Travelling Responsibly in Nepal: Small Choices That Matter

Tourism is one of Nepal's biggest sources of income and jobs. It also brings rubbish to mountain valleys, pressure on forests and water, and money that does not always reach the people doing the work. Individual travellers cannot fix structural problems, but everyday choices add up when a million visitors make them.

Water and plastic

Discarded plastic bottles are the most visible mark tourism leaves on the trails. There is no recycling collection in the mountains; bottles are burned, buried or left.

• Carry a reusable bottle and treat your water with a filter, purification tablets or an ultraviolet device.

• Buy boiled or filtered water from lodges, or refill at the safe drinking water stations set up by community groups on some routes.

• In cities, many hotels and cafés offer filtered refills.

• Refuse plastic bags; bring a cloth one.

• Carry out batteries, wrappers and anything else that will not rot.

Energy and forests

Above the road-head, every hot shower and cooked dish uses fuel that was carried up or cut nearby.

• Choose lodges that heat water with solar panels.

• Take showers in the afternoon when solar water is warm, and keep them short.

• Order the same dish as your companions so the kitchen lights one burner, not four.

• Do not ask for a private fire or heater.

• Stay on marked trails; shortcuts cause erosion.

People who work for you

• Book with agencies that insure and properly equip their guides and porters and pay a fair wage.

• Check that porters have adequate clothing and reasonable loads.

• Tip directly and fairly at the end of a trek or tour.

• Learn the names of the people serving you.

Where your money goes

• Stay in locally owned guesthouses and community homestays.

• Eat at family restaurants and buy from the person who made the item.

• Hire local guides at heritage sites.

• Spread your spending beyond the best-known places. A night in a lesser-visited town puts money where little tourism income arrives.

Children and giving

It is natural to want to give something to children who ask. Handing out sweets, pens or money encourages begging, keeps some children out of school and can cause dental problems where there is no dentist.

• Do not give directly to children.

• If you wish to help, donate to a school, health post or established local organisation, or ask your guide or host how to contribute to a community fund.

• Be wary of orphanage visits and short-term orphanage volunteering. Investigations in Nepal have found children who are not orphans placed in institutions to attract foreign donations. Reputable child-protection organisations advise against it.

Volunteering

Skilled, longer-term volunteering arranged through a credible organisation can be valuable. Short placements paid for through commercial agencies often benefit the agency more than the community. Ask who requested the help, where the fees go, and whether a local person could be employed to do the same job.

Wildlife

• Avoid attractions that involve riding, bathing or posing with captive wild animals.

• In national parks, follow your guide, keep quiet, keep your distance and never bait or feed animals.

• Do not buy products made from wild animals, including fur, ivory, shells, horn or wool from endangered antelope. Their sale and export are illegal.

• Do not feed monkeys at temples.

Culture and courtesy

• Ask before photographing people, and accept a refusal.

• Dress modestly away from tourist districts and at all religious sites.

• Walk clockwise around Buddhist monuments, remove shoes where required and respect areas closed to visitors.

• Public displays of affection are frowned upon in rural areas.

• Bargain with good humour and know when to stop.

Antiques and sacred objects

Nepal has lost a great many statues, carvings and paintings to theft and the art market. It is illegal to export objects more than a hundred years old, and anything that looks antique may need a clearance certificate from the Department of Archaeology before it can leave the country. Buy new work from living artisans. Never purchase an item that appears to have been removed from a temple or shrine.

An attitude more than a checklist

Responsible travel is mostly a matter of paying attention: to who carried the load, who cooked the meal, where the bottle will end up and whether the person in front of your lens is happy to be there. Nepal is generous to its visitors. Returning that generosity with care is the least a guest can do.