Maoists bombs and blockade Kathmandu,Nepal

Tourists are still beating a path to Nepal as its bloody civil war enters a critical phase.

Trekkers on Nepal's remote mountain trails last spring would return to Kathmandu with a cherished souvenir: a receipt for "donating" to the Maoist guerrillas' campaign to overthrow the monarchy. The receipt was in danger of beating the pashmina to become the most treasured memento of their stay in the Himalayan kingdom.

Now, for the first time in their eight-year revolt, the Maoists are at the gates of the capital itself. They have blockaded Kathmandu for five days, forcing the authorities to bring in supplies by lorries guarded by military helicopters.

Yesterday, more than 20,000 businessmen and travel trade officials marched through the city in a peace rally, holding up banners reading, "We want peace. Withdraw the blockade".

Yet, despite government travel advice from Britain, the US, France, and Australia, some young backpackers still appear unfazed by the impact of Nepal's eight-year civil war that pits peasant revolutionaries against King Gyanendra and the country's elite.

Some of the travellers, watching female soldiers of the Royal Nepalese Army search the insides and roofs of their buses, said that they had not met Maoists, not even on the road between the trekking centre of Pokhara, Nepal's third city, and Kathmandu.

Lana Stonebrook, from London, said news of the blockade had not affected her decision to travel to Nepal last week. "When I heard about [the blockade] I panicked. But then I realised that the Maoists have been doing what they do for a while so it's no big deal. It's actually bliss for tourists at the moment, because there are not many people around."

The tourist season, which lasts from mid-September till late April, seems to take a break in June with the monsoon, when leeches and heavy rain make trekking near-impossible. Most tourists who fly to Nepal in July and August are passing through to Tibet, the "roof of the world" which sits in the Himalayan rain shadow and remains dry.

Although the Maoist rebels have never attacked tourists, nor announced their intention to do so, their energetic "donations" campaign was waged last winter and spring.

Trekkers were stopped by well-spoken young men, most of them former teachers who had joined the People's Army. Rebels would give a well-rehearsed speech about their "People's war", and demand "donations" of between 500 and 1,000 rupees (£3.60 and £7.30). Although the rebels were polite, tourists said they did not feel they had a choice of whether to donate, because the men may have been armed. In return, they were handed a receipt they could show if they were stopped again so they did not have to pay a second time.

Kristjan Edwards, managing director of the Tiger Mountain Group, which owns several jungle lodges and trekking operations, said: "In the past month, bookings doubled but business is down 25 per cent on a normal year. There have been no group cancellations in the past few days, and I don't expect there will be. There's a lot of trouble elsewhere in the world, not just in Nepal, so people are not that worried about a few invisible rebels any more."

Nepal is still a popular destination for backpackers and gap-year travellers, but mountaineers and wildlife enthusiasts are among the older, wealthier visitors. Thick jungle in the south offers wildlife safaris, and the snow-melt from the mountains allows some of the world's best white-water rafting.

Last year, the Nepal Tourism Board directed successful marketing campaigns at South Asian tourists in an attempt to boost flagging visitor figures. Nepal is home to Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, which could and should attract many more of the world's 350 million practising Buddhists.