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Those who stay

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d119c7e80680e0b78a4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/><figcaption>Imja Glacier has turned into a lake 3km long and 1km wide in the last 30 years due to global warming. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption></figure>The double-barrel crisis of climate and Covid <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has hit Nepal’s Himalayan communities hard </a>with its impact on livelihoods and the natural environment.I myself have witnessed first-hand the vast changes in the lives of our people in the mountains for over six decades. As a mountaineer, trekker, environmental activist, and someone in the mountaineering, trekking and tourism sector, I have seen the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impact of the twin crises</a>.Although we share the Himalaya with Bhutan, India, China and Pakistan, it is Nepal that hosts most of the highest peaks. Both the Buddhists and the Hindus who live here consider the Himalaya sacred.Much of our socio-cultural practices of diverse ethnicities from the mountains to the plains evolved amidst the great lakes and rivers emanating from the Himalaya. Protecting the precious natural beauty of the mountains is important not just for Nepal, but also for the planet.Much of Himalayan region is poor, many remote areas still do not have electricity, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/at-the-covid-19-frontlines-in-rural-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">health facilities </a> are dismal, children are deprived of quality schooling, and educated <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/no-country-for-young-men/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">youth migrate because there are no jobs</a>.Nepal is known for its mountains, but it is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/right-at-home-with-nepalis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spontaneous warmth and natural friendliness of its people</a> that impresses visitors. This multi-ethnic society living in harmony for centuries has weaved a rich cultural tapestry.Read also: <a style="font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/global-heating-melts-mountains/">Global heating melts mountains</a>, Nepali TimesThe Himalaya, and more specifically the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> Khumbu region</a> represents the opportunities and challenges of Nepal in a microcosm. I grew up there taking my family’s yaks to graze, climbed for a living to support my family, and awakened to my life’s mission. The mountains are literally melting before my eyes. Hundreds of glacial lakes have swelled up dangerously in recent decades. Imja is now one of the biggest, and I have seen it grow enormously since my childhood. As children, we used to cross the Imja Glacier with our yaks. Then ponds started to appear, and grow. The lake is now 3km long and 1km wide, and in danger of bursting. The Khumbu Glacier in the adjacent valley may not have a big lake, but the firm ice we used to walk on is all gone, replaced by boulders and debris.The Himalaya is already one of the most <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=melting+shake" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">seismically active areas </a>of the world. Future earthquakes can bring down avalanches into these lakes, causing them to top over the fragile moraine dams, sending vertical tsunamis rushing down the narrow valleys.In my lifetime, I have seen two of these glacial lake outburst floods with my own eyes: in 1977 below Ama Dablam in Pangboche, and in 1985 after the Dig Tso burst in Thame. Both caused death and destruction downstream, washing away trails and bridges, drinking water systems, a hydropower plant and decades of development.We in Nepal’s mountains did not cause the global climate breakdown, yet <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we are paying the price</a>. This is why I formed the Climate Alliance of Himalayan Communities (CAHC) to bring the impact of climate change in the Himalaya to world attention, and work on risk reduction through traditional knowledge and native experience.Trekking and mountaineering had also fouled the mountains, giving Mt Everest a bad reputation for being <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/most-days-its-not-so-crowded-on-mt-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">overcrowded</a> and garbage-laden. But in recent years, through initiatives like the annual Eco Everest Expeditions and the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, the routes are much cleaner. The ‘Cash for Trash’ started by Asian Trekking has brought down 24 tonnes of garbage from Mt Everest in the past 14 years. Seven bodies of climbers have also been retrieved for dignified funerals.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/managing-everests-waste-problem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cleaning Himalaya</a> is not as easy as picking garbage in the streets of Kathmandu. Some of the frozen bodies were brought down from Balcony at 8,400m, below the summit of Mt Everest. The Sherpas risked their own lives to dig out the bodies entombed in ice.Tourism has played a pivotal role in the economic transformation of the Khumbu. But it has suffered many crises. The deadly avalanche at Everest Base Camp in 2014, the earthquake the next year, and in the past two years the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as more recent conflicts and instability.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/living-below-nepals-melting-mountains/">Living below Nepal’s melting mountains</a>, Alton C Byers<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101140/63720d149c7e80680e0b78a5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1244" height="500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Nepal needs a post-Covid strategy to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/model-for-post-covid-ecotourism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">revive its tourism industry</a>. The Khumbu, Annapurna, Langtang and Manaslu areas have been hit particularly hard because trekking provided 80% of the income for families.What has made the situation worse has been winter drought, extreme monsoon weather in the last two years. This has meant poor harvests, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-is-going-up-in-smoke/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires and other disasters</a> that have made it difficult for people to cope.The pandemic hit just as Nepal was preparing to welcome the Visit Nepal Year 2020 campaign. The tourism sector had invested a lot of resources through bank loans to promote Nepal and upgrade facilities. But when <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-tourism-may-take-5-years-to-recover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tourism collapsed</a>, the loans added to the burden for businesses.A post-Covid resurgence of tourism in Nepal could be adopted with the following strategies and policies:Banks should reschedule repayment of loans, demand only interest payments now and the principal a year after tourism revives and the cash flow is better. This would lessen some financial burden of the already floundering industry.As tourism recovery seems uncertain, there is a need for state support for those dependent on trekking and mountaineering.Read also: <a style="font-weight: 600; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/climate-for-change/the-great-himalayan-thaw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The great Himalayan thaw</a>, Ajaya DixitCovid vaccination should be prioritised for frontline tourism workers. More PCR test centres should be opened at airports for hassle-free entry for tourists without quarantine. Health protocols should be followed but without making a Nepal trip unpleasant for travellers.Introduce and promote more tourism destinations and products, such as sky diving, winter skiing, high altitude ice hockey competitions, mountain biking, agro tourism, etc.Tourism infrastructure should be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tourism-that-treads-lightly-on-the-land/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rebuilt using an eco-design</a> approach to optimise the use of locally-available resources and expertise that generates employment.Special packages must target repeat international tourists, the Nepali diasporas, expatriates and domestic tourists.Provide vocational skills (plumbing, carpentry, electrician, masonry) for local people dependent on tourism jobs.Revival of tourism will only happen if there is survival. More than anything else, we need to get people back to work so that they can look after themselves. And that means we need to get tourism up and running, as it is one of the biggest employers.We need to let the world know that the best way to help the Himalayan people is by visiting the country. Visitors will also see first-hand the enormity of the climate crisis, and will thus help focus global attention to it.The Himalaya is not just a tourist destination providing income to Nepalis. It is also a gigantic water tower for much of humanity that lives downstream in Asia. Saving the Himalaya means saving the planet.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/danger-nepals-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up/">DANGER: Nepal’s glacial lakes are filling up</a>, Nepali TimesAng Tshering Sherpa is a tourism entrepreneur and has served with the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

Himalayans on the frontlines

<img width="941" height="352" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4da9c7e80680e0966d3jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>When we utter the word ‘mountain’, many things come to mind, as does the imagination of a collective identity of a people whose lives are punctuated with hardships of the difficult terrain they call ‘home’.The International Mountain Museum is just that-- a space that represents an identity that is local, brought to the visitors through a carefully curated collection of images and objects.Established and managed by the Nepal Mountaineering association, the museum building is housed within a 100-ropani land at Rata Pahiro in Pokhara. The 18-year-old museum building has a striking skyline roof, and the distinct honour of being the only mountain museum in the world from which three 8000m mountains are in sight-- Annapurna I, Manaslu, and Dhaulagiri.From the gates of the museum to its main building, visitors will be treated by a short garden walk, punctuated by a memorial for pioneers in Nepali mountaineering. The museum is divided into two floors, and the building itself is airy and expansive, with lots of natural light, and the multi-coloured steel beams holding the roof giving the room an impression of added height. To the left lies the Lakhang room—a Buddhist gumba—immediately indicative of how Buddhist faith is interwoven with Nepal’s mountain communities. <img width="1781" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4dc9c7e80680e0966d4jpeg.jpg" alt="">The exhibits begin from the basement and are divided into three main sections, the first of which is the ‘Hall of Mountain people’. The first three exhibits show mountain communities around the world, the flora and fauna in the mountains of Taiwan, Japan and Slovenia. All exhibits are accompanied by mannequins dressed in the traditional garb of the region.The hall opens up to Nepali mountain communities, starting from the Sherpa people, and making way for the Kirat, Limbu, Sunuwar, Pun, Gurung, and Chhantyal communities. Entire lifestyles are showcased in floor-to-ceiling glass cases and shelves, from cooking utensils, farming tools, and weapons to musical instruments and even their bedding. The pensive mannequins in ethnic attire look on. <img width="780" height="585" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4e09c7e80680e0966d5jpeg.jpg" alt="">Photographs from decades ago of mountain people across Nepal, as well as the Alps in Europe, document life on the highlands. A series of photos of children, huddling in conference or just playing with dolls, are particularly striking. In one black-and-white image, a young European girl stands cheek to cheek with a black cat, while her Nepali counterpart holds a black puppy. It is a reminder that as different as our cultures and rituals are, the human instinct transcends boundaries. <img width="780" height="585" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4e39c7e80680e0966d6jpeg.jpg" alt="">Further along, the basement opens up to the ‘Hall of Mountains’, which begins with posters of the 14 peaks above 8000m, displayed according to height. The posters, the kind one would perhaps find hung on a travel agent’s office, are offset by the personal accounts and excerpts from mountaineers that accompany the photos. ‘On the narrow range, we held hands and exultation, then the surface beneath our feet began to crumble and seemed likely to break away, so I straddled the ridge like a horse,’ reads Toshio Imanishi’s account of his Manaslu ascent.A few feet away lay rocks of varied shapes, sizes, and kinds collected from Palpa, Kaski, Syangja, and Nuwakot. Labelled and caged in glass, their ages range from 2.5 million to 570 million years, and the historical implications may cause a minor existential crisis if one were to stop and contemplate.At the mountain ecology section, simple posters—the kind that one would find taped to the walls of Nepali classrooms, display the flora and fauna. The gallery also has a few taxidermy animals-- disconcerting because the gallery is on the side of the building where the natural light does not reach-- and a butterfly exhibit. Indeed, the museum is a study in contrasts, and different parts of the exhibit inspire different feelings. Some exhibits, like the Yeti display and the photograph of the Yeti footprint, play into the legend surrounding Nepal’s mountains, while flex banners of Nepal’s mountain ecosystem lie a few feet away. All at once, a sightseeing expedition becomes a school trip. <img width="585" height="780" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4e69c7e80680e0966d7jpeg.jpg" alt="">The third major section of the museum is the mountain activities gallery, where mountaineering gear from mountain expeditions through the decades is displayed in rows in floor-to-ceiling glass cases. Aided by photos and accounts of various expeditions, the exhibits are a tangible reminder that climbers are not merely brave, historic figures, but flesh and blood.The mountain activities gallery also pays tribute to influential figures in mountaineering. Toni Hagen’s first trekking permit is on display. Alongside, is a jacket and sleeping bag, belonging to the first president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Kumar Khadga Bikram Shah. Watercolour paintings and office equipment, which were once the property of geologist and conservationist, late Harka Gurung, are also exhibited.The museum also takes visitors through a collage of displays on conservation areas in Nepal, prominently showing the implications of climate change. The exhibit then moves upstairs.An elderly man peers closely at each of the photographs that display Nepal’s 125 ethnic communities. He is accompanied by his daughter, who has brought him to the museum after an appointment at the eye hospital nearby. He moves on to the other exhibits, stopping and reading carefully each time. From the vantage point of the ground floor, it is easy to see that the museum is filling up with the afternoon crowd. Three women take pictures in front of the utensils in the Hall of Mountain People. A couple of young children run around Lama Ngawang Kochha Sherpa’s mandala on display in front of the Taiwanese exhibit. It looks like a normal day in normal times where people take day trips to the museum, but for the masks covering the visitors’ faces. <img width="1781" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4e89c7e80680e0966d8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="1781" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121144/636ce4eb9c7e80680e0966d9jpeg.jpg" alt="">There is much to do outside the museum, too. Right in front of the main building lies a mock Mt Manaslu, which visitors can climb. Further away is the live museum, which has cows, goats, and bees. There is a restaurant, and multiple rest stops on the premises where visitors can relax.“This space is not just a museum. We have also tried to make it a space for learning and research. Everyone is welcome here— tourists, students, researchers, or academicians,” says Kul Bahadur Gurung, General Secretary of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. The museum showed up to a 37% annual increase in visitors before the pandemic, with the highest single-day visitor record of 3000 in 2018. “These exhibits mean a great deal to Nepal’s mountain communities and the museum is crucial to tourism in Pokhara,” adds Gurung. Indeed, traffic at the museum has picked up as domestic tourists flock to Pokhara and schools around the city open back up. Gurung is hopeful that the increase in visitors will be a continuing trend once the pandemic is under control globally.

Shristi Karki

Of mountains and of people

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac759c7e80680e077f32jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="917"/><figcaption>Women harvest millet in Manang, Nepal.</figcaption></figure>The 300 million<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> inhabitants of the Himalayan mountains</a>, already threatened by the climate crisis, now face new risks to their livelihoods from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-prepares-for-economic-fallout-of-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economic downturn</a> caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.Called the ‘Roof of the World’ the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-third-pole-is-warming-faster-than-expected/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> store the most ice after the polar regions</a>, and their melt feeds waters in rivers on which 1.3 billion people downstream depend. Asians already facing water shortages and extreme weather now have to contend with mass unemployment, hunger and disease.‘The social, economic and environmental impacts have been harsh and have exacerbated old risks and vulnerabilities and highlighted new ones,’ says the policy paper by the Kathmandu-based ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) released on Monday.It notes that the pandemic hit the region at a time when countries in the Himalaya were enjoying economic growth. “With the strike of the pandemic, they have felt the sharp pains of dramatic economic decline and skyrocketing unemployment,’ it says.Most ICIMOD member countries like Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Burma depend on remittances that their migrant workers send home, and this source of income has been seriously undermined by the pandemic.Millions of workers have come home to their villages in the mountains from the Gulf states, southeast Asia as well as further overseas. Their families face an uncertain future because of the loss of income, and their countries have lost a major chunk of their revenue.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac789c7e80680e077f33jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="637" height="880">The report says: ‘Decreased mobility of workers has impacted the remittance economy, and the lockdown itself has challenged social and family norms.’Linked to the loss of remittances is food security, as farming has been disrupted since the supply chain for supplies and markets have been disrupted. Mountain farming systems were already in crisis due to the impact of climate induced changes as well as outmigration, and the pandemic has made this crisis worse.‘The looming<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/eu-unicef-support-child-nutrition-during-lockdown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> threat of severe hunger and malnutrition</a> has intensified as mountain farming systems were already declining before the pandemic,’ the policy paper says. ‘Gender, social and economic inequalities could easily widen accompanied by more poverty, constricted access to education, and higher risks of rising maternal child mortality and morbidity rates.’Since the mountain economies depend a lot on tourism, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on mountain peoples who depended on income from the hospitality industry. The ICIMOD policy paper says that the collapse of agriculture and tourism have made mountain people highly vulnerable to a slide into chronic poverty.The COVID-19 pandemic has also exposed the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/coronavirus-outbreak-may-curb-wildlife-trafficking/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> risk of the spread of zoonotic diseases</a> spreading across national boundaries because of an increase in smuggling of illegal wildlife. With poverty driving more people and countries to destructive resource extraction and the degradation of nature – all exacerbating the changes already happening due to the climate crisis.The policy paper charts out short- medium- and long-term measures that countries can take to mitigate the combined impact of climate and COVID-19, calling for ever greater regional cooperation as well as increased funding for mountains regions like the Himalaya.However, both recommendation look iffy at a time when <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/view-of-galwan-from-bhutan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">geopolitical tension is rising</a> along the Himalaya between India and China, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lines-on-a-map/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal and India</a> as well as India and Pakistan. In addition, the global recession due to COVID-19 may make it even more difficult to secure funding for climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in the mountains.The police paper concludes: ‘These are frightening times, unless we are able to take quick actions and at the same time, address the roots of many of these vulnerabilities. ‘When the spread of COVID-19 is brought under control and restrictions are lifted, we need to start rebuilding and the key will be to rebuild for more sustainable livelihoods and resilience.’

Already fragile, Himalaya faces COVID-19 risk

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Thousands of Nepali students dreaming of an American education have been forced to look elsewhere as the Trump administration’s visa restrictions make their future uncertain.
The US was long considered a top destination for higher studies, making Nepal the 10th biggest country of origin for international students in America.&nbsp;
However, that number has seen a significant decline with the total for Nepali students now at 16,482. Some 8,000 Nepali students obtained no-objection certificates to study in the US from the Ministry of Education in the past year.&nbsp;
India, Australia, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom and Japan are the other popular destinations for Nepali students. There are no clear numbers for Nepalis going to India, but a slight decline was noted this year after the deaths of two female students.
The US State Department has issued a circular to its embassies not to issue new visas to applicants until further notice. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the directive stated that the department planned to expand the screening of applicants' social media.&nbsp;
While new applicants are barred including those applying for visitor visas, students with scheduled interviews are allowed to proceed.
“Many of our students are affected by the new restrictions, but those who had applied for student visas earlier have got interview dates,” one Kathmandu-based college counsellor told us.
Meanwhile, even foreign students with spotless records already in the US have not been spared, as visa scrutiny intensifies under the new policy. In a move that underscores the growing sense of insecurity, many US colleges advised international students to carry their passports and documents at all times, even when traveling locally.
“Me and my friends did not go home this summer because we were not sure we would be allowed back, so we just went to Niagara Falls,” said a Nepali undergrad in Ohio, who like many interviewed for this report did not want her name used for fear of repercussion.
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Nepali students have adopted a cautious stance, with many choosing not to return home during summer vacation due to fear of visa revocations as well as travel bans. Meanwhile, over 7,000 Nepalis with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will have to come back to Nepal by 5 August or face deportation. Thirty-seven were flown back to Kathmandu on Omni Air last week.
“The US is one of the most sought-after destinations for higher education, and the ban will definitely impact bright students,” says Narottam Aryal of the King’s College in Kathmandu.
Indeed, Nepali undergraduates admitted into Ivy League colleges for the 2025 academic year have been asked to look for alternatives. The entire Fulbright Foreign Scholarships Board resigned on Wednesday citing interference from the Trump administration on the selection of this year’s cohort. Some Nepali students already on Fulbright scholarships have noted disruptions, delays and even cancellation of stipends.&nbsp;
The student visa restrictions were initially just for foreign students admitted to Harvard University, but it was later extended to all Chinese students and now to all students. Universities like Columbia which actively recruit foreign students, face sharp enrolment declines, threatening their financial stability and diversity.
An Indian female PhD candidate at Columbia University had her visa revoked by the US State Department, and said she was targeted on the basis of her social media posts on Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Social media vetting of political activism has raised concerns about privacy and freedom of expression in a country where such rights were a given.
Many students have been informed via email that their visas have been revoked for getting speeding or parking tickets, but even others with no criminal record have been affected. The fear of deportation looms large amongst international students, including those from Nepal.&nbsp;
For most Nepalis who migrate to the US for education, the journey is a high-stakes investment. They come largely from middle-class families, often rely on a patchwork of scholarships, work-study programs, loans, or even the sale of family assets to afford fees.
Most Nepali students pursue STEM subjects which offer extended Optional Practical Training (OPT) periods that help fund their education. But with the US backsliding on education and humanitarian matters, countries like the UK and Canada are becoming more attractive despite their own recent stricter controls on student visas.&nbsp;
The UK universities saw a 63% rise in Nepali students’ admissions in 2024. Japan is another popular destination with 64,816 Nepali students enrolled as of 2024.
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Already, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are poised to benefit from the increased scrutiny of US student visas. Several Hong Kong universities are offering unconditional admission to affected students, while Malaysian institutions are targeting previously US-bound Asian students. China and India have 330,000 and 280,000 students respectively in America, but the numbers for China have seen a sharp drop in the past year.
Elsewhere, branch campuses of American institutions such as NYU in Abu Dhabi, Georgetown in Dubai and Northwestern in Doha are getting more admission applications, and universities in the Gulf region are expanding infrastructure to accommodate those who would otherwise have gone to the US.&nbsp;
Even educational institutions in Nepal are hopeful that the US visa restrictions can be an opportunity to at least keep Nepali undergrads in Nepal, and also attract foreign students from the region.&nbsp;
“Many students might choose to complete their undergraduate degree here in Nepal and then move abroad for their Master’s degree later,” says Aryal of King’s College. “There was a need for quality higher education in Nepal anyway in terms of innovation and opportunities, so this could be the time to reduce our dependence on other countries.”
Nepal’s strategic position between India and China makes it sensitive to US policy shifts. India, a key ally, is also under US scrutiny for potential student travel restrictions. Chinese universities are already offering more scholarships to Nepali talent to capitalise on the US retreat.
American universities have challenged student visa restrictions in the courts. A federal court in Boston revoked the blanket ban on Harvard, and the State Department has ordered the resumption of processing student and exchange visitor visas.&nbsp;
Some are still hoping that President Trump will backtrack on the student visa restrictions, just like he has done with many of his more drastic executive orders.
Even so, the visa see-saw and longer-term uncertainties about living in the United States and its education system means students across the world are making alternative plans.
Says Aryal: “Policies of foreign countries change according to their needs, so excessive dependence was never a good idea. We should work to create different opportunities and choices of higher education within Nepal, so students are retained.” &nbsp;

America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

That winter day in January 1664 marked an exceptional event in the reign of King Pratap Malla of Kathmandu. It was 15 Paush 784 of the Nepal Sambat and for the first time, a historical event was being immortalised on canvas for generations to come.&nbsp; The occasion was the grand Tuladaan ceremony of the King’s youngest son Chakrabartendra Malla from his wife Anantapriya, an Indian princess from Cooch Behar in present-day Assam.&nbsp; During the ritual, the prince was weighed against gold, silver, pearls, and other precious stones, which were then offered to Goddess Taleju Bhavani, the guardian deity of the Malla dynasty.&nbsp; The 170 x120cm painting captures the time of King Pratap Malla in all its splendour and is more than a personal tribute to his son: it is a significant visual historical document. It was evidently completed five years later in 1669, and could be considered a photographic record, with retrospective recreation of the event by the unknown artist. A Tuladaan ceremony is performed to purify one’s karma, quell impending bad luck, or as an act of charity and devotion. Chakrabartendra Malla was not well, and the ritual was performed in hopes of restoring his health. King Pratap Malla had arranged for each of his sons to take turns ruling Kathmandu so they got administrative experience. But Chakrabartendra died just two days after assuming power in 1670 (790 NS). This painting is considered the earliest known example in which the composition is dominated by an architectural landscape: the Taleju Temple. Given the stylistic features such as side-profile facial depictions and the rendering of human forms, it is believed that the Nepali artist was trained by a Rajput master.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250615040624_ddad3bc27a327e3f9926c8473287e4f14b53081296c295049009f327a4d97051.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250615040624_ddad3bc27a327e3f9926c8473287e4f14b53081296c295049009f327a4d97051" data-rendition-name="original" width="3248" height="4395" loading="lazy" alt="Tuladaan NT"> </figure>  During that era, there were regular exchanges of artists between Northern India and Kathmandu Valley. The painting is also a melding of Nepali, Tibetan, Mughal, and Rajput art styles of the time. Pratap Malla could have been inspired by a painting of Mughal Emperor Jahangir’s Tuladaan ceremony for his son Khurram in 1607. The Mallas and Mughals shared cordial relations, which is reflected in the cultural influences seen in the art and attire of the period.&nbsp; The clothing of the Malla ruling class, in particular, features colourful tunics, turbans, and jewelry that display strong Rajput and Mughal stylistic elements. The musicians in the upper tier are also dressed in Indian-style clothing, while the ensemble on the lower steps wear local attire, notably without turbans. Their hairstyles also differ, with the lower group wearing their hair tied in a bun at the front. This national treasure is currently in storage at the Collège de France in Paris, and has never been publicly displayed. Nepal’s art scholars like Gautam Vajracharya, Pratap Aditya Pal and Anne Vergati have written about this iconic paubha in the past, but the only detailed study is from the perspective of music history by researcher Richard Widdess who had access to high resolution copies of the original.&nbsp; Widdess from the Department of Music at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London describes the paubha as the most significant and richly detailed documentation of music in Nepali art. He identifies distinct musical ensembles on the terraces of the temple, and remarkably most of them are actively used today. One of them reflects the Mughal naqqārakhāna model — a loud outdoor ensemble typically composed of kettledrums, trumpets, and cymbals, traditionally performed from the gateway of the emperor’s palace to announce his entrances and exits. The depiction of such an ensemble in the tulādāna painting is likely the earliest known representation of a complete naqqārakhāna in Nepal — considered the forerunner of the panche baja, the traditional Nepali ensemble. On the stepped pyramid base of the temple are two groups of musicians playing local instruments: dhimey, bhushya, and dha. They are unmistakably Newar musicians, wearing short skirts and short-sleeved tops, with bare heads and legs—clearly distinguished as local performers.&nbsp; Higher still on the temple pyramid are musicians of apparently higher status, positioned close to the king, and his courtiers, possibly professional court musicians from India, well-versed in rāga and tāla. A dāphā group is also clearly depicted, identifiable by their characteristic instruments.&nbsp; Dāphā bhajan is likely the oldest surviving tradition of Newar devotional singing, and this paubha is the oldest visual record of it. Pratap Malla himself is believed to have composed songs that continue to be performed by dāphā groups throughout Kathmandu till today.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025061211064_d67636730cdc0ec778c02494817aca0b99654f2950d0fae4b95499a61faf7ef3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025061211064_d67636730cdc0ec778c02494817aca0b99654f2950d0fae4b95499a61faf7ef3" data-rendition-name="original" width="596" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="Priceless paubha in Paris NT"> </figure>  The artist’s thorough attention to musical detail may be attributed to King Pratap Malla’s own deep interest in music. His inscriptions on this painting and elsewhere proclaim his mastery of all branches of knowledge, including music. He is also known as the author of dance dramas and poems, penning his name as Kavindra (king of poets). Some noteworthy elements of new art techniques stand out: for example, the roof of the temple is filled with realistically rendered white doves, pigeons, and crows. This is a rare feature in paubha, where animals and birds are stylised, mythological forms. This remarkably talented unknown artist has managed to also render an orthographic projection: the front and side view of Nepal’s first architectural paubha. The Taleju Temple, with its staggering multi-tiered structure and numerous steps and platforms, is masterfully translated into layers within the painting. This represents a significant artistic achievement of the time, especially considering that dimensional perspectives had not started in deity-based paubha.&nbsp; The artist has also made a meticulous effort to capture architectural details such as the toran (ornamental arch) and temple struts with impressive precision. There are flickering lamps along the steps and some people carrying what appear to be oil pots.&nbsp; It is a full moon night and the dark sky is adorned with all the gods and goddesses, who are depicted as blessing the ceremony while seated on stylised thangka clouds. There is a lot happening in this painting, with people engaged in various activities. The artist has also rendered a forest backdrop behind the temple, complete with deer, trees, and flowers. Could there have once been a royal garden behind the Taleju Temple?&nbsp; More details and clarity can only be achieved if we are able to view the original or a high-resolution scanned version of the artwork. Many countries proudly display art depicting historical events in their national museums with great reverence. France, for example, has The Coronation of Emperor Napoleon and Empress Joséphine by Jacques-Louis David (1808–1822), along with numerous paintings of the Napoleonic Wars. Many were commissioned by Napoleon himself for future generations to remember.&nbsp; For Nepal, the equivalent is the Tuladaan paubha which is a visual record capturing a historic moment involving one of Kathmandu’s greatest kings, on the very day the event took place. Sadly, we await the day when this masterpiece is displayed, shared in high resolution for detailed study, or more rightfully — repatriated to its homeland, where it truly belongs. &nbsp; Shaguni Singh Sakya is the Director of the Museum of Nepali Arts (MoNA) at Kathmandu Guest House in Thamel. <h2>Gods homeward bound</h2> The Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign and Nepal’s Department of Archaeology are convening the first international conference on the Recovery of Cultural Heritage from 16-18 June in Patan. The conference will address urgent issues of theft, illicit trafficking, the campaign to repatriate looted cultural artifacts, and explore how the return of sacred antiquities contributes to justice, healing, and reconciliation for communities and nations affected by cultural loss. American art crime professor Erin L Thompson and Saubhagya Pradhananga of the Department of Archaeology will deliver the keynote. Meanwhile, author and Nepali Times publisher Kunda Dixit will lead a conversation on Illicit Trafficking: Public Opinion and Role of Media with Erin Thompson, Amr Al Azm, associate professor of Middle East History and Anthropology at Shawnee State University in Ohio, as well as Bradley J Gordon, a lawyer based in Phnom Penh. There will be sessions looking at repatriation perspectives from Cambodia, India, Vietnam, China and Poland, international frameworks for repatriation, emerging digital technologies in the repatriation of cultural heritage, cultural property agreements, museums as well as trends in the art market, and heritage diplomacy and the role of media.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025061211068_59cfccfa8f5d73bfe8b4c5811a7f53abc09ea04e8cb7c638933d62e5283efdf6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025061211068_59cfccfa8f5d73bfe8b4c5811a7f53abc09ea04e8cb7c638933d62e5283efdf6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1350" loading="lazy" alt="Heritage recovery NT"> </figure>  <h2> </h2> Some of the other highlights include James K. Reap, a professor in the Master of Historic Preservation Program at the University of Georgia who has a session on the US response to illicit trafficking. Art historian Lea Saint-Raymond is taking on “Gods at Auction: The Market for Himalayan Artefacts”, while lecturer of criminology at the University of Glasgow Emiline Smith is delving into transformative approaches to heritage ownership and repatriation. Helena Arose of Antiquities Coalition and Melina Antoniadis of NOSTOS Strategies that specialise on the return home of cultural heritage as well as Hao Liu of International Cultural Heritage Law at the School of Law at Shandong University are some of the others attending. The Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign was set up in 2020 to develop a coordinated movement to reclaim Nepal’s stolen gods and goddesses, with an aim to ensure that recovered items are returned to their original shrines, niches or sanctums. Ahead of the conference opening organisers have arranged for a film screening of Loot &amp; Return: 4 Documentaries at YalaMaya Kendra in Patan Dhoka between 14-15 June. Following the conference is a multimedia exhibition titled Absent Gods: Nepal’s Lost Heritage from 31 July to 4 August at Patan Museum.

Priceless paubha in Paris

While Nepal was hosting the Sagarmatha Sambaad international climate conference in Kathmandu this month, on Mt Everest it was pretty much business as usual.&nbsp; The signs of climate breakdown are all there: a river now runs through Base Camp in summer, the Khumbu Icefall is more unstable, and there are more &nbsp;frequent avalanches. When expeditions arrived in March, the mountains were bare: it had not snowed since September, but then blizzards dumped unseasonal snow in May. And despite climate worries, such is the pull of Himalayan mountaineering that the Everest Industry showed no signs of slowdown. More than 600 international climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. At one point there were an estimated 2,000 people in the tent city on the Khumbu Glacier. All the ropes and ladders on the Icefall came down on Thursday, marking the official end of the spring climbing season, and just in time to avoid a monsoon cyclone approaching from the Bay of Bengal. It has been an action-packed season. One factor could be that Everest fees will go up from September: each foreign climber needs to pay a $15,000 royalty, up from the present $11,000. The cost for a Nepali climber on the South Col route will also go up: from Rs75,000 to Rs150,000.&nbsp; The fee to climb Everest in autumn is $7,500 (up from $5,500), but most climbers still prefer spring. Winter permit fee (December-February) is only $3,750 per person and the mountain is now also open for monsoon (June-August) climbs, when the fee is ever lower at $2,750. The revised rule also makes it mandatory for every two climbers on an 8,000m peak to hire one Nepali mountain guide.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046" data-rendition-name="original" width="931" height="732" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry graph 1"> </figure>  In addition, climbers also have to pay for porters and guides, equipment, Base Camp costs, Ice Fall and fixed rope team fees, so climbing Everest does not come cheap. But such is the draw of climbing the world’s highest peak that some say the increased fees will not diminish the crowds next year. The government has tried to spread expeditions out to other seasons and other 8,000ers, but with not much success. Earlier this year, Nepal unilaterally increased the number of 8,000m peaks to 14 by adding six more sub-summits to broaden the choice for climbers. Added were: Yalung Kang (8,505m), Yalung Kang West (8,077m) &nbsp;Kangchenjunga Central (8,473m), Kangchenjunga South (8,476m), Lhotse Middle (8,410m) and Lhotse Shar (8,400m).&nbsp; The announcement could go against the accepted topographic criteria that a stand alone peak has to be at least 300m higher than an adjoining prominence, and at more than 3km isolation from it. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) still recognises only 14 mountains as eight-thousanders, and only eight of those are in Nepal, or on the border with China. Nepal’s revised mountaineering regulations also increased the insurance coverage of high-altitude workers to protect porters and high altitude guides who usually take more risks on the mountains. Rescue teams and clean-up campaigners to collect trash and remove bodies of dead climbers up to Camp IV of Mt Everest do not need permits.&nbsp; The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is now using drones to fly down trash in 20kg sacks. Each climber is also required to bring down at least 6kg of waste and not just their own, but this rule is erratically enforced. With five fatalities on Everest and Lhotse, Spring 2025 had a historically low death toll. Another five climbers died on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="665" height="740" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest industry graph 2"> </figure>  Journalist Ben Ayers who ran the Everest Live social media channel from Everest Base Camp with daily updates credited the low death rate to dramatic rescues of climbers from the ‘Death Zone’ by their Nepali guides and longline helievacs — the visuals all uploaded on YouTube.&nbsp; “Ironically, this perception of safety is bringing more and more inexperienced climbers to the mountain, and they need more rescues,” Ayers said in one of his dispatches.&nbsp; American expedition chronicler and summiteer Alan Arnette suspects there is a lot of under-reporting given that the jet stream and storms were lashing Everest even till late in the season. He told us: “I heard a lot about frostbite and rescues that were not made public. It’s become practically impossible to cover the details on Everest. All the teams report nice news, and they don’t talk about bad stuff to avoid hurting businesses.” Although trash on Nepal’s mountains makes headlines, what does not receive as much attention is the climate impact of so many expeditions. The Sagarmatha Sambaad conference sidestepped this issue, which is ironic given that the impact of climate breakdown is most evident on Himalayan peaks and their glaciers.&nbsp; <h2>Need for Speed</h2> The big stories this year have been about speed-running from their home cities to the top of Everest. Ukrainian entrepreneur Andrew Ushakov flew out of JFK on 15 May at 10:15AM Nepal time, and was on the summit 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes later on 19 May at 9:22AM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry"> <figcaption>Andrew Ushakov at the summt. Photo: ELITE EXPED</figcaption> </figure>  “I could never find the time for the traditional 40-50 days of acclimatisation,” Ushakov explained matter-of-factly. His ‘Everest Sea-to-Summit’ climb was possible because he spent 400 hours in hypoxic sleep tents over the past four years in New York. However, Ushakov did use ropes already fixed, hired four Nepali guides, helicoptered to Base Camp, and used much more oxygen than an average climber. And after the climb, Ushakov was arrested at Kathmandu airport for being in possession of $20,000 of undeclared cash and spent a night in jail and fined $60,000.&nbsp; The other speedsters were Garth Miller, Alastair Cairns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington, all former British Army commandos. They left London and summited five days later on 21 May, and flew right back. They also used hypoxic tents to simulate the thin air high on Everest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry "> <figcaption>All four members of the Furtenbach team at the summit. Photo: Sandro Gromen-Hayes</figcaption> </figure>  But more controversial was their use of xenon gas therapy in a German hospital to ramp up the production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobins in their blood. Xenon is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for being performance enhancing in sports. Expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach said this rule does not apply to mountaineering, as it is not a regulated sport like swimming. Nepal has no rules about xenon, but the Department of Tourism said it was launching an ‘investigation’ to decide on future policy since it is difficult to ban xenon, but allow oxygen. The controversy has also divided the mountaineering community, with some climbers saying they just want to maximise their chances of survival. Spending less time on the mountain could make climbing safer by reducing avalanche risk. It would also mean less trash on the mountains, but it would reduce the income of Nepal’s expedition industry. It is also unclear how much of the success was due to xenon therapy and whether the ex-special forces were already in good physical shape.&nbsp; The need for speed hides the fact that climbing in the Himalaya is dangerous business, and climbers cannot sprint to the top just by huffing xenon. But ultra-fast climbs could be charged more, and the revenue generated can be used to establish state-of-the-art rescue operations, and increase pay and insurance for guides. Two other speed chasers this season were Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff and American Tyler Andrews, both on Everest without oxygen. Andrews choppered to Base Camp to catch a weather window, but turned back from 8,500m due to high winds. Heavy snow and wind also forced Egloff to descend from 7,000m. Slow and steady climbers like Anja Blacha from Germany did make it to the summit without oxygen, while Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 31st Everest summit as he led a 26-strong Indian Army group. There were 468 permits issued for foreign climbers from 48 expeditions to Everest this spring. Nepal’s other eight-thousanders together had only 17 expeditions. Nepal has more than 1,000 peaks above 6,000m, and has opened only 476 of them for climbing.&nbsp;

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