This Spring season has seen a substantial increase in trekker arrivals to Nepal compared to those in 2020 and 2021. While total tourist arrivals to Nepal in the Spring almost reached 200,000, the actual number of trekkers will be published by the Department of Immigration later in the year. We’re hopeful this upward trend will continue and are looking forward to a normal (pre-pandemic) Autumn season. At Crystal Mountain Treks, we had the pleasure of organizing several treks including to Everest, Annapurna, Manaslu and Dolpo. We also honored the payments and deposits by a couple of trekking groups who had booked their treks prior to the pandemic in 2019.
“Crystal Mountain Treks went above and beyond our expectations and provided us with an unforgettable experience! First I should mention that our trip was initially scheduled to happen in March-April 2020. Unfortunately, because of Covid, we had to cancel our plans at the last minute. Two years came and went before we were ready to embark on our journey. All of our previous payments and deposits were honored and Jwalant at CMT handled the situation professionally and promptly.” Review by Sara G,. CA:
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Among the classic trekking routes, the Kanchenjunga Base Camp Trek and the Makalu Base Camp Trek can now be done as a lodge trek. On a lodge trek option the routing is limited but the cost is also more pocket-friendly than on a camping trek option. While the lodges in these areas are very basic and meals aren’t as varied as those in the Everest region, we can make it a bit more pleasant by providing tents to give you the option of sleeping in tents when you choose to and by carrying some extra food to supplement those available at the lodges. So, if you’ve always wanted to visit our project sites, please enquire about the possibilities! Below are photos of some of the lodges en route.
3 Summits for Nepal news!!!
We’ve (finally) uploaded some photos of our previous work. Please check them out by clicking on the individual links on the “Where the money goes” section on our website.
This year, we will be continuing with two projects. The first is the rebuilding of a school in a Dalit community in Parbat district. We have already raised funds for this school with the majority of the donations coming from my good friend from graduate school, Ananth, who is sponsoring the school in his mother’s name. We also plan to partner with the school to help improve the quality of the education there. We will begin construction in early December.
Secondly, we plan to continue with the second edition of the high-altitude training for female guides. In 2021, we had selected five female trail-runners from the Mira Rai Initiative to provide them first-hand trekking experience along with client management, first-aid training etc. The trainees were taken on a grueling 15 day trek in the Khumbu region over three passes (Kongmala- (5,535m /18,159ft), Cho La (5,420m/17,782ft) and Renjo La (5,465m /17,930ft). Check out details of the program here.
This year’s format will be slightly different in that we will add a camping trek component. We will also be opening up the training to any female with a trekking guide license who wants to augment their guiding skills which should give them an advantage in being employed by trekking companies in the future. After the outdoor training, we will conduct in-class training/de-brief and a final exam. We plan to raise $12,000 for this program. The donations will be handled by our US partner, Global Pearls. Please donate using this link.
