Kathmandu, Nepal - Cash, booking a ticket, tales from trekkers
I spend most of the day trying to get cash out of an ATM and trying to get a booking for a critical flight I need between Cairo and Nairobi.
I went to four different ATM machines before I could find one that a) wouldn't keep my card (warned by others), b) wasn't out of order or c) wouldn't give me money but would accept my card. I also spent $7 on a phone call to my bank to make sure the card was not blocked, which it wasn't. I finally succeeded in getting out some cash!
I did not have success getting the ticket booked. Making plans as you go is great until you run into a few situations like this. I was told by a travel agent in Bangkok it would be cheaper to buy a ticket on Egypt Airlines from Cairo to Nairobi in India. In the midst of the chaos that is Delhi India, I didn't purchase the ticket when I first arrived, when it was still available, but waited. Two weeks later all the Egypt Airline tickets had been sold and the cheapest flight fares were going up on a daily basis. Right now I am trying to get a ticket on Kenya Airways but cannot buy it in Nepal.
In the evening I had vegetarian lasagna with garlic bread, which was very good. At the restaurant I spoke with an Austrian man at the next table who had just finished a 24-day trek in the Makalu region of Nepal. He had hired a guide and a porter and said that, unlike the most popular routes (Everest and Annapurna) which are quite crowded (40-flights a day), probably less than 100 people a year do the Makalu trek. It requires much more investment as it involves some technical climbing with ice axes and crampons.
He also spoke about the Mao insurgents who request (require?) a donation from those trekking through the regions they occupy. He said the Mao he saw didn't have guns. He didn't know what would happen if you refused to donate anything. Generally they would ask for 5,000 rupees ($70 USD) but you could usually negotiate to "donate" 3,500 rupees ($50 USD) or less and they seemed OK with it. They would give you a receipt to let other Maos know that you had "given a donation".
As of October 27th, 2006 everyone who goes trekking must hire a guide. In speaking with a trekker from Holland who booked a trek in the Everest region, he said he was required to hire the guide through a Kathmandu travel aganecy, pay for the guides flight to and back from the beginning of the Everest trek as well as paying for the guides services, food and lodging along the way. Previously trekkers had been able to fly to the beginning area at the start of the Everest trek, Lukla, and go by themselves, if they wished. At Lukla it was also possible to hire a porter and/or guide without being required to, or having to pay for, their flights from Kathmandu to Lukla. The rational for the new requirement is the danger from the Mao insurgents in the region.
I spend most of the day trying to get cash out of an ATM and trying to get a booking for a critical flight I need between Cairo and Nairobi.
I went to four different ATM machines before I could find one that a) wouldn't keep my card (warned by others), b) wasn't out of order or c) wouldn't give me money but would accept my card. I also spent $7 on a phone call to my bank to make sure the card was not blocked, which it wasn't. I finally succeeded in getting out some cash!
I did not have success getting the ticket booked. Making plans as you go is great until you run into a few situations like this. I was told by a travel agent in Bangkok it would be cheaper to buy a ticket on Egypt Airlines from Cairo to Nairobi in India. In the midst of the chaos that is Delhi India, I didn't purchase the ticket when I first arrived, when it was still available, but waited. Two weeks later all the Egypt Airline tickets had been sold and the cheapest flight fares were going up on a daily basis. Right now I am trying to get a ticket on Kenya Airways but cannot buy it in Nepal.
In the evening I had vegetarian lasagna with garlic bread, which was very good. At the restaurant I spoke with an Austrian man at the next table who had just finished a 24-day trek in the Makalu region of Nepal. He had hired a guide and a porter and said that, unlike the most popular routes (Everest and Annapurna) which are quite crowded (40-flights a day), probably less than 100 people a year do the Makalu trek. It requires much more investment as it involves some technical climbing with ice axes and crampons.
He also spoke about the Mao insurgents who request (require?) a donation from those trekking through the regions they occupy. He said the Mao he saw didn't have guns. He didn't know what would happen if you refused to donate anything. Generally they would ask for 5,000 rupees ($70 USD) but you could usually negotiate to "donate" 3,500 rupees ($50 USD) or less and they seemed OK with it. They would give you a receipt to let other Maos know that you had "given a donation".
As of October 27th, 2006 everyone who goes trekking must hire a guide. In speaking with a trekker from Holland who booked a trek in the Everest region, he said he was required to hire the guide through a Kathmandu travel aganecy, pay for the guides flight to and back from the beginning of the Everest trek as well as paying for the guides services, food and lodging along the way. Previously trekkers had been able to fly to the beginning area at the start of the Everest trek, Lukla, and go by themselves, if they wished. At Lukla it was also possible to hire a porter and/or guide without being required to, or having to pay for, their flights from Kathmandu to Lukla. The rational for the new requirement is the danger from the Mao insurgents in the region.
posted by Chris at 11:00 PM
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