Toilets on Everest

An environmental group is asking the Nepal government to consider installing portable toilets on Mount Everest for climbers caught short at the roof of the world. Eco Himal says the thousands of trekkers who set off from the South Base Camp in Nepal each year would do a better job of keeping the place clean if they and their porters had somewhere civilized to go when nature called. "Human waste is a problem, of course," said the group's director, Phinjo Sherpa. "I am merely suggesting that if we have public toilets they can be used."

Many groups bring expedition toilet cans, but Phinjo Sherpa said porters were often left with little choice but the nearest snowdrift. Environmental activists say Everest is littered with the detritus of past expeditions, including human waste and mountaineers' corpses, which can take decades to decompose because of the extreme cold. Phinjo Sherpa said installing the toilets would be discussed as part of a wider waste management plan being prepared by the government that would encompass popular peaks throughout the Everest region. "If there could be two or three toilets that would be good but this is just at the planning phase. We will have to decide what is a good idea and what isn't," he said.

Climbers spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to reach the 8,848-metre (29,028-foot) summit of Everest, but campaigners say few pay much attention to the rubbish they leave behind. There is no definitive figure on how much trash has been left on the mountain, but the debris of 50 years of climbing has given Everest the name of the world's highest dumpster. The privately-funded Eco Everest Expedition, a Nepal-based coalition of environmentalists campaigning to keep the mountain clean, has collected more than 13 tones of garbage, 400 kilograms of human waste and four bodies since 2008.

Annapurna trekking sees an increase in number of visitors

The Annapurna trekking route is seeing a greater inflow of sightseers with the start of the tourist season. The route, regarded as one of world’s leading walking trails, is now seeing over 300 tourists daily, up from 200 in September.

According to the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP) checkpoint at Bhulbhule, 200 tourists used to visit the route daily in September. “Along with the Nepal Tourism Year 2011, the beginning of the tourist season will see more tourists,” said ACAP official Brij Gurung. Local hotels along the trekking route including Khudi, Bhulbhule, Nadi, Bahundada, Jagat and Syage have been packed with the tourists from the beginning of October.

As per ACAP statistics, tourist inflow in the Annapurna route has increased 12.54 percent in the first nine months of 2011 compared to the same period last year. A total of 10,159 tourists walked the trail in the period January-September 2011 against 9,019 in the same period in 2010.

According to Gurung, the number has increased also due to the ongoing NTY 2011. Tourists from France, Germany and the US are among the main visitors in the region.

Despite a rise in tourist inflow, the target for NTY 2011 for Lamjung does not look achievable The district has aimed to attract 100,000 tourists in 2011. Hotel entrepreneurs blame the government for its failure to promote tourism in the region besides developing infrastructure required for tourism.

Hotelier Ram Kumar Shrestha said that the slow rise in tourist numbers was a result of the government’s apathy towards publicity and infrastructure development. “No efforts have been made towards NTY promotion or infrastructure development,” said Shrestha. “Hence, how can we attract tourists?”

ACAP statistics show that a total of 17,404 tourists trekked the Annapurna route in 2010. The region used to attract a large number of tourists till 2001. However, tourist arrivals declined during the Maoist insurgency. Tourism entrepreneurs said that even though tourist arrivals had improved in the last few years, they are far from satisfactory. According to ACAP, about 200,000 visitors have gone trekking on the Annapurna route since 1994.

Making a difference through Voluntourism

An increasing number of travel companies around the world are adding volunteer opportunities to their tour itineraries. The growing trend, which is now commonly known as voluntourism, is an area of great interest for many organizations including tour operators, lodges, NGOs and destinations.

Voluntourism, is a relatively new concept in Nepal offers activities ranging from a couple of days to more than a month depending on time and availability. If you relish the idea of extracting purpose and meaning from your travel experience, Voluntoursim is the right activity apart from multi adventure holidays that Nepal has to offer.

Some of the program that we propose include tree plantation, addressing social causes, environmental education, building model toilets or being involved on a long term basis as a teacher, or volunteering to build roads. We also offer other learning experiences like gathering knowledge about wood craft (Nepal is famous for intricate woodcrafts) and learning to weave etc. These activities make a profound impact in uplifting the lives of the local communities and hence guarantee self satisfaction. It will be a learning experience for the volunteers as they get to know about a different culture and tradition and also visit the rural yet beautiful places of Nepal.

Adventure and Learning in Nepal

Adventure is a bold undertaking; a stirring experience. We challenge ourselves to explore beyond the horizon to discover some of our unique inner potential. We believe that adventure is an expression of our inner self, an attitude we bring to whatever we do.

Adventurehimal Nepal is dedicated to creating success through adventure, personal development and social change. Nature and outdoor learning programs in addition to eco friendly camping style accommodation inspires a sense of connection to the natural world. Our staffs are upbeat and passionate professionals who are specialist in outdoor education and people development.

RacingThePlanet: Nepal 2011- A Seven-Day Footrace Across Annapurna

Racing the Planet, an international organization specializing in high endurance races is organizing a footrace in the Annapurna region from 20th to 26th November, 2011.

Nepal 2011 footrace will begin just outside Pokhara. Competitors will have to cover a distance of 250 kilometers within seven days, carrying their own equipment and food. They will sleep in both tents and tea houses supported along the way by highly regarded Sherpas and a professional medical and operations team. During the race, the course will venture close to Mustang Region and the altitude is not expected to go much above 11,000 feet. According to RacingThePlanet, one of their missions in organizing the race is to document and contribute to improving the lives of ethnic minorities and tribes in the areas they explore, and to encourage and support competitors to raise funds for their charities. In the Nepal race, competitors will be supporting over forty charities through their efforts.
Around 250 participants, plus 50 media reporters, staff and volunteers covering more than 40 countries will be involved in the event. As all events organized by RacingThePlanet have received wide publicity, the race in Nepal is also expected to garner attention from international as well as national media.

RacingThePlanet has its headquarters in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom and 11 offices worldwide. First founded by American Mary K. Gadams, the organization commenced operations from its base in Hong Kong in 2002 when it organized the Gobi March, an arduous seven day race set in the Gobi desert. TIME Magazine named the Gobi March the #1 footrace in the world. It was also named one of the world’s top ten endurance events. Since then RacingThePlanet has organized 29 events in 8 Countries, from China to Antarctica. The race in Nepal is going to be its 31st event. Official partners of the event are Nepal Tourism year 2011 and technology giant Intel.

Sustainable Trekking Initiative launched in Nepal Himalaya

Leading adventure travel company world expedition is delighted to announce a major sustainable trekking initiative in the Himalaya that will ensure travelers continue to enjoy taking the paths less traveled while enjoying a comfortable and ecologically sustainable accommodation. The establishment of a series of permanent camp sites, wilderness camps and eco lodges in the Everest area of the Himalaya will allow travelers to trek away from the more crowded routes while importantly not contributing to the deforestation crisis that is currently overtaking this beautiful part of the world.
“We have always believed that camping trekking is the most sustainable way to travel in this region,” says World Expeditions CEO Sue Badyari. “Tea houses and lodges commonly burn wood to provide hot water for showers and to cook, which is contributing the major issue of de-forestation. Our cooks use gas and we will be using non wood burning pot bellied stoves for heating the main dining halls,” said Sue.
Feedback from World Expeditions clients consistently rates the experience they have with Sherpa’s and crew that accompanies the trek is one of the trip highlights. As they make camp each night a community feeling is developed and the trekkers can form friendships which allow a great cultural insight. Camping trekking also provides employment for local people – a workforce of up to 25% more than a lodge trek provides.
The permanent campsites are located in beautiful locations, outside the villages on secluded plots that create an atmosphere of privacy and exclusivity with stunning views of the mountains. At each campsite there will be a dining room for meals and downtime that will we be kept warm in the winter. In addition there will be an ablution block with flushing western toilets. The tents are large and allow standing inside with a basic bed and thick foam mattress.
Where national park regulations have prevented permanent campsites World Expeditions has contracted the services of a few select eco lodges that comply with responsible tourism practices – some with a private dining hall for the exclusive use of World Expeditions trekkers. While at the lodges World Expeditions cooks will still prepare all meals so that the extremely high level of hygiene and variety of choices is maintained.

Keeping up with some news from Nepal

With the early onset of the monsoon showers this year, the farming community in Nepal is hopeful for a rich harvest this season. The tourism industry is slowly coming to a slow phase with the start of the so called ‘off season’ until mid September. It is now time to reevaluate and reflect back on the past months and plan ahead for October – November season.

This month also marked the birth of Lord Buddha with ‘Buddha Jayanti’ celebrations celebrated throughout the country. Adventurehimal observed this day at Borderlands Eco Adventure Resort located on the banks of the mighty Bhote Koshi River. This festival was celebrated with the theme of spreading peace and harmony through music and peaceful chanting and peace prayers by monks. A famous folk musical group ‘Kutumba’ performed a peace concert at Borderlands and also participated in white water descent.

Recently, we also witnessed various political protests, frequent strikes called by various organizations in the name of pressurizing the government for drafting the constitution which has long been overdue. Under such circumstances, many itineraries had to be revised and alterations had to be made to ensure that our customers get the best at these adverse times.