Report of the 10th Student Himalayan Exercise Tour, March 2022
M. Yoshida

The SHET-10 team on the Seti Khola in Pokhara with the Annapurna Range far backThe 10th Student Himalayan Field Exercise Tour was conducted for 17 days fromMarch 3rd to 19th in the west-central Nepal Himalaya. Nepal was identified as thelevel 3 of the danger against the infection to COVID-19 by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (recommend not to visit what ever the business is), and so sincere
examination was needed whether to carry out the tour or not.
In making detailed survey on related matters, it was found that the number of
newly affected people in Nepal was further less than Japan, i.e. 1/56 based on dataof Feb. 17th, and that the recommendation by the Foreign Affairs was based onolder data and obviously has no meaning.

I also collected data from Nepal

including that of Japan Embassy in Kathmandu and found that Nepal as well as
the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic
its ordinary condition and people are living as usual with no problem. Based onthe above, I decided to carry out the exercise tour and disclosed the decision on Feb.
20th.
The program of the SHET-10 was first advertised in May 2021 on the homepage ofthe Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment (GIGE), presented at two
academic society meetings as posters in August and September.

In October,

advertisement of recruiting participants to the SHET-10 was distributed to people
who were related to the SHET program by e-mail as well as sent togeoscience-related laboratories/departments of 72 universities throughout Japan,
requesting to post the advertisement bill on the board of the department.
Those hoping to participate or to know details of the tour appeared during August
to December and reached nearly 15 students, and students who registered to theparticipation by paying necessary fee were counted 9. Further a Chinese student
from the Ocean University of China in Qindhao who were supported by theInternational Association for Gondwana Research (IAGR) registered. However
due to a pandemic by the new type virus of COVID-19 in January and February, 5among them cancelled by the end of February, and so, the remaining 5 Japanesestudents were settled as the participants of the 10th SHET. In early March ateacher and a student from the Department of Geology, Tri-Chandra Campus,Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu (TU) were identified to participate the tourand thus the SHET-10 team composed of two teachers and 6 students including two
Nepalese and 6 Japanese was settled.
On the 2nd March the Japanese team members received the PCR examination andall of them were found to be negative.
In the late night of the 3rd March, the SHET-10 team departed Japan for Nepal via
Singapore. On the 4th March, at the Singapore airport as well as the Kathmandu
airport, there was a check on the international certificate of the PCR examination
result.

However, there was no antigen test within 24 hours and no hotel

quarantine of 5 days after arriving Nepal that were announced by the Departmentof Immigration of Nepal. If the latter rule would have been imposed on us, theSHET-10 would have been impossible to carry out. However, we have had got many
information from Nepal side that the quarantine have never been actually done in
Kathmandu.
On the 5th March in the morning, we held the pre-tour seminar at the Tri-Chandra

Campus. In the afternoon, SHET-10 students were escorted by TU students toSwayanbunath Temple, and in the evening, a friendship dinner meeting was heldin the town where 5 TU staff and 8 SHET-10 team members attended.
From 6th to 15th the team traveled the course Kathmandu - Pokhara - Kalopani Muktinath- Kagbeni - Kalopani - Tatopani - Pokhara - Tansen - Lumbini - Mugling– Kathmandu, that was almost the same as every year so far.

Geoscientificexercise during the tour was also almost the same as before except the following 3points.
1) There were so many large mountain slope collapses, possibly reflecting the factthat we did not visit in these two years, 2) The good and large STDS outcropthat we could observe in past several years disappeared due to the road
construction, and 3) We could identify the changing point from U-valley toV-valley of the Kaligandaki valley that it should be at around Lete, and that thewide Kaligandaki valley above Lete should reflect the fact that the U-valley
there were completely buried by recent fluvial debris.
On the 16th March, students worked to prepared for their presentation in themorning, and in the afternoon, a summary seminar was held at the Tri-Chandra
Campus, where several TU teachers and students also joined.

Interim encouraging dinner party at Lan Hua, Pokhara, on the 11th March.

All SHET-10 students gave their presentation in English, that was their firstexperience of the English presentation in their lives. In the evening a farewelldinner party was held at a Japanese restaurant in Thamel where 5 TU teachers
joined along with SHET-10 team members.

Happy students who were just released from their hotel rooms, March 22nd.

On the 17th, we received the PCR examination at the HAMS Hospital who provided
us the certificate using the Japanese government form. On the 18th, SHET-10
students were escorted by TU students for a full day city tour, and in the late nightthe team departed for Japan from the Kathmandu airport. It should be noted thatthe landing in Japan was followed by so troublesome and strict checks, and thenafter we were quarantined for 3 days in a hotel. After the antigen test on the 22nd,
all of us got the freedom to get out of the hotel and the SHET-10 team dispersedwith a full of cheers.
The account of the SHET-10 was very severe due to the high airfare compared withordinary years as well as additional expenses such as PCR tests. Necessary
expenses for the tour in Nepal were raised compared with that of ordinary years.
Thus, the participation fee for a student was estimated to be considerably higher
than 200000 JPY, which was the promised maximum amount for the participants.
To reduce the participation fee for students, I decided to start the crowdfunding(public collection of charity through internet) with the title: Student Himalaya(https://readyfor.jp/projects/88329). Those who are interested in this, please try tovisit the above site.
We would like to sincerely thank to 5 academic societies of Nepal and Japan whogave us nominal support to the program, to IAGR and GIGE who kindly financiallysupported us, to Diplomat Treks and Expeditions Co., Pokhara who sincerely
worked on the logistics of the SHET-10 in Nepal, and to all those who noticed theprogram with warm heart and encouraged us for the success of the exercise tour.