David Ketley
28th November 2002, 04:53 PM
I have just returned from a trek in North East Nepal. There are real dangers for small groups in theses areas. My route was fly Biritnigar, bus to Basantapur, new route to Shimbuk over to Olanchunggola, Thudam, Topkegola, Jal Jale Himal, Milka Dande and fly out of Tumlingtar. All along the way all the police posts were bunt out. All went well until we got to Thudam, the villagers here just seemed out of control with no police presence and no Moaists they were a law unto themselves. Its the first time in Nepal I have ever felt threatend. As it was we had socks stolen and my downjacket was cut. In the night the Moasists came demanding money but we had allready put a story together telling them all funds had been left in Kathmandu, they accepted this and took only a small pressure cooker, they make bombs out of them. Another very close encounter was over the pass in Topke gola two hours after we left Toke Gola some 250 Moaists took over the village after being chased up the valley by the army.
I have no doubt that desperate poeple would have done desperate things I firmly believe we would have been totally cleaned out of everything, cameras included, if we had still been there. There are real dangers in trekking some of these remote areas particularly on your own with just a small trekking crew as I was. There are conflicts between the army and Moaists and it is only a matter of time before trekkers get caught up in the middle. My advice is go with a large group, keep together with other trekkers on the trail, put your money out the way and only keep a small amount in your wallet. Keep to the well trodden trails were there are numbers of trekkers around. Of course once out of the villages there was not a problem in fact we did not see another westener once we were heading up to Shimbuk and the weather was just fantastic.
I have no doubt that desperate poeple would have done desperate things I firmly believe we would have been totally cleaned out of everything, cameras included, if we had still been there. There are real dangers in trekking some of these remote areas particularly on your own with just a small trekking crew as I was. There are conflicts between the army and Moaists and it is only a matter of time before trekkers get caught up in the middle. My advice is go with a large group, keep together with other trekkers on the trail, put your money out the way and only keep a small amount in your wallet. Keep to the well trodden trails were there are numbers of trekkers around. Of course once out of the villages there was not a problem in fact we did not see another westener once we were heading up to Shimbuk and the weather was just fantastic.