What Happened to Nepal?

We are very sorry to report that Nepal has been dropped from the trip. Zoe, Siva, and Jim were hoping that this portion of the trip would remain possible. Do remember that in the best itinerary, we were only going to visit Katmandu for 2 days and 1 night. And the academic value of that portion remained in doubt. There were three reasons for the decision....

1. The Maoist Armies have recently escalated their attacks. Nepalese doctors had recently been targeted. On January 7th, the United Nations will begin monitoring the situation there as a full-scale war between the Maoists and the Monarchy seems ever more likely. We felt your safety was too important to risk visiting the country when the U.N. feels the need to intervene.

2. The cost. We would have needed to add $500-700 to make it fiscally possible. Hotel and airline rates have doubled recently, perhaps due to the instability of the country.

3. The academic value of this portion of the trip was always in question. We, as of yet, had not been able to arrange any business meetings. Every good trip is a balance between fun and work. We feel the trip, with Agra and the Taj, and the meetings we are working on now, is a good balance.

We apologize for this change, but feel strongly its in your best interests.

Zoe, Siva, and Jim