January 4, 2011
To attract tourists from all over the world, Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation has come up with an ambitious plan: “Visit Nepal Tourism Year 2011”. An organization called The Great Himalayan Trail has come a long way to ensure that, indeed, Nepal tourism will reach new heights in 2011.
For those who are planning to visit Nepal for the first time, the trekking opportunities have never been more exciting. For those of you have already trekked the Himalaya, the bar has just been raised:
TREK THE ENTIRE NEPALI BORDER!
About The Great Himalayan Trail (GHT):
The Himalaya is a maze of valleys, passes and mountain peaks, which are constantly changing because of the weather and global warming. To choose a specific route and expect it to remain unchanged is impossible, so the GHT is as much a concept, or ideal, as it is a formal track.
For many, the Great Himalaya Trail is the “highest feasible route” along the length of the various himal, which combine to form the full range that divides India and China. The Himalaya are so immense that route options are commonplace and all can be considered part of the overall Trail.
So the GHT is a personal challenge; a Trail system that allows you to develop your own route priorities and set your own level of difficulty. There are some sections that are a gentle hike at relatively low elevations (approximately 2,000m or 6,500ft) through to extreme trekking and light mountaineering at heights over 6,000m (20,000ft). Such variety means that you can gain experience over a number of treks that could ultimately lead you to some of the highest points on earth.
In February, the inaugural commercial expedition of a continuous trek across the Nepali Himalayan arc – from Kanchenjunga on the eastern border, through the foothills of Everest – will be led by Australian Robin Boustead. Boustead recently spent 152 days traversing a series of routes winding beneath the world's highest peaks, meticulously mapping the Great Himalayan Trail – the first continuous trail along the Nepali northern border.
Lisa Choegyal, who assisted SNV Nepal in the preparation of The Great Himalayan Trail development, wrote extensively about this new exhilarating adventure in Republica (12-31-10):
[The Great Himalayan Trail] is made up of a network of existing trails and trade routes that connect neglected valleys and ridges between and beyond the established trekking areas of Annapurna, Langtang, and Sagarmatha in Nepal.
The lower, green Great Himalaya Trail for less extreme trekkers features an unrivalled diversity of scenery, peoples and cultures. This more benign route is the major focus for donors and development activities, led by DFID (UKAid), SNV Nepal (Netherlands) and others (www.thegreathimalayatrail.org), where the most needy mountain villages are located, and with the widest appeal to softer nature and culture visitor markets. This is the route favored by the planned NTY2011 Great Himalaya Trail celebrity trek with a range of sponsors and supporters led by WWF, using the power of international celebrities to promote trekking, conservation, rural livelihoods, and climate change issues in Nepal.
Divided into 10 sections, each stretch has its own characteristics of verdant valleys, agricultural settlements, mountain scenery, white peaks, wildlife, protected areas, or ancient Buddhist and Hindu cultures. These Great Himalaya Trail sections are designed to attract the greatest numbers of trekkers and tourists, both Nepali and foreign, who have only a few weeks for a holiday, encouraging repeat visits and interesting new circuits.
The newly formed Great Himalaya Trail Alliance is an inclusive informal network of concerned private sector, trekking agents and development organizations with a common objective of helping the rural people of Nepal. Based on trust, the Great Himalaya Trail Alliance is starting with modest achievable activities that include international-standard training courses to professionalize trek staff, and community programs to help villagers start small businesses along the trail.
Giving a significant boost to Nepal’s tourism industry, the idea of the Great Himalaya Trail is to channel more tourists and pro-poor tourism investment to underdeveloped districts, stimulating a range of private sector business, employment and production opportunities for poor mountain communities, and providing links with Nepal-based and international tourism operators. Adventure activities, in addition to trekking and lodge development, respond to market demand and include biking, horse riding and upmarket fly-trek options using mountain airstrips. New and improved locally managed small and micro enterprises are likely to include lodges, campsites, visitor centers, local produce, handicrafts, porter organizations, and guide services to take visitors to monasteries, temples and village homes.
The ultimate potential of the Great Himalaya Trail is a “Walk for Peace” linking six Asian countries of Pakistan, China (Tibet Autonomous Region), India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar, a route that covers more than 4,500 kilometers of the Great Himalaya Range. Its westernmost point is the world’s ninth highest peak, Nanga Parbat, in Pakistan. Winding past the sacred headwaters of the River Ganga in India, it traverses Nepal beneath the Annapurna, Sagarmatha, and Kanchanjunga mountain ranges, through Darjeeling and Sikkim in India, then Bhutan, and eventually to India’s Arunachal Pradesh, and then Myanmar, and finally ending at Namche Barwa in Tibet. Spectacular views include all of the world’s fourteen 8,000m peaks.
Lisa Choegyal, among other attributes, is a tourism specialist who works as a consultant on development programs throughout the Asia Pacific region, specializing in pro-poor sustainable tourism planning and marketing. Lisa was Team Leader of the ADB Ecotourism Project 2000-2001, DFID tourism specialist on TRPAP 2001-2005, and tourism consultant for the ADB SASEC Programme 2004-2008.
To learn more about The Great Himalayan Trail:
Recommendations for additional reading about the 1700-kilometer northern Nepali border:
Adhikary, Surya Mani – The Khasa Kingdom, Nirala Publications, 1988
Bista, Dor Bahadur – People of Nepal Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 2004; Fatalism and Development Orient Longman, 2001
Chorlton, Windsor – Cloud-dwellers of the Himalaya Time-Life Books, 1982
Doig, Desmond / Bhagat, Dubby – Down History’s Narrow Lanes: Sketches and Myths of the Kathmandu Valley Braaten Books, 2009
Drs Duff, Jim & Gormly, Peter – Pocket First Aid and Wilderness Medicine Cicerone, 2007
Jest, Corneille – Tales of The Turquoise. A Pilgrimage in Dolpo Mandala Book Point, 1993
McGuinness, Jamie – Trekking in the Everest Region Trailblazer, 2009
Rogers, Clint – Secrets of Manang and Where Rivers Meet Mandala Publications, 2004 and 2008
Schaller, George B – Stones of Silence. Journeys in the Himalaya Bantam Books, 1982
Shaha, Rishikesh – Ancient and Medieval Nepal Manohar Publishers, 2001
Shakya, Sujeev – Unleashing Nepal Pengiun Books 2009
Snellgrove, David L – Himalayan Pilgrimage Shambala Publications 1989; Four Lamas of Dolpo Himalayan Book Seller, 1967
Stiller, Ludwig F – Nepal Growth of a Nation Human Resources Development Research Centre (HRD), 1999; The Rise of the House of Gorkha Human Resources Development Research Centre (HRD), 1995
Thomas, Bryn – Trekking in the Annapurna Region Trailblazer, 2006
Toffin, Gerard – Man and his house in the Himalayas Sterling Publishers, 1991
Tucci, Giuseppe – Journey To Mustang Bibliotheca Himalayica, 2003; Nepal: The Discovery of the Malla E. P. Dutton & Co, 1962
Wright, Daniel – History of Nepal with an introductory sketch of the country and people of Nepal Asian Eductional Services, 2003
Ziskin, Joel F – Trek to Nepal’s Sacred Crystal Mountain National Geographic magazine Vol. 151, No 4, April 1977.
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