Remove the way TAAN wishes to implement TRC? Convince foreign donors to Nepal!

[yakshaver]

I believe the only way to change the Nepali Government's mind and actions on TRC (ultimately they are responsible), is to convince some major donor foreign govenrments to put pressure to abolish or fundamentaly change the way TAAN seems to wish to implement it.

The Nepal governemnt is heavily dependent on foreign donoations. To a great extent, the trekking permits for Annapurna and Everest areas have been removed following pressures from foreign governments.

I start to believe that Andrees de Ruiter's action is the best way. He wrote not only to the Nepali Government, but to the German Government/Embassy as well.

If someone like Japan, Germany, USA or the UK will apply some pressure, I believe TRC will change.
Maybe it will remain as just a trekker registration tool, which will cost 250 rupees, and against which trekkers cannot complain too much.

[Escher]

I can't speak for any other country (and I can't really speak for the authorities in the UK) but I feel the likelihood of pressure being applied by one of Nepal's international donors is unlikely in the extreme.

I believe if anyone was to successfully lobby the authorities it would be the large agency/expedition outfits like Jagged Globe, Peregrine, Exodus et al. They would be able to commit resources and perhaps their respective marketing departments would have connections in the right places that they would seek to influence.

The trouble with this though is I believe these companies are likely to benefit from the implementation of TRC. So why would they bother?

A group of disparate trekkers whinging about what would probably appear to the uninitiated authorities as splitting hairs about what they can and cannot do will seem irrelevant to them. Who would see the problem of having to take a guide and porter versus not doing so as important apart from us? There of course is the angle of how we believe that tourism overall will suffer and the knock on effect to the tourist dollar going into independent guides and porters, into shops and tea houses, but if TAAN argues the exact opposite who will believe a hodge podge of hairy, hippy trekkers?

I think you might be right that a major donor placing pressure on Nepal would work, but unfortunately any pressure applied I don't believe will be in our favour. I hope I am wrong.

For me any chance of change will come from the independent porters, guides and lodge owners who will suffer as a result. Will they protest until they can bring about change or will they have to relent and join in just to make ends meet? Maybe I am too pessimistic, I hope not.

[yakshaver]

Agree Escher. Not an easy thing, and the chances are small. But hey, hope springs eternal. I have to really research the situation of the removal of the"trekking permit" four years ago. It was apparently driven by foreing governments asking for it to be removed. It may well be that "biggies" like Peregrina and World Expeditions may have had something to do with that, and they may not be willing to do the same this time around - for the reasons you outlined.
I am, I guess, a revolutionary at heart. Give an idea a chance, even if chances are small. Write to your UK embassy in KTM.

[Escher]

I have had a read of the posts on YZ since replying here so I can see a bit more where you are coming from and the pitfalls of different approaches. The bleeding-heart, middle-class hand-wringing in regard to colonialism struck me as quite patronising, the opposite of the sentiment that poster was trying to express. I agree with the customer/provider relationship that you alude to, we should indeed try to influence what they are doing. If we don't express our opinion how will they know what we think? They might want to avoid making a mistake, but thinking you are meddling in Nepali politics in a "we are powerful in the west so do what we say" is overstating it a little. The authorities having a word in their ear and suggesting a rethink is the intention not UN sanctions and carpet bombing! We do take ourselves ever so seriously don't we?!

The influence of foreign governments in abolishing the previous trekking permit system is very interesting and I was not aware of that at all. In light of that there could indeed be some mileage in what you suggest. There are some contacts who work for Jagged Globe who post on UKclimbing.com, I might quiz them on the big agency's view on this. Many of the big agencies take pride in treating their staff well, they are not all money grabbing exploitation artists. They may well have a view on how the TRC will impact the non-agency Nepalis who benefit from tourism. Also CAN (Doug Scott's - first to climb the SW face of Everest - trekking company) takes very seriously the way they treat their staff and they carry out a lot of charity work in Nepal. They must be thinking that TRC is a bad idea even if they might benefit financially. I am very busy at the mo but I might try and email them.

In fact as I write this I am starting to think that the larger, high profile western agencies who pride themselves (and advertise the fact) that they have the Nepali workers interests at heart may well be groups with sufficient clout to have a say in all this.

[Oli]

I've written a few emails to various bodies, from TAAN & NTB (obviously) to the Nepali Dept of Immigration, the British Embassy in KTM & the Nepali Embassy in London - and think it worth mentioning that if anyone else is doing this then consider wording your emails in such a way as to maximise the relevance and interest for the intended reader.

For example - when addressing the British Embassy I was careful to point out that this would have some significant implications for British tourists in Nepal for the upcoming season, that is far more relevant for them that our desires to influence Nepali political decisions.

Also relevant to this strand of the discussion, perhaps, is the fact that TAAN/NTB have been promoting themselves in London, see here....
http://www.taan.org.np/news_details1.php?nid=301&PHPSESSID=c8b3061ae392b7f270feee446250437d
...which may well have precipitated this article...
http://travel.independent.co.uk/asia/article1220573.ece
This prompted me to write to the Independent & Steve Goodwin (the author) to ask if TRC had been mentioned at the publicity junket or was it just hyping the recently improved political stability, and saying that independent trekkers who read the Independent newspaper may well bu unaware of the new regs. So far neither the Independent travel editor nor Steve have replied to my email, but we have no reason to expect that they should/must other than as a courtesy or to follow up on the story.

Escher: if we can bring this to Doug Scott's attention then I'm sure he would be interested, even if he is unable to assist. And I'd also suggest trying to get Alan Hinkes in to loop, if he is prepared to speak for TAAN to promote their business then I wonder how he'd feel about having his freedom to roam being somewhat curtailed.

I will keep writing emails as long as there is a vague chance that one may be read by somebody in Nepal who starts to think along the lines of "we have a lot of complains on this, maybe not such a good idea after all". Every little bit helps.

[yakshaver]

Oli, Escher, everyone.

First of all, good work Oli, and thanks for the your stuff Escher.

I guess I am quite torn on this issue, despite my attitude on this matter.

Deepak Mahat (the formar TAAN president and "prime mover" behind the new TRC regulations) and Rajendra Dongol are good aquaintances of mine. I have trekked with Thirdpole, their agency, a couple of times. I was very happy with their professional approach, they definitely know what they are doing trekking-agency wise, they have good guides etc. Thirdpole is one of the top two-three trekking outfits in Nepal, if you look at value for money...

I have recommneded a number of people to them, and have given a number of references for Thirdpole.

They do invite me for dinner every time I go to KTM, although with my busy program there I was not always able to take up their gracious invitations.

So there is a personal aspect where I feel I am perhaps hurting people I care about, through the attitude I am developing.
Still, things are the way they are, and I decided to "take sides" after an initial "let's wait and see how this pans out" attitude.
Being the kind of person I am, the thought that Deepak and Raj might think bad of me, hurts.
Still, such is life...

[Oli]

No animosity towards Rajendra, or Deepak or Third Pole. And I don't think that TAAN are inherently bad, just that they have a seriously misguided policy. They are probably trying to do what they believe is the "right thing", given their perspective and priorities, but the rest of us with a differing positions disagree with them. Time will tell who is right and wrong.

[Suginami]

What effect is all this going to have on the teahouses? Will they be locked in with specific trekking agencies? Will trekkers have a choice, I doubt that. I could imagine a scene where many places will be boarded up.

I always prefer to look around when I come to villages and will always pick the quietest places even if they are rundown.

If I go to Birethanti for 2 weeks will I have to take a guide and a porter even though my bag is always tiny, I know more about that place than most guides anyway.

[yakshaver]

What effect is all this going to have on the teahouses? Will they be locked in with specific trekking agencies? Will trekkers have a choice, I doubt that. I could imagine a scene where many places will be boarded up.

I always prefer to look around when I come to villages and will always pick the quietest places even if they are rundown.

If I go to Birethanti for 2 weeks will I have to take a guide and a porter even though my bag is always tiny, I know more about that place than most guides anyway.

Indeed, trekking in the mountains will become cumbersome for those who want to trek alone, or associate whith whomever they wish, without any imposition.

[Andy K]

The impression I have over the last 6 years (unfortunately only 2 treks in Nepal) is that on the AC & EBC/Gokyo a majority if not vast majority of trekkers were on their own (no guide &/or porter) or with a localy hired ie. non TAAN guide/porter. Is this impression correct or did I get a statisticaly wonky impression ?

I don´t know about the chances of sucess in getting the Security Council to replace Iran-nukes with Nepal-TRC as their top priority but I intend to spend some time in Ktmd visiting all the TAAN Agencies I can find & giving them the general message that I & a lot of people I personaly know of are not going back to Nepal on this basis & whether this will be in their interests.
I agree with the idea of "supervising" people who have little or no experience in mountainous terrains - I have met many "trekkers" in Nepal who had very little or no experience and some who got themselves into fairly dangerous situations. My line with the agencies will be that they should issue TRCs to applicants who have the necesary experience at a maybe increased rate and to insist or guide/porter support for people who should not be let loose on their own.

Any of you guys have some advice, comments, rotten bananas on my artfull strategy in the global war against TRCs

[Todd Delaney]

Absolutely agree...I did AC in 2001 and by far the majority of folks I met along the way were independant trekkers, perhaps half had hired porters and/or guides along the way the rest seemed to be carrying there own stuff and following there own noses as we were.

As for lobbying for change... I'll be doing it with my wallet...there are plenty of other places to go in the world...I recomend Finland in mid-late June above the Arctic Circle, after the snow, but before the mosquitos, the Finnish government maintains a series of free huts that you can walk between along trails each within a days walk of each other, absolutely beautiful and pristine wilderness - 24 hours of daylight. They don't make you pay someone to hold your hand or carry your bag either...

I'm still doing this trip to Nepal in Sept because I have the flights and my leave all booked...and looks like I can get in before Oct 1.