There has never been a better time to visit!

A year on from the quake, the dust in Kathmandu and the surrounding countryside has well and truly settled. Anyone who has been to Nepal and met the incredible people who make up this country will not be surprised at their stoic, even cheerful attitude and the sheer industry with which they have applied themselves to the task of rebuilding and restoring their lives and livelihoods.

It’s been a difficult 12 months. The extensive media coverage has dented business for the Nepal tourist industry, but 2016 is the year to visit before its gets busy again. It may have been a quiet Spring, but we are confident everything is back to normal and Autumn is looking like it’s going to rebound better than ever. We’ll be running a full programme across the country from Kangchenjunga in the East to Dolpo in the West and of course the traditional routes of Everest and Annapurna.

Thank you - £100,000 raised

READ ON for the full KE story and find out how we have spent your amazing donations...

...The Full KE Story

Saturday 25th April 

It was a dark day for all of us at KE. We were first alerted by Satish, one of main contacts in Nepal, calling KE Director Tim Greening at 7.30am. News stories followed this reporting that there had been a devasting earthquake close to Kathmandu; at that stage we had no idea of the scale of things. Desperate for more news, we immediately tried to contact our agents and friends in Kathmandu. The phone lines were down and communications were difficult, but we managed to establish that our staff were safe, as were all of our clients. It was apparent that there was significant damage to buildings and infrastructure and there would be immense disruption. With groups due to fly to Nepal that very day, we scrambled to make phone calls to those who were about to board planes, in one case we only managed to reach two of our clients as they were about to leave the departure lounge to board their flight!

Everyone was incredibly understanding. It was not really until the following day, more information began to emerge. Although the Annapurna area had been largely unaffected there were heart-breaking stories and photos emerging from some of the villages close the epicentre in Sindapulchowk. Valleys and villages familiar to us – like Langtang and Rolwaling - had been badly damaged and it was obvious that there was going to be significant loss of life. We were devastated.

There was much work to do logistically – we had to cancel many of our tours. This involved hundreds of phone calls as we spoke to all of our clients individually to tell them what was happening. We had clients stuck in Kathmandu as all international flights had been cancelled, and there was also the worrying matter of our group trekking the Manaslu Circuit who were stranded between 2 landslides – fortunately we managed to arrange for them to be evacuated by helicopter a few days later. It was a difficult week at the office.

Nepal is our No.1 destination and very close to our hearts. Having operated holidays there for almost 30 years we know the people and the place intimately. Virtually everyone at the KE office has been to Nepal, many of us multiple times and for extended periods. We love it passionately. We knew that the BEST thing we could do would be to encourage more people to visit as soon as it was safe to do so. Tourism is absolutely vital to the Nepalese economy. Using our extensive local contacts, we gathered information on all the trekking routes and established which areas were safe and then did everything we could to tell the world.

Your amazing donations...

We immediately set up an Earthquake Relief Fund together with our partner charity, The Juniper Trust. The fund grew very quickly, reaching £10,000 almost overnight. Two days later, the fund had already reached £36,000 and by May 5th the fund had risen to a staggering £60,000. We sent £10,000 to Kathmandu to buy mess tents, tarps, blankets, mats, rice, dhal, hand sanitiser and medicines. News was also just coming in from the remoter mountain areas and the BBC film of the destroyed village of Langtang was shown on TV.

By May 14th the fund had risen to an incredible £75,000 and alongside The Juniper Trust, 10 schools that needed to be rebuilt were identified and the Rebuilding 10 Schools project was launched. By September, with your support, the fund had reached almost £100,000.

“We are pleased to report that three of the 10 schools are now completed and the other 7 are very close to being finished. Unlike some of the larger aid agencies we have been able to move very quickly by using your donations directly on the ground in Nepal. KE and The Juniper Trust have made sure that 100% of the money raised, goes either to the materials or to local labour which also benefits the communities."

In December The Juniper Trust also launched the 'Sponsor a child in Nepal' appeal. It aims to sponsor 1200 children, providing them with school uniforms, winter coat, shoes, bag, books and pencils.  A single donation of just £20 will help Juniper Trust reach this goal.

Anyone wanting to visit Nepal but also see the progress of the 10 Schools Project, we have just launched a brand NEW trip which departs 30th October 2016. An inspirational trek on the Everest Trail from Jiri to Namche visiting 9 of the 10 schools that we have helped build.

>> The Juniper Trust Nepal Trek from Jiri to Namche

>> Subscribe to The Juniper Trust Enewsletters

>> Read the latest Juniper Trust Enewsletter

nepal is back

Despite the Foreign Office initally advising against travel to Nepal, we did everything to assure clients that we would still be operating our treks to Nepal in the autumn. Not many other tour operators were sending out this message.

We posted hundreds of messages telling everyone it was safe to return on Facebook and Twitter, in our Newsletters and on our Website. We also ran a competition to win a trek to Everest Base Camp and are currently running a promotion for FREE equipment hire on all Nepal holidays travelling in 2016.

Chris Haslam, The Sunday Times Travel Editor, joined our first Autumn KE Everest trek and wrote a great article Nepal: it’s time to return. He quoted “Six months on from the earthquake, the trails are safe, the welcome is warm and you’ll have the world to yourself”.

KE director Glenn Rowley had complete confidence that Nepal was safe and booked three back to back KE trips in the Annapurna and Everest areas in October 2015. After the media reports, Glenn was surprised to see that 90% of Kathmandu was unaffected. At Annapurna basecamp, there were very few other trekkers but no sign of earthquake damage. In the Everest area more old buildings had fallen down but the new lodges and hotels were generally OK. Glenn also visited several of the school projects during his visit.

The main trekking area of Everest was back to normal within a few months and the Annapurnas hardly suffered at all. Even the worst affected areas of the more popular treks, Langtang and Rolwaling are now ready to welcome visitors this autumn.

The royal visit

Last month Prince Harry travelled to Nepal for an official 5 day Royal visit and then stayed on for another 6 days, working with a local community to rebuild a school damaged by the earthquake. While in Nepal Prince Harry trekked into the foothills of the Himalaya. His tweets during the tour give us an insight into what the experience meant to him:

“You have to come and walk in the foothills of the Himalayas - watching the sunrise there is something I'll never forget”.

At the end of his visit the Prince said: “Living in such dramatic scenery clearly has an effect on the Nepalese - such calm, friendly people and so much love to give. Note to self - visit again!”

Want to visit? We have  40 different holidays departing to Nepal this Autumn which you can join and see the recovery yourself, take a look....  

>> View all Autumn Nepal Holidays

Messages from Nepal - One Year On

Raj Gyawali who runs our family holidays in Nepal and has worked with KE for around 5 years, talks about the recovery, the mountain trails and why you should visit NOW while Nepal has an amazing energy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsFn7yAqaqs

>> View all Messages from Nepal