Maoists above Lukla?

[sezhoo]

Hi all,
Our group is heading out of Lukla mid October and we're curious about what to expect on the trail. We'll be circling north - around to Thame and to the monastery (and parts between) for a couple of weeks.

Any information on the current situation? What about rumors of peace talks and an official cease fire? :confused:

Also, I've been reading that Americans are charged a higher "donation" than other visitors. If that's so, should we all pack something away in rupees specifically for that possibility?

Any and all information you can share will help.
Thanks!

Sezhoo

[Unregistered]

Hi Sezhoo

I don't think that you will see any Maoists above Lukla at all. There are sizeable army bases at Lukla and at Namche. The geography of the region means that Maoist entry from a side route is impossible. You can spend your spare rupees on Mars bars and Chang instead.

[yakshaver]

as "unregistered" says, there have been no reports of encounters with Maoists at or above Lukla.
Even thouse who trek from Jiri offer mixed reports, in terms of encoutners and "donation" payment. No one has reported feeling hassled or having to abandon trekking.

One problem with trekking in the Lukla, Everest, Gokyo, Thame region is that it will be chocker full with tourists because of the general (silly) paranoia about maoists in other areas.

When I was there in April the Lukla to Gokyo trail was as unbelievably full of tourists as in November 1996 when I went there for the first time... I regreted not going to Annapurna instead. Still, we found places in lodges and it was a nice trek.

[Linwood]

Hello from Kathmandu... Dhamma and I have just finished a trek from Lukla to Tengboche and Khumjung with nary a Maoist to be seen. Not too crowded either. A special "thank you" to Yakshaver for his guide recommendation... we have been very happy with Surja, who was referred to us by Santaman.

All we can say is GO GO GO! It is an unforgettable experience!

Linwood and Dhamma

[sezhoo]

Yakshaver, Linwood, Unregistered <g> ...
Thank you for your replies. We're all very excited to go and will post when we return!

sezhoo :)

[yakshaver]

Great to hear you've had a good time Linwood!! When you settle in and have a bit more time, please give us some details/opinion/advice (maybe photos...) of your trip.
It must have been early in the season, hence not so many other tourists.

[dhamma]

We got the impression that the tourism economy is a bit depressed by the fears in the press. I think we both feel that those fears are unfounded and overblown, thus we saw no Maoists, and from talking to our guide and others we had the impression that even if one ran into Maoists in other parts of Nepal (since none were seen by us above Lukla and a gent and his wife from Australia saw none on their trek from Jiri to Lukla), tourists are not a target. I think the Maoists understand that angering the populace by hindering their source of income via tourism would not be a very diplomatic thing to do.

We had a great time and thank you for your suggestion for a guide. Though he was not available, he found us one who I believe works in conjunction with him who was great to spend time with.

If I can figure out how to add pics to this site I will do so. It seems the picture link above doesn't do what it seems it should though, and the attachment thread below only allows pics of 39 kb whereas my pics are at least a few hundred to begin with, so I am at a loss as how to add them.

[Paulo]

Go - you'll enjoy it
From my trip US and British citizens got charged extra.

[sezhoo]

Hi all,
Just a follow up, as promised. We had an extraordinary time of it!! Nope, no Maoists, which may have been due to the region (less cover, higher altitude) as well as the cease-fire for Dasain.
In any event, it was marvelous.

Linwood, we did much the same route as you ... Namche to Khumjung to Tengboche and back around again, with some stops in between. Marvelous! Wonderful! and COLD! We were one day ahead of the snow from Tengboche on.

We managed a flight from Lukla first thing, even though raining the night before. We woke to snow dusting the surrounding mountains/hillside approx 500 feet above our camp.

Thanks so much to everyone here for your words and advice.

Namaste!
sezhoo