Challenges You'll Face When Traveling To Nepal After The Earthquake

1. Prices have gone up, and that’s okay

During the height of recovery, there was a five-month, politically ignited (pardon the pun) fuel crisis. The crisis sent a lot of establishments, including restaurants and lodges especially in tourist areas like Thamel, into a downward spiral which affected their operating hours and the quality of service they gave to customers. This also caused many basic necessities to go up in price such as food, potable water, lodging with generators, and the like. While Nepal is still considered a backpacker’s paradise, prices have gone up a little compared to what it was before the earthquake. However, if you talk to any of the restaurant or lodging owners, they’ll tell you that this is simply part of recovery. They need to factor in all the indispensables that they lost, or perhaps repair damages to their infrastructure. With that said, while this may be disadvantageous in the short term, remember that you are helping a whole country recover from the worst disaster of the century.

Data on Cost of Living in Nepal

2. Road damage will make it harder to reach some places

Trekking is a major business in all of Nepal, and many will attest that every customer helps in recovery. In Annapurna, many tour guides share that because of the perceived danger, tours that normally average at 12 tours a year (which is a lot considering each tour in the Annapurna trek is around 21 days) have now gone down to 6. However, many will be happy to know that Annapurna has come out virtually unscathed by the earthquake. The same thing cannot be said about Langtang though. The whole village was destroyed by an avalanche triggered by the quake. Prior to this though, it held some of the scariest roadways for trekkers. The Langtang Valley has hairpin turns that could easily overturn a bus. Some of these roadways are still being repaired, same as the houses in the village. However, like most inaccessible places, you’ll find that after the earthquake, Nepal has truly embraced again the term off-the-beaten-path. New trekking paths have also been made such as that in Mundu and Shyapru Besi. These may be lengthier than the old ones, however, they are also safer.

3. There’s still an electricity shortage, but all the better to see the stars

The issue about Nepal’s power outage is a long political dispute. Whatever the case, there has been hours-long blackouts implemented by the Nepal Electric Authority even two years after the earthquake. Locals have sought to buy generators and inverters to store electricity. Tourists hopped from restaurant to restaurant, trying to get away from the outage. Things have changed since then, especially in Eastern Nepal which is now receiving electricity around the clock (or at least 20 hours a day because of an industry-wide system). However, parts of Western Nepal still have scheduled blackouts for at least two hours a day. Whatever the case, the setup isn’t as bleak as it once seemed. The situation has been regulated quite well in the last year. Anyway, when you’re up in the mountains, it’ll give you a chance to go out and see the blanket of stars without any noise and light pollution. What could be better?

Loadshedding Schedule in Nepal

Website: Loadshedding Schedule in Nepal

4. With modernization damaged, people are now going back to nature

When most of the civilization was damaged, it forced the tourism industry of Nepal to find more creative ways to sell the country. This led both tourists and operators to explore other areas in Nepal, such as the Terai in Southern Nepal. Compared to the North which has some of the highest peaks in the world, Southern Nepal is generally flat and great for agriculture. It is also great for wildlife-watching. Chitwan National Park, in particular, remained virtually unscathed from the earthquake. Here, you’ll now find five-star accommodations, elephant safaris, and a chance to spot the elusive one-horned rhino. Not to say that these weren’t available before the quake, but so many more people are starting to take notice of them which, down the line, is more sustainable for the tourism industry at large. Tourists should consider going to these places post-earthquake as they are decongesting most of modern Nepal, thereby allowing areas like Kathmandu and Pokhara to recover in peace.

Chitwan National Park

Address: Subarnapur 44200, Nepal

Website: Chitwan National Park

5. Be patient while some heritage structures are being rebuilt

While most of Nepal is ready to take in tourists again, even going so far as to build climate and disaster-resilient structures through the aid of international organizations, there are still a couple of key areas that are in transition. Boudhanath, the world’s biggest stupa in Kathmandu, still has some parts that are still in the middle rebuilding. The same goes for other areas in Thamel, Pokhara and Bhaktapur. Be patient. Know that while you may not be able to enter some of these UNESCO World Heritage sites, you are sustaining today’s generation so they can go ahead and help the others recover.

Donate to Help Restore UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Visit Nepal now

The message is clear. Nepal is open for business. The government urges that trekkers especially visit Nepal again sooner rather than later. Everyone is optimistic that in a couple of years, the effect of the earthquake on tourism will be nothing but a bad dream. Make that happen sooner rather than later.