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Sighting Siklis
(27-02-2007)
A diary of a lesser trekked gem
Back in September '06 I asked myself, What am I looking for in a trek? Mountain
spectacles, challenging ascents, a unique cultural experience. I had a week
long gap to plug in a three month transasia trip and wanted a Himalayan trek to
tick another ‘travel-must' box. I'd first sighted Siklis in a BBC travel book:
its short length and off-the-beaten-track character had instant appeal. I'd
heard horror stories about guides (and heard even more when I was travelling) so
I made sure I booked through a reputable Pokhara guesthouse, run by the famous Chhetri
Sisters. They specialise in female guides but as it was, I was paired up with a
male, UNITRAV secretary, Shiva Thapa.
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Responsible trekking
(30-07-2006)
When you are planning a trek in Nepal, you should realize that Nepal is (still) one of the poorest countries in the world. That
means that lots of workers are unemployed or, if they have jobs, big
companies can easily exploit them by hardly giving them rights and
proper wages. Also, people so desperately looking for income, can agree
working for almost nothing, to have at least food and cover for a few
days!
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Ethical Trekking
(06-05-2006)
In
a developing country like Nepal there is always a labour surplus, and
with it unemployment and under-employment. The result is a permanent
danger of exploitation - low wages, long hours, poor working
conditions, often unsafe and unhealthy, inadequate clothing and
equipment, no accident or health insurance, and no pension provision.
Anyone who has been trekking in Nepal will have seen porters labouring
under excessive loads, wearing flip flops or cut-down Wellington boots,
and aged before their time.
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Trekker views 
