Surviving Social Distancing (# 12)

Nepal

At this time Nepal has just 9 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and no deaths. That's the good news. The bad news is that we all live in a global economy and the tourists who flock to Nepal for trekking and climbing are not there.

"Nepal May Escape the Coronavirus but Not the Crash"
by Arun Budhathoki, Foreign Policy, March 31, 2020

Nepal is a poor country, dependent on tourism. There is a shortage of doctors and hospitals have very little personal protective equipment (PPE), ventilators, oxygen cylinders, and intensive care units.

Nepal has a national lockdown with the borders closed, and most tourists sent away. Seems like a good time to go back with our ability to virtually travel.

On to Pokhara

After an early departure from Kathmandu, it is a long bumpy drive to Pokhara where we stop at a Tibetan refugee camp for lunch. After lunch we have a tour of the community's carpet factory before heading out along the terraced banks of the Seti River. It is about a two hour hike to an area called Lampatha. Here we spend our first night in a tent. 

In the morning we wake up to a magnificent view of the Annapurna Himal. 

Departing our campsite at Lampatha, we follow the banks of the Seti River upstream. On reaching the small village of Mardiphul, it is time for the first tea stop with the local Chhettri and Brahmin villagers.  

Crossing the river, we head north through the villages of Lahachok and Ghachok. These straggling linear settlements. The valley has relatively fertile soils as can be seen from the intensive use of terraced hillsides. The day’s walk is easy, with a very gradual gain in altitude.

The wide river terraces of the Seti River narrow into a more pronounced V-shaped gorge where it flows from the snowfields of its origin on Machapuchare and Annapurna III and Annapurna IV. Our campsite is at the Gurung village of Dhiprung (just below 5,000 ft above sea level).

Continued . . .