Himalayan Field Exercise Program for Japanese and Nepalese Students
and Outline of the 11th Geotour in March 2023
(Recommended by: Geological Society of Nepal, International Association forGondwana Research, Japan Society of Engineering Geology, Nepal LandslideSociety, The Association for the Geological Collaboration in Japan)

Forward
In central Western Nepal to the north of Pokhara, there are two 8000-meter peaksof Annapurna and Daulagiri. In walking along the world-deepest Kaligandaki
valley flowing between the two peaks, beautiful mountains and valleys, distinct
geology, geomorphology, climate and vegetations change dramatically. TheKaligandaki valley is the world-best course of field exercise to learn Himalayan
natural environment, geologic structures and natural hazards.
Regarding the geology that forms the foundation of nature, we can observe allgeological zones and their boundary mega faults that constitute the Himalayan
Orogen: they include from the south to the north, the Gangetic Plain (Terai),Himalayan Frontal Thrust, Sub Himalayan Zone, Great Boundary Thrust, Lesser
Himalayan Zone, Main Central Thrust, Higher Himalayan Zone, South Tibetan
Detachment, and Tethys Himalayan Zone. The tour covers the course fromMuktinath to Lumbini by 7 days including one day tour surrounding Pokhara. One
field team will accommodate 10 - 20 participants and is associated by 2 - 4
academic guides (senior and active university teachers) of Japan and Nepal toteach participants. The time of the tour is early to middle March every year. The
first tours was conducted in March 2012 and the 11th tour (SHET-11) is planned to
be in March 2023. The outline of the program is given below.
Outline of the SHET-11
Time, period, itinerary and course: The program will be conducted in March everyyear and all the tours since 2012 were successfully conducted by now. For thegeotour in 2023, the total duration in Nepal is 15 days including 10 days of field
excursion along the traverse Kathmandu-Pokhara-Muktinath-Pokhara-Tansen-

1Lumbini-Kathmandu, four days in Kathmandu having pre-excursion seminar,group discussion, final reporting, and Kathmandu city excursion mostly to observe
environmental problems and earthquake measures of the city (Fig. 1, Table 1).
Throughout the meetings and city excursions interaction among Japanese andNepalese students will be going on well.
Participants: Students from any country including Japan learning geosciences
including geology, natural hazards and natural environment. Young engineers
newly employed by companies with related fields are also welcome. Teachers ofstudent, and supervisors of the young engineers will also be accommodated.
Citizens who are interested to see the Himalayan geology are also welcome.

Fig. 1., Geologic outline of the tour area including tour routeand dates of stay as a model itinerary2Table 1. Provisional Itinerary of the 11th SHET

Education system in the geotour: Academic guides including 2 - 4 active and/orretired university teachers from Japan and Nepal whose specialty lies in theHimalayan field geology will associate with the geotour and give guidance, lecturesand exercise to participants. Participants are requested to submit reports on not3

only field excursion but also all matters in the tour. An excursion guidebook thatcarries introduction to the Himalayan geology and natural hazards, topographic
maps with observation locations, explanations on observation points withnecessary photos and/or figures will be prepared and distributed to participants. In
case the tour is recognized as to form a part of the formal curriculum of theuniversity/company to which participants belong, teachers will send the evaluationof reports of the participants to the university/company.
Number of participants for the geotour to be conducted: The geotour is conducted incase the number of participants attains 5 people. In case the application ofparticipation comes over 20, the earlier-to-be-accepted principle will be adopted, i.e.,
those who registered earlier will be preferred. There is a possibility that more than
one geotour will be conducted according to number of applicants for participation.
Necessary fee for the participation to the geotour: Participating fee for Japanese
students will be less than about 200,000 JPY (ca 1500USD), other individuals: lessthan about 250,000 JPY, and those who are officially dispatched are less than about
300,000 JPY. For students of other countries who join the tour in Kathmandu, theparticipating fee will be less than about 130,000 Nepalese rupees. Organizer isstrictly prohibited to gain any economical interests from the tour, i.e., it should bezero, and any amount of exceeding income (such as financial support fromorganizations) related to the geotour should be refunded to participating students.
Actually the participation fee for a Japanese students was 168,8774PY in averageof 10 tours since 2012 including overseas air flight.
The participating fee includes: international flight, oil charge and tax for the flight,
VISA application (above items are not included for those who join in Kathmandu),
all necessary expenditures related to overseas travel, lodgings, meals and allnecessary fees for the field excursion (local transportation, lodgings, meals,
necessary snacks and drinks in the field, employment of porters and guides,
preparation for the geotour including formation of excursion guidebook, andparticipating fee for the academic guides (Japanese and Nepalese teachers). Feesfor overseas travel are not included for participants joining in Kathmandu.
Expenses that are not included in the participation fee: Snacks and drinks of
personal favorite throughout the tour, gifts, medicines specific for individuals fordaily use. Passports are to be obtained by participants.

4Organizers of the geotour: Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment(Hashimoto, Japan)* and the Department of Geology, Tri-Chandra Campus,
Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal*.
Accounting of the geotour: Accounting of the geotour is in the responsibility ofaccompanying Japanese teacher(s). He/she has to report the accounting of thegeotour within a month after the geotour to the organizer. The account report isdistributed to all participants and is disclosed to the public through internet.
Report of the geotour: All participants are requested to submit a tour report ofsome pages to the tour leader. A report of the geotour is made by academic guides
who joined the geotour and submitted to organizers. The main organizer (GIGE)
has to prepare a formal report of the program including the account report of theprogram, and has to distribute it to all participants and related organizations.
Collaborators of the program: A Japanese travel agency, Tokyo to provide
international air tickets and a Nepalese trekking agency (Kathmandu or Pokhara)
to help organization of the geotour in Nepal will be identified in time.
Supporters of the program: Academic societies, related organizations, groups,companies, and eminent individuals of academic, governmental and businessworlds. Donations by organizations and companies of related fields of activity as
well as by individuals who hope to encourage participating students will besearched for to reduce participating fee of students. Presently 2 Academic societiesof Japan, 2 societies in Nepal and 1 international society have provided nominal
support to the program. (The Geological Society of Japan does not support the2021-2022 tour due to the unstable condition of Japan and overseas due to theCovid-19 problem).
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Masaru Yoshida (Chairman), Bishal Nath Upreti, Kazunori Arita, Tetsuya Sakai
Conveners for the Student Himalayan Exercise Project,www.gondwanainst.org/geotours/Studentfieldex_index.htm
C/o Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment, Hashimoto, Japanwww.gondwanainst.org/ Tel & Fax: 0736-36-7789

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E-mail: gondwana@oregano.ocn.ne.jp
Postal Address: 147-2 Hashiramoto, Hashimoto 648-0091 JapanORGANIZING BODIES:* Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment (Hashimoto): The main officeof the Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment (GIGE), which is aninternational NGO/NPO and is situated in Hashimoto, south of Osaka, SW Japan.
The GIGE is a group of loosely connected world’s geoscientists belonging tocountries located in Gondwanaland crustal fragments. About 50 scientists areregistered as the Fellow of GIGE. There are 10 GIGE chapters in the world
covering 8 countries including Japan, Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, China, Kuwait,Tanzania, and D. R. Congo. Work of the main office is generally conducted by someto ten volunteer scientists of GIGE fellows. Gloss budget of GIGE main office in2015 was about eight million JPY, and major work of the main office in 2015 has
included the Fourth Student Himalayan Exercise Tour in Nepal jointly with theDepartment of Geology, Tri-Chandra campus, geological research of the Nepal
Himalaya jointly with scientists of Nepal chapter and editing of geotour
guidebooksoftheHimalaya

withtheNepal

chapter,etc.

(Website:

http://www.gondwanainst.org/)*Department of Geology, Trichandra Campus, Tribhuvan University: This is thelargest and most advanced geological education and research body in Nepal andincludes 16 teachers and about 100 undergraduate students. Since theinauguration of the department in 1960s, staffs of the department have madeeffort in research and educating students in the Himalaya. The Department staffs
have been conducting advanced research in the Himalaya on geology and naturalhazards in collaboration with scientists worldwide including Japan. The
Department has an intimate relationship with Japan since long, such as that overhalf of the staff with D.Sc degree received education and degree in Japan, andover a half of the staff has an experience of or even now conducting collaborative
research with Japanese researchers.
(Website: http://www.geology.edu.np/)

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