Nepal ready for business

[Dutchy]

Hi guys,
From Namsche Bazaar in Nepal here a first hand update on the situation there. Most of kathmandu is cleaned up, the damage in the city nowhere near as bad as the media made us believe. The Everest region too is ready for trekkers, not all that many buildings were destroyed and many that were already repaired.
The biggest problem at the moment is the lack of tourists. So if you want to experience the region without its usual October masses, this year might be the year to book a last minute trip. There is plenty of guides, porters and flights, and believe me, the Nepali people need it!
Dutchy

[horsecat]

Well done for giving the heads up to everyone Dutchy. Good luck with whatever you are up to. Nepal needs people to go back after the earthquakes otherwise it's an ongoing disaster really. Not only is the Khumbu and approaches ok but the Dhaulagiri and Annapurna areas are good too. Langtang not so good though.

the damage in the city nowhere near as bad as the media made us believe

It was in quite a few places, but many areas did remain unscathed. The clean-up happened surprisingly quick and most of the lingering problems are in the remote villages due to the horrible landslides

[heracles26]

I'm heading to Nepal tomorrow morning!!

[Dutchy]

I'm doing the 3 passes this year! We were surprised too the city was completely cleaned up. Yes, most of the bad damage was outside the city.

[GPSGuided]

Is there still an increased seismic activity there?

[horsecat]

Is there still an increased seismic activity there?

There will always be issues there mate.

[Nuts]

It seems where the quakes were at their worst, the destruction was severe?
I have a link to a school rebuilding project, sure they'll need some ongoing help:

https://vimeo.com/138366533

Unfortunately I was just sent the vid and we couldn't find the original source and contact details again.
(iv'e asked but if anyone has it, please post, I was going to share it elsewhere)

[horsecat]

It seems where the quakes were at their worst, the destruction was severe?

Yes mostly, but it depended on some other factors. Areas of the capital were hit bad as Kathmandu sits on a dry lake bed (500m of Himalayan silt under it) which makes it wobble worse than say Pokhara, which is where the epicentre was slightly closer to. They received virtually no damage there. Many areas in KTM were left untouched but those areas were generally built on more rockier ground, or on small hills. The building standards in Nepal also played a big part. Gorkha and surrounds which was right on top of where it happened had no hope. Many of the remote areas received massive landslides which caused huge destruction and loss of life. Hillsides literally exploded. This is why Langtang no longer exists. The steepness and scale of the foothills have to be seen to be appreciated. For some reason the shock waves went more east (towards the Everest area) and did quite a lot of damage there while areas to the west didn't cop it as much. It was also a very shallow quake and went for nearly two full minutes so I'm surprised that it wasn't even worse. And after all of that the monsoon arrived. All that applies to the first, and largest of the earthquakes

[wayno]

depends how solid the rock is where the quake is as well., how broken up it is and how prone to fracturing it is in a quake beyond where the actual quake lies
a lot of fiordland is very strong granite, as strong as you will find anywhere in the world even for granite its relatively unfractured, it doesnt fracture that much away from the fault lines and despite a lot of earthquake activity, milford sounds and the darran mountains remain pretty intact and vertical, further north the rock gets softer and shatters more easily and move a lot more in a big earthquake. the murchison earthquake in the north of the south island loosened a massive amount of debris over a wide area
the avalanche around everest was more to do with loosening of ice clinging to the mountains than loosening of the rocks

[Nuts]

Thanks for the better understanding. I was trying to grasp how one (US based) aid group had lost 'all' the schools they had built over the years but it's likely if they were in already unstable areas and such.

I'm in contact with the co-ordinator of that project mentioned. They'll be rebuilding, starting early next year and could use help for a week or a month, perhaps in conjunction with touring/trekking.. Apart from building there may be some interest from teachers/student teachers in this. I'll pass on the contact by pm if anyone's interested.

[wayno]

Langtang article just out.
http://www.outsideonline.com/2016856/its-all-gone

[wayno]

India Has Halted The Everyday Goods Nepal Needs To Survive
http://www.buzzfeed.com/anupkaphle/indi ... .qdWJoD1d9

[GPSGuided]

India Has Halted The Everyday Goods Nepal Needs To Survive
http://www.buzzfeed.com/anupkaphle/indi ... .qdWJoD1d9

Not good. Caught b/n two large countries and without free exits, it'll always be affected by the geopolitics of the region.

[wayno]

and china is one of them, look at what they've done to Tibet, and India havent exactly been tactful in Kashmir with Pakistan.

[Nuts]

Yep, bullies!

[wayno]

article about restricting everest to only experienced high altitude climbers
http://www.news.com.au/sport/sports-lif ... 7552970962

[juz]

Hi All,
I am off to Nepal, arriving October 19, and then the plan is to head to Dolpo.
Anyone there at the minute who can give some feedback on the current situation with lack of fuel and goods etc? Are domestic flights still flying?
It is hard to get a feel of the situation from the news, though it doesn't sound to good.
Thanks all.
Justin

[horsecat]

Whilst I'm not currently there (but was in the region a little while ago), Dolpo is fine. Hardly got any shaking when the quake happened and virtually no damage at all. In fact, there and Mustang are very busy at the moment due to the relative safety of the area (nice open valleys etc). No problems with flights in and out of Jomson either and Pokhara is fine too. Things got back to "normal" pretty quickly after the event. It's the remote and deep valley areas generally north of the capital that are still having issues. Have fun

[juz]

Thanks for the info horsecat, though I was more interested in the current problems with the nearly closed border with India due to the constitutional protests. Especially if the lack of fuel is affecting domestic flights?
Also I read hotels are cutting services.
Hopefully things are not too bad.

[Eremophila]

Yes, DFAT have all border areas classified as "reconsider your need to travel".
Heading over on 1 November, can't wait.
We are going to try & take some goods such as pencils & notebooks for school kids, assuming we have spare room in our packs. Any other suggestions on suitable items?

[Dutchy]

Hi All,
I am off to Nepal, arriving October 19, and then the plan is to head to Dolpo.
Anyone there at the minute who can give some feedback on the current situation with lack of fuel and goods etc? Are domestic flights still flying?
It is hard to get a feel of the situation from the news, though it doesn't sound to good.
Thanks all.
Justin

We are about to leave Lukla in a few days, Nepal is flying in aviation fuel from Bangladesh, aviation fuel shouldn't be an issue.

[Dutchy]

Yes, DFAT have all border areas classified as "reconsider your need to travel".
Heading over on 1 November, can't wait.
We are going to try & take some goods such as pencils & notebooks for school kids, assuming we have spare room in our packs. Any other suggestions on suitable items?

We took note books, pens , pencils, pencil sharpeners with us. Something nice to hand out to kids on the way is coloured chalk (small, light), we took crayons too, but that requires paper. We had no room for soccer balls, but at $40 US they're pricey here.

[Dutchy]

We heard the Jiri area is indeed badly affected. In the Khumbu region Thame seemed the hardest hit, but is still fully operational. We also talked to travellers that had been to Annapurna, all good there too.

[juz]

We are about to leave Lukla in a few days, Nepal is flying in aviation fuel from Bangladesh, aviation fuel shouldn't be an issue.

Thats great news. I hadn't heard that, so it is very reassuring. Thanks Dutchy for taking the time to respond.
Not long now.

[Eremophila]

I've hesitated to post this pic, but it sums up the plea from trekking operators in Nepal: "Please visit".

We visited the Annapurna region (Sanctuary/Base Camp) in November and the general consensus was that trekking numbers were around 50% down in Oct/Nov, compared to a normal season. The fuel situation is adding to the country's woes. Good to see China is assisting although being cynical I'm sure they have their motives.

We were told the traffic in Kathmandu was far lighter than normal. Partner has travelled there before, but that was in 1994, so we weren't familiar with normal conditions. Certainly going to & from the airport, and around the city, wasn't difficult. The small electric buses were packed to capacity with locals but again this may well be the norm.

The queues for fuel were massive. Our only hold-up was a 2-hour wait for fuel on the bus when heading out of Kathmandu to Pokhara. Heard a couple of tales of other travellers who experienced long delays. There was an older American gent on our bus, on his 26th visit to Nepal, who was wanting to head out to the Mustang region but was experiencing difficulty in arranging transport. We did see him in Chomrong later on so obviously he wasn't able to reach his desired destination.

On the upper part of the trek, lodges were restricting the number of items on their menus due to a shortage of some supplies, perhaps also to conserve cooking fuel. Still plenty of choice though. On our return to Kathmandu, some restaurants had cut their menus quite drastically. Apparently hospitals and health clinics were already running short of medications.

Saw very little evidence of the earthquake overall. Some (many) areas are such a mess it was hard to tell...... sadly the main building of the National Museum is closed, as were a few buildings in the Garden of Dreams.

Anyway, if you're thinking of going, go!

[Taralal]

Nepal is most beautiful country in the world,This world have 14 peaks of Mountain Nepal have 8 mountain these mountain is amazing views we can see,Mt Everest which world Height peak of the world,In your life time you can't see i don't think life is complete, loard Budhha was born in Lumbini of Nepal,we have lot of culture and religious heritage site In Nepal Please visit this lovely country.
I am from Nepal Please you want any information ask me i am glad to help you,,,,,,,,,