In the Autumn 2001 Himalayan Project established a local Trekking group in Junbesi, Upper Solu. As far as we know it is the first independent trekking agency outside Kathmandu and Pokhara.
The result will now be, that the economy which tourists pay at the trekking provider, now will be spend solely in the local society. This is the purchase of food, salaries for the staff, charges for camping, but also the profit. As the new local agency is a co-operative, this profit will go to the society and not to a person. The profit of a trekking arrangement at JCTG will be around 15-25% of the total trek price, and it will be administered by "Upper Solu Development Committee" which is the umbrella organization of all development work in the four VDC's Beni, Bakanje, Trakshindu and Tamakhani. For the time being this committee and its subcommittee "JCTG Committee" will be the only members of the cooperative society. In the first years most of the profit will be spend for buying tents, kitchen gear and other equipments.
Another great advantage by a local agency will beg, that the young men don't need to go for the big cities to find a job. One thing is the expense on the journey for the city, and another thing is the expense in the city while waiting for work. But also many is picking up bad habits in the city and many will never return to their valley, leaving a lot of unmarried women to take care of the home place.
Our only problem right now is the lacking means of communication between the world and the local society. There only exist one unstable telephone line for
Junbesi. The closest E-mail-connection is in Phaplu 4 hours from
Junbesi. And the electricity is weak and unstable. But we expect there will be established sufficient telephone lines and electricity to assure that we can have a PC to work satisfactory before Summer 2002. Until then all reservations of trekking in Junbesi shall be good time in advance and all contacts shall go through Kurt Lomborg.
JCTG is only arranging treks in the local area. (Normally) You will not be able to make them going the Everest Trek. But why should
you. From some of the ridges you can see all the Khumbu-range only 40 km
away. And you can come very close to the
Numbur-massif, which is as impressive. Junbesi is situated in 2700m heights and there are a lot of small
peaks, which can easily be climbed in the height of 4000-4800m
heights. The highest passes which shall be scaled is 3600-4600m. So you will sense being high in the Himal without having the high risk of High Altitude
Sickness. Most of the trails are small local tails, but they are level and easy. A few are though local-user-friendly and are therefore a little tricky for tourists who wish to walk for distant goals. Often the night is spending in herder's huts or in
caves. And the only people you will meet there is local herders and farmers who love to hear from
where, where to and why.
LOCAL TREKKING in Upper Solu is for novices in Nepal - it is for experienced Nepali who have seen all the greatest things - it is for nature-lovers - it is for culture-lovers - it is for elder people afraid of the height - it is for youngsters who want the peak - it is in short terms for
all.Proposals of trekking in Upper Solu.
But JCTG does start and finish their treks in Junbesi or Phaplu. This means that you yourself shall see to to arrive at one of those two points with your entire
luggage.
A) The easiest is to go for Phaplu as there is a little airstrip, which is served daily from Kathmandu. Sherpa Brothers will from the Summer 2002 have a nice little hotel just in front of the exit gate of the airstrip. But there also is the luxury "Hotel del Sherpa" and the guesthouse "Numbur Hotel". Here your staff will be ready to receive you.
B) The cheapest way is to take the bus from Kathmandu to Jiri and then walk the way in through Shivalaya, Deurali, Bhandar, Kenja, Chhumbu, Lamjura and Tragdobuk to Junbesi. There are a lot of fine hotels on the way, so with a couple of porters it shouldn't give any problems.
How to do it
A) You shall communicate with JCTG through klomborg@post11.tele.dk (some months in advance) and inform about when, how long time, how many persons you are, plus a preliminary schedule about what you expect to experience. I will see to that JCTG will be informed so they can start the planning and employment of the staff. We can then discuss the itinerary at leisure at give the message when we feel ready. If you are a group of entirely women, then the girls of Upper Solu will dare to join you for trekking. Then we will be able to form a staff exclusively (or almost) of women.
B) You shall by yourself order flight tickets for Nepal. Remember that they not often have to be booked up to one year in advance. They can also help you with hotel reservations in Kathmandu and the journey for Junbesi.
C) You can also be helped by travel agents in Kathmandu. They can arrange everything from your arrival at airport in Kathmandu until you are taken over by JCTG, and again when you leave them and again are delivered at the airport.
But it is not all agencies who will cooperate with JCTG, as it of course is taking profit out of their hands, and JCTG will not pay commissions and other contributions for them. This will demand a great social thinking, which is not the predominant in Nepal. But we can expect in the future, if this concept will gain foothold, that the agencies will compete making more interesting and exiting arrangements before and after trekking, to satisfy their short time customers and to regain some of the income.
We have the contacts to two agencies who know about this concept and who will do their best to help you:
"Trekking in Nepal" and "Sherpa Brothers"
Trekking Suggestions in Upper Solu
Prices
In the two easy Valley Treks (1. & 2.) you don't need to bring all the equipment and staff. You can accommodate in hotels, guesthouses, dormitories and private homes. Therefore you only need a guide and maybe a porter, so the price can be negotiated according to the situation with "JCTG Committee" in Junbesi. But in the rest of the treks you will need full equipment with tents, kitchen gear, sirdar, guides, cook, kitchen boys and porters. The price for such treks is fixed. It will be for a group on 1-3 persons 30 US$ per day per person and for a group on more than 4 persons 25 US$ per day each person. The number of days is the number of days as the staff is on move. If your starting- and exit-point is Junbesi it will be the factual number of trek days. But if it is Phaplu you shall count one day extra as the staff haw to go from Junbesi to Phaplu. But if you doesn't need all the kitchen, then you should negotiate about the price for this specific day. The trek price includes all salaries, staff insurance, full accommodation but not beer, soft drinks and sweets if it should be available.
It can be recommended to employ a Special Culture Guide, usually an elderly man who remembers all the old stories, songs and dances. He shall be paid extra around 5-7 $ a day.It is a custom to give tipping for all employed after trekking. Normally it is around 10-20% of their salary. The day wages are around 4-6 $ a day.
ENJOY YOUR TREK !
