TREK STOPS

Nepal's New Peaks

Sections of the Himalaya never before seen by Westerners are among the areas newly available to trekkers with the Nepalese government's recent opening of hundreds of square miles of pristine hiking routes. The Nepalese have granted access to 103 peaks that had been off-limits to climbers.

Several of the routes, off-limits since the 1960s, skirt the Tibetan border. Another region, the Taplejung District, is in the far northeast corner of Nepal near Sikkim, India and Darjeeling. It traverses the neighboring peaks, passes and valleys of 28,169-foot Kanchenjunga, the world's third highest peak. Permits cost from $10 a week to $90 a day.

The new openness may be a response to the recent 50 percent drop in tourism to Nepal. An eruption of violence in this usually peaceful nation—the crown prince gunned down his family at the royal palace, and Maoist guerillas continue to clash with government soldiers—frightened away trekkers.

While Maoist insurgents have ambushed several police patrols in the past few months, to date no tourists have been injured in the attacks. Nevertheless, the U.S. State Department urges trekkers to check with its embassy in Kathmandu before hitting the trail.

For permit requirements: www.immi.gov.np; for general Nepal info, www.welcomenepal.com;
for State Department assessments, www.travel.state.gov.