A Swedish tourist who was traveling to the Mardi Himal region missing from 2023/12/30. He was doing the Mardi Himal Trek independently and as locals said he was going alone to the base camp and not back to Mardi High Camp. This is the result of tourists traveling without guides in the Himalayas.
Who is responsible for such a bad incident? Trekkers themself? Annapurna Conservation Area Management who issued the ACAP Permit? Local Government who collect money as an entree fee? Or the Nepal Government?
If he travels with a local guide this might not happen because the guide knows the trekking trail and understands the bad weather situation etc. So that let’s make strong rules and ban individual trekkers from any trekking routes.
This is not only the one missing tourist this year recently one German guy who traveling single without a guide in the Everest region also missing and still not able to find his body. So let’s stop the individual trekkers and prevent the tourist missing incidents.
Regarding Mardi Himal, I can say that several things could significantly improve safety. First and foremost, communication is very poor, both in High Base Camp Village. Internet and phone connectivity are a tragedy; the connection disappears after dark. At View Tea Point, there is also no signal except for the network reserved for Nepalis – making it challenging for tourists to easily purchase a SIM card. Furthermore, the trek is not well marked, with occasional forks in the path in the forest. The fact that information about the end of the trek was carelessly placed is sheer madness. Online maps indicate High Base Camp/Last View Point not in the location where this sign was moved, next to the tea house.
The trail nonchalantly continues, leading to the traversing of Mardi Himal mountain where trekking ends and a dangerous, poorly visible path begins.