Mount Everest this spring season. And, 364 foreign climbers from 34 teams are among those who received permission to scale the Everest peak. Looking at this last year, a total of 346 climbers have received permission to summit the Mount Everest.

6) NPR 6.3 Billion Overlooked!

Yes, you read It right! The government has overlooked around NPR 6.3 billion reportedly found to have been misappropriated by local NGOs. The government has failed to take necessary actions due to pressure from local NGO operators over department officials.

7) Transitional Justice Act

Transitional Justice Act has once again appeared for a serious debate. Victims of the insurgency and human rights community have urged the government to call for the amendment of the Transitional Justice Act before finalizing the officials to the two transitional justice bodies. In a press meet held in Kathmandu on May 02, 2019, conflict victims and human rights defenders accused the government of stepping back on its earlier commitment to moving the transitional justice process.

List not exhaustive, there have been many more interesting updates pertaining to Nepal in the week period, besides major ones like Nepal Budget Session FY 2019-20, Fani Cyclone, Doubled gasoline production, Visit Lumbini 2076, etc.

Stay tuned for more regular updates on Nepal!

Nepali Sansar wishes you A Happy Weekend!

Previous Week:-

• Nepal Weekly News Round-up: April 20-26, 2019
• Nepal Weekly News Round-up: April 13-19, 2019
• Nepal Weekly News Round-up: April 06-April 12, 2019

The post Nepal Weekly Round-up: (April 27-May 03, 2019) appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Offering a picturesque view of few of the world’s highest mountains Dhaulagiri (8,167), Annapurna (8, 091), Macchapucchare (6,997m), Manasalu (8,163m) and 25 other mountains, Sarangkot gently onlooks the city of Pokhara and Phewa lake that further enhance the beauty of the scenic view.

A walk back in time

Earlier, Sarangkot was a Village Development Committee located west of the Pokhara and has a population of about 5,060 and 1,010 households as per the 1991 census. The region later became part of Pokhara 26 in 2015.

What Makes Sarangkot Special?

Sarangkot is one of the popular Nepali tourism destinations home to paragliders from across the world.

Though these sport enthusiasts thoroughly enjoy what they do, it may become almost impossible for an onlooker to look through the clouds and haze.

They say that the most beautiful view comes after the hardest climb and this is especially true about Sangarkot!

A climb to Sarangkot presents a spell-binding view of the sunrise and sunset over the mammoth, snow-capped mountains. This is where you can experience the breath-taking scene of mountains dazzling in gold, orange and red.

Sarangkot offers an awesome riding experience in the form of the Tandem flight. The bird-eye view from the flight treats nature and adventure-lovers’ with a scintillating picture of the entire mountain range surrounding the Phewa Lake.

Enjoy the thrill of flying high in the company of mighty birds like eagles and vultures!

Life in Sarangkot

This beautiful hill has some traditional village houses, a school and a community radio station 104.6 MHz run by the inhabitants to promote the local culture. Besides, Sarangkot also houses some hotels and rooms that offer stunning views of the mountains. If not trekking, you can also enjoy the beautiful view of the mountains whilst relaxing in the rooms.

Home to National Flower!

Sarangkot is home to the Rhododendron forest. The red rhododendron is the national flower of Nepal. This flower is a genus of 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family and is found mainly in Asia. Trekkers will find these trees on pathways of their trek.

Other Places of Interest Around

Some of the tourist attractions in and around Sarangkot include the Australian Camp, Phewa lake, Devi falls, Gupteshwar Cave, Begnas Lake, Thani Mai temple, Siddha Gufa and Patale Dvar.

How to get there?

The Sarangkot hill can be reached via taxi, motorcycle, walk or tour, and should be booked a day in advance in case of taxi. A taxi drive will take 30-40 minutes and will have you left at a walking distance of 15-20 minutes from the climb.

Around Sarangkot, you can either hire a driver with a bike or choose to drive a bike alone. A walk to the climb can last for about 3-5 hours and begins from the Baglung bus park or a remote trail from the Phew Tal lake.

Another convenient option is the tour that is mostly arranged by the hotels people stay at, who arrange both your means of transport and provide a guide.

Schedule your long-awaited trip to Sarangkot, leave the baggage of the world behind and reconnect with your spiritual self with the surreal views of the place!

Also Read:

• Pokhara – Tourism Capital of Nepal
• Nepal, The Perfect Tourism Destination
• Sarangkot – The Adventure Lover’s Paradise
• Biratnagar – Industrial Capital of Nepal
• Nepal’s Lumbini Among ‘Best in Asia 2018’
• Kathmandu: Nepal’s City of Glory!

The post Sarangkot – The Adventure Lover’s Paradise appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

In an interesting update for Everest climbers, the Government of Nepal has recently honored two climbers who scaled Mount Everest without supplementary oxygen.

Italian Reinhold Messner and Austrian Peter Habeler climbed the Everest peak without carrying bottled oxygen. It was around 40 years ago that the duo performed this rare feat, which seems tough even for imagination considering the temperature levels during that period.

Since the first attempt in 1953, thousands of climbers summitted the Everest peak. But, climbing without supplementary oxygen has been a dream for many until the duo proved it.

Nepali Tourism Minister Adhikari lauded the climbers at a ceremony held in Kathmandu recently.

In his remarks, Messner said climbing the Everest peak has become a tourism activity than as an adventure.

“Today mountaineering is tourism. Mountaineering is where people are going without infrastructure, but on Everest there is huge infrastructure. The Sherpas prepare everything and clients pay to trek to the summit,” says Messner.

Messner has also been a strong critic over climbing Mount Everest and has also earlier suggested the Government of Nepal to relook into allowing more number of climbers onto Mount Everest for the wellness of the peak.

The post Climbing Mt. Everest Without Bottled Oxygen Is Reality! appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

This rule applies even to the world-famous Mount Everest, the ambitious trekking journey for any mountaineer across the world.

The ban also covers strict measures to the double amputees and blind climbers planning their trip to Mount Everest.

The new rule demands a written doctor certificate from the trekkers with disabilities to trek the world’s highest Everest peak.

Besides safety, the new rule is also expected to create employment opportunities to the Nepali communities like Sherpas as travel guides, among others.

Sar far, more than 200 mountaineers have died on Everest in the past century. 

Other Key Announcements

In another announcement, the Government of Nepal said the mountaineering expedition teams will have to pay more amount as life insurance coverage of its liaison officers to attempt to climb Nepal’s mountains including Mt Everest, starting this year.

The newly-revised regulation mandates rise in insurance cover for the liaison officers from Rs 600,000 (USD 6,000) to Rs 1.5 million (USD 15,000).

“The mountaineering expedition team shall make medical insurance, in amount of not less than Rs 400,000 (USD 4,000) for the peaks above 6,500 m and Rs 300,000 (USD 3,000) for other peaks below 6,500 m, of the liaison officer, headman, mountain guide, high altitude worker, base camp worker and local worker for their minor injuries in an accident,” read an official release.

The new provision also says ‘no’ to use of helicopter, aircraft and balloon for summitting a peak. This move is coming after a move by a Chinese climber Wang Jing who used helicopter to bypass the Khumbu Icefall to reach Camp II of Mount Everest in 2014.

The post Nepal Bans Solo, Helicopter-aided Mountaineering appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

The country has world’s famous trekking trails such as Annapurna Circuit Trekking, Everest Base Camp Trek, among various others.

The country also hosts various extreme adventurous and trekking sports such as mountaineering, mountain biking, rafting, high altitude marathon, paragliding, bungee jumping, among others. The Karnali River in Simikot is famous for kayaking sport and most of the upstream Nepali rivers enthuse with white-water rafting.

The post Adventure at Its Best appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Everest base camp trek is one of the best globally-renowned trekking adventures that offers a great opportunity to explore the Mount Everest region.

Event Date and Time:
Date: Nov 3, 2017

Organizer:
Magic Himalaya Treks

Location:
Paknajol Road, Thamel, Paknajol Chock, Kathmandu

Contact Info:
Paknajol Road, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal
Post box no: 23648
Phone no: +977-014215008, +977-9849334818 (Nabin)
Email: NKbaniya@gmail.com,info@magichimalayatreks.com

The post Everest Base Camp Trek appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Fighting back the major challenges posed by natural disasters in the recent past, Nepal’s tourism is on the path of recovery and hoping big this time.

Even though Nepal has been the right destination for tourists across the world, the country’s tourism sector has been facing some key issues.

Over the years, the country has allocated various resources for external tourism and as a result, large scale of outbound tourism was observed from the country. However, the domestic tourism on the other side, could not get its required attention.

Addressing such concerns, this time, NTB has decided to boost domestic tourism on par with the external tourism by promoting various local tourist destinations.

Proper tapping of the opportunities created by the increasing disposable income and spending power of Nepalis can give enough boost to the growth of the domestic tourism, opines NTB.

For this, the country’s tourism sector also expects the stakeholders to do their part in addressing key challenges such as infrastructure and investment, promotion and disaster management, and proper marketing, among others for the expansion of domestic tourism.

Towards this end, the Government of Nepal also declared Nepali year 2073 as the Nepal Travel Year and NTB has also allocated Rs 2 million for implementation of promotional activities.

NTB Hopeful of This Season

NTB has planned big for the Nepal Tourism Season 2017.

“Last year, there was an exponential growth in the domestic tourism sector as around 4.5 million internal tourists visited different parts of the country. We are hopeful that this year, more number of domestic tourists will visit different parts of Nepal,” says Deepak Raj Joshi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), NTB.

According to Deepak Joshi, the board is carrying out various promotional activities in this regard to boost the domestic tourism activity during this season.

“For the development of domestic tourism, NTB is currently continuing the last year’s Travel Nepal programs and we have also added other programs such as Photo Nepal for advocating Nepali tourism through photography, Safa Nepal to promote cleanliness around heritage sites and Chulo Nepal to promote Nepali food along with food hygiene,” he informed.

Besides, NTB is also organizing programs to support home-stay services through capacity building, market linkage and other training schemes.

“NTB is only promoting Nepal in international platform. It must introduce programs to promote domestic tourism within Nepal. Furthermore, it should also engage in dialogue with the private sector and allocate budget for programs after discussions and consultation,” says Dilip Mainali, President of Chitwan Tourism Development Committee.

Seasonal Trends and Related Concerns

The domestic tourism in Nepal is majorly dependent on seasonal trends. On the flip side, these trends are also posing serious challenges to the industry players in the Nepali tourism sector.

With the tourists flocking to major domestic tourism spots only during the peak season, the tourism entrepreneurs of the country are finding it difficult to safeguard their business interests and investment through dependence on tourism.

“Due to Dashain-Tihar vacation, there is an enormous inflow of Nepali tourists. As a matter of fact, Manang is currently crowded and we are facing problems in accommodating the arrivals. On an average, we are receiving 400-500 domestic tourists per day,” says Binod Gurung, Proprietor of Hotel Yeti and President of Tourism Traders Association (TTA), Manang.

Pokhara, Manang, Mustang, Lumbini, Chitwan, , Tilicho Lake, , Rara Lake and Ghandruk are among the major tourist destinations during the peak season.

It’s Time to Identify New Destinations

Lack of a strong chain network of tourist destinations is being considered as one of the major reasons hindering the growth of domestic tourism in Nepal.

While most of the key domestic tourist spots in Nepal fall under rural parts of the country, tourism industry stakeholders pitch on the need for development of more new destinations.

Stressing on the need for promotion of domestic tourism, Bijaya Amatya, President of Kora Tours, says,” The involvement of youths in adventure tourism is very positive for the industry. However, we need to work on new destinations for adventure tourism. It is not feasible to rely on the old form of adventure sport.”

Amatya calls for a significant involvement of local communities in the initial phases of promoting rural areas as tourism spots under domestic tourism.

The post Nepal Tourism Season: Domestic Tourism Draws Special Focus appeared first on Nepali Sansar.

Fighting back the physical disability, a British Gurkha soldier Hari Budha Magar has set a new record on September 19, 2017, by reaching Nepal’s 6,476 meter-long Mera Peak, that too in the Autumn climbing season.

“Budha Magar, the resident of Rolpa District, has become the first double above-knee amputee to climb the country’s highest trekking peak in the autumn season,” read an official statement by the expedition organizer.

According to the organizer, this achievement of Budha Magar was part of his training aimed at attempting climb Mt Everest in Spring 2018.

“Life is all about adaptation,” Budha Magar said in response to his achievement. He further informed that all the five members who joined him in the expedition also reached the peak.

The United Kingdom and Nepal based Himalayan Ski & Treks, and US-based Myrmidon Expeditions supported this expedition organized by the Conquering Dreams Mera Peak Expedition.

The owner of Himalayan Ski Trek, Krishna Thapa Magar hailed Budha Magar for being the first double amputee above the knee who made it to the summit till date.

As per the Nepal Mountaineering Association, Mera peak is the highest peak permitted for trekking in Nepal.

According to Thapa Magar, Budha had to bear the majority of his expedition expenses as no corporate sponsors or donors came forward doubting his abilities.

Meanwhile, Lead climbing Sherpa Mingma David informed that Budha Magar would also be the first bilateral, above-knee amputee to attempt to Mt Everest for an expedition in Spring 2018.

Hari Budha Magar served in the British Army for 15 years and was later discharged from the rank of Corporal on medical grounds in 2014 after he suffered injuries while serving in Afghanistan in 2010, where he lost both the legs below the knees.

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