KATHMANDU: For eight Australians, their dream trekking holiday has turned into a nightmare. Reason: They have been stranded in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.

A group of eight Australians has been stranded in Nepal’s capital city after the Government of Nepal banned flights to and from the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA), according to Australia’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser.

According to the newspaper report, they were hiking back from Everest Base Camp (EBC) when the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued an order to the Australians to return from overseas immediately.

The group of eight then rushed down off the mountain. But they were late as the Nepal government had already suspended the international flights.

They have already spent the last two days trying to find flights back to Australia, the report said quoting Hutton, one in the group, saying that the trip to the EBC has been in the planning for about two years.

Hutton said when they left home on March 2, the coronavirus had become a global issue, however, there was “no indication it would blow up as it has now”.

According to the newspaper report, they hiked some 32km in two days to get back to Lukla with the hope that they would be able to catch a plane to Kathmandu.

However, all flights were canceled out of Lukla owing to bad weather because of which they had to wait another day to get off the mountain.

Hutton says they desperately want to get home to see their children. But they have no idea when or how they are going to get there, the report said.

Jonathon Creasey, a group member, said that if they are stuck in Kathmandu for another two or three weeks, then they will have to isolate somewhere back in Australia, which could mean that it’ll be more than a month until he would be able to see his wife and kids.

The group has made a Facebook group ‘Australians stranded in Nepal’ to ascertain how many other Australians were stuck in Kathmandu.

According to The Advertiser, the group has attracted more than 370 members in less than 24 hours.

(With inputs from The Advertiser)