Current situation

[yakshaver]

I am taking the liberty to copy Escher's message, and add some info I got from other sources as well:
Escher is in Namche flying from Lukla to KTM today - and has contacts with people on the ground, obviously interested in what he might expect when he lands there after his trek in Khumbu:

"...you do have to stay in your hotel [during the curfews] but there is transport running to and from the airport (including blue govt run buses and other vehicles with tourist only notices on them).

They [Escher's sources] said it was fine around Thamel, and getting to and from the airport is fine. There were just more road blocks and you couldn't go out when you wanted. But there are windows during the curfew where you can go out and get things done.

On the face of it there are facilities in place to help arriving tourists, there just may be restrictions on where you can go and when. So I don't think there is any need to cancel trips or worry unduly about getting stuck."

My understanding is that the situation for tourists is what Escher is describing, with transport to and from the airport assured at present, Thamel is quite OK, there are curfews you better respect, especially at night.
And you can get out and do business, more or less as usual, in the windows between the curfews.

Flights (domestic and international) are not affected.

Night time curfews at present is 10pm to 4 am in the morning.
In more recent news daytime curfews have been cut in half, so this must be some good news. So instead of the 4 hours (2 in the morning and two in the afternoon) allowed to go do business, you have now 8 hours for that.

I hope Oli or Escher do update us again, and I will also update any other news that Santaman will give me. I have also left a message with Raj & Deepak from Thirdpole.
Watch this space.

[CanTrekker]

Yakshaver,

I am planning to travel end of April to Nepal thru India. I will fly to Delhi, travel by train to Gorakhpur, and by bus from Bhairawa to Kathmandu. Is this a safe road to go?

Thnx

[Sharon]

Maoist uprising or not, in the third world more people die in bus accidents.
It will be an experience!

[j2dudette]

Thanks for the news yakshaver.
I'm heading out there this Friday. I guess this means my insurance cover is void since the Brit travel advice has changed...which is abit of a dilema. So the curfews are only in the cities? Does this mean as soon as i get to Jiri & into the trek, things will be pretty much normal? :confused:

[yakshaver]

Yes, I understand from Escher (who's just finishing the Khumbu trek) and another guy who's just posted on from Lakeside in Pokhara (finished the AC) that on trek everything is normal. Wich for me it is to be expected. Flights to/form Lukla are operating ok. Getting to Jiri might be a problem if there are blocades on the road, but I have no idea about that at all. If anyones know anything concrete about that please let us know.
I know that the road from KTM to Pokhara is currently very slow, even closed, though I have heard it is sometimes opened, but with many more checks than before - therefore it is a bit tricky to get a seat on a plane because of the demand.

You might want to be a bit flexible, but I am very curious to understand your perspective when you get to KTM.

[yakshaver]

I don't have a map in front of me, but given the current situation, if the road from Bahirawa goes through Chitwan (Bharatpur, Narayanghat) I would suggest to fly. Not because of some inherent danger due to the uprising and strike (the great danger, as Sharon says, is the actual bus ride...) but because of the posibility of roads being blocked, or very slow.

I guess the whole thing might get to a level of normality by the end of the month. A week is a long time in politics, especially Nepali politics. In that case it will be quite ok to go by bus, inherent bus travel on Indian/Nepali roads notwistanding...
I would keep an eye on the situation for the next week or so.
Otherwise the flight into KTM is just awesome from a views perspective... Not to be dismissed.

[Escher]

When I checked out my insurance cover they said that if I hadn't asked them to clarify their position I could have claimed that I didn't know that the FCO advice hadn't changed. Still no guarantee as they might claim that the info is in the public domain. But if you have to make an unavoidable claim you can at least try and say to them that you nothing about the change in advice. You never know!

Escher

[j2dudette]

Escher, Yakshaver,

Thank you for that valuable tip!!

I think we will re-assess the situation on thursday...will probably go anyway & take it from there. Just not sure how it will work if you land in KTH at curfew time??

Will definately give you an insight from there if i am able to.

[yakshaver]

I landed from Pokhara during a curfew once (as Kathmanduits protested against the statements of some Indian Bollywood star... yes people were protesting about weighty issues like that in the good ol'days...), and was stuck at the domestic airport for about 3-4 hours.
At present the curfew is 11am to 6pm during the day, and 11pm to 4am at night. It can change. It was worse but it was changed for fear of protesters.

Apparently ouside the curfew the hotels in Thamel do their best to have minibuses transport tourists.
There must also be taxis.

I believe Sharon would try the rickshaw, as there are only 8 km between Tribhuvan International and Thamel, and she's rickshawed all the way to Chitwan...;)

[Escher]

I've taken a rickshaw from the airport to Thamel during a strike. It isn't a problem. In fact it was fun and a nice way to see Kathmandu.

Much like anything in Nepal just ask anyone when you arrive at the airport and someone will tell you what you need to do if the curfew is on. There will probably be govt. sanctioned buses waiting there for you to take you to Thamel.

Escher

[yakshaver]

No curfew today, confirmed by the TV programs. More vehicles on the road, and locals expressing some relief.

Escher when do you fly to KTM?

[Weka]

Flown in today to Kathmandu from Pokhara on what could be one of the last internal flights for some time - fuel shortage, I'm told. There is no bus transport whatsoever round the country and many businesses are shut. Filth is being piled up in the streets here and food could run short. Demos have reached Thamel and riot-police have a very high profile.

Many folk determined to trek are having to walk to Besisahar to do the AC or, as in my case, to/from Phedi to do the ABC. Things are not good for the tourist at the moment and I would wait till the factions have sorted this thing out before coming. My concern is the international airport - if it forced to close I'll post back - I'll have nothing else to do :-)
Cheers
Weka

PS Loved the trek to ABC. Found it much harder than the AC - but hell, I'm fit now!!

[yakshaver]

Please keep us posted Weka.... Glad to hear you enjoyed the ABC. Escher was also in Thamel until yesterday, and is supposed to have left.
If you have a chance please give us more impressions on the ground.

[Boulia]

I am out today. You may know most of this. A major rally is planned for the 20th. Local news is showing extended coverage of the protests (concentrating on the injuries to a large extent). US ambassador has told the King to act now to hand back power or his best cahnce is a helicopter out in the night. Last night's storm mixed with the fortnights garbage in the street is not so good this moning. Still it helped settle the smoke somewhat. Groups of locals are running round the streets of Thamel - its not so organised but sends any store owners who lift the shutters into a tail spin. Yesterday I went out past the palace round lunch time. There was more traffic then before, taxis without 'tourist only signs' were operating. Number of taxis in Thamel this morning. Get the impression finally the flow in of tourists is drying up. Some groups went out yesterday. One by Helicopter to AC I spoke with and my agency sent a group to Lulka. My guide and porter bought bikes with the airfare money from Pokhara and are riding back !

I still pray for a peaceful reolution and may the alternative really be better for all Nepal.

[Weka]

Yeah, wilco.
This is the 13th day of a 5 day strike - which I feel sums up the situation. Everyone feels they have the king in a squeeze and maybe on the run in the near future: whilst very inconvienienced by all of this, most are pleased to squeeze yet harder and get it all over and done with for once and for all.
Unless it gets dicey, I'll stay till Saturday and post news.
Cheers
Weka

Edit: Boulia, you must have got up earlier than me. Have a good trip back. I'll hold the fort for you:-)

[yakshaver]

What trek did you do Boulia?

Weka,
is Rum Doodle still open? Or Fire & Ice, KC, Maya Pub etc? From Escher's reports one could still go out to eat in Thamel. What is it like now?

[Weka]

Most of the food outlets are still open and essentials are allegedly being brought in under escort. I've not ventured far from my hotel due to the heavy rain over the last couple of days so I can't be specific.

There is a daytime curfew in Pokhara beginning today that wont directly effect Lakeside but would effect getting in and out on foot as far as I can see; this being your only transport there. There were a large number of very large demos throughout Nepal yesterday with the security forces behaving, for the large part, like thugs. Nation-wide protests are planned for tomorrow.
Again, I stress, leave off coming as this is not a good time and will probably get much worse before getting better.
Cheers
Weka

[Boulia]

Yes, I am back in Brisbane. I went around the circuit, crossed the pass on April fool's day! Then went up to the Sanctuary from Gorepani and back via Grandruk/Landruk into Phedi where I got lucky with catching a 3.00am bus that was picking others up. I think it was 23 days from the bus day to Besishahar till back in Pokhara. It was a just an amazing trek aided by the best guide in my 5 trips. So Weka, sort them out real soon I can't wait to go back. Still sitting here looking at my photos !!!

I agree unfortunately that it will be more messy before any resolution as from those I spoke to their is considerable resolve.

[Mel99]

We've just returned to Kathmandu from Pokhera and its far more relaxed here in KTM. Most of the shops in Pokhera Lakeside are closed most of the day, - opening their shutters a little each evening - there are few if any taxis operating, we had to walk to the airport. The main town is best avoided as there are many demos. Rumours are that the domestic flights will be curtailed tomorrow and this is the only access to Pokhera at the moment.
KTM however seems to be operating fairly normally, there are many taxis plying to the airport using their "Tourists only" stickers but the buses are few and far between. Thamel is fairly normal as most of the demos are out on the ring road.
PS: The treking was great.

[Oli]

Kathmandu central seems more "normal" today than it has for the last week or so. Some shops are open, others aren't. Taxis and private cars are driving around unimpeeded. But there are still the daily demos around town (mostly towards the Ring Road). Some commodities are becoming scarce (according to some sources) - the Kathmandu Guest House ran out of lemons (wot?! no decent G&T!), and I've just seen some loooong queues for kerosene. 250 teachers have just been arrested in Pokhara for defying the curfew. Yesterday a number of civil servants were arrested for demonstrating in the Home Office canteen. And a plain clothes cop has just been sussed out for taking a HAND GRENADE with him when he infiltrated a demo a few days ago. The death toll stands at 6, and many more injured & detained.

NOTE: (as Mel reports) It says in todays paper (Himalayan Times or KTM Post, I forget which) that the pilots say they might suspend all domestic non-emergency flights from tomorrow. There are flights today, but right now it's impossible to say if that will continue or change.

We've had a couple of wet days in the Valley to dampen things a bit, but there is no sign of backdown from either side just yet. The agitators are saying that tomorrow there will be some REALLY BIG demos.....

(NB: this is an x-post from the Yetizone. Often I find the TrekInfo forums have blacklisted KTM IP addresses, but at least when I can logon I can still say words like "canTEEN" ;-)

[Ciaran33]

Hi Mel, Good to hear you made it back ok from Pokhara! We're back at work today and the reality is slowly sinking in - glad its a short week!!

KTM was a bit like Belfast in the Marching season when we left! The protestors were playing cat and dog with the police and the shop-keepers were playing cat and mouse with the protestors. Spoke to a few locals and I get the sense that this is definitley the end game. They are very determined to see it through and are prepared to sacrifice the short-term for the long-term goal of peace and stability. The King is getting it from inside and outside with India and the US advising against his current course. I think its a matter of time, the question is how much time?

Stay Safe,

Ciaran.

PS. Regards to S

[yakshaver]

Thanks Oli, Mel and others. Watching with interest the developments of the big demonstration planned for today in the face of the 18 hours curfew imposed by the government. Hopefully things will settle soon. From a tourist perspective, it is good to hear that safety (al least...) is not a problem.

Yes Oli, I find trekinfo.com better managed. Not so much spam or totally irrelevant stuff. This is the more disciplined forum, while the other one is more wild. Each with their advantages and dissadvantages...And yes, assumption, canteen, analytical etc. don't seem to be a problem.


Thank you very much for the update Oli, by the way. I am starting to plan my trip. The only thing that I need to decide on the time. July, October/November or December. I am not sure if I can last until October...

"""""" Oli: (NB: this is an x-post from the Yetizone. Often I find the TrekInfo forums have blacklisted KTM IP addresses, but at least when I can logon I can still say words like "canTEEN" ;-)[/QUOTE]"""""""

[rosso]

I'm stuck here today in Lukla :rolleyes:
walked from Namche in pooring rain yesterday and lots of glum faces on trekkers here because hardly any flights to KTM yesterday due to poor weather and none today due to strike .Rumour has it that all with be flown out tomorrow weather permitting.
can't really complain had a great trek to EBC and Gokyo - if all's closed up in KTM might have to head to BKK for a couple of days ( if I can change my ticket)

[Michael Sunkist]

Yakshaver, you sound like you are kind of in the know of the real sitrep of what is going on in the hills. Is it really close to $100.00 in rupees when stopped by Maoist extortionists to continue on the trek?

[yakshaver]

On the AC or ABC, if you meet the maoists (does not always happen, I did not have the opportunity to say hello to the comerads in December... they went home for winter: chicken!) you would expect to pay about 100 rupees (not dollars) per day of trekking. So if you meet them at Bahundanda and tell them you trek from Besi to Jomsom - fliyng out at Jomsom, you are expected to fork out about 1100 or 1200 rupees (or about 22 AUD/17USD) in total. On the other hand, I have heard recent reports that on the Jiri to Lukla stretch the Mao Mao are asking for 5000 rupees per trekker, equivalent to about 90 AUD. This has been confirmend from two trustworty sources and I have no reson to doubt it.

However there are also trekkers, like me, who have not encountered them, but you can't count on this. A very good friend of mine has gotten away last year with showing his Australian Student Card to the Maoist "donation" collectors and telling them he's a poor student visiting the beautiful contry of Nepal, and got away with paying half. I thought that was pretty resonable from them. So did my trekking friend.
At this stage if you want to have a Mao free experience you fly into Lukla and do trekking in Khumbu.

I don't see the Maoists as a trekking impediment at all, just part of the experience...