Excerpt from

26 September 2002

All rights reserved to The Himalayan Times
Trekkers’ El Dorado turning into abandoned area, courtesy ultras
Renu Kshetry
Namche (Solukhumbu), September 25,
Namche, the land of Sherpas and one of the best trekking trails in the world, once thrived on tourism and trekking. Almost every house is a hotel or lodge, a restaurant or a teashop. The trekking industry also provides employment opportunities for nearly 300 porters.
The peak tourist season begins in September and continues till November, after which heavy snowfall interrupts movement along the high mountains. The period from April to July also sees visitors arriving in droves. For the locals, a good peak season meant enough savings to see them through for more than half a year.
But now, all that has changed.
The spectre of insurgency is threatening to spoil the picturesque region for tourists. Travel trade entrepreneurs say bad publicity and rumours about the Maoist movement have hit business hard in the entire Solukhumbu area.
"Thanks to bad publicity, the number of tourists has decreased drastically," said Soman Tshering Sherpa, owner of Sagarmatha Resort in Lukla. "It might drop down to 30 per cent this year compared with last year."
The tourist-driven economy here is going through prolonged recession, which adds to the hardship the locals have been living with already. For one, though some of the hotels run on solar energy, there is no electricity. Most of the essential commodities have to be flown in from Kathmandu and the freight charges are exorbitant.
For one kg, they have to pay anything between Rs 45 to Rs 50 as freight tariff, which adds to the costs. A cup of milk tea therefore sets you back by Rs 50, you have to pay Rs 100 for boiled instant noodles, a potato pancake costs Rs 50, a bottle of mineral water is sold at Rs 50, a can of beer costs Rs 150, and aerated drinks (500ml) have to be bought at Rs 150.
Farming is the other occupation but it can never hope to be the money-spinner that tourism is.
The area is connected to the outside world through the Internet, available at two solar energy-run cybercafes. The connection is costly, to say the least: Sending an e-mail or a phone call costs Rs 100 per minute.
Besides being expensive, this means of communication is also fragile. It broke down temporarily when Maoists hit the Solukhumbu tower about eight months ago.
What makes the residents aggrieved is the fact that most of the bad publicity is without any foundation.
"I haven't seen a single Maoist here. So how can this area be dangerous?" asked Doma Sherpa, proprietor of the Monju guest house.
"If I hadn't decided to take a risk, I would have missed an excellent expedition," said a 48-year-old British trekker, who gave her name as Karen. "I didn't have any problems on the way. This route is a thousand times safer than Kathmandu."
Njong, 67, a Malaysian, also called the trip the experience of a lifetime.
Besides the fear psychosis, the trekking industry has to contend with another rival: Commercial flights, with some trekkers preferring to fly back to Kathmandu. Before commercial flights started with a vengeance, they had to stay overnight to catch the next flight but now, with flights having become more frequent, hotels and restaurants are losing business.
Ang Maya Sherpa, owner of Namche Hotel, is keeping her fingers crossed. "From September 29, I have some bookings and we are praying hard for good business this year," she said.
So is Ram Kumar Tamang, who works as a porter. "During the peak season, I could save nearly Rs 15,000 and send it home to my family in Dolakha. But looking at the flow of tourists this season, it might be very very hard."