Himalayan Field Exercise Program for Japanese and Nepalese Students
and Outline of the 7th Geotour in March 2018
(Recommended by: Geological Society of Japan, Geological Society of Nepal, International
Association for Gondwana Research, Japan Society of Engineering Geology, Nepal Landslide Society,
The Association for the Geological Collaboration in Japan)

Forward
In central Western Nepal to the north of Pokhara, there are two 8000-meter peaks of Annapurna
and Daulagiri. In walking along the world-deepest Kaligandaki valley flowing between the twopeaks, beautiful mountains and valleys, distinct geology, geomorphology, climate and vegetations
change dramatically. The Kaligandaki 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 all geological zones andtheir boundary mega faults that constitute the Himalayan Orogen: they include from the south tothe north, the Gangetic Plain (Terai), Himalayan Frontal Thrust, Sub Himalayan Zone, Great
Boundary Thrust, Lesser Himalayan Zone, Main Central Thrust, Higher Himalayan Zone, SouthTibetan Detachment, and Tethys Himalayan Zone. The tour covers the course from Muktinath toLumbini by 7 days. 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 to teach participants.
The time of the tour is early to middle March every year. The first tours was conducted in March2012 and the seventh tour is planned to be in March 2017. The outline of the program is given
below.
Outline of the program.
Time, period, itinerary and course: The program will be conducted in March every year and the first,second and third geotours were successfully conducted since 2012 and every year onwards. For thegeotour in 2017, the total duration in Nepal is 14 days including 10 days of field excursion along thetraverse Kathmandu-Pokhara-Muktinath-Pokhara-Tansen-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 and Nepalesestudents will be well conducted.
Participants: Students from any country including Japan learning geosciences including geology,
natural hazards and environment. Young engineers newly employed by companies with related
fields are also welcome. Teachers of student, and supervisors of the young engineers will also beaccommodated. Citizens who are interested to see the Himalayan geology are also welcome. .
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Fig. 1., Geologic outline of the tour area including tour routeand dates of stay as a model itinerary2

Education system in the geotour: Academic guides including 2 - 4 active and/or retired university
teachers from Japan and Nepal whose specialty lies in the Himalayan field geology will associatewith the geotour and give guidance, lectures and exercise to participants. Participants arerequested to submit reports on not only field excursion but also all matters in the tour. An excursion
guidebook that carries introduction to the Himalayan geology and natural hazards, topographicmaps with observation locations, explanations on observation points with necessary photos and/orfigures will be prepared and distributed to participants. In case the tour is recognized as to form apart of the formal curriculum of the university/company to which participants belong, teachers will
send the evaluation of reports of the participants to the university/company.

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Number of participants for the geotour to be conducted: The geotour is conducted in case thenumber of participants attains 5 people. In case the application of participation comes over 20, theearlier-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 ofapplicants for participation.
Necessary fee for the participation to the geotour: Participating fee for Japanese students will beless than 200,000 JPY (ca 2300USD), other individuals: less than 250,000 YPY, and those who are
officially dispatched are less than 300,000. For students of other countries who join the tour in
Kathmandu, the participating fee will be less than 120,000 rupees. Organizer is strictly prohibitedto gain any economical interests from the tour, i.e., it should be zero, and any amount of exceeding
income (such as financial support from organizations) related to the geotour should be refunded toparticipating students. Actually the total fee for a Japanese students was 158000 JPY for 2012,
190,000 JPY for 2013, and 134000 JPY for 2014 tours 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 all necessary 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, and participating 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 for daily use. Passports are to beobtained by participants.
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 of accompanying
Japanese teacher(s). He/she has to report the accounting of the geotour within a month after thegeotour to the organizer. The account report is distributed to all participants.
Report of the geotour: All participants are requested to submit a tour report of some pages to thetour leader. A report of the geotour is made by academic guides who joined the geotour andsubmitted to organizers.

The main organizer (GIGE) has to prepare a formal report of theprogram including the accounting report of the program, and has to distribute it to all participants
and related organizations.
4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, andeminent individuals of academic, governmental and business worlds. Donations by organizations
and companies of related fields of activity as well as by individuals who hope to encourage
participating students will be searched for to reduce participating fee of students. Presently 3
Academic societies of Japan, 2 societies in Nepal and 1 international society have provided nominal
support to the program.

Masaru Yoshida (Chairman), Bishal Nath Upreti, Kazunori Arita, Tetsuya Sakai
Convenors for the Student Himalayan Exercise Project,www.geocities.jp/gondwanainst/geotours/Studentfieldex_index.htm
C/o Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment, Hashimoto, Japanwww.geocities.jp/gondwanainst/
Tel & Fax: 0736-36-7789
E-mail: gondwana@oregano.ocn.ne.jp
Postal Address: 147-2 Hashiramoto, Hashimoto 648-0091 Japan* Gondwana Institute for Geology and Environment (Hashimoto): The main office of theGondwana Institute for Geology and Environment (GIGE), which is an international NGO/NPOand is situated in Hashimoto, south of Osaka, SW Japan. The GIGE is a group of loosely connectedworld’s geoscientists belonging to countries located in Gondwanaland crustal fragments. About 50
scientists are registered 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 some to ten volunteer scientists of GIGE fellows.
Gloss budget of GIGE main office in 2015 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 jointlywith scientists of Nepal chapter and editing of geotour guidebooks of the Himalaya with the Nepalchapter, etc. (Website: http://www.geocities.jp/gondwanainst/)*Department of Geology, Trichandra Campus, Tribhuvan University: This is the largest and mostadvanced geological education and research body in Nepal and includes 16 teachers and about 100
undergraduate students. Since the inauguration of the department in 1960s, staffs of the5

department have made effort in research and educating students in the Himalaya. The
Department staffs have been conducting advanced research in the Himalaya on geology andnatural hazards in collaboration with scientists worldwide including Japan. The Department has
an intimate relationship with Japan since long, such as that over half of the staff with D.Sc degree
received education and degree in Japan, and over a half of the staff has an experience of or evennow conducting collaborative research with Japanese researchers.
(Website: http://www.geology.edu.np/)

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