Nepal 2015

Trek was very interesting, long, with multi-day tiresome approaches and exits from the area. But feelings remained tremendous, you feel as you get into the heart of the Himalayas, on narrow gorges among mountains surrounding you from all directions which become day by day higher and more severe. Kanchenjunga from Nepal - very hidden mountain, despite the size that is very surprising. It opens only when you come nearer to it closely. "Visyt card" of the area, his face and the center riveting attention pay well-known Jannu (Kumbkhakarna), a topmost pyramid, and then and which crests are visible from the most distant approaches....

IN RUSSIAN MORE...

Arrival to Nepal, whether you visited this country before or a newcomer, is always a thrill. Especially, when you have a wonderful reception by 7 Summits Club office in KATHMANDU. #Gokarna Forest resort where we are staying is a ranch full of wonders. Starting with curious monkeys, jungle walks, SPA on premises and very polite and helpful personell.
Our group is here to see how international and Nepalese efforts of overcoming the major 2015 earthquake aftermath is taking effect on tourists and tourism industry in general. Kathmandu office of 7 Summits Club is located in the trading center of the city and full of memorabilia, authographs, books and awards.

Going around historical center and surroundings of Kathmandu, we can see that 2015 earthquake did a lot of damage. Over 1000 people lost their lives in Kathmandu itself. At the same time, many buildings had survived 8+ magnitude #earthquake in Nepal. Probably it's because all buildings tight up together with concrete, masonry, metal frames, that it makes one monolith net of houses, knitted into each other for centuries. Many buildings are still not rebuilt. Not enough funding. And funding comes from tourism - mountaineering, climbing, trekking, rafting, historical sightseeing, spiritual searches, and many others. And the tourists are not here. Tourism had dropped 50 to 70 percent in different segments. It will be a bigger post later on this subject. So stay tuned.

Olga Rumyantseva from Nepal: in recent days, we drove many miles and saw many interesting things. We watched the sunrise view on Annapurna. We walked through the wonderful town of Bandipur. We talked with the grandson of Tenzing Norgay. He answered our numerous questions and we were invited to Kathmandu to come to his home for a Cup of tea.

We passed a trekking in the jungle, where monkeys rode and through the rice fields.
Was went on rafts down the river. For many of our comrades this was the first such experience. It was very funny and wet.

Today we arrived at Royal Chitwan nature reserve where we were met by elephants. And then during the jeep Safari we saw rhinos, crocodiles, deer, mongoose and numerous birds.

Olga Rumiantseva from Nepal: 

 Today we visited Kathmandu. Moreover, we got acquainted with the capital in very different ways. We went to see the stupa of Boudhanath. It is being rebuilt after the earthquake. But, despite the fact that the top of the stupa demolished, the atmosphere of the place is preserved.

In the monasteries the monks pray, in souvenir shops to tourists trying to sell the most incredible things.

 Then we went to Swayambhunath. Having 365 steps on the road photographing numerous monkeys, we cleaned our karma, and looked at Kathmandu with the bird's eye view.

 After that we went to the Kathmandu city, on the famous Freak street. No freaks or hippies we discovered there. Looked at the consequences of the earthquake, as this part is in Kathmandu has suffered enough.

 In the end of the day, we went to visit the Director of our Nepali office – Mingma Sherpa. He invited us to visit his home to meet the family and enjoy traditional Nepalese food.

 Tomorrow morning we fly to one of the paradises of Nepal - Pokhara.

In the spring all we were shocked by the tragedy of Nepal, native and close to us the country, the victim of a catastrophic earthquake. We understood and still understand that the main thing in our power to do is to facilitate the return in full of the flow of tourists in the Himalayan Republic. And it is very important to inform tourists about the current state of the country, its willingness to receive guests.

Tomorrow the press tour in Nepal will start, it is organized by the 7 summits Club and our Nepal office the company 7 Summits Adventure under the patronage of the Ministry of tourism of Nepal.

In the trip following media take part: the crew of the First channel, journalist of TV channel "Culture", the representatives of several well-known print media, the authors of the guidebooks. It is planned to conduct live reports on radio station "Mayak".

Tour purpose: to show that Nepal after the earthquake, is ready to welcome tourists, its inhabitants welcome guests and await their return. Our company, like their Nepalese partners, we can offer trips for every taste, from budget to luxury tours. The word for the press...

Hello! This is Vladimir Kotlyar. Please find news from our heroic team of Voronezh. Now we are in Namche Bazaar, the capital of the Sherpas. And all we have is good. The weather is excellent. Finally, we are pleased with the weather ... Now - a little stars in the sky ... All day was almost clear, we havea great view on the mountains: Ama Dablam, Lhotse, Everest, see everything ... And we continue to go down ... We continue quietly, slowly down….

Hi, everybody! This is Vladimir Kotlyar. Good morning! We have here a morning sunrise over the summit of Everest. We are staying now at the summit of Kala-Patar. We are very lucky: at the moment, visibility is excellent, no clouds, we can see al mountains aound. Simply amazing! He mount of Pumori is right in front of us, of course, beautiful mountain! Now here we take a little break for a smoke ... and we start go down. We plan today to try to get to Namche Bazaar... All the best! We are all OK…

A guide of the 7 Summits Club reports from Nepal:

Hi! This is Vladimir Kotlyar, expedition to Island peak, now probably quoted. Because we finally thought about it and decided that we're not going  the Island Peak. In response to recent events we decided to stop our expedition ... We are now in Lukla (?) .... In the group all feel great. We are a little tired, it's the only thing we have.. Nothing to worry about. Just because we had to help in the evacuation of wounded people... (more unclear)

In Russian

1. On Everest expedition from the North. Today our guide Noel Hanna called. He is now in the base camp with the second group. Today there was an aftershock in B.c... But that's okay. No one was hurt. The camp and the route are at a safe distance from a possible way of rockfalls and avalanches.

They decided not go in the middle camp as previously planned, to wait for the first group.
The first group with guides Alexander Abramov, Sergei Larin and Denis Provalov came out today from the camp at the altitude of 5800 meters into the camp of ABC at 6400 meters. They are also OK. Tomorrow they will descend back to the base camp.

2. The group of Vladimir Kotlyar on Island Peak today in Pheriche has assisted in evacuating of wounded from the base camp of Mount Everest. They have everything in order. Their journey will continue tomorrow

A message from Vladimir Kotlyar >>>>>>

3. A new group led by a guide Artem Rostovtsev flew this morning from Kathmandu to Lhasa. Also, all according to plan. In Tibet, there no great destruction, the situation is calm.

4. Our office in the centre of Tamel (7 Summits Adventures) suffered from the earthquake. All employees are alive and well. They are working from home or from their tents :(

Hi! It is Vladimir Kotlyar, the guide of the 7 Summits Club expedition to Island peak. We are still in the Pheriche. We don't leave this place for the simple reason, that today our group helped to evacuate the wounded, which was got down from the base camp of Mount Everest. It was a lot of them here. So we just found no moral strength to be aside and leave this small village. Our help was very useful. All members of the group, without exception, actively participated in rescue operations...

Then we planned to go further but it was again a new push and we decided not to risk. So we sit here and drink rum just before bedtime, enjoying life. In General, here it is not so bad.

And we send best regards to our Everest expedition! We could not contact direct, we are worry and hope that everything is OK.

So, we sit in the mountains, everything is closed, but somehow we will get from there. All the best! The rum supply allow us to sit here for another week. Not more! Adios!

Hi! This is Vladimir Kotlyar (guide of the 7 Summits Club) from Nepal. We are all well. We're all alive and healthy. Our relatives worried, getting the news about the earthquake. Here it was a few hours ago. We felt it not very strong. The weather deteriorated, it is snowing, but we are safe under the roof.

We are now in the village of Periche. At the altitude of 4276 meters, as written in our Lodge. We're fine, we're going to dinner. All the best! Be Happy!

Yesterday was beautiful and calm

Our Nepalese office reports:

Hurray, hurray! Thorung La pass (5420m) is behind us! It was a long and difficult day, but at the same time full of pleasant experiences and views.

Now Nadejda and Victor are already in Muktinath (3760m) - a famous place of pilgrimage. They visited the temples and now resting after physically dense day.

And tomorrow they go down in Kagbeni (2800m) - the gateway to the closed kingdom Upper Mustang.

Post from our Nepalese office: So, our spring season is officially opened !!!

A team from Moscow - Nadejda and Victor - arrived yesterday in Kathmandu.

They are the first time in Nepal and all day today we are familiar with the holy things of Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swayambhunath and Boudanath. The day went very well - and Kumari on Durbar was in a good location, and the atmosphere Boudanatha pleased, and only Swayambhunath met us downpour with thunder and lightning, but in spite of that, the guys were full of positive space! Tomorrow they are with our guide Furom Dawa go to the start of the track in Darapani, where will the next day your way around the Annapurna. We wish them the best of luck and look forward to the news!