The Tragedy of Nepal 2011

A deep depression hit me about an hour into my visit to Nepal and lasted for the first two weeks. Nepal, as a travel destination, is nothing short of raved about. “The Himalayan Mountains are majestic and the people are the nicest in the world!” was a common travel tidbit I heard. What I found was a developing nation with deep problems becoming worse by the month with tourism hastening the poisoning of the well. The pollution is the worst I have ever seen. Air, land, sound and water, nothing is spared the careless trash. The people are wonderful and also skillful about exploiting the tourist scene. Everyone you meet has a friend that is in the business of what you want to do, and they have a vested commission in getting you to open up.

Kathmandu, Thamel

So much of this place is changing, generally for the worse. You can see the mountains from Pokhara, but the smog makes the view, well, depressing. Kathmandu is thriving from tourism, but at the expense of the country workers leaving to find easier work (and often times they can’t get it, resorting to black market and corrupt jobs).

The horns on the motorbikes are non-stop. The taxis will take you for a ride and to your destination. They view cheating tourists as a right, a recent newspaper article boasts.

“Merry Christmas, sir!” a 10-year-old boy told me. “Would you like some weed?”

I wanted to leave within a week of getting here. Let me rephrase that: I wanted to leave and start a campaign to stop tourism in Nepal. There was no redeeming value. It was soulless, corrupt and destroying everyone that touched it. Not something I want to be supporting, in reality or my dreams.

“Merry Christmas, sir!” a older man told me later in the frigid night.

“Need a cute girl? Bang bang.”

Vendor outside the bus

City is city. I get this. This happens. Pollution happens. Black markets happen. My dream of this place happened, and it was far, far off from what actually is here. The political democracy is on a thread, and a saving grace is the blancas that come here to spend their money. Nepal is developing, there is no doubt of that.

The bus ride from Kathmandu to Pokhara is a very direct reminder of how developing the country is. More than 10 police checkpoints stop every car, bike and bus to check permits and tolls. A six-hour ride passed (formerly) amazing views of valleys, rivers and mountains. There is also a police paddy wagon arresting vendors, drunks and teens (by random it seems). The motorbikes don’t obey the road closure rules and honk at the mob walking down the street. “Get out of my way!” their imported ultra-loud horns say.

Nepal Roadside

Everything seems to be just this: an urgent cry. The rural areas of Nepal, I shall learn, are extreme in their land and experience. I met a mother that had 12 children living, and had buried eight. The eyes of people around town are full of salesmanship or despair. An old lady sells me some beads, which are made by hand and support her family trapped in Tibet.

“That is full of shit!” my guide tells me, yelling at the widow. She scatters, and I am told that the beads are from China, and she just does what sells to the tourists.

Everything isn’t as it seems. Isn’t how I fell in love with Nepal. The lore just doesn’t match up.

Time to get out of the city. Annapurna Circuit is on my life list. 220 miles circumventing some of the tallest mountains in the world. Every town along the way has tea houses to welcome the trekkers (60,000 strong per year as of 2009). Wilderness, I hoped.

As with most of my hopes in Nepal, it was quickly smashed. There isn’t much sense of wilderness here. Can we make money off it?

Develop it. Rice fields can fit on most hillsides, put them in. Trash was everywhere (and not tourist trash, local trash was the stuff on the ground). You can see why: A young girl asks every trekker for chocolate as they walk by. She unwraps it, eats a bit and drops the wrapper on the trails. This joins the 10-50 pieces of trash per 10 yards of the trail. The full Annapurna Circuit is 220 miles, and at that estimate, we are looking at 352,000 to 1,760,000 pieces of trash on the trail.

Wilderness. Nepal’s tourism is built on the trekking. You pay a visa fee on entry to the county, and a “conservation fee” for the assumed conservation. Nowhere to be found.

The dark secret of wilderness around the world is that the land is usually not developed because it is too hard to profit off of. The Himalayas are off limits, but the wooded areas around it are not protected.

The tea houses in towns welcoming you? They are just hotels, built for the trekkers. There isn’t much past the towns, other than the hotels. In most we visited, there wasn’t anything besides that.

River Crossing In Nepal

Trekking on the most hated road in the world. The road.

  • Day 1 The road!
  • Day 2 The road.
  • Day 3 The fucking road.
  • Day 4 The fucking road destroying this place.
  • Day 5 The fucking road built by children destroying this place.
  • Day 6 The fucking road build by children destroying this place and eating the soul of all around.
  • Day 7 The inevitable road.

The Fucking Road

The road is going in at the strong urging or citizens of Manang. There are 3000 full-time residents, and with stories of hundreds of children being saved with a modern road in and out, convinced the government to put in a road. The road conveniently goes exactly on top of the trekking trail. Where the road is built, the trail is gone.

Wilderness.

Now, if you are a person that can do third grade math, you can figure out that the road will carry, at capacity, the same amount of tourists that currently hike on the trail (averaged out).  One car per three minutes with eight passengers on a road that is unstable at best.

The guiding services expect trekking to go up when the road is completed. On day six, right past Tal, we saw the road being jackhammered into the hillside. “Awful young,” I thought. “It is a good job” my guide said (as the last official thing said as my guide). We passed a group of 20 youth, aged 6-10, high up on a hillside clearing the blasted land from the army. The tourist funded army. Yes, come to the mountains, and see the whites of the eyes of the child labor you are supporting.  I’ve never seen eyes so cold.  So hurt.  So helpless.  They are doing a very hard job, unsupervised, with almost no pay as a replacement of their childhood.

My guide learned a valuable lesson about unfair and dangerous jobs: If you support it, you can lose yours.

If you hike the Annapurna, you support, directly, child labor. They might hide it during the high-season, but the ugly and shameful beast is there. The knock-off brand-name jacket you bought in Kathmandu are made by a different tragic set of small hands.

Wilderness.

We are in the last years of the Annapurna being a place where people trek. The inevitable road is set to be finished in 2014, with buses and jeeps honking and smoking up the valley. They are aiming to have 150 vehicles per section, per day. To my surprise, they don’t expect trekking to go down.

The powerlines cover the entire valley until Manang. A 42″ flatscreen TV is displayed in the kitchen/bedroom/bathroom of a teahouse. The fire rages on, but with no chimney smoke hangs at waist level. The 10 people in the room don’t seem to mind, but their daily environment is killing them. We pay our conservation fund-approved menu meals and hike on. The road is the only way to get up the valley, conveniently, to the next town. Let me Photoshop the power line out of that pristine Himalayan view.

I sit down in Manang for a veggie curry. I’m excited to meet the residents of the town that resulted in one of the classic hikes in the world becoming a jeep trail. I was quickly joined, at 11am no less, by a group of five drunk and high business owners. The all too familiar get-to-know-the-tourist-before-selling-them-shit game is played. It is around zero outside. No insulation to be found. This week, eight Nepali die due to the cold.

“You want good weed, you come to Karma.”

The inevitable road is being built and supporting this, and this alone. There is a small town that used to be here. It has been swallowed up by the tourist trash, forever gone. The army is blasting an amazing amount of rock into the river below.

I’m learning the hard lesson of how tourism can destroy.

It is January. It is the coldest week of the year. It is 14,000 feet above sea level, and there is no snow. We walk over the 17,769-foot pass without stepping in a spot of snow. The glaciers have receded back as far as they can without disappearing. We make it over the pass. It is one of the slowest days for traffic on the pass, an officer tells us days later. Six people, guides included. “In October you can see 1,000.”

The majestic Nepal is dead to me, to a lot of people, many of which live here.

Throng La Pass Nepal Summit

After the trek, the papers read of the risk of a political uprising. It is “tourism year,” so the Maoists are pretending to agree to not do anything for 2011, but not many believe that. Opportunities for visas for workers wanting to slave away in foreign lands are crowded in the paper. Only 320 died last year in Quatar. A paraglider died yesterday less than a mile from where I type.

The opportunities are depressing. The government is depressing. The people have lived through hell and are seeing their country being built into a three-star hotel for assholes like me to come and experience their Himalayan dream. With more than 30% of the children not attending school, the government focuses on tourism in 2011.  I don’t how this will help the core problems, major problems, at all.  It will only hurt more.

I’ve never felt dirtier as a traveler.

I found many things in this country to be urgent cries. Perhaps this is mine.

More photos from this trip can be found here. I also wrote a separate piece with my positive stories from Nepal.  I decided on the trail that these two had no business being published in the same post.


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233 responses to “The Tragedy of Nepal 2011”

  1. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Rob has a number of good points on the road / development which are dismissed by a childish “rolling eyes” comment. It is for the people of that country to decide their future and decide what services or goods they should grow to aide their economy. Nepal, after a troubled past and one that even involved a ban on foreigners a number of years ago, has decided that tourism is one way that they can bring in foreign money. As a tourist, you assist the country with your US, Euros etc. The problem (for the nepalese) is ensuring the government puts that back into the community.

    It is paternalistic to suggest that ‘we’ know better and unfortunately some ‘volunteers’ volunteer more for a ‘social resume’ back in their own country (ie ‘look how good I am’ talk and fail to listen to the people they are meant to assist. Hence their critical attitude, as such criticism suits their social networking.

    The people of Manang had hardly enough food to feed themselves let alone Maurice Herzog who arrived starving in their village in 1950 (Maurice was there to climb Annapurna). Now, they can set up their own tourist orientated businesses, feed their families, send children to school and dream of having a road which will take them to hospitals, schools and jobs. Nothing is perfect (america is a case in point), but they are standing on their own feet and working for their future. Americans should look to the problems in their own country, open up their minds and consider how their actions have contributed to problems in other parts of the world.
    Tom

  2. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Lou, the question is how are they to find that lifestyle or work that fulfills them? Everyone is always striving for something more. Are the Americans on wall street fulfilled or happy with their lifestyle? Any country’s first step involves growing its economy by using its resources. For Nepal, its tourism and then a service economy will follow. I think its sad that the author could only find one nepalese person he could trust, but I would probably say the same thing if I was amongst American politicians, bankers and lawyers. The people of Nepal are different from you and I in some respect – for some of them the next step is education, when electricity will run for 24 hours, running water etc. For you and I, its whether we are going to be supersized at our next fast food meal. If you don’t want to visit their country, then don’t. But if you do, go with an open mind and heart.

  3. Tom Avatar
    Tom

    Developing countries are just that – “developing”. Why begrudge the people a TV or the heat from a fire? I’m sure they know that their lives are not perfect. If you want to help, pay a contractor to renovate their hut by putting in a chimney.

  4. Euphoric Avatar
    Euphoric

    Gud luck with finding a perfect country with perfect people and everything perfect. Wake up and enjoy the gud things that come your way. And if u are depressed after what I see in those pics of yours, u need some serious help friend.

  5. Euphoric Avatar
    Euphoric

    Gud luck with finding a perfect country with perfect people and everything perfect. Wake up and enjoy the gud things that come your way. And if u are depressed after what I see in those pics of yours, u need some serious help friend.

  6. yogi Avatar
    yogi

    i agree with u, there are still alot of places in the world which are in same situations, so better not to say that is the worst place, might b some more places that u are about to explore.

  7. yogi Avatar
    yogi

    i agree with rob n euphoric, hey andrew gud luck for ur world tour of finding a perfect country, i guess every developing countries are facing the same problem what u saw in nepal, but may be u have not realized it. the main cause of all this is the political unstability which no one can do nothing, quite depressing. i live in australia n alot of places here r also not that gud, not all infrastructures are developed here as well, n being a developed country it is still trying its best so how can u expect best form a poor country. anyway see nepal with beautiful eyes n u will find it more beautiful.

  8. Ruja hada Avatar
    Ruja hada

    after reading ur blog all i can say is that u have no guts to face reality in life…. nepal is the true example of a developing country.. u shouldn’t expect high red carpet service from developing country like Nepal..
    you have only seen the pollutions and fucked road of country but have u even seen the cultural beauty and religious importance in peoples eyes over there???
    Sir, you can’t give Nepal such a bad reputation after spending some days in thamel and pokhara.. i am sorry to say but you haven’t travel Nepal to ur fullest..
    nwaz good luck to u so that u can find a perfect country….

  9. Aaron Avatar

    I was in Bhutan last year which is rather famous for it’s extreme cost…US $200 per person per day, which covers the all-inclusive tour you are required to go on. The price goes up to $250 per person per day next year.

    The way our guide phrased it, the trip is purposely priced so high because the government wants to keep “backpackers and hippies” out (the irony being that my parents were hjippies and I’m a backpacker).

    As it was explained to us, the whole tourism scheme in Bhutan was based around the mistakes Nepal made when opening up to tourism. They’ve taken a very slow, cautious approach to opening up to the world and really used Nepal as a guide. It certainly seems to have worked as their traditional culture is stunningly preserved. Other travelers we had met in Bhutan said it was less affected by tourism than Nepal was 20 years ago!

    It was a stark reminder of just what effect tourism can have on a country. Fortunately, not a single one of your complaints listed above applied to Bhutan. That said, I’m sort of scared to visit Nepal for fear that I’ll find the same thing you did!

  10. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    This misses the point and content of the post on so many levels.

  11. Ddangelo Avatar
    Ddangelo

    As someone who has traveled to Nepal three times in the last decade or so and has summited Everest – your article does a great job of painting a bad picture. Maybe that was your trip – maybe you’re just one of those types of travelers? All in all this might minimize the amount of folks visiting Nepal – which can go either way – for the future tourist and for the country itself.

    I haven’t travled the Annapurna circuit – but I have trekked all over the Khumbu and also made the trek from Jiri as well. Nepal does have it’s issues – i had a friend get blown up from a pipe bomb thrown into his car while traveling to Tibet – that was 5 years ago. At least now we’re not paying the Maoists to let us by unhindered. There is progress.

    In the Khumbu at least, it’s an absolutely beautiful place, still is. And there’s amazing people that when you go back there several times you get to know. Further – even though the Khumbu is a well traveled area, there are many side hikes to much less traveled areas.

    Kathmandu is kathmandu – the guys selling hash, the general dirtiness – sounds like you didn’t set a foot out of Thamel – am I right? Kathmandu Guesthouse is where you stayed? You should be stoked that you can now eat in a host of places and not get terribly sick – 10 years ago you were limited to the ‘fire and ice’ – one restaurant.

    What’s disconcerting is that you are a ‘world’ traveler? Everyone knows that every destination has bad places and good places – and the challenge of a good traveler is to seek out the good places – leave the crappy for the tourists. Thing about Nepal – even the most popular trek – to the Khumbu – is still amazing and there’s tons of tourists. You don’t even need a guide. Just get an $80 ticket on Yeti air and head to Lukla – get a map and you’re off.

    Anyways – I’m bummed you had a bad time – if you ever head back, send me an email – I’ll hook you up with the places to go, the places to stay, and if you’re into the whole volunteer thing – I know of a couple of great organizations doing great things. Khumbu Climbing School and the Tilganga Eye Center (Himalayan Cataract Project)

    Good luck in your travels!

    -Dave

  12. From Nepal Avatar
    From Nepal

    We are really sorry for such a terrible experience you have to face while visiting my country. We will definitely take action and consideration as possible as we all can help to improve. Yet I very much like to mention something to all of you that, in least developed countries like Nepal, there is constant battle between life and death, so it’s almost impossible to penetrate the problems in major scale. And yet we do look forward to possible answers. We thought Tourism just might be 1 out 1000 possible answer to this crisis, so we did expect good results not opposite of that. It can never be, certainly won’t be cheating to lure tourist into false expectations, so once again we are sorry for everything. I do hope when you next visit my country, we at least exceed your expectation. Do visit Nepal again.

  13. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Hi Andrew,

    Being a nepali, for a long time I wanted to know what tourist felt about all the chaos of Nepal and meantime its beauty. I wanted to know which was more distracting the beauty or the Chaos.

    And I am thankful to you for sharing your experience and honest records of your journey. I went through some of your photos in Flickr and they were beautiful. But the chaos surrounding beside those beautiful shots can be seen in this article.

    I think what you experienced is an irony of Nepal (which i and many of my friends hv felt ); being the poor country yet tourism centric, between two powerful nation and yet underdeveloped, developing county yet in full political chaos.. and such many irony…

    I only hope that your post will be circulated among as many nepali as possible and as they read it, I want them to read with a perspective from an honest tourist and not in any other form of prejudge.

    Hope this will shade a light among all of us on the reality and how it can easily be misunderstood when mixed with emotion.

    Thanks again.

  14. Solicitor80 Avatar
    Solicitor80

    I don’t know how many people you came across out of 27 million people in Nepal, i think you’re misjudging the people, if one american murders a man it would be unfair for me to call all americans murderers. America is top country where murder, extortion and kidnapping happens. america has got the highest number of drug cartels in the world that doesn’t mean we call america the worst place. America is one of the major country who is playing a vital role in polluting this world thus we cannot say to avoid or abandon america. It would have been better for you mate to have understood these are the people who is still known as the bravest and honest people in the world. I didn’t think you were robbed during your visit in these rural places but i have the experience of being robbed in the day broadlight in so called developed country. my kind suggestion for you would be to explore your own country, it’s people, your surroundings and judge some other country.

  15. vishal Avatar
    vishal

    I would say, you had higher expectations before coming Nepal which made you feel so bad. But common dude, can’t you think it the other way that people selling the craps here is not because they want to, it is because tourists coming here want to buy and who wouldn’t want to make benefits from that. Actually every thing that you’ve pointed out has other side like this. You couldn’t see it because you did not want to.

  16. Bishal Avatar
    Bishal

    While it would’nt require rocket science or a meager attempt on the net to learn about ground reality in today’s present day Nepal…. am a tad bit affronted and disappointed by the alarmist tone that your feature has taken…
    For starters, every tourist landing in Nepal, would have better be conditioned or prepared mentally to the political ravages that have scalded this country for the last decade….. These tribulations are unheard of , in many parts of the globe, where basic opportunities and chances to aspire for a better life have been snuffed out by the ensuing political tensions prevalent…. Therefore , what would you expect rather than an opportunity at every step by the locals to make a quick buck ? You should be holidaying in Aspen or somewhere close by….
    Yes, it is a developing country, probably a good half century behind India, in terms of development, but Andrew, if you’ve ever ventured out to most tourist destinations in the sub continent, peddling, litter, nuisance from touts will impede every step you take out… Try Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan and a lot of India too… maybe you will be delighted to have sequels fitting in naturally to this feature of yours..
    At the end of the day, for a fledgling democracy, an underdeveloped economy, ( as opposed to developing economies in the viscinity…) and a fragile nation in terms of socio and economic basic statistics… what you see is what you get…So treat it with a little context in mind… it just that the degree of these malaises vary… right across the sub continent till the Andaman facing countries in the South East of Asia… they vary.. but they do not vanish…
    So a bit of contextualisation would have lessened our disappointment upon stumbling across your travel blog…
    Rest, all we have been working towards, and continue to hope for is … Godspeed !
    Bishal.

  17. Rabingrg Avatar
    Rabingrg

    Yes, all you do is pray. If only prays and words could make a change.

    I wish you could really do something to make some change in ur home country rather than act like another westerner.

    And did you forget your share for this misery? I can understand to some extent why other foreigners feel this way but i never thought being a nepali even you dont acknowledge ur part in this problem.

    Lucky you fled.

  18. Witold Avatar

    What exactly do you want?

    Do you want Nepalese to live in 3rd world conditions with no plumbing, no electricity, and no 42 inch TVs to enhance your trekking experience and make it seem more wild?

    Just because it is ruining your fun, it doesn’t mean that the people that live there are not doing much better because of tourism. Like you said, Nepal is turning it’s campground into a 3 star hotel. And guess what? Nepalese will take that 3* hotel over a ten any day.

    That said, I do sympathize with the general sentiment of your post. In 2011, people can easily and cheaply travel almost anywhere in the World. And the result is that the previously wild and special places are really not that wild or special. They are just full of tourists and full of locals trying to take advantage of tourists. It is, sadly, impossible to change this. This trend will only continue and get worse.

  19. From Nepal Avatar
    From Nepal

    So Sorry! for misunderstanding, what I mean was we didn’t cheat anyone and that was never our intention.

  20. Kumarpaudel Avatar
    Kumarpaudel

    INTERUPTION!!!!!! the para motor pilot whom you mentioned as dead has been found alive.. he had gone missing, but not confirmed dead…. please make correction… here is the link to confirm..http://www.ekantipur.com/2011/01/23/top-story/missing-pilot-para-motor-recovered/328475.html .. its sad, u have had bad experience, your money and time was wrongly spent.. sorry for that.. u were just unlucky and could not get into the majestic part… that do exist here..

  21. Yesman Avatar
    Yesman

    Ok. I read the article, yes i can see that you expected a looot from Nepal. Yes I can say that your experience wasn’t as soulful as you had planned it would be like, but if you travel, and travel far, in areas which are lovely but unmanaged, then the fault is not of the place, but of the managing entities. I think you got lost in criticism and forgot to enjoy the moment, had you just enjoyed the moment, your trip would have been very different. I have been to India several times, they show so much about india but its cheats every step, i got, but when i saw taj it all vanished, you cant say there that are no bad people in you own country or your own neighborhood. there are, world is full of insane people, but there is beauty always around, you need to see it. As far as I see it, you were so busy getting frustated that you forgot to enjoy. Travelling is an adventure, if there were IMAX theatres on top of the mountain, it wud be no good. And if you were there for the spiritual quest, then for getting something soulful, you own soul needs to be soulful.

  22. unanimous Avatar

    Unanimous Commentator
    I believe, leaving this place was a great relieve for you. I would like you to ask 1 question thats all and I’m gome. Why were you here at the first place?

    Nepal is one of the poorest country in the whole Asian continent (source ADB 2010 report). Yes it is a developing county. The political outrage is far from settled. Here at the capital, people still fight for the most basic things such as electricity, water, transportation, health, and virtually everything that can easily put someone from west in agony.

    In addition to it, people from all over the country migrate to Kathmandu and even the northern Indians. So, high population , high demand, limited resources. This problem has been further amplified with power cut. This halts almost every industries in the country. Lets cut things short, there is power cut of 12(+) everyday, water is supplied for 1 hour everyday. And the only one reliable industry that this country and people, may be not all, believe, till now, on Tourism.

    Well, all the information above are genuine. Since, I am observing how broadly this blog is getting to people, I would ask you to add the above information too. After reading your blog, I now feel whatever my foreign friends told me about my country was spurious.

    , I want to make another request to all of them who might reach this point of my comment:
    ” All of the things mentioned in this blog by this guy is Genuine. This guy has spoken the reality of the capital and the country. Don’t get me wrong, but please come at this country only if you think you have the ability to appreciate things without stepping on a crap or you have the ability to ignore those craps. And hope that people would come to this country with all the preparation both physical and mental.”

    Its easy for the westerners to come here and throw few hundreds of bucks in this place and leave this place calling it a “trash”. Well, my friend, I live in this trash..lived here for 23 years..

    Chao
    Unanimous Commentator

  23. Yunesh Subedi Avatar
    Yunesh Subedi

    I would like to add it here, Yeah we are subhuman dirty little people, living in a trash trying to cheat all the visitors that come to our country and we stink we suck we are a leech Ameen ! Now does this please your sensibility Mr Andrew.

  24. Abhas Avatar
    Abhas

    Hi Andrew,

    I’m sorry that you had to experience trouble during ur visit to Nepal. Well, I think this is the problem that the tourists travelling to Nepal experience. But on a second thought, Nepal is not only what you expect to come and see- beautiful mountains and diversity in nature. It is the variance in culture and traditions that are totally different from the western world. It is a tragedy that Nepal lagged behind in the pace of development with the outside world and is struggling to meet the expectations of them. In reality, Nepal should have never followed the development looking at the west as the culture and their way of life is totally different. We may incorporate the technical development of the west but not their way of life and thoughts. I think Nepal should follow their own cultural instincts and the belief towards life that are more inherent to them. I think this lack of understanding among Nepalese in the midst of poverty and economic development is the major cause of your seeing Nepal as you did. I hope that we understand the facts and tourists like you might not have to experience bad things but rather see the things which they lack and we possess, which I think we have plenty than them.

  25. unanimous Avatar

    Mr. Subedi..please don’t make cheap judgement over this guy..we have to admit who we are..Moreover, we have to increase the scope to larger audience..If we don’t change now, we will set this picture and take this way further to the future to our brothers and sons..

  26. Popedevil666 Avatar
    Popedevil666

    Absolute truth. In fact I left Nepal, because the load shedding was unbearable. I got eye infection and dust allergy due to pollution. I thought these problems would fade to black if I go to the US, but the allergy didn’t get over me. I expected my basic requirement of life would be taken care of, but you know what US is pretty fucked up.

    Public transportation sucks ass. Even in the city like Boston you gotta wait for an hour for bus. New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago are the only ones with better public transportation. But NYC and LA are as dirty and ugly as my ass. I went to see hollywood, and all I saw was dog crap all around. NYC is so freakin crowded and those ugly graffiti all around nearly made me puke. Heavy traffic kept me on the road for 3 hrs. My friends lived on the 14th floor and the building didn’t have elevator. They used to pay $1400 per month for their apartment which was smaller than my living room back home.

    My friend is fucking his spanish teacher and a woman who has been married to the same guy for 25 years. My homies smoke weed in their dorm room. Whole bunch of people are shot to death every year. My under 21 friend bought a gun with bullets “without” a licence. In Louisiana there’s a ghetto around every corner. People have made houses of box cars of trains. Most of the houses in Louisiana smells like gumbo, which smell like shit. There is a lot more, but I can’t recall right now. This is my take on the US.

    I watched the hollywood flicks which had the perfect scene captured out of the best place in manhattan, and expected every place in the US would be appealing in similar manner. Dude I’m doomed US is fucked up. All you can do is make a little more money here, get an iphone , a mac, a car, lifestyle is better, but you never know when your homie is gonna take you down for 5 bucks. I pay 300 bucks for insurance, which covers nothing, these corporate mafia has completely destroyed the health system of the US. People die here because they can’t afford medicare. Hello, is this the same old mighty US how the fuck did that happen??

    People here don’t know whats happening on the other side of the world, some of them even don’t know they are at war. They really suck at math. My 12 year old cousin is smarter than the 75% of the high school graduates in the US. This post doesn’t make sense at all, does it? because we were supposed to be talking about Nepal, but mis amigos I wanted to let you know if you only look at the dark side you won’t find a single place on the earth to live.

    Peace

  27. Manish Avatar
    Manish

    i have been reading a lot about your child labor thing. You probably know that most of the clothes westerners wear are made in sweat shops of Bangladesh, most of the gadgets you use are from similar factories in china. Most of the pacakged foods you eat are from some other parts of world. In Bangladesh one gets paid 100 usd for a month work. do you think they can afford to live with that without employing children and even if they do not have child labor, what of the children from the parent who earn 100usd a month. do you see those children having good future. Most of the things you do is promoting some form of discrimination to children and with the economic downturn, its gonna go worse. May be you like the child labor which you cannot see directly which is packaged in a good way in your road side boutiques and you get annoyed by the direct way things are done. Its just a hipocracy which your whole writing is.

  28. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    I would agree with this but there is an airport serving this area. I’m not sure a road, which would take 18 hours to drive to the nearest health center is better for health emergencies.

    The ’91 census shows 391 people living in Manang with current levels at about 3000, following directly the increase of trekkers. Agree with the need for quality and accessible healthcare.

  29. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    I can’t speak for my electronics (mostly Apple) but all my clothing was made by Patagonia that has a 3rd party watch group keeping standards: http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=37494

    I do my best with this, but by no means think some of the very little that I own is made in a way that I wouldn’t mind working in.

  30. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Agree. Thanks for the comment.

  31. Santosh Avatar
    Santosh

    Hey dude,
    If you don’t like US so much, you are free to go back to Nepal!!!

    I don’t think Andrew has particular prejudice against Nepal, otherwise he would not have visited on the first place. This does not mean I agree with him. Absoultely not!!

    There are problems everywhere. But, how we perceive is the main thing. I have been to many places in US, and of course, there are crapy places. But overall, my experience has been very positive.

    We should welcome him and all other people to visit Nepal. No country is perfect and I think we are improving. There is no doubt in the beauty of Nepal. The problem is in the management. Neverthless, I am confident that Nepal has more to offer that few bad experiences of a particular guy.

  32. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Thanks for the comment (and congratulations on your summit!).

    City is city. I get this. In the 20 countries I’ve been to I’ve been able to find great places and bad places. What was different in Nepal was I couldn’t shake the bad experiences, even in the wilderness or on the treks.

    This was the shocking thing. Airports were delaying flights due to smog. You can’t see the mountains some evenings in Pokhara. They put in a jeep trail on the most popular trek.

    This is shocking to many, who, like me, have heard nothing but good things about the country, only to find a large open landfill with sickening pollution.

    I didn’t write about the ‘orphanages’ that were really just child care centers with kids told to ask sad when the tourists were around or the many other NGO scams that there are.

    Are there good places in Nepal? You bet! Will they be there in ten years if the onslaught of money and aid doesn’t target the issues that I adressed?

  33. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Thank you for your comment.

  34. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    I have nothing against TV’s or any sort of development (in cities) but think it is perhaps counter productive to have these on the trekking routes where tourist come to not be in cities.

    In other words, a country with such beauty might think about reducing pollution if they expect a continued revenue stream from visitors.

  35. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    I personally came for wilderness or to go trekking. The power outages didn’t bother me at all, nor did the lack of really facilities that it is inferred that I was looking for.

    I’m not calling the place trash at all, just raising issues.

  36. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Not at all.

  37. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Thank you for this comment, fully agree with you.

  38. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    The more I travel the more I find out that I love cities or places next to places others have told me about.

    I feel like I would have loved your trek. The mountains, although sometimes viewed through amazing pollution, still capture your imagination and heart.

  39. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    I wrote two posts on my Nepal experience, this being the negatives and the other post being here: http://andrewhy.de/nepal-2011-a-struggle-fo-beauty/

  40. Yunesh Subedi Avatar
    Yunesh Subedi

    Hmmm…Poradox of living in the developing contry, i don’t feel better either but i doubt the hospitality will be intepreted otherwise.

  41. Popedevil666 Avatar
    Popedevil666

    I never said i hate US, I just pointed the dark side of the US and I my comment was kicked in the balls, perfect example of “hypocrisy of democracy”, I like livin in the US i like people here, i like the universities and the education system.

    I don’t mind goin back home broda, but please let me graduate first aite, is that cool with you?? n please don’t misinterpret me, andrew and everyone else is always welcome in Nepal, and Mr Santosh don’t act like an ass and just point out the problems in Nepal, if you got any idea to improve the lifestyle in Nepal it would be appreciable.

    Remember there is always a dark side of everything. I apologize to Andrew for the bad experience in Nepal, but those words were some dumb shits that he said. Every freakin hypocrite is good at criticizing, but no one comes with the solution. nuff said.

    Mr Andrew You aint a mormon are you?? because you were offended by an offer of marijuana. just sayin.

  42. unanimous Avatar

    Andrew, I just tried to give you few reasons(at least you have been here before, it might help others to know the real thing about this county), and the effect that you already have felt firsthand. The power outages and the short of water supply…I don’t live in Hotels or Guests houses in Nepal, I live at my own home. I have to wake up at random times in nights to go out at cold 10 mins (and yes I like in Kathmandu) , just to fill the deficit of drinking water for my home and wait for the electricity so that the water could get access to all the floors. I hardly sleep 3 hours every night. Then every morning begins with the same horns, the same polluted air, the chaotic environment and the city in destitution.

    Yet, I feel like home. This is my home. This is the only place where I can walk with my head high. I can live around my family and friends and few well wishers for this country. When I come across such articles, despite leading such an indigent lifestyle, I get worried, not just for me, but for everyone.

    The problem again is not with you, But with other Andrews who are still being modest and not bringing a real issue like you did….

  43. Cool Avatar
    Cool

    None of the points and content of the post missed on any level!

  44. Cool Avatar
    Cool

    The ticket is not 80$ now, its 116$ (one way) now, Tara Air (sister concern of Yeti Airlines), Agni Air operates flight to Lukla from Kathmandu.

  45. Cool Avatar
    Cool

    We agreed, need to improve so many things but there is flight delays everywhere in this world. Agreed pollution is problem and need to manage it well. But you have no right to insult saying “Stop visiting Nepal”. You can inform people about the fact and figure but need to think about certain limitation as tourist also.

  46. radical Avatar
    radical

    I have been to Nepal and people seem much happier than in the US, despite having much less. Very patronizing and judgmental post.

  47. Jigme. Avatar
    Jigme.

    It is the Govt. of Nepal that needs to shape up and stand take the onus upon itself. The rampant corruption and callousness with which they have ruined the country is shameful.
    The educated youths of Nepal studying in the west can make a difference if they took the matter to their heart and reclaim the beauty of Nepal.
    And..If it is China that is funding the army to blast the mountains to built the roads, then the future of Nepal to me seems even more bleak. Then we need not to worry about litters and weed peddlers but far more menacing than that. Because being a Tibetan refugee in-exile, and following the abuses meted out to the Tibetan refugees crossing the border into Nepal, by the Nepalese Govt. at the behest of the Chinese Govt. its transparent enough to see where the future of Nepal is heading.

  48. Prabesh Avatar
    Prabesh

    Jon, that was a beautifully articulated reply. I agree with Andrew regarding the state of Nepal at present. If everyone understands, Nepal is going through more or less the same ‘modernization’ path that all nations, east or west have taken in the past. Tourists see 10 year old children selling weeds and working on constructions. Rather than just criticizing child-labor, think what is really driving these? For tens of years, people who live in the the western districts of Nepal have been starving. Families (including children) go without food for days at a stretch. I don’t think its logical to detest child labor if that is a means for them to earn their food. You cannot compare Nepal with any developed nations of the world. You are not comparing apples with apples here.

    Regarding newly constructed roads, Andrew says these are destroying the beautiful rural setting of Nepal. Again, you are commenting from the perspective of a short-time visitor. A major proportion of Nepal is without roads. That means, people who actually live there don’t have access to hospitals, schools, markets and so forth on a daily basis. Construction of roads is inevitable. Maybe the government should see that these constructions, while serving its original purpose would preserve, if not enhance the beauty of the place.

    It is sad to see a lot of people in Nepal try to earn their living by improper means. Revolution can flip political structure but it cannot change the mentality of people overnight. Only by proper education (not necessarily literacy, but EDUCATION) can lift the downthrodden population.

  49. Fjrifjio Avatar
    Fjrifjio

    Hi, Andrew, I just want to say that you are a very ignorant person, I feel sorry for you

  50. NULL Avatar
    NULL

    Thank you Internet commenter.

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