For almost a month, he had been waiting there while a group of Sherpa guides scouted the route and fixed the climbing rope from the assembly point to the summit. This year’s climbing season has about 1,500 people joining the support staff. Along with more than 400 other people present at the foot of Mount Everest, the young man hopes to make his lifelong dream come true. At that time, a climbing friend carefully brought some rapid test kits for SARS-CoV-2 virus antigen due to the pandemic raging in Nepal and India. Joshi also participated in the testing. However, a bad news interrupted Joshi’s excitement: he tested positive for Covid-19. Not believing his ears, the guy tested himself again but it still showed the same results. “The scene was actually quite noisy. The team still had to continue the journey without me no matter how much the trip meant to me,” he said. Covid-19 climbing season This year’s climbing season took place under the most extraordinary circumstances. Despite concerns about a second wave of the epidemic, Nepal decided to reopen Mount Everest and other mountains after a year of closure. At the end of March 2021, Joshi arrived in Kathmandu (Nepal) and set out to the meeting point at the foot of the mountain. Around mid-April, the first whispers of Covid-19 in the campground began to appear. Meanwhile, Nepalese officials continue to deny that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was present at the highest mountain in the world. Harshvardhan Joshi started his passion for climbing 10 years ago. “Isolation rules are in place but no one is monitoring. Some people flew to the assembly point after only a few days of isolation,” Joshi said. Due to the lack of testing facilities, no one can tell the difference between Covid-19 disease and the persistent “khumbu dry cough” – a symptom most climbers experience at this altitude. . Only major climbs are equipped with doctors and testing equipment. “We also only got tested after a teammate asked his wife to bring a rapid test kit from India.” In the village of Dibuche near the campsite, one of Joshi’s teammates tested positive for Covid-19 and decided to fly home. Not long after, 5 other people also contracted the virus and Joshi was the 6th. Joshi’s priority is to isolate himself in a tent alone for 10 days. Due to his lack of symptoms, he decided to stay instead of evacuating by helicopter with the other patients. The young man still hopes that he can continue his journey after the isolation period ends. “I consulted the doctors in my hometown. They sent me the treatment plan. Then I asked the person who organized this trip in Kathmandu to buy and send the medicine by helicopter.” During the quarantine, Joshi spent many hours practicing breathing and chanting. “I spend most of my time in the tent. Meals will be delivered from the kitchen to my tent. It was really lonely having to dine alone in the cold weather,” he recalls. Joshi’s medication was delivered from the capital of Nepal via helicopter. In mid-May, Joshi’s dream was further threatened by Cyclone Tauktae, which killed more than 100 Indians and blew away at least 30 tents at the campsite. Faced with this situation, Nepalese authorities have extended the time so that tourists can wait for better weather, conquering the “roof of the world” again, although the climbing season usually ends in May. ‘Steering’ of the unexpected trip By dinner on May 19, things finally got better for Joshi. The weather forecast in the coming days will be better and his latest test came back negative. Joshi’s original plan was to climb Everest first and then to Lhotse, Everest’s “neighbor” and the fourth highest mountain in the world. Anup Rai (left) and Furte Sherpa accompany Joshi to climb Everest. However, he decided to try Lhotse first because it would be deserted in the coming clear days. Moreover, he was also worried about his lung condition after the illness. At midnight, Joshi set out with two climbing guides, Furte Sherpa and Anup Rai – who he assessed as “inexperienced but healthy”. Other more experienced guides have left the mountain because of Covid-19. “Therefore, I asked two people to go with me to maximize safety, in case something happened,” he said. Mount Everest and Lhotse share a major climb. Thus, on the way, Joshi’s group met an Everest climbing team. With the weather forecast to get worse due to the effects of another storm, Joshi realized the short time ahead was the best opportunity to visit Everest once. So he changed his mind again and went back to the original plan. “Winds will get stronger and the chances of climbing in good weather will become increasingly limited. However, I still decided to go,” he said. After 2 days, despite all the harsh weather conditions, Joshi reached the summit of Everest. Joshi doesn’t feel too excited about climbing the “roof of the world”. Standing from the “roof of the world”, he can see the glacier in northern Tibet glowing in the morning sun, Mount Lhotse and the majestic Himalayas. “There were at least 20 people on the top of the mountain before our group. I just sat there and basked in the beautiful surroundings. After that, I bowed my head to thank my two guides – who brought me up here safely. On the other hand, Joshi wasn’t as excited as he had thought. With the next storm coming, he didn’t have much time to linger on Mount Everest. “It feels like the problems I faced before reaching Everest were much more difficult than climbing to the top,” he said.

Sword Lake is the most special highlight in the heart of Hanoi TripAdvisor has just announced the award chosen by customers (Travelers’ Choice 2021 – Best of the Best), in which Hanoi and Hoi An are two tourist destinations of Vietnam in the list of 10 famous destinations. can’t miss” in Asia in 2021. The awards announced by TripAdvisor are voted on by millions of website visitors around the world, with categories such as best hotels, favorite destinations, favorite leisure activities. … The reviews are based on TripAdvisor travelers’ votes of places they visited in 2020, as well as places travelers wish to visit when tourism opens. In the list of top 10 Asian destinations in 2021 voted by Tripadvisor, Hanoi is in second place, and Hoi An is in fourth place. At the top of this list is Bali (Indonesia). In the top 10 “can’t-miss” destinations in Asia, there are also Bangkok (Thailand), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Phuket (Thailand), New Delhi (India), Jaipur (India), Kathmandu (India). Nepal), Beijing (China). Hanoi and Hoi An have been repeatedly rated by TripAdvisor as one of the 25 most sought-after destinations by world tourists. Earlier this year, the travel site TripAdvisor also announced a list of the top 10 destinations in the world, in which Hanoi ranked 6th in the category of the most attractive destinations in the world.

Hanoi is ranked 2nd in the list of top 10 “can’t-miss” destinations in Asia in 2021 voted by Tripadvisor. In the list of top 10 Asian destinations in 2021 voted by Tripadvisor, Hanoi capital is in second place, and Hoi An city (Quang Nam) is in fourth place. Bali (Indonesia), in addition to the top 10 “must-miss” destinations in Asia, there are destinations such as Bangkok (Thailand), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Phuket (Thailand), New Delhi (India) India), Jaipur (India), Kathmandu (Nepal), Beijing (China). Hoi An city (Quang Nam) ranks 4th in this list. Previously, the cities of Hanoi and Hoi An were repeatedly rated by TripAdvisor as one of the 25 most sought-after destinations by world tourists. At the beginning of January 2021, the travel site TripAdvisor also announced a list of the top 10 destinations in the world, in which the capital Hanoi ranked 6th in the category “World’s most attractive destination”. Writing about Hanoi, TripAdvisor page describes: “This thousand-year-old city is a harmonious combination of traditional and modern features. Hanoi still preserves and preserves the old quarter and architectural monuments well. dating back to the colonial period, while developing many modern buildings, in addition, this city also has a system of lakes, parks and more than 600 very attractive temples, pagodas and shrines, which can be easily explored by taxi”. The list of top 10 Asian destinations in 2021 has just been announced by Tripadvisor. The awards announced by TripAdvisor are voted on by millions of website visitors around the world with many categories such as: Best hotel, favorite destination, favorite entertainment activity … The reviews are based on TripAdvisor travelers’ votes of the places they visited in 2020, as well as the places travelers wish to visit when tourism opens.

A person with COVID-19 has appeared on the top of the world’s 7th highest mountain Dhaulagiri. Photo: Nepal Travel Guide According to Sputnik, in the past two days alone, at least 19 people have been evacuated from the main stop on the top of Dhaulagiri after some showed signs of infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. After testing, 7 of the evacuated climbers tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Mr. Mingma Sherpa – Chairman of Dhaulagri Seven Summits travel agency confirmed the latest developments. Located in western Nepal, Dhaulagiri is the 7th highest mountain in the world. The second wave of COVID-19 is causing extremely heavy damage to India and neighboring South Asian countries. Nepal – a country with a population of 30 million people similar to the Indian capital New Delhi – has begun to record more than 2,000 new infections a day. In April, a Norwegian climber was the first to test positive for COVID-19 after being taken from the Everest base station to a hospital in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, for testing. The climber said he had symptoms similar to high-altitude pulmonary edema, which is common among people 2,500 meters above sea level. To date, Mount Everest has seen at least 30 climbers infected with COVID-19. Despite consistently recording COVID-19 cases on top of the world’s highest mountain, Nepal remains open to expeditions to balance its economy hit by the pandemic. The Ministry of Tourism of Nepal has issued permits for 377 climbers to climb Mount Everest. After detecting positive cases of COVID-19 at the Everest and Dhaulagiri rest stops, the Nepalese military began to conduct tests on the remaining climbers. Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain range, China suspended tours to explore Everest before the pandemic.

Patient COVID-19 was treated in an isolation ward in New Delhi, India on May 8, 2021. Photo: THX / TTXVN Half a month ago, when the COVID-19 crisis shook India, the Regional Director of South Asia at the International Association of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) Udaya Regmi warned the rate of infection. The spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the region is “really frightening”, possibly making South Asia “the new epicenter of the next US pandemic”. In the past two weeks, according to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, the number of new infections in this region has been higher than the total number of cases in the first six months of the pandemic combined – an explosion that has stunned at South Asia. Along with India, the number of new infections is increasing alarmingly across South Asia, especially in Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Charities fear South Asia is approaching “disaster”. Experts say that the epidemic situation in South Asia has become more serious recently, mainly due to the new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially the double mutation in India. Over the past week, Nepal has seen a number of new cases of more or less 9,000 cases / day, while this number during March was only a few dozen cases. The number of reported infections in Nepal is 57 times more now than in April 2021. The rate of SARS-CoV-2 virus infection per 100,000 population per day increased more than 7 times in just two weeks. In Sri Lanka, since the beginning of May alone, more than 18,000 new infections have been recorded. If on April 27, for the first time, the number of cases per day in this country reached 4 digits, then on May 10, the South Asian country witnessed the highest number of cases ever, 2672 cases. Pakistan in February averaged 1,100 cases per day, now this number has increased 5 times. Maldives on 11/5 recorded 1,204 cases, while a week ago the average daily number was about 600 cases. The rapid infection rate in all South Asian countries makes experts warn a new global epidemic wave is emerging that South Asia is the epicenter. Dr. Ashish Jha, Rector of Brown University of Public Health (USA) commented: “Here’s the bottom line: When there are big outbreaks, those variations will arise… India is a large country. “People and at large, when there are big outbreaks there, we will have to worry about new variants that are more harmful to the people of this country and of course they will spread around the world.” India first discovered variant B.1.617 in October 2020 and WHO classified it as a “variant of concern” at a global level due to its more contagious nature and higher mortality. as well as being resistant to many current vaccines and treatments. According to reports, this variant has appeared in at least 17 countries. Explaining the cause of the current devastating COVID-19 “tsunami” in South Asia, experts say that the region is inherently densely populated, with a large number of poor living together in the Narrow spaces in the slums of the city or rural areas turn this into “fertile ground” for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to rage. Currently more than 35% of the about 800 million poor people worldwide are struggling with the pandemic living in South Asia. People wait in line for the COVID-19 vaccine to be vaccinated in Kalutara, Sri Lanka. Photo: THX / TTXVN As one of the poorest countries in the world, Nepal was hit by a pandemic while still sinking in serious crises after the 2015 earthquake disaster. Currently, 44% of health care facilities here are damaged after The earthquake has not yet been reconstructed, more than 70% of the population has to earn a living by informal jobs so they do not have access to the social safety net. Since 2015, an additional 700,000 Nepalese have fallen into the poverty line. High density of the population, the proportion of people who are malnourished and have no income are factors that increase the risk of COVID-19 more easily and make medical care almost impossible. Although Nepal has increased its border controls and imposed blockades in heavily affected areas, including the capital, Kathmandu, experts fear that is not enough to keep the virus from spreading. As fast as a wind from the Kathmandu valley to the foot of Mount Everest. Meanwhile, the Maldives archipelago has an economy dependent on tourism, so it reopened the border to international tourists since July 2020 after 3 months of blockade, becoming the first country to celebrate. welcome foreign tourists in the midst of a pandemic still raging around the world. Until India’s other neighbors have begun to close their borders and impose a travel ban, resorts in the Maldives still welcome Bollywood stars and Indian citizens who want to visit the island nation. avoid the domestic epidemic crisis. As a result, early May, the Center for Medical Emergencies (HEOC) Maldives said hospital admissions had tripled in just a few days and that a new variant of the virus could have entered the island nation. In Sri Lanka, in the early days of May, the number of new infections in the day quickly exceeded the peak of the first wave in February. Health Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi admitted this was the result of mass gatherings in New Year’s Eve (April 13-14), when many people go to the streets to celebrate and go shopping. In Pakistan, schools and restaurants have been closed, shops have shortened hours of operation and troops have been deployed in response to the epidemic. But every night, groups of devout Muslims flock to temples across the country to pray, though Pakistani authorities have tightened restrictions on and banned travel during Eid al- Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Pakistan has recorded more than 861,000 cases and nearly 19,000 deaths, but the testing system in the country is very limited while the health care infrastructure is sagging, prompting experts to warn of epidemics. much worse. Home to half of the world’s poor, South Asian countries lack adequate public health facilities and are increasingly scarce in the medical supplies needed during a pandemic outbreak today. The countries in the region depend on India, the largest country in South Asia, for medical equipment and especially vaccines. However, India is also facing a serious shortage of both anti-epidemic products. The current very low vaccination rates in South Asia are one of the reasons the virus spreads “out of control”. According to UNICEF data, in most countries in the region, less than one tenth of the population is vaccinated. About 1.7 million out of nearly 30 million Nepalese people have just received the first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Among them, 380 thousand people received the second shot. It is also worrying that investment in public health in most countries remains modest. According to World Bank (WB) data, in 2017, Sri Lanka invested about 2% of GDP in public health, Bangladesh at 2.27% of GDP, the figure in Pakistan was 2.9% and 3 , 19% are in Bhutan, while the US is 17.06%, Austria is 10.4%, and Brazil 9.47%. Due to limited investment in health, most South Asian countries are “ragged” in the pandemic. For example, Nepal has about 1,600 hospital beds with active treatment and less than 600 ventilators, on average 0.7 doctors will care for 100,000 people. Sri Lanka, at a rate of 3.6 hospital beds for every 1,000 people and 1,200 people with only 1 doctor, quickly fell into overcrowding due to the pandemic. Cremation of patients dying from COVID-19 in Kathmandu, Nepal. Photo: THX / TTXVN Moreover, since South Asia is one of the two regions with the highest poverty rates in the world (along with the southern Sahara), experts warn the consequences of this outbreak for South Asia will be. very cruel. According to the World Bank, COVID-19, which has been raging for more than a year, can push an additional 115 million people deep into poverty and most of the “new poor class” will be concentrated in South Asia. It can be said that the “terrible storm” COVID-19 that swept through India has also swept into other poor countries of South Asia. Dr. Netra Prasad Timsina, of the Red Cross of Nepal, warned “what is happening in India right now is the terrible future of South Asian countries” if we do not take drastic action. IFRC Asia Pacific Director Alexander Matheou also affirmed, “We need to act now, quickly to have hope of preventing this disaster,” because the virus “does not distinguish borders and strains are spreading throughout Asia “. South Asia is the region that accounts for 25% of the world’s population and whether the region can overcome the COVID-19 crisis will determine the “success or failure” of the fight against the global pandemic.

“ When I got a positive result, I was shocked. And then I realized that my adventure was over “Ness said.” My dream is to go to the top of the mountain and enjoy the scenery there “. Some climbers have tested positive for COVID-19, but the Nepalese government says no infections have been reported on Everest. (Photo: CNN) Polish climber Pawel Michalski then posted on Facebook an article “30 people have been evacuated” from the campsite and found positive for COVID-19. Some climbers are quarantined in their tents, as there have been a few confirmed cases of COVID-19 in early childhood, Everest ER, a volunteer organization that provides aid to climbers. canopy off the campsite. Nepalese government regulations prohibiting climbers from sharing photos of others without consent restricted information coming from the mountain, but rumors are spreading as more cases are reported. infected, and not just at Everest. At least 19 people have been evacuated from the climbing camps in Dhaulagiri – the world’s seventh highest peak – 345 kilometers west of Everest, according to Mingma Sherpa, president of the Seven Summits Trek Company. Seven people had a positive result and another 12 had to be tested after symptoms appeared, he added. Nepalese Army spokesman Major General Santosh Ballave Paudel said three cleaners at the Dhaulagiri campsite had COVID-19. One person was evacuated on Wednesday and the other two will be evacuated during clear weather. Climbers are worried that Nepal will close Everest again, said Lukas Furtenbach, an expedition chief. “ I guess there will be more infections ”Furtenbach told CNN from his campsite at Mera Peak, south of Everest. “ Everyone is worried about a message from the Department of Tourism that says: ‘You all have to go home’ “. Patient number 0 on Mount Everest According to the World Travel and Tourism Council, Nepal’s economy is mainly based on tourism revenue, generating 240.7 billion rupees ($ 2 billion) in 2018. Those who want to climb mountains must have a license. from the Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu and the cost falls to around 11,000 USD. Many Nepalese people depend on tourism and climbing services for a living. In 2018, Nepal’s tourism industry supported more than 1 million direct and indirect jobs. After canceling last year’s mountaineering tours due to the pandemic, Nepal’s Tourism Ministry granted 408 permits to Everest climbers this year. But there will be more than 408 people making their journey of exploration stopping at the campsite and along the mountainside, followed by a climbing support team consisting of chefs, guides and geographic assistants. Phuong. This will complicate the efforts to create “bubbles” and social distance. “ The campsite is a miniature city ”, Said Alan Arnette, veteran observer, who reached Mount Everest in 2011 and now runs a climbing website. Furtenbach estimated there were about 1,200 people staying at the campsite this year. These conditions make the stretching more difficult. “ Usually there will be lots of social activities, events, campsites, groups visiting and making new friends. ”, Said Furtenbach. Now, most travel agencies are trying to maintain the “bubble” of isolation. Some Sherpas and local staff have to give up their usual habit of going home on holidays. Many expedition teams have had to travel longer distances without a break to spend as little time as possible at Everest. Some climbers have tested positive for COVID-19, but the Nepalese government says no infections have been reported on Everest. (Photo: CNN) Viruses can attack quickly Ness – the first case of COVID-19 infection on a publicly identifiable Everest – said he began to feel sick five days after the group’s trip to the campsite. “ I feel sick … I have a headache in the mountains, maybe a little fever, I don’t know, but the oxygen in my blood is very low “. “ At the campsite, my health got worse every day “, Ness said, adding that doctors finally asked to take him to the hospital and there he knew he had COVID-19. The positive results beat Ness’s three years of training for the journey, but he considers himself lucky for making a quick recovery. “ I thought if I got COVID-19 in Kathmandu, I wouldn’t get seriously ill – because I recovered very quickly after leaving the mountain. “, I said. “ But it’s terrible to be infected at 5,500 meters above sea level “. Confronted with confusion Reports of COVID-19 infections have resulted in a tense atmosphere at the Everest campsite. “ We get emails from other teams, trying to decide whether to go home or not, because it’s clear things are getting serious. “, Said Adrian Ballinger, an expedition leader who withdrew from the Everest expedition because of concerns about COVID-19. “ I heard the guide, the Sherpas and one of the helicopter companies talk about how many COVID-19 rescues they were doing. “, I said. As the rumors swirled, concerns also increased due to the lack of in-site test kits. “ We hope the government will confirm cases, keep things transparent, maybe even send a support team to the campsite to do mass testing to find the super people. infection “, Said Furtenbach, head of the expedition. “ I think every travel agency will be happy to pay for this. It will probably save the climbing season, because it would be risky to have more and more infections causing this season to end sooner. “. A sign encourages those outside to stay away from the camp. (Photo: The Washington Post) Everest ER, an aid service run by the Himalayan Rescue Nonprofit, wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday that there have been reports of nagging coughs during this climbing season. . “ This year has been a difficult year due to the COVID-19 pandemic “, Said Everest ER. “ We cannot afford rapid on-site tests at this time “. Talking about the Seven Summit Treks expedition at Everest, Mingma Sherpa said his group has departed from Camp 2 and is expected to arrive at Camp 4 on Thursday. “ If we run the Covid-19 test among climbers, some of them will probably be positive for the virus. But until now no one has any serious health complications except the common cold and cough “Mingma said. Lukas Furtenbach at the beginning of the journey to conquer Mount Everest. (Photo: CNN) Seven Summit Treks Company has 130 customers registered to climb Mount Everest this spring. According to CNN, many Everest climbers do not want to talk to journalists about the COVID-19 situation because they fear they will be denied a climbing license in the future. This has made it more difficult to estimate the number of people infected, and rumors continue to circulate, even among mountain climbing groups. “ I know people who used to have COVID-19, those infected have come to Kathmandu and now they are recovering, and I know there are people who have not had any cases in their camps. “, Says Arnette, describing his conversations with climbers in recent weeks. “ We were all trying to figure out what was going on and we were all confused “, He added. Ethical issue Of all the parts of the world that are facing COVID-19, Mount Everest is probably the worst. “ Everyone’s respiratory system is having difficulty and overactive, so it is much more susceptible to upper respiratory tract disease. ”Said Ballinger, the head of the expedition. Climbers face an intense physical warfare with every step of the mountain, he said. “ You cannot sleep in the highlands, so you will feel tired for many days without sleep. You cannot eat, because the digestive system is considered unnecessary because anything you put in your stomach makes you feel nauseous. “, I said. Persistent coughing spells that are so common during journeys at Everest – known as the Khumbu cough, named after the valley leading to Everest – make detecting COVID-19 especially difficult. “ Your entire body is working to the limit, so the virus will be a real threat to your health and even life. “, expedition chief Furtenbach said. And evacuation can become more dangerous once the teams have left the campsite and continue on up. “ If the weather worsens and someone begins to have complications, evacuating without a helicopter would take days and be very dangerous. ”, Said Furtenbach. For now, however, the spirit for the journey is still intact. “ Everyone was delighted “, Furtenbach said.” We had customers who waited for two years and it was their life’s dream “. Furtenbach’s team brought their own COVID-19 test kit to Everest and regularly checked team members. (Photo: CNN) But Nepal and its neighbor India are being engulfed in a dire second wave of COVID-19. Nepal recorded the highest number of cases per day on Wednesday. So some climbers are also considering whether or not to continue. “ I think we’ll start to see some climbers leave because they only feel they are doing it morally wrong, when the Kathmandu outbreak was too strong. ”Ballinger predicted. “ The villagers are sitting there with thousands of oxygen tanks “. “ If more and more cases come to a campsite, the authorities in Nepal will have to do something about it “, Added Furtenbach, again proposing an early end of the climbing season. “ I think they tried to do the right thing, they tried to save the climbing season. But maybe that’s not the right thing to do “.

Mount Everest may no longer be immune to COVID-19. Photo: DW Even the highest peak in the world is no longer immune to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. There has been at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 from a base camp on the southern edge of Mount Everest in Nepal. After suffering from high-altitude cerebral edema syndrome (HAPE), this person was taken by helicopter to a hospital in the capital Kathmandu, tested and diagnosed positive for SARS-CoV-2 virus. The members of the group immediately had to undergo quarantine. A mountain climber with COVID-19 is identified as a Norwegian citizen. He said he may have been infected during the climb from the foot of the mountain to the main camp mentioned above. It is reported that at least three people in the climbing crew were infected with SARS-CoV-2. For its part, the Nepal Tourism Board intends to deny this, saying that the incident is still under investigation and that information about the infection is just rumors. As of April 21, Nepal has granted licenses to 377 individuals who want to climb mountains and conquer Mount Everest in 2021, only slightly less than the record number of 2019. With a population of 30 million, Nepal has recorded approximately 285,000 cases and 3,000 deaths from COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic. At the end of March, the government loosened restrictions on tourists. To gain entry, international travelers only need to present a certificate of vaccination against COVID-19 or a PCR test negative for SARS-CoV-2 within 72 hours of arrival. If an additional negative test is performed at the capital airport, the traveler is free to travel in Nepal.