NEPAL 50 Years 1974 to 2024

Nepal has beckoned me since 1974.  At the time, I was a travel agent with Thomas Cook & Son Travel Agency in San Diego. Sir Thomas Cook, from England, was the initial founder of the “package tour” in 1841.  Today tourism has max’d, to every corner of our earth and now starting into space!

In 1974 I flew from San Diego to Boston/London/ Abu Dhabi/ Delhi to Kathmandu.  All in one jump.  And, in a 707!   The accommodation I stayed in was an old Ranas Palace, the Shanker Hotel.  Still a very elegant old-world hotel.   It was severely damaged by the 2015 earthquake, but now, there is no sign that anything ever happened.

In 1977, I organized a group to trek to the base camp of Mt. Everest.  I put an ad in the Wall Street Journal and months later, we were on our way. The trek took fourteen days.  Long days of walking up and back down trails, glutes and quads tested to the limit. We overcame altitude sickness, no showers, only bird baths, tents every night, the comradery of fellow trekkers and the unforgettable cultural experience with the Sherpas. Then, the magical moment of arriving at the Mt. Everest Base Camp.  The memory has remained with me throughout my life.  At that time, I had no idea of the impact it would have on me, and love of Nepal, and the travel industry.  I’m the only one still alive from that trekking group.

More personal trips brought me back to experience Pokhara, Jomson, a trek to Muktinath in the Annapurna range, Bardia, the Western Region of Nepal and Chitwan National Park, Tiger Tops.  Tiger Tops was famous for viewing the Royal Bengal Tiger and hunting Rhino by elephant back.  Sadly, it’s no longer there.   Our tour groups loved those experiences.

As an international Tour Manager contracting with many of the Tour Operators in the U.S., I was able to return to Nepal at least 50 times in my career It made it feel more and more like home.  I still have many friends, guides and coworkers there.  They would sometimes tease me that I was more Nepalese than they were.  Yeti Travels was the ground operator we always worked with.

I returned to Nepal this year to fulfill another dream.  I had a burning desire to fly over Mt. Everest Base Camp, and the Khumbu Icefall.  I wanted to see what it looked like today.  During this visit, and so close to Mt Everest, I heard about the backlog of climbers not able to begin their climb due to the melting of the Khumbu Ice Fall.  The Sherpas could not find a safe passage for the climbers. I also heard of the chaos and drama at the camps 1 to 4.  Climbing cables were being cut and battles to see who would be in line to summit.  Plus, walking among bodies left behind from death. It's pretty much turned into a zoo.  I'm surprised there isn’t a gift shop at the top!  Below is a picture of the Hillary Step. Just before the climbers would summit.

My choice of airline, Qatar Airlines, A350 900, flew nonstop 16 hours from LAX to Doha for an overnight rest and then on to Kathmandu.  After these extended flights, I'm hanging my hat for marathon flying.  Business and First class are still not in my travel budget.

It seems all the helicopter flights funnel through a conglomerate, Dynasty Helicopters. The Kathmandu tour operators are in the hundreds who book through them.  All payments go through a San Francisco bank account.  The warning, though, is caution on which local operator you might want to use.  Reliability varies.  During my research I kept seeing it was so difficult to get a single seat in these helicopters.  The only way was by chartering the helicopter.    I finally saw the term “share basis”.  Between all these companies, a helicopter was easily filled with share basis passengers.  The stress of taking this trip and possibly not being able to take one of these helicopter flights was so unnecessary.

 I first flew with a helicopter company I booked from the U.S, but I felt a bit weary on the reliability of this company.  Once in Kathmandu and after paying $1300.00 ++ for that flight, I was told I would have to pay for the transfer from my hotel to the airport and back, (it was supposed to be from door to door) and we would not be able to land on Kala Pattar, (18,520 ft altitude), a peak that provides an unobstructed view of Mt. Everest.  It was one of the reasons I wanted to make this flight. I was told in Kathmandu after paying, that since there had been a crash landing on Kala Pattar the government would no longer allow landings. We were also supposed to land at the village of Pheriche.  It was one of the stops on my trek 50 years ago.  This flight, instead, was going to drop us at Everest View Hotel only.  Having been to Everest View several times on my personal trips, I thought, ok, I’d have time to wander around memory lane.

 Little to my surprise two of the passengers in our helicopter had paid $1700 to land on Kala Pattar.  I was so upset to hear this once on the flight.  Of course I would have paid more to do this.  Although, the advertisements online always mentioned this landing was part of their itinerary as well as Pheriche.  When the helicopter returned To the Everest View Hotel, to take the rest of us to the Base Camp and Icefall, we whizzed past it all, without the pilot saying anything of when to expect the best photo opportunities for Mt. Everest.  I thought, no matter what, I had the experience.  I also realized I was scammed. Fuming, when I turned home, I disputed the charge to no avail.

Once I was in Kathmandu, I received an email from Nepal Helicopter Service, Mr. Rajan. They were only a bit cheaper, but up front not landing on Kala Pattar, and it would land in Pheriche. Again, per the internet advertisements, all helicopters were supposed to land there to shuttle us back and forth to the base camp and Ice Fall.

I paid Nepal Helicopter Services Ltd.  $1232.00++. (including picking me up from the hotel and back).  Most companies were asking for more than that.  You also pay for park entrance fees and breakfast at the Everest View Hotel.  They were efficient, on the ball, texting reconfirmations, friendly checking us in at Kathmandu airport and the pilot made the trip with his personality, character and telling us what we were going to see well before we saw the highlights. 

The second helicopter flight flew slowly over the base camp and Khumbu Icefall.  The only way to climb Mt Everest is to navigate through that ice fall.  This year, it took sherpas weeks to find a safe passage.  This Icefall is beyond treacherous. Many lose their lives right there.

It was a lifetime experience!  Now, the second time, to fly the one-hour flight from Kathmandu to Lukla (11,000 ft altitude). We landed and refueled and were on our way to land in Pheriche (15,000ft altitude). Three of the five of us jumped out while two of us flew very low over the Everest Base Camp.   Then what seemed to be slow motion for the awesome amazing and memorable seconds, my mind took in everything of the Khumbu Icefall and ability to see the base of Mt. Everest.  I was stunned.  The pilot, Kashan Gurung, gave us notice whether to look left or right.  We landed at Pheriche again and jumped out while the others climbed in.  There I was, standing at 15,000 ft, in the middle of the Himalayas and taking in all of what I had accomplished 50 years ago. Then and now.  Elated, and breathless.  As you look closely at the base camp, there are white dome type tents.  Inside are lounges, where you can “relax”.  I heard comments that this seems in the wrong place for the adventure a climb is.  It has become a sore thumb for the base camp.  It’s too touristy and attracting the wrong clientele.  Its dangerous at these altitudes.

As we flew away, I could see the small villages and how they’d grown as well as how wide the paths now are for trekking.  Along the trails, they now have restrooms and tea houses with accommodations.  You can pay for showers and electric blankets. In 1974, the only thing at Gorak Shep, the last stop before the base camp, was one small shale shack.  It now has two-story dorms for the sherpas and trekkers.

We landed at the Everest View Hotel (13,000 ft altitude) and as we left the helicopter to walk into the hotel for breakfast, I felt so breathless I had to sit down on the path.  All the others in our helicopter stopped with me, out of concern. They sure didn’t have to do that.  I was so grateful for their supportiveness.  The pilot brought me oxygen from the helicopter.  The breathlessness passed after about half an hour on oxygen, and we were back in the helicopter for the flight to Lukla, refueling again and on our way back to Kathmandu.  During that short stop, I could see crowds of trekkers waiting for their turn to fly back to Kathmandu.  They now must use helicopters, as there are no longer aircraft that fly from Kathmandu to Lukla.  The most dangerous airfield in the world.

I was able to visit with my friends, see Kathmandu as it is today with the Marriott and Hilton high rise hotels.  The King’s Palace (made famous for his son slaughtering the whole royal family and then turning the gun on himself.  It is now a museum.  International high end stores dot Durbar Marg, the 5th Avenue of Kathmandu.  It’s no longer the small town of 1974.  It is polluted with many of the locals’ wearing masks.  Many need to go to clinics to take oxygen.  It’s congested, noisy, overpopulated but has entered the 21st century.   I ate in my favorite restaurants, The Third Eye in Thami.

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and the old elegant Chimney room at the Yak and Yeti Hotel. Side note of the first week of October 2024, where the city of Kathmandu and more were completely flooded with homes and businesses lost. Rivers overflowed into communities and chaos is still everywhere,

My visit also included a couple of nights in Nagarkot at the Club Himalaya Hotel, again a hotel I stayed in many times on my personal visits. I would also take our Tour groups to see Sunsets on the Himalayas. Ending in a beautiful ride back down into Kathmandu with curbsides lit with candles during festivals.

In 2018, a few of my friends and I met up in Kathmandu.  Our intention was to walk to the village below Nagarkot where the earthquake of 2015 totally damaged the tiny village of Salipuri.  Through Go Fund Me, I was able to raise funds which I sent to a trusted friend working at the Yak and Yeti hotel. His son arranged for the corrugated iron to be trucked downhill on muddy, rocky roads to the village.  Their gratefulness was overwhelming during our visit.  Amazing that this is truly a corner of our world.  It was a touching visit for all of us.

Mt. Everest is not on everyone’s bucket list, but the experience of my getting that close to the highest mountain in the world is something I will always remember.  Being a Tour Manager has been the best blessing of a career I could have ever asked for.  Namaste  

Katherine Whitley International Tour Manager.

Author "Camels to Caviar" The exotic adventures of a Tour Manager