COVID-19: Nepal closes border and cancels climbs

Late on March 12, the Nepalese government decided to cancel all spring climbs (including Everest) and stop issuing visas on arrival for all foreigners. Of course, this is due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. Previously, Nepal had already restricted the issuance of visas at the border for citizens of Italy, Iran and several other countries. Now we are talking about virtually complete closure of the border.

Briefly, the essence of the government decree comes down to the following:

• from March 14 to April 30, 2020, the issuance of visas on arrival
• those who already have a visa must provide a medical certificate (not older than 7 days) confirming a negative test result for Covid-19
• all foreigners entering Nepal after March 14 are required self-isolate - undergo quarantine for 14 days
• land border crossings from March 14 to April 30 are completely closed to foreigners
• all Himalayan expeditions from the Nepalese side are canceled (China banned climbing on Everest a day earlier(

Those. theoretically, it remains possible to go to one of the Nepalese embassies and try to get a visa using the extended procedure (provide a medical certificate), fly to Nepal and serve 14 days in quarantine (and then another 14 days upon returning to your homeland), but given the increasing difficulties with moving between countries, this idea is unlikely to attract many tourists.

So far, visa restrictions have been introduced for the period from March 14 to April 30. What's next? I don't think anyone (including the Nepalese government) knows this yet. However, it is already clear that the spring tourist season has been disrupted, because the rainy season begins in mid-May. And in general, there is not much chance that the border will open on May 1.

For now, there is hope that the situation will stabilize before the fall and that Nepal will be ready to receive tourists again in October-November. After all, the tourism industry “feeds” a huge number of Nepalese citizens and at the first opportunity the government will try to revive this source of income.

What if you were planning a trip to Nepal this spring, bought tickets, etc.? First, keep in mind that most airlines now make it quite easy to cancel or reschedule flights. In particular, I received a letter from AirArabia (with whom I was supposed to fly to Kathmandu in a couple of weeks) about the cancellation of the fee for changing the flight date. I plan to wait a little, and if the situation does not change, reschedule my flights until the fall. Our schedule already includes tours to Everest and Annapurna in October and November 2020.

Kirill Yasko, March 13, 2020