Nepal banned solo mountain expeditions without a guide from this Saturday for foreigners, a measure that has sparked criticism in some regions of the Himalayan country, considering that it restricts the freedom of movement of tourists.
The Nepal Tourism Board has extended the requirement to carry a guide for solo trekkers in the high mountains in a bid to “ensure the safety of trekkers” in the country, said agency director Mani Raj Lamichhane.
The regulations, which have been applied for a few years to mountaineers who travel alone to climb Mount Everest, were very well received by private travel and tourism organizations in the Himalayan country that see it as a way to create national employment after the severe restrictions of the pandemic.
The president of the Association of Trekking Agencies of Nepal, Nilhari Bastola, calculated for EFE that this new rule would provide around 40,000 jobs for Nepalis.
In addition, hiring a guide “will not create a large financial burden for hikers, since for a day’s hike the guide’s fee ranges from $25 to $50 per day, depending on the distance,” Bastola said.
According to the provisions, non-compliance with this rule carries a fine of 12,000 Nepalese rupees (almost $92) for tourists and 10,000 Nepali rupees ($76) for agencies offering tours to foreigners traveling solo without a guide.
At the same time that it creates employment, the measure seeks to prevent high-altitude hikers who travel alone from getting lost, disoriented or stop showing signs of life for long periods of time.
The Nepal Tourist Police inspector, Chandra Kishore Shah, told EFE that around a dozen hikers disappear every year.
Although many are later found, between “three and four foreigners disappear each year on different hiking trails,” where they often become disoriented, lost or suffer from altitude sickness, he added.
“Most trekkers are not adequately prepared to deal with altitude sickness. If they don’t have support guides, they die,” Shah said.
This is the case of Lee Myungkap, a South Korean tourist who died last year due to altitude sickness in the Everest region; or that of another Korean woman who died at 5,350 meters in the Thorong La pass, in the Mustang district (northwest) last January.
To this day, the country is still trying to find the whereabouts of at least five missing hikers from South Korea, India, Israel, Jordan and Malaysia.
Despite the advantages, the rural municipality of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu, where Mount Everest is located, has shown its rejection of the application of this regulation that applies to all areas where this sport is practiced.
The authorities of this region have limited themselves so far to recommending the hiring of a guide for high mountain expeditions, but they refuse to restrict entry to those who go without a guide, the administrative director of the municipality, Mohan Prasad Chapagain, told EFE. .
For his part, the president of the rural municipal district of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu, Laxman Adhikari, considers that this decision restricts the free movement of hikers.
“Hikers come to Nepal in search of adventure and have the right to walk freely. We oppose this decision,” he concluded.
Nepal welcomed more than 33,000 mountain trekkers in the run-up to Covid-19, though the annual average is around 55,000, according to government data from the Himalayan region.
Among his favorite routes are the region of Mount Annapurna (center), which receives the largest number of people interested in practicing this sport due to its low cost.
