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Responsible Trekking |
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!
Not many countries in the world have the beautiful
Himalayas with their culture in their garden: because of
the treasure especially the tourist industry can and
will raise the living standard of the Nepali people!
Since the last decades making treks in the Himalaya is
getting more and more popular in the western world,
there is and will be a bigger need for guides and
porters to take care in all aspects of the inexperienced
tourists, not in the last place for their safety!
Due to that developing process, there was a growing need
for centralization of all the needs, rights and
education for the guides and porters working in the
field.
The trade- union Unitrave is in a very broad sense
taking care of all the important items for guides,
porters and treks and provides a social net for them.
When you hire licensed guides porters, who are members
of the Unitrav, you are certain to get full responsible,
educated guides/ porters to accompany you. They will be
insured and don’t carry too much load on their backs, so
they will not have a worn out back after a few years.
Besides that the country becomes much more alive for you
with all the information of the background of Nepal,
provided to you by your guide and porters.
Here Some Advice:
1. Hire licensed guides and porters in Nepal itself then
you contribute to the local economy: if you do that in
your own country, most of the money going to the (
overhead of) the companies and you have no influencer on
what kind of guides/ porters you get, probably the
people with the lowest wages, not insured etc.
2. Don’t feel uneasy someone carrying your backpack: for
them it’s their work, not as heavy as for you; besides
that they are so glad to have and get a job, that you’re
also contributing to their welfare. And… you will have
more breath to enjoy your trek!
3. The Himalayas have their tricks as well: for your
safety you will be grateful to have a guide with you to
know where avalanches can come down or to know where the
trail is when there is suddenly heavily snowfall!
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| Source - UNITRAVE |
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Picture of Trek |
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