Nepal - Open for Buisness

Nepal is Open for Business!

25^th of April this year Nepal was on the world news headlines after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake rocked the central region near to Gokhra. Almost 9000 people lost their lives and hundreds of thousands of houses were destroyed. Understandably tourists fled the country in the height of the spring tourist season inflicting huge business losses on Hotels, teahouses, Guides, Porters, Drivers, vendors and Restaurateurs  who had not been directly affected by the earthquake. 

We have been in touch with some of you and others not. But since the Earthquake that hit the central region of Nepal on the 25^th of April and then followed on the 12^th May.

All our guides and Staff are fine and none of our property was damaged. Our workshop and shop are still operational and functioning. Sadly some of our staff’s homes where impacted by the earthquake. 

Many things have happened in the last two Month's and HST joined forces with the Nepal National Mountain Bike Team to very quickly jump into action to Aid Earthquake victims. After rescuing a mother and child from the rubble we went on to form NCRR – Nepal Cyclists Ride to Rescue, an aid relief group. In the first month we raised over US$90,000 and delivered aid into four districts, Nuwakot, Okaldhunda,  Kavre and Kathmandu. 

We where able to distribute over 22 tonnes of rice, lentils, salt, oil, soap, medical needs and Tents. We set up a base camp in our main project area Shikhra Besi, home of National Cyclist Roan Tamang, where all 600 homes have been destroyed. Last week we completed our temporary school shelter project, providing 35 class rooms to 10 schools for the monsoon. The next phase of our project will be “Seven Schools in Seven Weeks”. We are now in the fundraising phase of the project which will go ahead later in the year. For more information about NCRR please visit the website.

School Shelters Ready For the Monsoon

NCRR Website

NCRR - Facebook Page

HST resumed normal business from the 1^st June and we will commence mountain trips from the 15th September onward once post monsoon assessments can be made on the following trails

TRAILS ALREADY OPEN FOR BUSINESS

-          Chitwan and the Teri

-          Kathmandu Valley (With Minor Hotel Changes)

-          Shivapuri National Park and Phulchowki Downhill trails

-          All Overnight and Day Trips in Kathmandu and Pokhara

-          Pokhara Valley

TRAILS THAT ARE CURRENTLY OK BUT WE WILL ONLY COMMENCE AFTER 15^TH SEPT POST MONSOON ASSESSMENT FOR LANDSLIDES

-          Annapurna

-          Jomomsom Muktianth

-          Upper Mustang

TRAILS WE WILL NOT RUN IN 2015

-          Manaslu

-          Lantang

-          Kathmandu to Pokhara Route

The Hotel Association of Nepal  alongside PATA is now working to assess and safety check all hotels in Kathmandu. Though the main hotels we use in Kathmandu like International Guest House has already been assessed and Passed.

Thamel is a safe area with 90% of Restaurants, Shops, Bars and Hotels open to date and functioning as normal. Some restaurants are running on limited menus due to staff having gone to help in the villages.

Tribuvan International Airport and all international and domestic flights are operating as normal.

We are also involved in plans to risk assess all trekking routes post monsoon.

Our current Assessment (and we will also email you all individually in concern to your itineraries) is that the Annapurna, Jomsom and Muktinath Areas are minimally effected.

We had a guide come back from Upper Mustang last week and everything is operational up there. The only noted issues was lack of tourists which is hurting the local hotel operators who had prior to the Earthquake just brought in the supplies for the season.

Taken Last week on the way to Lo Mantang - Upper Mustang.

6^TH June our Guide Aayman Complete the Jomsom/Muktinath Trail and all is clear and safe along that route. Of course there is the threat of landslide during the upcoming monsoon.

With the season coming up in September and many of you have trips booked with Himalayan Single Track we would love to hear from you about your concerns for your upcoming trip and we hope we can address them.

Main Hotels Like International Guest House are Open and Safe

Calls us on Skype(hstnepal) or send us an Email - info@himalayansingletrack.com