Annapurna. Siân Pritchard-Jones

products are made by women forced to move from the hills to the city, providing them with training, employment and income for their families. Beni and her team collect sweet wrappers, inner tubes and other waste from the streets of Kathmandu as well as mountain trails. The rubbish is then made into attractive and functional products. View and buy them at the Northfield Café in Thamel.

      Steps Foundation Nepal (www.stepsfoundationnepal.org) is a charity supported by profits from Beni Handicrafts. It works on the step-by-step principle that through education for all and increasing awareness of hygiene, the health and well-being of families will be improved.

      Kathmandu Environmental Education Project (KEEP) (www.keepnepal.org) was established in 1992 to ‘provide education on safe and ecologically sustainable trekking methods to preserve Nepal’s fragile eco-systems’. Based down a lane off Tri Devi Marg in Thamel, they give vital information to trekkers, harness tourism for development, run environmental seminars, manage a porters’ clothing bank, and help to promote a more professional ethos while improving the skills of tourism professionals. They run volunteer programmes and conduct wilderness first aid training.

      Local school in the foothills of the Annapurnas

      Community Action Nepal (www.canepal.org.uk), co-founded by mountaineer Doug Scott, seeks to improve the infrastructure of villages in the middle hills by building schools, health posts and clean water projects, and developing cottage industries.

      Choice Humanitarian (www.choicehumanitarian.org) is seeking to end poverty by concentrating on sustainable village development through tourism. The aim is to empower village people, generally with neither funds nor skill, to improve their own prospects.

      Mountain People (www.mountain-people.org) ‘Helping mountain people to help themselves’ is an independent, non-profit, non-political, non-religious and cross-cultural organisation. They help with schools, porter welfare, women’s projects and bridge building. Their operations centre is in the Hotel Moonlight in Paknajol, Thamel.

      The International Porter Protection Group (IPPG) (www.ippg.net) was started in 1997 to raise awareness about the conditions and plight of all-too-frequently exploited porters. Their task is to focus on the provision of clothing, shelter and medical care for often-overlooked working porters in Nepal.

      PORTER WELFARE

      Look after your friendly porter

      Every year porters die on the mountain trails of Nepal, and very occasionally some of them are in the employ of foreign trekkers. Fortunately today there is much more awareness about the possible dangers faced by porters, partly because of some high-profile accidents in the past. Exploitation has always been a part of Nepalese society; the caste system, which still pervades the roots of its culture, ensures that each person knows his status. However, visitors need not adopt such attitudes. Following the Maoist insurgency, general wage levels for porters and once badly treated workers throughout society have risen dramatically – perhaps the only benefit of that long reign of violence! Two organisations have made an impact on porter welfare, the International Porter Protection Group (see below) and Tourism Concern (www.tourismconcern.org.uk). Trekking agencies in Nepal are now expected to provide adequate insurance for all their staff.

      The following are some outline guidelines for all trekkers:

       Ensure that your porters have adequate clothing and equipment for the level of trek you are undertaking: footwear, hat, gloves, warm clothing and sleeping bags or blankets as necessary.

       Be prepared with extra medicines for your porters, and don’t abandon them if they are sick; carry funds for such a situation.

       Group trekkers can make themselves aware of the policy of their chosen agent and keep an eye on the reality on the ground.

      Naturally it is hard for trekkers to really know what is going on behind the scenes; the Nepalese are masters at appealing to the sympathetic nature of visitors to the country.

      Developing rural areas through tourism

      Tourism is one way in which the culture and livelihoods of the upland people can be sustained in the long term. The major trekking trails have experienced the growth of trekking tourism since the 1960s and the effects have generally been positive. The difficulty is finding the right balance, by improving local living conditions without destroying the existing environment and culture. It is not a unique problem to Nepal, as anyone who has visited other popular mountain destinations – even Chamonix or Zermatt – will have observed. As visitors we have our own views about development but ultimately it is the local people and the different tourism agencies that decide on the future of their region.

      The fragile environment of the Himalayas is becoming an ever-pressing concern with global warming, just as it is across the globe. Unless the rural community is served well by tourism, decline is inevitable. Already there is a shortage of manpower in the hills as young people seek better pastures overseas in the Gulf and Malaysia.

Getting there

      Karjung Kang peak, above the trail towards Damodar Himal (Trek 6)

      Flights to Nepal

      The main airlines currently flying to Kathmandu are:

       Air Arabia From The Gulf

       Air India Via Delhi, Kolkata (Calcutta) and Varanasi

       Air Asia Via Kuala Lumpur; low-cost carrier

       Bangladesh Biman Via Dhaka; for budget travellers with time to kill

       Air China Links Kathmandu with Lhasa, Chengdu and Guangzhou (Canton)

       Dragon Air From Hong Kong

       Druk Air From Paro, Bhutan, to Kathmandu and on to Delhi

       Etihad Airways Via Abu Dhabi from Europe

       Fly Dubai From Dubai

       Gulf Air Via Bahrain or Abu Dhabi

       Indigo Cheap Indian carrier

       Jet Airways (India) Good through-service from London to Nepal via Delhi and Mumbai

       Korean Airlines From the Far East

       Nepal Airlines From Delhi, Bombay, Dubai and Hong Kong – for those with bags of time

       Oman Air Via Muscat

       Silk Air From Singapore

       SpiceJet Low-cost Indian carrier

       Thai Airways Via Bangkok, from Europe and Australia/New Zealand

       Turkish Airlines Via Istanbul

       Qatar Airways Via Doha from Europe

       Virgin, BA and other major airlines To Delhi; then one of the Indian carriers to Kathmandu.

      This information is, naturally, subject to change. Check the internet or your local travel agent for the latest information.

      Overland routes to Nepal

      There are several overland routes into Nepal from India and Tibet/China. Land borders with India are at Sonauli/Belahiya near Bhairahawa; Raxaul/Birgunj; Nepalganj; Mahendranagar; and Kakarvitta. The most-used entry