Hi Sima. First of all I wish your brother be well and appears soon. You have got already very good advise above. The web is a very useful tool to involve a lot of people. Try to make a webpage or at least use a facebook account or something similar. The thing is to use something which can be accesed easily, even with a very slow internet connection like in remote places of Nepal or Tibet, and where you can post some pictures of your brother, updates amd contact information.You can ask travellers to print out a photo with the necesary information and contact details (like a poster on this webpage) and place it along the places in nepal where he might have been or is actually. You can also contact a lot of people, organizations etc. in Nepal itself by Email trying to get them involved. Nepal depends a lot on the travel industry and a traveller lost in Nepal is no good marketing for them. Travel agencies will get involved and will tell their stuff (guides and porters) to watch for him or any news.
Once you have the information from immigrations about your brother you will have a better idea where he might be actually, or at least a smaller area to look for but be aware that from my personal experience, and in the case of a country like Nepal, you cannot 100% rely on the information.There are still chances that the information is wrong or that your brother went to Tibet ilegally. Once in the southern parts of Argentina and Chile an irish went missing and the official information was that he crossed from Chile into Argentina so they were looking for about 7 days in the wrong place because actually the he never had left Chile.
You and your family will know your brother better than anyone else but sometimes persons take strange decisions. You have to be aware of this. He could have fall in love to somebody or be in a monastery and just forget to contact.
But obviously it is a long time and you should search for him with all the possible ways you can
Thanks scoodly. I wrote an email to moderators; actually two one for each!
And Sima, if you need any kind of help from my side, I would be glad to do that on your support. Just write me a message if you need any kind of support or work done from Nepal!
Hello Sima
It is really bad news that your brother is missing in Nepal. You can try to collect the information from Langtang project. May be he told something to the personnel of Langtang project where is he desiring to go? Probably you can get more information from them. You can suggest them to publish the photos of your brother in the Langtang region and Helambu region in every villages.
Hi Sima
It is not a good news for us ,your brother is missing in Nepal's mountain side . You are coming to Nepal so i can help you to go to TAAN office or Nepal Tourism Board office in pokhara and try to find you brother . Pang village also not so much far from Pokhara . I can help you to go to there and try to collect some information about him.
If he was visited Annapurna area trekking we can find the details about him in TAAN or NTB office easily . They put all the records so hopefully your brother in this region.
Keep in passion and pray for god your brother will mail you .
Sima
Some further thoughts and comments.
Trekking permits and TIMS cards are required for all foreigners who go trekking in Nepal, and there are check points at various locations on each trek. If your brother passed through one of these points, he should have been required to show his permit and TIMS card and this should have been recorded. However sometimes these posts are not manned so people do not always get checked and recorded (for example I have signed in at Namche Bazaar in the Everest region 4 times, but signed out only 2 times - the post was closed the other 2 times). As mentioned in a previous post of mine above, names can be mis-recorded.
If your brother was not on the main trekking routes, he may well have passed through areas where there are no checks or records at all. When I was in Helambu in January 2011, even on the trekking route I don't remember any check posts from Tharepati to Melamchipal Bazaar (though I cannot be sure of this). There are also many local paths and routes in this area, so obviously the more precisely you can pin down your brother's last known position, the better.
If your brother did pass through areas that see few if any foreigners, the local people will have noticed him - especially the local children (I stayed in my guide's non tourist village in Rasuwa district for 4 nights this year and was the first westerner many of them had seen, so they were very curious, in a pleasant way, about this strange foreigner).
The equivalent of GBP £500-600 is not a lot for 2 plus months, however this will depend on how he lives - if he is staying in non tourist villages, it is far cheaper than staying on the trekking routes. Again if he is staying in a monastery this should be quite cheap. Some of the larger towns in the districts in Nepal have email, however outside the trekking areas very few places will have email, so again this may explain the lack of contact.
Regarding Nepali culture and customs: these are very different from the "west", and it would be advisable to either have a reliable Nepali with you or someone who is familiar with Nepal, and speaks the language (though many Nepalis have some English, there will be fewer English speakers in the non tourist areas). Please note that there is a cultural tendency to say what the speaker thinks the listener wants to hear (as is the case in many parts of Asia, this is NOT at all a criticism of Nepali culture). So you may need to probe gently depending on circumstances - please note that a confrontational or accusatory approach can be disastrous and very counter productive. Most Nepalis will be genuinely helpful, however it is a very poor country with people facing many daily difficulties, and so please do not expect the country "stop" just for your inquiries.
Officials may be more difficult. Tourism is an important part of the Nepali economy (but it is not the biggest part), and so generally they should be inclined to assist you. They will also see you and your brother as guests in their country. However corruption is rife at all levels of officialdom (and many officials are on very low pay), so do bear this in mind - again someone who is very familiar with the country will be able to advise and help you.
Richard
I doubt that he would make it into Tibet. The guards are fierce in that area for obvious reasons. In a quieter area a friend wandered in and was held for a couple of months before they decided he was a bit of a crack. With a stern warning..
Im sorry to hear about your missing brother. I hope and pray he is found safe, I see you are doing everything you can to cover all possibilities.
Hi – I am also sorry to read about your missing brother, If you drop me a pm, I will send you the email address of my friend Nirmal who has run his own agency in Nepal for over 20 years, he is known and respected by most of Kathmandu tourist industry and it would be worthwhile emailing him so that he can ask his contacts if your brother has had any dealings with them, he might have bought a bus or flight ticket, hired a guide or arranged a national park entrance fee or TIMS through a local agent – All these options would be worthwhile pursuing.
Also if you get some “Missing” posters with your brother’s photo on them printed then these can be distributed through the local agents to trekkers heading off on trek and posted, again this might just help
Good Luck and Very Best Wishes
Rob
nahuel,guideupendra,dhan01 , pristinetrekking, rdccomments, edwardseco, avsfan, into-thin-air and everyone thank you for your offered help, provided great advice and shown empathy!
We have now a website made by Kamal - a guide in Nepal, on which we will try to give updates: http://www.pauliuszavadckismissinginnepal.webs.com/
I have also made a few posters: http://s1119.photobucket.com/albums/k631/zalia_smilga/?action=view¤t=Paulyciui2a.jpg
So if you are in Nepal and in the areas where my brother went to, maybe you could put a few posters on.
Many thanks,
Sima
Edited by: zalia_smilga
Edited by: zalia_smilga
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