Facing pandemic economic woes, Nepal reopens to adventurers

Nepal has reopened its peaks and trails for foreign adventurers in hopes of providing much needed income for hundreds of thousands of guides, porters and workers who have been unemployed for months because of the pandemic

KATHMANDU, Nepal — Adventurers looking to scale Nepal’s Himalayan peaks and trek its mountain trails can finally do so for the first time in seven months, as the country reopens to foreigners even as the coronavirus pandemic has left it short of hospital beds.

Foreign visitors are a major source of income for Nepal and the closure has impacted the estimated 800,000 people who work in the tourism industry.

For now the reopening will come with restrictions and mainly be limited to those seeking to to climb or trek its famous peaks. Nepal is home to the eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world, including the tallest, Mount Everest.

“We…