A Harrogate woman who has spent the past month trekking in Nepal claims the locals have treated her with disgust since the country went into coronavirus lockdown.

Holly Bellerby and her partner Matthew Helliwell had just finished the 100 mile long Annapurna Circuit when the local government cancelled all climbing permits.

Even though Holly and Matthew haven’t been back to the UK for a year and have no symptoms of coronavirus, they say not wearing masks has proved controversial.

Along with 15 other British nationals, the couple was stuck in the village of Jomsom where restaurant and hotel staff have refused them entry.

“We needed to get a copy of our passport and asked a local internet cafe to help,” Holly told the Stray Ferret.

“They refused to take money from us and handed us the papers by asking us to move back from the property and putting the papers under a rock for us.

 

“At the moment we aren’t too hopeful that there’s going to be a flight arranged for the British nationals. We have heard things about French and German embassies organising something for them.

 

“We actually didn’t have a flight booked home which is a blessing and a curse – it’s almost too risky to book anything or assume the government will organise something for us at the moment.”

Since speaking to the Stray Ferret, Holly has been sent a generic email from the British embassy but it does not guarantee a way out of Nepal.

It says that the embassy is not yet able to “confirm flight availability or cost. If a commercial flight is scheduled at short notice we will need you to be in close proximity.”

Holly Bellerby in Old Bagan, Myanmar.

A local news website in the Himalayas reported today that the “137 foreigners stranded on trekking trails will be rescued in two days” but Holly has not yet been told about any flights.

Even when Holly does get back to the UK, she has no idea what to do about jobs or where to stay.

“My family all still live in Harrogate and after quarantine I will be heading there to stay with my sister. My parents are both high risk so have been advised to stay isolated for three months.

 

“We were planning on moving to London after a few weeks with family up north but now our plans are completely up in the air and we don’t have an endless pit of money.”