I’ve hiked Nepal on 10 different vacations. But I’ll stop going if this NEW policy is upheld.
The nation is notoriously poorly governed. Don’t be surprised if Nepal Tourism Board suddenly reverses the policy once they foresee the economic damage.
As of March 2023 there is one major exception — the Everest region. The Khumbu Valley remains unaffected because they don’t use the TIMS card required everywhere else. For Everest, idependent hikers can instead buy a local Khumbu Trek Card.
Perhaps this exception will be changed before the start of the spring 2023 trekking season.