Annapurna. Siân Pritchard-Jones

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      Lo Manthang harvest (Trek 5)

      Prospective trekkers planning a trip to Upper Mustang, Damodar Kund or Nar-Phu do now require a company-issued TIMS card. These are normally procured by your trekking agency from the constantly moving immigration office. In addition, the areas require you to take a guide. All places to be visited should be mentioned in your application. Check www.nepalimmigration.gov.np for the latest information.

      Upper Mustang

      Currently a fee of US$500 is levied for the first 10 days, with an additional US$50 per extra day. However, recent information suggests that the intial fee might soon be lowered to US$100. Do check the relevant website (www.nepalimmigration.gov.np) for the latest information. Trekkers need to be familiar with the rules concerning conservation, ecology and cultural aspects when entering Mustang. Independent trekking in the Mustang region is not yet allowed.

      Nar-Phu

      Your trekking agent will normally obtain your permit, but if you need to go with him to get it be aware of the following anomalies. The permit is issued for one week, but officials will try to insist that it’s for seven days and only six nights, which immediately causes problems with the itinerary. The permit should have seven days written on it, but the fixed entry and exit dates might reflect the six nights. (Fortunately the checkpost in Koto is much more in tune with reality and automatically allowed us the correct seven-night period, and they also let one trekker in a day earlier than their permit stated. This means you do not need to be bamboozled into paying for another week, unless you plan some extra days for acclimatisation or additional walks from Phu or Nar; crossing the Kang La will not need an extra week.) It’s very unfortunate that extra days cannot be added to this permit, as for Mustang. Theoretically a group must be at least two trekkers, but if you are a lone visitor you can pay double to get the proper papers.

      THE EVER-CHANGING REGULATIONS

      The trekking regulations have been constantly modified over recent years, so you will need to check the latest changes when planning your trek. Information on the internet is often not up-to-date, so you will need to check in Kathmandu or Pokhara. Even as this guide was going to press, there was talk of changing the rules to require all independent trekkers to take a guide or porter. Further talks continue on this issue, but as yet no law has been passed. Such schemes (usually instigated by the big trekking outfits) have been imposed in the past, but subsequently abandoned with equal speed. Previous schemes actually harmed many small or fledgling local tourist operatives, porters and guides – particularly all those outside the Kathmandu valley. The reason cited for the latest changes is security – mainly because some individuals who trekked alone and off the main trails sadly came to grief. How these new regulations will affect trekking in Nepal is not clear. Information about the independent TIMs cards is also subject to change.

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