<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-start-of-the-anglo-gorkha-war">Bal Bhadra Kunwar </a>commanded the Gorkhali defenders of<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nalapani-to-kalapani"> Nalapani Fort</a> as they faced a month-long siege by troops of the British East India Company in 1814. Vastly outnumbered, the 600 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/letters-from-the-western-front">Nepali soldiers</a>, women and children inside were bombarded by British cannons. Hungry and thirsty, 70 of them finally broke out, leaving the dead and dying behind.&nbsp; For his brave defence of the fort against overwhelming enemy numbers, Bal Bhadra Kunwar is regarded as Nepal’s national hero to this day. Now, his sixth-generation descendant, Viking Kunwor (pictured, right) is making a living out of crafting the famous Gorkhali knife, the khukri, wielded in battle by his ancestor. In a narrow alley behind Boudha tucked between restaurants is the <a href="https://kilatools.com/">The Heritage Knives Nepa</a>l store selling hand-crafted khukris. On display are antique curved knives, some dating back to World War I and one of them bearing the inscription of Prime Minister Chandra Shumsher Rana. After escaping from Nalapani Fort in 1814, Bal Bhadra Kunwar fled to Lahore and commanded a Gorkhali regiment under Punjab king Ranjit Singh. He was killed in action near Peshawar during the Sikh-Afghan war in 1822.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240209140228_b7c77a04bc12d171add560d8c121777967c101dd44425c3294366a5d6f6eb226.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240209140228_b7c77a04bc12d171add560d8c121777967c101dd44425c3294366a5d6f6eb226" data-rendition-name="original" width="5662" height="3775" loading="lazy" alt="VK Kunwor"> </figure>  Viking Kunwor was born to a Swedish mother and a Nepali father, and divides his time between Sweden and Nepal, drawn by his deepening fascination with Nepal's rich history in which his ancestor played such a heroic part. In Sweden, he is involved in the hospitality industry, and to remain rooted to the country of his brave forebears, Viking set up the khukri store in Boudha in 2019. Viking has toured Garhwal and Kumaon, visiting Nalapani and other battlefields from the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire">Anglo-Nepal War </a>two centuries ago to find out more about Capt Bal Bhadra.&nbsp; There was not much except oral history about him, but many of Viking’s forebears ended up fighting in the British and Indian Armies, except Viking’s father.&nbsp; Because of the Gorkhali connection, Viking developed a strong passion for the craftsmanship that went into forging khukris, and the history of the iconic knife that struck fear into the hearts of enemies in historic battles around the world. “I initially pursued my passion for history and heritage studies, but shifted gears and became a chef in Sweden,” Viking told us during a recent visit to Nepal.&nbsp; His fascination with khukris, particularly their roles in the two World Wars and the variations used by different regiments intrigued him. He found that khukris issued to soldiers and those privately purchased were different. A khukri scabbard has pouches for smaller knives for more delicate cutting as well as a sharpening utensil.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire">Beginning of the end of the Gorkha Empire</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240209140228_ba725f1316461b0b15ff3833b27705dad21225ce4cd1e5aa1be40c878d0ad96f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240209140228_ba725f1316461b0b15ff3833b27705dad21225ce4cd1e5aa1be40c878d0ad96f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5662" height="3775" loading="lazy" alt="VK Kunwoe"> </figure>  Examining their blades, styles and patterns, Kunwor discovered that modern knives did not match the quality of khukris made centuries ago. He wanted to find the lost process of making the perfect khukri by metalsmiths in the mountains of eastern Nepal. “Beyond their practical use, I was captivated by the cultural significance of the metalwork,” Viking said.&nbsp; He went to Dharan, renowned for its khukri makers, and tried to blend the scientific approach from his Swedish half with the traditional workmanship of his Nepali side. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nalapani-to-kalapani">From Nalapani to Kalapani,</a> Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240209140228_21b31ac725d3fd81e37dcc4e6e00a7eb3adbb64e3d719fb1e6ce7e731546564f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240209140228_21b31ac725d3fd81e37dcc4e6e00a7eb3adbb64e3d719fb1e6ce7e731546564f" data-rendition-name="original" width="3775" height="5662" loading="lazy" alt="Viking"> </figure>  He opened his shop, but nearly lost hope during the Covid lockdown. Now his khukri business is gaining traction, and Kunwor's knives are exported to Europe and the United States. Besides khukris, he also makes kitchen knives for which there now seems to be healthy demand in Nepal itself. Kunwor has also noted a shift in people's attitudes towards heritage preservation in Nepal.&nbsp; Many Nepalis are reaching out to him to clean and seek advice on maintaining ancestral swords that have adorned their prayer rooms. He helps willingly, because it invovles cultural preservation that is an integral part of Nepal's heritage. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/letters-from-the-western-front">Letters from the Western front</a>, Alisha Sijapati

Alisha Sijapati

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Viking's khukri passion

<figure><img width="1500" height="997" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109131156/636ba41b9c7e80680e07364ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Soldier-turned-author Tim I Gurung with Gurkha veteran Indra Jit Wanem Limbu, 92, in Dharan while interviewing him for his book, The Gurkhas: A True Story.</figcaption></figure>As a boy from a far-flung village in Nepal’s Kaski district, Tim I Gurung never made it to college. He joined his family’s ancestral profession of enlisting in the British Army’s Brigade of Gurkhas.During his school days, Tim loved writing poetry, songs, and short stories, and his parents remember he had a way with words. But his family was hardwired to Gurkha recruitment though generations of service, and it was perhaps inevitable that he would also be a solider himself.Like many of his forebears, Tim’s destiny was to serve and risk his life defending a foreign country through its armed force. Without finishing his schooling, he joined the British Army and served as a rifleman for 13 years.Although the Brigade of Gurkhas is supposed to have a long and glorious history, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG01XOTDWJpcUnPg_zXVxEapPBfQw">it is also tragic</a>. It is hard to imagine that at a time when Nepal’s population was only 5 million, 200,000 Nepalis fought in the trenches of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/100-years-of-platitudes,1025" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/100-years-of-platitudes,1025&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEXAtzhrs90EjHy6-l1eO58QCcoQA">Flander’s Field</a> and in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/gallipoli-and-the-gurkhas,2271" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/gallipoli-and-the-gurkhas,2271&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFsJZ6BpB12n1KKIZ8HYXsJcoMnqw">Gallipoli</a> in World War I. One in ten did not return home, leaving Nepal’s villages devoid of young men. Barely 30 years later, 250,000 Gurkhas were once more sent to battle to defend the British Empire in Malaya, Singapore, North Africa and Europe. Almost 33,000 were killed in action, others died of disease in Japanese POW camps.It was out of the question for Tim Gurung to leave the military before completing his tenure, but he managed to get early retirement to start a small business. He struggled to raise his family, and finally settled in Hong Kong, where he was based till the British handover of the colony to China in 1997.At age 50, he decided he had enough of both the military and manufacturing, and he fell back on his childhood passion for writing. This enthusiasm for the world of words is amply demonstrated by a verse that is <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=tim%20i%20gurung&amp;src=typed_query" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/search?q%3Dtim%2520i%2520gurung%26src%3Dtyped_query&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF92lYPF-BchJ9LersCES1_wM4HNg">pinned on his Twitter wall</a>:The Gurkhas fought for the British over 200 years,  Yet nobody could defeat them in a fair game, Now one of their own has arrived with a pen, And promised to give them a proper name! <figure><img width="1500" height="997" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109131156/636ba41e9c7e80680e07364fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Tim Gurung with Tahal Singh Gurung, 100 in Palpa.</figcaption></figure>Tim did not let the English language and the craft of writing be a barrier to his assiduous research of retired Gurkha veterans. He tracked them down in remote villages in Nepal to record their testimonies before the world moved on, and forgot about their sacrifices.It was precisely because he knew time was running out that he put all his effort into his writing mission with the goal of telling the true, and full story of Gurkha soldiers like himself. Some of the veterans like Tahal Singh Rana whom he went to interview in Palpa, are 100 years old – physically perhaps a bit frail, but sharp as ever with memories of their time in frontline military service. Tim goes all the way to Ilam to meet Karna Bahadur Rai, now 99, and then to Dharan to meet 92-year-old Indra Jit Wanem Limbu who proudly pins all his British Army medals of valour on his shirt for a photograph.Tim Gurung had no clue about the world of books, although he had been self-publishing works of fiction from Hong Kong. In 2015 he was profiled in the South China Morning Post, and wrote op-eds for the Asia Times portal, but he knew that although bringing out his own books gave him independence as an author, he could not sustain a career in writing. He made it a point to be at major book fairs in Hong Kong and the region so he could directly interact with readers and publishers.After writing nearly a dozen novels that did not cause much of a ripple, Tim switched to non-fiction. His dream project was to try to document the history of Gurkha recruitment, as well as individual stories of servicemen like himself. Earlier this year, The Gurkhas: A True Story, was finally published by Penguin Random House.Although the history of Gurkha recruitment from 1815 to the present day has been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/new-gurkha-book/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/new-gurkha-book/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFPVKGPDmcRoNYOixLB6t2sHDLM6g">told and retold many times</a>, some of them about the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/The-Khukri-Braves-review,2945" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/The-Khukri-Braves-review,2945&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGMfgdm5ebyKA_TnEq4zrVh7oCsxg">deployment of Gorkhas in the Indian Army</a>, and tales of their bravery in battle, generosity and uncomplaining sacrifices are well documented, what makes this book different are the oral testimonies of veterans. It goes without saying that many of their experiences are more dramatic than any fictional account that Tim Gurung could have imagined in his novels.   <figure><img width="1500" height="997" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109131156/636ba4229c7e80680e073650jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Tim Gurung tracked down Karna Bahadur Rai in Ilam to record his testimony for his book.</figcaption></figure>While Tim writes incredibly fast, the project would not have been possible without adequate resources, energy and a well-framed and rigorous research plan that spanned three years. In that period, he visited most countries connected with the Gurkhas from Brunei to Britain. He visited the Kranji War Memorial in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17264#.XyZc5ooza70" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17264%23.XyZc5ooza70&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH8uQOLGfL_s1LFYK_HLzabGttHdg">Singapore</a> where many thousands of Gurkhas are interred. He met Ministry of Defence officials in London, and historians in Malaysia and Burma, interacting with diplomats and members of the Nepali diaspora.But it was in Nepal where most of the retired protagonists are, and he has mined their memories with military precision for posterity. Accompanied by a camera crew, Tim toured Nepal from Pashupatinagar of Ilam in the east to Chadani-Dodhara in Kanchanpur in the western tip of the country, interviewing more than 90 ex-Gurkhas – many of them who served in Burma, Malaya and Italy during World War II.What fascinates most in The Gurkhas: A True Story are vivid battlefield memories of the surviving veterans, their  gallantry, sacrifice and suffering. Unlike other books on Gurkha history, Tim Gurung’s account is not written through a western lens, thus offering a new indigenous perspective. Especially when it comes to the controversy of Gurkha pensions, we hear an impassioned plea for fairness and justice.The book has been reviewed in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post and Singapore’s Straits Times, and although they have raised bona fide issues of writing and editing, the fact remains that they are reviewed by non-Nepalis. It may be rough on the edges, but this is a true people’s history of the Gurkhas, told by an insider.For now, the book is available only in Southeast Asia through Penguin Random House, but will seen be released in a South Asian edition soon.  Chun B Gurung is a former UN media specialist in Nepal and Timor-Leste, and Chun is currently adjunct faculty of journalism at St Xavier’s College in Kathmandu.The Gurkhas: A True Storyby Tim I GurungPenguin Random House, 2020Paperback 256 pages $ 18.84<a href="https://www.amazon.sg/Gurkhas-Tim-I-Gurung/dp/981488281X" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.sg/Gurkhas-Tim-I-Gurung/dp/981488281X&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596437613486000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGWBJwbk65pj1sD9nef33Jd73uQCQ">Available on Amazon 340g</a><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109131156/636ba4259c7e80680e073651jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="261" height="405">

Former Gurkha soldier turns author

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171144/636936819c7e80680e03fde4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"/>It is now <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Double-centennial,1011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more than 200 years</a> that men from Nepal have joined the British Army to fight, if needs be, in support of Britain’s overseas interests. And it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">100 years since the end of the First World War</a>, in which 200,000 Nepali men went to France, North Africa, Palestine and Mesopotamia to fight against the Germans and their allies. That is a very long historical relationship.So, it is a good time to question the future of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-military-migrant-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">British Gurkhas</a> and of the relationship between Britain and Nepal in this regard. Some may feel that the whole tradition of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Gurkhas-dying-for-others,2938" target="_blank" rel="noopener">providing soldiers for a foreign army</a> is an imperialist phenomenon which should be terminated. Others see it as a matter of pride, to be continued and even reinforced.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Least we forget</a>, David SeddonSuccessive cuts in the budget of the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) over the last few decades have significantly reduced the overall size of the armed forces, and particularly the British Army. The Brigade of Gurkhas now comprises fewer than 4,000 men.One might have thought, in the light of this, that the British government would have felt that time had come to call a halt to further recruitment from Nepal and to phase out this anomalous element of the British Army.But even if the size of the British Army is declining, there is a serious shortage of recruits from Britain itself – the number of new recruits was down last year by 24%. It was therefore decided in November to allow members of the British Commonwealth, even if not resident in the UK, to apply for positions in the British Army.There remains keen competition among young Nepalis to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5423#.XAZEg9szaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">join the Brigade of Gurkhas</a>, even if the number of recruits each year has been reduced to only a few hundred. What more natural, then, than to increase the quota of recruits from Nepal? This would please those who believe that Nepal would benefit from such an expansion, but would upset those who argue that recruitment to the British Gurkhas is a relic of an imperial past, not to be continued let alone expanded.Furthermore, there might be scope for women as well as men to take advantage of this apparent willingness of the MoD to recruit from abroad, including from Nepal, to the Gurkhas. In what to many was a surprise move, in July this year, it was decided to allow women to apply to join this hitherto all-male outfit.Is this just a nod to ‘equal opportunities’? Or the beginning of the re-definition of the role of ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/the-gurkhas-an-interactive-timeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Gurkhas</a>’ -- widely caricatured as ‘fearless and ferocious’ -- in favour of a softer image?  In fact, the British Army already includes some 30,000 women in a wide range of roles, but in another surprise move in October women were allowed to apply for and to take up combat roles.All of this assumes a continuation of an essentially military role for ‘New Lahures’. But what if the Britain and Nepal were to agree, under the special conditions of their bilateral relationship, that in future there would be an expanded recruitment of young Nepalis -- not to a military outfit serving mainly overseas, but to a jointly managed ‘Peace Corps’. Organised by the Brigade of Gurkhas, such a force would be committed to peace-keeping and community development in Nepal and elsewhere in the developing world.This would be a gradual transfer of responsibility, and of funding, over a period of years for this new ‘Gurkha Peace Corps’ from the MoD to the Department for International Development (DfID) in collaboration with an appropriate government department in Nepal.Eventually, however, it would become a fully joint British-Nepal responsibility, able to provide young Nepalis with suitable training and experience, and to deploy them in various roles (including peace keeping and security, but also in community development) across the world, including Nepal.The Gurkha Peace Corps would also be open to recruits from Britain, encouraging young people from Nepal and Britain to train and work together in Nepal and elsewhere. This would make it possible to sustain and renew the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8078#.XAZFw9szaUl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">long historical relationship between Britain and Nepal through the Gurkhas</a>, but recast it as one between equals, involving young men and women from both countries in a common endeavour: for peace and development.Dr David Seddon is Director of Critical Faculty, author/co-author of many publications on Nepal, and currently writing a three-part book on ‘Nepal and the Great War’.  Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Gurkhas-dying-for-others,2938" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dying for others</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-military-migrant-economy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A military-migrant economy</a>, Amanda Chisholm<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Double-centennial,1011" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Double centennial</a>, Editorial

The time has come for a Gurkha Peace Corps

It is only April, and Himalayan expeditions are already making rotations to acclimatise on Annapurna and Dhaulagiri, and will soon be making summit pushes.&nbsp; On Mt Everest, Icefall Doctors are fixing ropes and ladders into the Western Cwm as international climbers arrive at Base Camp. Spring 2026 is going to be the busiest and most crowded so far in the Nepal Himalaya. The main reason is that China has closed expeditions from the north side for eight-thousanders Everest and Cho Oyu, and also Xixapangma.&nbsp; The closure is informal, from what one can make out. The Chinese have not put out any official statement, but there are no permits either. The reason seemingly was the ‘Rising Dragon’ firework display last September by pyrotechnic artist Cai Guo-Qiang near Xigatse.&nbsp; Working with outdoor wear company Arc’teryx, Guo-Qiang set off an impressive sequence of orange and white fireworks that wound up a mountain. The spectacular display was criticised for damaging the fragile ecology of the Tibetan Plateau. But this cannot be the only reason the north side is closed. Experienced Everest blogger Alan Arnette anticipates that about 125 climbers will shift to the Nepal side of the mountains, and expects there to be up to 900 summits this spring — up from the highest spring number so far of 876 climbers on top in 2019.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260404050428_8c31812bf38f699c4faa74f25814a6ddaee397f71a629e549023f29250f05082.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260404050428_8c31812bf38f699c4faa74f25814a6ddaee397f71a629e549023f29250f05082" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="mountaineering"> <figcaption>Photo: KARMA TENZING</figcaption> </figure>  The early Base Camp arrivals are having problems with their first rotations because of heavy snow this season. Unlike previous springs, this year has seen back-to-back blizzards at high altitudes since February. The increased snow load on the slopes have increased avalanche danger right across the mountains.&nbsp; There has been an increase in numbers on Everest despite the West Asia war, flight disruptions, LPG shortage and new regulations. The permit fee has gone up for the first time since 2015 from $11,000 to $15,000 this year.&nbsp; The Tourism Bill passed by Nepal’s Upper House last year would have required climbers to have first summitted a 7,000m peak in Nepal before attempting Everest. However, the Department of Tourism has confirmed that there are no new experience requirements this season. Some want this rule changed to include 7,000m peaks anywhere in the world. That could be one reason people are rushing to climb Everest before the Nepal government changes its mind and enforces the new regulations on prior experience on Everest. “It’s probably going to encourage a lot of people that simply are not ready to go,” reckons Alan Arnette. “Once again, we may see a lot of inexperienced people on the mountain trying to get in before the rule comes into place, if it does.”&nbsp; Arnette has always been sceptical of Everest regulations, and points out many instances where rules have been announced but not implemented over the ten years that he has been tracking them. For example, a helicopter ban to Everest Base Camp was announced last year, but rescinded. A rule requiring climbers to bring down waste was never seriously enforced. Since there is so much money involved for the government and for the operators, any any rule that would reduce revenue is never fully implemented. This year there is another ‘High-Altitude Trash Quota’ rule requiring climbers and guides operating above Camp 2 to collect and bring down at least 2kg of waste from the higher camps.&nbsp; The Nepal government has tried to diversify peaks on offer by reducing the royalty on climbs, but the draw of Everest, Annapurna and other eight-thousanders seems to be too great. Even when the permit fees for some remote peaks like Kangri Shar, Himlung and Api, were reduced to $400, there are few takers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120436_a90cd44858e97086f773aa1fbd592b3434bb07d89cd4a1843b2ca32a84e7c72d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260402120436_a90cd44858e97086f773aa1fbd592b3434bb07d89cd4a1843b2ca32a84e7c72d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="Photo Damien Francois"> <figcaption>Photo: DAMIEN FRANCOIS</figcaption> </figure>  TIME LAPSE Clients and expedition operators have been trying to shorten the time needed to complete an Everest expedition from the city of origin to the top and back. Since Nepal has no rules about spending a certain number of days in acclimatisation, this has allowed some expedition organisers to use new technology.&nbsp; Austrian operator Lukas Furtenbach last May led a group of four British ex-military clients to the summit within a week of leaving London. This climb was scrutinised because the group had practiced breathing xenon gas, a substance that increases the count of red blood cells and is banned in competitive sports. The climbers had also trained for months at home in hypoxic tents, and used supplemental oxygen during the actual climb.&nbsp; The success of that expedition prompted an investigation by Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation, but there was nothing it could do because the team had taken the xenon in Germany two weeks before their trip. But even if they had administered the gas in Nepal, it would technically not be illegal. Furtenbach is firmly in favour of speed, and of using the gas. “The only reason why we are working with xenon is to make climbing safer, to protect climbers from high altitude sickness,” he says, arguing that the less time climbers spend on the mountains, the less their exposure is to disasters, sickness, and they also generate less trash.&nbsp; His firm, Furtenbach Adventure, offers a three-week Everest South Flash expedition, at a cost of €100,000, using custom oxygen systems. Other expeditions take up to two months.&nbsp; A young American duo of Ryan Mitchell and Justin Sockett got to Everest Base Camp five days ago. They are preparing for an oxygen-free summit attempt.&nbsp; ‘ Being around these mountains for one day has already brought me so much joy. Every time I come back to the Khumbu I feel more familiar and connected,’ posted Mitchell. He and Sockett have since summitted Lobuche East (6,119m) as they continue to acclimatise and wait for the Khumbu Icefall route to be fixed.&nbsp; There are other sans-O2 trips planned this climbing season in Nepal. Norwegian Kristin Harila, the fastest in the world to climb all 14 8,000ers (in 92 days), is attempting the Nuptse, Lhotse, and Everest three-peak climb without supplemental oxygen. American Tyler Andrews and Ecuadorian Karl Egloff are continuing their race to break records in Everest. While Andrews is attempting the Fastest Known Time from Base Camp to the top without oxygen, Egloff is taking it a step further and going for a round trip: from Base Camp to the summit and back in record time.&nbsp; Both Egloff and Andrews had attempted these climbs in 2025 spring, but abandoned around 7,000m due to bad weather.&nbsp; Kami Rita Sherpa wants to extend his all-time record of total Everest summits to 32, while Kenton Cool from England is chasing 20, a non-Nepali record.&nbsp; The first summits of the season will be in late April, or early May depending on weather. Besides Everest, there are a lot of interesting climbs on lesser known peaks.&nbsp; The Japanese trio of Masayuki Takenaka, Tatsuro Sugimoto, and Ryota Nomura, for example, are attempting the unclimbed Jarkya Himal (6,473m) near Manaslu. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>Fake rescues</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120436_600c0176e24327fd3dfcfd634e4b871f3e5314aa00eb4885ad137ac6f9c4a3b6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260402120436_600c0176e24327fd3dfcfd634e4b871f3e5314aa00eb4885ad137ac6f9c4a3b6" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="519" loading="lazy" alt="Fake rescues"> </figure>  This year’s spring climbing season has coincided with Nepal’s new government taking action against alleged perpetrators in fake rescues and insurance fraud. The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) has already arrested more than a dozen trekking agency executives, hospital managers and helicopter company executives for medevac insurance fraud. Climbers are known to fabricate medical emergencies, get flown down from as high as Camp II on Everest, and then submit false insurance claims.&nbsp; Sometimes one flight is made to look like many using fake invoices. Trekking companies are also involved in fake rescues of hikers who just get tired of walking.&nbsp; Too many fake claims could lead to insurer’s losing confidence in the industry, and increased premiums, leading to delayed responses in real accidents.&nbsp; As a result of the scandal, there is now more scrutiny from the government about rescues. Already, helicopter operators have to wait for permission before carrying out rescues while their application is vetted.&nbsp; The worry is that this could cause unnecessary delays when time is of the essence in mountain rescue. Already, medevacs are delayed because of the bureaucracy needing permits to fly to sensitive regions bordering China. Last year, a climber died on Himlung because helicopter rescue took too long while operators ran from door to door in Kathmandu to obtain necessary permits. <h2>Mingma David Sherpa, MP</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120432_05c1600440327f4ae4bcae641b634714951f45702080a88d4e2628587190aa25.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260402120432_05c1600440327f4ae4bcae641b634714951f45702080a88d4e2628587190aa25" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Mingma David Sherpa"> </figure>  Meet Mingma David Sherpa, Nepal’s first mountaineer to be nominated to Parliament. Sherpa is a self-made professional climber from Rolwaling, who rose up from an expedition porter to a record-breaking mountaineer and expedition organiser. As an insider, he is now in a position to streamline laws related to Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering sector. He is co-owner of EliteExped with Nims Purja, and in 2021 the two were part of a team of Nepali climbers to be the first to make it to the top of K2 in winter, the second highest mountain in the world in Pakistan.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120432_c4ec586e7a27b09a72e61925a3897d843f864563d9e82a3fd3e25293e22cbe54.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260402120432_c4ec586e7a27b09a72e61925a3897d843f864563d9e82a3fd3e25293e22cbe54" data-rendition-name="original" width="2082" height="1396" loading="lazy" alt="Mingama David Sherpa"> </figure>  Mingma David was also on Purja’s Project Possible to climb all the 14 eight-thousanders in six months, shattering the previous record of seven years. He was featured in Purja’s documentary 14 Peaks: Nothing is Impossible.&nbsp; At age 30 he became the youngest climber to reach the top of all 14 eight-thousanders for which he was awarded the Piolet d’Or. Mingma David has taken part in dozens of successful rescues of fellow climber, including the highest ever long-line rescue on Dhaulagiri and saving the life of fellow-climber from 8,600m on Everest. <h2>April Fool</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260402120432_775afff27d4a2889a60730aa25bbc5f8eb8ea343528c8c031a6febbfd74814c4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260402120432_775afff27d4a2889a60730aa25bbc5f8eb8ea343528c8c031a6febbfd74814c4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1365" height="1820" loading="lazy" alt="Furtenback Adventures"> </figure>  The Austrian expedition outfitting company Furtenbach Adventures spoofed the anticipated crowds on an April First post on social media this week, showing ‘a fully galvanized, weather-resistant steel staircase, complete with a sturdy handrail’ to make the Hillary Step bottleneck on Mt Everest less dangerous.

Nepal Himalaya Spring 2026

Samsung Nepal has opened pre-orders for the Galaxy A57 5G and A37 5G. Both phones run Samsung’s One UI 8.5, featuring AI capabilities like voice transcription, Circle to Search, and photo editing. They feature a 50MP triple-camera system, a Super AMOLED display, and six years of OS and security updates.

Galaxy A series

The war in West Asia has exposed the fragility of the economic architecture Nepal has built on over two generations. If the conflict continues, growth across developing Asia will slow and prices will rise. For Nepal, this will be felt through higher living costs, weaker economic activity, and growing uncertainty for the millions of families who depend on remittances.&nbsp; Nepal now needs to structurally transform from exporting labour to investing in domestic job creation. &nbsp; The country's current path toward a knowledge economy has a blind spot. A <a href="https://iids.org.np/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/unleashing.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by the Institute for Integrated Development Studies (IIDS) in Kathmandu shows that IT export companies alone generated 7,228 jobs and income for 66,509 freelancers.&nbsp; We are building digital labour export, not an economy that accumulates institutional knowledge. The Nepali Upwork developer and a migrant construction worker in the Gulf are engaged in the same economic activity, but with different tools. Nepal’s reliance on a <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/BX.TRF.PWKR.DT.GD.ZS?locations=NP" target="_blank">remittance-driven economy,</a> means the country has failed to create enough <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/publication/unlocking-nepal-s-growth-potential" target="_blank">quality jobs</a> at home. For millions of young people, leaving the country is not a choice but a necessity to survive and support families back home. <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nepal/publication/unlocking-nepal-s-growth-potential" target="_blank">Remittances</a> have no doubt helped reduce poverty. Thirty years ago, 55% of Nepal’s population lived on less than $2.15 a day, now it is 20% after the absolute poverty line was revised upwards. This progress has come at a cost — &nbsp;an economy that depends more on exporting workers than creating opportunities at home. This development reflects a deeper political failure to create meaningful jobs within the country. Since the democratic transition in 1991, Nepal’s leadership has largely recycled the same faces, with limited progress on job creation or industrial growth.&nbsp; Nepal cannot build a <a href="https://nipore.org/accelerating-nepals-startups/" target="_blank">knowledge economy</a> while its most ambitious people are outbound to Doha and Tokyo. We are also not just losing ‘labour’. We are losing the entrepreneurial risk tolerance of our youth.&nbsp; If the most ambitious 25-year-olds are abroad, who is left to support innovation and entrepreneurship? The same people who are working tirelessly abroad, are our biggest asset for development. Their work ethic and the know-how inurban renewal could well fit into the new RSP government’s mandate of 7% annual growth.&nbsp; The <a href="https://english.biznessnews.com/posts/-nepal%E2%80%99s-it-exports-cross-1-billion-" target="_blank">$1B milestone</a> of IT exports is a celebratory moment for Nepal. However, that cannot lead to a pathway to a $100 billion economy without innovation ecosystems that go beyond individual labour export. Companies like SecurityPal and industry associations such as NASIT have made significant efforts in building such an environment, recently championed by private sector leaders as a &nbsp;<a href="https://www.securitypalhq.com/blog/silicon-peaks" target="_blank">Silicon Peaks</a> model that emphasises a home growth tech cluster. The need to accelerate this transition is even more urgent with the escalating conflict in West Asia. &nbsp;The recent International Labour Organisation (ILO) <a href="https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/2026-03/Nepal%20LDC%20Graduation%20Employment%20Impacts%20Report.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> shows that LDC graduation is expected to adversely impact manufacturing with losses of $1 billion by 2030.&nbsp; If manufacturing takes such a large hit from losing trade preferences, then Nepal’s services and IT sectors need to structurally transform and shift from exporting individual talent to building firms. &nbsp; A generation’s frustration has finally forced a shift in Nepal’s political structure, handing the new government a clear mandate to fix failures. But the question still persists: what prevents Nepal from achieving sustained, productivity-driven growth? &nbsp;&nbsp; RSP is in the right place at the right time to put Nepal's economy on a firm footing. At the heart of Nepal’s economic underperformance lies a major development binding constraint: low returns to investment on projects.&nbsp; The government invests like a high-growth economy, with gross capital formation at around <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.GDI.FTOT.ZS?locations=NP" target="_blank">25–30 percent of GDP</a>. Yet economic growth remains modest. The problem is not how much the country invests, but how little it gets in return. One way to see this is by looking at how much investment is required to generate growth.&nbsp; Nepal needs large amounts of capital to produce relatively small gains in output (graph, below). For instance, in 2024, the ICOR was 8.29, this suggests that Nepal had to invest more than 8 units of capital to produce a one unit of additional economic output.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260406040412_605dc527641d2ff2dc5723ed8bbec946898331d5538a55b9941e32a0725bf811.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260406040412_605dc527641d2ff2dc5723ed8bbec946898331d5538a55b9941e32a0725bf811" data-rendition-name="original" width="1827" height="925" loading="lazy" alt="Economy graph"> <figcaption>Source: Author's calculation based on a Growth Diagnostic simulation</figcaption> </figure>  This reflects a deeper issue in how investment is allocated and executed. Capital is often locked in low-productivity sectors or diluted by delays, inefficiencies, and policy uncertainty.&nbsp; As a result, even high levels of investment fail to translate into sustained growth. Until investment shifts toward productive, firm-building activities, higher spending alone will not deliver results. &nbsp; To reverse this, the government must focus on raising the returns to investment by enabling firms to grow and compete. This requires a shift from managing scarcity to creating an environment where capital can generate consistent and predictable returns. A central priority should be given to attracting and retaining both domestic and foreign private investment. Investors do not just respond to direct incentives, but also to policy stability in the country. Nepal’s economy cannot sustain high growth if its human capital continues to leave the country.&nbsp; The goal should not simply be to create jobs, but to build companies that scale, innovate, and compete beyond Nepal. This requires supporting sectors with strong productivity potential and ensuring that firms can expand without being constrained by infrastructure gaps or regulatory friction. Finally, the state must improve the quality of its own investment. Public spending should focus on lowering the cost of doing business through reliable electricity, efficient logistics, and digital infrastructure.&nbsp; The GenZ movement took two days to bring change. The economic transformation of Nepal might take a generation. The RSP can accelerate this transition, but only if it focuses on building a better investment climate for business and not just feeding the global labour pool. Kailash Raj Pandey is an MPA/ID and MBA candidate at Harvard Kennedy School and MIT Sloan School of Management and a fellow at MIT Kuo Sharper Center for Innovation and Prosperity.&nbsp; Siddhartha Raymajhí is a policy researcher based in Kathmandu.

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