I returned in 1985, in a party that trekked the Annapurna Foothill regions, visiting places like Tatopani and Ghandrung. In those days they were little more than sleepy villages. Tadapani was two shacks on a ridge... Were we really the first organised group to trek from Pokhara to Beni and up the Kali Gandaki to Tatopani?
Other things were to intervene before a further visit. These included photographic visits to Peru & Bolivia (1988) and Kulu & Ladakh (Northern India: 1990). It was to be late autumn 1992 before I returned to Nepal, when our group trekked into the Khumbu (Everest) region. Flying into Lukla we walked for a month in the high valleys, visiting Namche Bazaar, Chukkung, Gokyo and Gorak Shep, and climbing a number of (very) small peaks.
There was to be a gap of five years before I was able to make a return to Nepal but in 1997, that return became possible. In that year Mick Melbourne and I revisited the Annapurna region, trekking up the valley of the Kali Gandaki, and visiting Kagbeni, Jharkot and Muktinath. The visit gave us both a chance to reflect on the many changes that have taken place in this popular trekking area.
In 1999 I was to make two visits to Nepal. In the springtime I took a small group into the Helambu region. Stopping in local 'teashops' we walked for ten days along a series of mountain ridges. Our daily walks grew longer as we stopped to look at rhododendrons, primulas, butterflies and the mountains... I had not intended to return in the autumn of 1999 but following a request I took another small party into the secretive Langtang valley. The walk along the Langtang glen, from Kyangjin Gompa towards Numbathang was a walk I will long remember.
In the autumn of 2000 I returned to Nepal, revisiting old haunts in the Annapurna region. Although this is an area that is frequently trekked it still has a lot to offer walkers, both novice and experienced. We walked along trails busy with trekkers and pack animals, admiring the immaculate terracing of the fields. In the forests we looked for langur monkeys chattering in the trees. At sunrise and sunset we waited for the sky to change colour and the mountains change from black through many shades to white... Although it is an area that I had trekked in before, the magic names: Annapurna, Machhapuchhare, Huinchuli, and Dhaulagiri continued to draw me back.
I had hoped to develop a 'rolling' programme of photographic treks into some of the most beautiful and secretive parts of the Himalayas: the plan for 2001 was to trek to Everest Base Camp, but problems with flights have prevented this. So, that year, I went on my own and walked the long trek around Annapurna, taking time to visit some of the remote and secretive side valleys. I planned to do the trip solo, with just a guide and a porter for company, but on a popular trail like this you can never really be alone. Although there are good reasons for travelling in groups there can also be good reasons for travelling solo (or as near solo as you can make it). Certainly 2001 was a year for doing my own thing.
The plan for 2002 was to return to Everest, but with those extras that can make this an exciting and out of the ordinary trip. Hopefully we would have walked from the roadhead at Jiri, cutting out the flight to Lukla and getting fit before reaching the high mountains. At the end of the trek, I planned to fly out of Paphlu, or even Tumlingtar, giving a chance to see more relatively untravelled country. Unfortunately problems 'at this end' meant that 2002 was a rather more peaceful year.
It was obvious, even as early as July of 2002, that something was going to happen in 2003. Plots were laid, and started to move towards hatching but they never seemed to come to fruition. A plan to visit Tibet was discarded (yet again) but another came up and, like Topsy, it grew. So, after all sorts of problems back home, I returned to the Khumbu in late October, 2003. The plan - well that was still under discussion the day I left the UK. A bad chest infection in September had left me decidedly unfit and I knew that places like Everest Base Camp were 'out'. Tendi and I walked up to Namche and then on to Thame. We then dropped back to Khumjung, before walking up to Gokyo. Purposely we didn't 'do' Gokyo Ri, but walked up the valley to 'Scoundrels Point' with its exceptional view of Everest. We then dropped down the valley to Phortse (still pretty much unchanged since 1992), before walking up the valley to Dingboche & the Chhukkung area. After three interesting days up here we made our way down to Thyangboche Monastery where we enjoyed the Mani Rimdu festival. From there we made our way back to Khumjung, and then slowly down to Lukla, and back to Kathmandu . We weren't able to spare the time to walk in from Jiri, nor to use the Paphlu alternative (these are saved for a visit in 2012!).The 2003 trek was meant to be an end to my trekking in the Khumbu, but still, after two visits there are places to go to.
In the course of speaking about Nepal I am often asked about trekking agents. I have no problems in recommending two of the best, who have put up with me with few complaints over the last seven years. They are Pawan Tuladhar's Dharma Adventures and Mangal Maharjan's Shiva Holidays: Treks & Expeditions. It would be wrong to single out individual trekking staff for praise, but three should be mentioned: Nima Norbu Lama, (regrettably not in trekking nowadays) who acted as Sirdar on my earliest (group) treks and who taught me a lot about the Himalaya, and Lhakpa Dendi Sherpa who has been a very good friend in recent years (again, alas not in trekking nowadays). In 2001 I trekked with Ang Tendi Sherpa - a young man who should go far. We were friends from the start and I hope to trek with him in the future. I salute you all! If you're looking for a good hotel in Kathmandu I can thoroughly recommend the Nirvana Garden Hotel which is close to Thamel, but also very close to Chhetrapati and the 'Old Town': a haven of peace in the bustle that is Kathmandu.
Over recent time Nepal has been in the tourism news, for all the worst reasons. A Maoist 'uprising' has been simmering for several years and much of the country away from the main trekking areas and cities can be described as 'bandit country'. This figure is possibly as high as 80% of the country. In the summer of 2001 there were the tragic shootings at the Royal Palace when the much loved King, Birendra, and the majority of the Royal Family were murdered by the Crown Prince, who then turned his gun on himself. Much unrest followed and for a time my 2001 trip looked in doubt. Then a new Prime Minister was appointed and a truce declared with the Maoists; talks between the opposing parties commenced. All seemed well and certainly to the casual observer the main tourist areas seemed calm in the autumn of 2001. In late November, 2001, however, the Maoists ended the truce and the last few days of my visit were marred by reports of severe fighting in many parts of the country - often in areas that had previously appeared calm. The response of the Government was to declare a 'State of Emergency' and send in the previously uncommitted Army. The situation was perhaps best described as 'confused', with the Maoists finding that the comparatively well-armed Nepalese Army was a different foe than the under-armed Police. (But the Army and Police continued to take casualties, which were often heavy, and many of the remoter parts of the country are effectively under Maoist control). By early October 2002 King Gyanendra had dismissed the Prime Minister and taken control himself. (The Prime Minister having dissolved Parliament and called for elections [which probably could not be held effectively] and then cancelled them). In June 2003 we had a ceasefire and another new Prime Minister and, hopefully, things would continue in a reasonably calm way.
By November 2003 things were rather chaotic and even more confused that usual. Trekkers who I met in the Khumbu, who had walked in from Jiri had had no 'problems' with the Maoists, other than being asked for a 'donation'. There were various anecdotal stories about what would happen if you didn't pay up, and about the amounts that people from different countries were being asked to pay. The United States, United Kingdom & Belgium were not 'flavours of the month'. Nevertheless, talking to people who had walked in from Jiri, the vast majority had enjoyed themselves, and some were planning to trek back that way, or even to trek out to Tumlingtar. Since then there have been the attacks on Bhojpur Bazaar and Beni Bazar (20th March 2004), with many casualties, and a skirmish near Landrung (26th March). Strikes ('bandhs') happen with increasing regularity and blockades have caused much disruption to road transport, whilst from April 2004 there was constant (if localised) rioting in Kathmandu. It is said that some trekkers regard the meeting with Maoists as adding a certain frisson to the their holiday, but I would remind you of the dead of Bhojpur and Beni, who lie in the ruins ... In February 2005 the King took control of the country, dismissing the politicians and imposing control of the media and communications.
People who know & love the country continue to go, and enjoy themselves, but I would hesitate to tell a 'first timer', planning to trek on their own that all is well. Go, yes, (the tourism figures are dreadful and they need the cash, and the Iraqi 'Adventure' hasn't helped), and you will enjoy yourself, but please go with caution and read the relevant UK Foreign Office and US State Dept warnings before you do. The Nepalese newspapers on the internet are worth looking at, too. Remember that beyond the fleshpots of Thamel and Pokhara Lakeside, and after the popular treks to Annapurna Base Camp and Ghorepani there is another Nepal ...
And so we go on... as I sit revising these pages in September 2005, I have no plans to visit Nepal in the immediate future. Why? What would I find when I get there? A 'nominal' ceasefire that is straining, yet again, and more shootings, arrests, abductions and bandhs. Political parties that are unable or unwilling to grasp the realities of the situation. Two villages turning on the Maoists, and leading politicians told not to go beyond the Kathmandu Ring Road. 1000 people abducted in the remote 'Far Western' district of Bajura to be soldiers for Prachandra. And a poor, impoverished nation and its people crying out for Peace.
I look out of a window at an English summer and think about the the situation in Nepal. I wonder if anything has really changed? The King took power into his own hands in February 2005 and things although 'stable' seem to be no better. It is difficult to know who to believe. Some people say that Kathmandu is calm and the people happy - perhaps happier than for many years. We know, from tourism figures issued in Nepal, that the number of foreign visitors is down, dramatically. We know also from newspaper reports in the UK press that fear stalks the land on the southern borders - retaliatory gangs of locals stalking the countryside, and lynchings, but these often seem to be the settling of old scores.
What to do? What to say?
And yet in April 2005 I was in Nepal - in an area no-one else goes to... and I had a wonderful time.
I look today, 20th April, 2006 out of the same window at a wet spring day.In Nepal there is an 18 hour curfew and the people are on the streets. Who knows what the next few hours will bring ...
'Kay Gardeko? Kay Gardeko? - What have you done? What have you done?'
Should I say these things? Should I express these thoughts? What right have I to criticize? And yet that right is there - the right of knowing (& loving) Nepal and its people since that fateful day in December 1983 when I first stepped from the plane at Kathmandu.
Who is to blame for all this mess? The King, the politicians, the army, the maoists? How long is a piece of string? Would things have come to this state if Dipendra hadn't killed his father in 2001?
UK Foreign Office Travel Advice
Nepalese newspapers: Kantipuronline and Nepalnews; Photo archive: Phalano
My visits to Nepal in happier times have resulted in a number of quality slide presentations becoming available, please visit: Phototrekker Presentations for details of them.
To get a personal view of trekking in Nepal over the last two decades please visit the Trek Reports
TIM HUDSON IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE WORK OF THE GURKHA WELFARE TRUST.