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Dissatisfied, Moon began looking for alternatives, new trails to the remot­est parts of Nepal that gave her the opportunity to explore uncharted territories, and that is how she stumbled upon the Great Himalayan Trail (GHT) in 2013. (Soon she would go on to become the first South Korean to complete the GHT high route.)

Giving experienced trekkers this unique opportunity was precisely the idea behind the GHT, which was launched in 2009 after five years of meticulous research, documentation and mapping. In the same year, Robin Boustead led the first team to complete the whole trail, in 162 days.

The GHT is a long-distance footpath that runs from Kanchanjunga in the east to Darchula in the west, cover­ing 1,700km and offering an extraor­dinary diversity of landscapes, cultures and experiences. The whole trek takes around 150 days to complete. On the way, trekkers walk through eight of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000m, and cross passes at an altitude up to 6,000m. Covering regions like Annapurna, Sagarmatha, Dolpa, Manaslu and Langtang, the goal is to get a new generation of trekkers excited and get them exploring Nepal.

Routes

There are two routes that the GHT trek­kers can take—the high route and the low route. The former (3,000-6,000m) pass­es through some of the most remote vil­lages and high altitude valleys of Nepal. The latter has an average altitude of 2,000m, the highest point being the Jang La pass (4,519m). Taking around 95 days to complete, trekking along it means walking through dense forests and small communities and learning about their customs and religions.

Difficulties

Completing the GHT is considered far more difficult than climbing a mountain, as it calls for a very high level of fitness and commitment. Only a few as such have completed the high route.

“You must have three things—time, money and courage—to complete the GHT,” says Nima Dawa Sherpa, a Nepali trekker who completed the high route in a record 82 day. “Not everyone has all three at once. Trekkers don’t get to see human habitats for two or three days in a row and they have to carry basic items like food and tents themselves.”

“When we crossed the trail, passes were very narrow in some places, so we could only set up one tent and as many as 11 people had to sleep in it,” says Moon Seung Young. “And there were no good signposts to guide us.”

Setback

“The concept was based on a busi­ness model specifically drafted to ben­efit Nepal’s tourism,” says Pranil Upadhayaya, a certified trail man­ager. “But as the trail passes mostly through wilderness, it couldn’t gen­erate much business. Plus, the rigor of the trek dissuaded many.”

As such, the GHT was subsequent­ly divided into a 10-part network of trails, which includes Kanchanjun­ga, Makalu-Barun, Everest-Rolwal­ing, Helambu-Langtang, Ganesh Himal-Manaslu, Annapurna and Mustang, Dolpa, Jumla, Humla and the far-west. As it takes only around two to three weeks to complete one sector, more people got interested.

Even so, Upadhayaya adds, Nepal’s trails are not up to interna­tional standards. Four basic aspects of a trail are safety, environment, boarding facilities and information in the form of signposts. Most Nepali trails lack one or more of these.

He is not pessimistic though. “For the first time, we are getting trail standard guidelines in Nepal, and under the Tourism Ministry, a trail standard community has been formed,” Upadhayaya says. “The standard of Nepal’s trails is being gradually improved with the col­laboration of various national and international bodies”

Ilam’s Mai municipality, which borders the district of Jhapa, gets over 50 cases in a month. Bishnu Maya Rijal, coordinator of the judicial committee and deputy mayor, says many of those cases have to do with marital prob­lems, and that while the commit­tee is able to resolve some cases, others are more complicated. One such reported case involved a wife who asked for an expen­sive mobile phone from her hus­band working abroad and used the device to establish relations with another man.

Rijal argues that families whose members work abroad are being broken apart because of social media abuse. Face­book seems to be a major cul­prit. Women (but also men in some cases) are apparently using it to begin extra-marital affairs. They splurge the hard-earned money sent by their spouse working abroad, the filed cases accuse.

Similar cases are being filed in other areas too. Pabimaya Rai, deputy mayor and head of the Judicial Committee at Deumai municipality, says that there has been a drastic increase in the number of ‘Facebook dis­putes’. “There are many cases of a woman indulging in profligacy or licentiousness while her hus­band is abroad,” says Rai.

No law yet

The standard procedure for adjudicating cases hasn’t yet been formed at Ilam’s local level. But Shumsher Rai, chairperson of Rong rural municipality, says that despite the lack of laws, local disputes are resolved through mediation.

In the absence of the required laws and guidelines, some local level judicial committees have adopted the dispute resolution mechanism of various NGOs. The government has recently sent a preliminary draft of the law to the local level. All local level judicial committees say they are studying the draft.

By TOYANATH BHATTARAI | ILAM

Hemophilia is an inherit­ed bleeding disorder that prevents blood from clot­ting effectively. For a person with hemophilia, any injury to a blood vessel can result in an uncontrolled discharge of blood either internally or, when the skin is broken, externally. A bump or a knock, which in a normal person would produce a bruise, may result in a major bleeding episode in a person with hemophilia.People with hemophilia are prone to spontaneous bleeds, particularly in joints such as ankles, elbows and knees. Because these bleeds are accom­panied by symptoms of pain and swelling, they are generally obvious and get prompt attention. Nevertheless, over a period of time, the enzymes from these hemorrhages corrode the cartilage, bones and nerves causing chronic pain and arthritis in the affected joints. Another insidious aspect of the disorder is that spontaneous, life-threatening bleeds may occur internally without any spe­cific symptoms, requiring emer­gency hospitalization.

Except in rare cases, hemophil­ia occurs only in men; women, however, are the carriers of the hemophilia gene. This condi­tion is incurable but temporarily manageable. The only possible treatment is infusion of blood, plasma, cryoprecipitate or the anti-hemophilic factor concen­trate at every instance of bleed­ing. The treatment is prohibitive­ly expensive.

In line with the World Feder­ation of Hemophilia’s estimated prevalence rate of hemophilia in general population (one in 10,000 live births), there should be around 3,000 persons with hemophilia (PWH) in Nepal. But only around 600 of them have been identified. Nepal Hemophil­ia Society is a social non-profit, non-governmental, non-political organization that works for these PWH, their families and care-giv­ers. Established in 1992, it is run by a group of voluntary workers who either have hemophilia or are parents of such children.

NHS is working in all aspects of hemophilia care that includes diagnosis, treatment, rehabil­itation, psychosocial counsel­ing and social support. Other important works of NHS include advocacy of hemophilia rights and awareness generation.

NHS is a sole caregiver, the only advocacy group, and a social network for the PWHs and their families in Nepal. After a long strategic planning, advo­cacy and continuous effort, an important landmark has been achieved i.e. for the first time hemophilia has been categorized as a disability in Nepal under the Persons with Disabilities Rights Act, 2074. Issues of hemophilia have, however, remained largely 'invisible', often side-lined in the rights debate, making those with it unable to enjoy their human rights like everyone else.

As we celebrated the World Hemophilia Day on April 17, the hemophilia fraternity of Nepal was still struggling to get that one vial of anti-hemophiliac factor concentrate for the next bleeding episode.

By SURAKSHA THAPA

The author is a program officer at Nepal Hemophilia Society

“I don’t know why people want to write, even in this modern age,” says Peter J Karthak, when asked what suggestions he has for aspiring writers. “Compared with my days in the 60s, peo­ple have many more choices now,” he adds. “Growing up, we had very limited options. But I would ask today’s youth: ‘Have you lived your life fully?’ Because they have lived com­fortably, most of them haven’t lived life the way I did.” Peter John Karthak, 75, a musician, writer and journal­ist, has indeed had an eventful life. He was born in Shillong on December 12, 1943—when the Second World War was in full swing. Shillong was full of trenches and the Japanese were bombing the border town of Kohima. Karthak’s family decided to leave Shillong for Darjeeling, where he would spend the rest of his childhood.

In 1965, Karthak came to Kathmandu, where he spent the next 25 years as a copy editor, feature writer and col­umnist. He began his literary career by writing in Nepali: his first novel ‘Pratyek Thhaun: Pratyek Manchhe’ won the Sajha Puraskar in 1978. He later translated it into English and titled it ‘Every place: Every Person’ (2004).

‘Kathmandruids’, launched last month in Kathmandu, is Karthak’s latest and the first original novel in English.

“I started writing my first novel at the age of 25. I had experienced a few drastic things in Darjeeling before I left it and came to Nepal. So, I had the necessary ingredients for the novel,” says Karthak.

“If one aspires to be a writer, start writing. And to write, my motto is: don’t talk too much, listen more, read, look, see and observe. Such moody traits make a writer completely different.‘Kath­mandruids’ itself came out of a conversation.”

The beginning of ‘Kathmandruids’

I think it was in 2000 when I was on antibiotics and I couldn’t drink. So I was soberly observing every­one at an event I was attend­ing. Someone was sharing a story about his gang’s exploits and hooliganism in general. The story got me hooked. A week later, I wrote something based on what the person had said. That was how the story was born. And I gradu­ally expanded it throughout the years.

I got the story because I listened. I would’ve listened even if I had scotch in my hands (laughs). People talk about these things every­where. One needs to listen and observe.

The final phase of ‘Kathmandruids’

I always considered writ­ing a hobby. But when I convinced myself—maybe before the earthquake—that my story could be made into a novel, I began re-reading it. Every morning I woke up at 4:00 and by 4:30 I was on my laptop working. And I stopped at 6:30. By that time the house was awake and I was tired too. It happened for seven days a week for nine months—three seasons in Kathmandu. No music, no other distraction. In those quiet mornings, I just edited, re-edited, added and deleted. That’s how I had a novel before the winter. Then I started looking for publishers.

The unexpected

Initially there was no pros­pect of it being published. I approached many publishing houses and got rejected every time. Some didn’t publish works in English, and the one that did, didn’t publish liter­ary works. Then I met Biplav Pratik, who introduced me to Bhupendra Khadka. Inter­estingly, just after our second meeting, Bhupendra visited me with a publishing contract from Book Hill.

While that was very unex­pected, so was when CK Lal wrote a blurb for the book. Lal isn’t a good friend of mine, but I admire him. Close friends are partial towards you. I needed someone who was neutral, who could look at both the best and the worst things in me. I didn’t have an editor for my novel; I revised my manuscript eight times, all by myself.

When Lal wrote the curt blurb for ‘Kathmandruids’, what a relief I felt! Lal is a brilliant writer and a brilliant thinker, a direct and honest person who suffers no fools. He was my first reader and a very critical one. When he wrote that brilliant blurb, it was understood that he would also become my editor. Of course, he didn’t say it, but it’s automatic.

Plans

Another book of mine is coming via Himal books; actually, it should have come before ‘Kathmandruids’. ‘Nepali Musicmakers’ is a col­lection of my newspaper col­umns, the reminiscences of some top Nepali music com­posers and singers.

I have many plans, but right now they are all in my head. I have a very good idea, the ‘Druids of Darjeel­ing’. I can create a novel from the characters (the druids) living in Darjeeling despite what happened throughout those years there, like the Gorkhaland movement. But I need to live there for months and I need to manage my expenses. I have a philosophy that one’s work should pay for itself. If I get advance pay­ment, the plans in my head will materialize. Sadly, cre­ative writing doesn’t have a rosy future in Nepal