Over 100 Australians were flown out of Nepal yesterday, six days after the 7.9 magnitude quack shook the destination.
Evacuated on two Royal Australian Air Force jets, they were flown to Bangkok where they will board flights back to Australia.
Alice Forest, 27, told the Sydney Morning Herald she was relieved to get away from the aftershocks that are still occurring regularly in Nepal.
Suyana Shrestha and her three-year-old son Siraj, were also among the evacuees. Suyana says she feels ‘mentally disturbed’ after the experience.
“It was such a shock. I just want to go home now.”
Suyana Shrestha
Australians were also invited to depart Nepal at 6.00am this morning on a Canadian Government assisted evacuation.
The plane flew to New Dehli where travellers are able to catch flights back to Australia.
Image: Humans of Nepal/Facebook
While some Australians are flown to safety, others are still stranded in remote parts of Nepal and there’s still around 20 unaccounted for.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said yesterday that it would send consular assistance to those stranded outside the capital city, Kathmandu.
Australian Ambassador to Nepal, Glenn White, said all the Australians the embassy is aware of in Nepal are safe.
“We are doing our utmost to locate them and ensure their safety and after that we’d very much like to help them get back but as an embassy we can’t.”
Glenn White, Australian Ambassador to Nepal
Meanwhile, tour operators have started rescheduling and cancelling upcoming trips to Nepal as rescue and recovery efforts continue.
The Intrepid Group told KarryOn that in light of the current situation, the operator does ‘not believe it is safe or advisable to be running trips to Nepal at this time’.
Image: Humans of Nepal/Facebook
The group will be cancelling all imminent departures to Nepal, up to and including 11 May 2015.
“For trips with departures scheduled after 12 May: we are monitoring the situation closely and will review trips as appropriate.”
Intrepid Group
G Adventures said all trips to Nepal have been cancelled with a start date up-to-and-including 11 May, 2015.
For departures starting on or after 12 May, the tour operator will continue to assess the situation.
“We are contacting all travellers to rebook them on an alternative trip and we will assist them to work with their travel insurance providers.”
G Adventures
Wendy Wu Tours said its team has been monitoring the situation daily and has decided it will not run scheduled tours in the main areas of Nepal in the next month.
Managing director Alan Alcock has said that “from an operational perspective, we are coming to the end of the season for travel in Nepal and immediate departures have been cancelled”.
“At this stage future tours scheduled to operate in late 2015 will go ahead as planned and any alternative actions will be made if circumstances dictate.”
Alan Alcock, Wendy Wu Tours MD
He went on to say that the majority of customers who were due to travel over the next month have opted to defer travel for later departures in 2015 instead of cancelling outright which is indicative of customers intentions to return.
Mr Alcock reiterates, that as tourism plays an integral part in Nepal’s economy as its main currency earner, it is of great importance for international visitors to return to travelling the country when possible for the benefit of the Nepalese people.
Feature image: Humans of Nepal/Facebook