Nepal to reopen for foreigners, but what should hikers consider for ethical travel before heading into the mountains?
- Nepal will accept foreigners for the first time in eight months, but one expert believes travellers should consider more than just the rules when visiting
Nepal is reopening to foreign visitors on October 17 after nearly eight months of lockdown and while there are rules in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus, at least one expert believes you should go beyond the mandatory requirements.
Visitors will need a negative Covid-19 PCR test within 72 hours of travelling. They will then have to quarantine in a hotel for seven days at their own expense. On day five, at the government’s expense, they will have another test, and assuming that is negative they will be able to leave and continue with their plans on day seven.
Dan Stretch, operations manager for adventure travel insurance company Global Rescue, believes it is ethical to go a step further before you depart.
“The advice I’ve been giving trekking companies is a week before the client travels to Nepal, they should start being careful, not just when they arrive,” Stretch said. “I’m not saying isolate, but avoid crowds, big social events, start social distancing and look after yourself so you’re low risk.”
The reason for Stretch’s caution is that there are many vulnerable communities in Nepal and hikers and trekkers are potentially going straight to them.
“The rural communities, it’s difficult to say if they’ve already been affected, as they won’t have access to testing. They should have missed the coronavirus because Nepal did shut down, and it came in February or March when their exposure to the outside world is relatively small,” he said.