Fancy standing on the top of Mount Everest? If you have previous high-mountain experience, an understanding boss and about $40 000 to spare, Russell Brice, a New Zealander and leading Himalayan expedition organiser, can probably help. First conquered in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the 8 848m peak has since been scaled about 3 000 times, and this spring season was a record breaker with 530 people getting to the top.
Since hippies first beat the overland travel trail to Nepal in the 1960s, thousands of foreigners have flocked to monasteries to study Buddhism. Today, despite political upheaval and a decade-long Maoist insurgency, they continue to come and there are more schools than ever, many of which are now home to Westerners who donned Buddhist robes and never left.
Nepal’s King Gyanendra, who has pledged to ”return sovereignty to the people” after massive and violent street protests, has seen his god-like status badly shaken. Now the question remains whether the wily king can remain on the throne or even whether the monarchy as an institution will survive in the desperately poor nation.
Nepal tourist operators on Wednesday forecast grim times ahead for the already ailing sector following the end of a Maoist guerrilla ceasefire in the scenic Himalayan kingdom. A wave of blasts took place after the end on Monday to a four-month truce called by rebels fighting to overthrow the monarchy.