original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

thumbnail

viewImage

Those who stay

As a micro-hydro engineer working in rural Nepal in the mid-1980’s, I struggled to find money to build power plants that could meet the energy demand along the Everest and Annapurna trekking trails. Communities in Lukla, Namche, Jomsom and Ghandruk needed energy to meet basic needs of trekkers, and provide value-added services for additional income. Tourists were prepared to pay for hot showers, cold beer, clean beds, and a varied menu. But resource limitation meant there were fewer and smaller power plants. The national electricity grid was then limited to urban areas and the country’s electrification rate was low and stayed below 20%. The Nepal Electricity Corporation (NEC) , the predecessor of NEA, had constructed a dozen small hydro projects for remote districts with no immediate prospects of being supplied by the grid.&nbsp; Some of these were in tourist areas but were woefully inadequate to supply more than domestic lighting load. The 240 kW Chokhopani small hydropower project, commissioned by NEC in 1984, to supply the Thak Khola region of Mustang, was overloaded within a couple of years of its construction after tourist lodges in Tukuche, Marpha, and Jomsom began plugging in electric space heaters and hot plates. Following the 1984 delicensing of generation from power plants of less than 100kW capacity, Nepal saw a dramatic surge in interest from rural communities to invest in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/micro-hydro-in-nepal-affected-by-the-spread-of-national-grid" target="_blank">micro-hydropower</a>. While smaller systems could meet the needs for power for home lighting and tv sets in non-tourist areas, communities along tourist trails wanted larger power plants to cook and heat with electricity and run refrigerators. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna" target="_blank">Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP)</a> provided a grant to cover 70% of the cost of the 50kW Ghandruk project. Completed in 1990, it was designed to supply 250 households and 20 hotels. However, to make sure there was sufficient power to connect the whole community, each hotel was limited to a subscription of one kW of power — not enough to meet cooking needs.&nbsp; The hotels were encouraged to turn on immersion water heaters at night to speed up cooking in the morning. Recognising that micro-hydropower projects could only partially supply their energy needs, ACAP also helped hotels install solar hot water systems for showers and import LPG for cooking. The 600kW Thame project in the Everest region was completed in 1995 with a grant from the Austrian government to supply 629 homes and tourism businesses of Namche Bazar, Khumjung and Thame. For the first time in Nepal, it was able to demonstrate how much value an abundant supply of electricity could add to mountain tourism. Electricity reduced pressure on scarce, high altitude biomass and provided an alternative for families that were caught between strict rules prohibiting firewood collection from the Sagarmatha National Park, and the need of increasing numbers of trekkers, guides, and porters.&nbsp; Electricity was used in place of firewood not only by hotels and cafes, but also in the kitchens of 60% of the households. Electricity from the Thame power plant allows Namche Bazar today to meet the fuel needs of more than 40,000 trekkers a year, double the annual visitors when it was built 30 years ago. The electricity supply also opened up new livelihood opportunities. Stores selling handicrafts and climbing gear, tea shops, pubs, restaurants, lodges, laundromats, cyber cafes, jacuzzi, water treatment and bottling plants, and three electricity-powered bakeries, and pizzeries all came up.&nbsp; Another early benefit from Namche’s electrification was the improvement in water supply because it could now be pumped up from a spring to a reservoir with slow-sand filtration at the top of the village. Piped water supply from the reservoir and a sewage system, also managed by the power utility, Khumbu Bijuli Company, allowed hotels to offer rooms with attached bathrooms with hot showers and charge significantly higher for rooms.&nbsp; Other electricity-enabled infrastructure include cell phone towers, of which Namche has two, and the potential for cable cars to take visitors to viewpoints and ropeways to transport goods.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241124101136_12b9599800b353fbc6fbefe1a8b69f2d83bb09c0b19e47d664edb9de3f9ea6d3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241124101136_12b9599800b353fbc6fbefe1a8b69f2d83bb09c0b19e47d664edb9de3f9ea6d3" data-rendition-name="original" width="2039" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal can level up tourism with electricity NT"> </figure>  Since the earliest days of trekking tourism, the environmental carrying capacity of the local ecosystem has been limited by the availability of energy. Without access to commercial energy from the outside, the number of trekkers, and their accompanying support teams, that any region can host depends on the rate at which trees can regenerate there.&nbsp; High altitude areas like the Khumbu face a natural limit based on the slow rates at which trees can grow. Arid trans-Himalayan regions like Upper Mustang and Dolpo can sustainably harvest even less biomass. The government continues to restrict tourism areas in the trans-Himalaya, with fragile ecosystems, requiring foreign visitors to pay for permits.&nbsp; Trekking groups are required to carry their own fuel to avoid strain on the local ecosystem. In Upper Mustang the number of visitors is limited to 1,000 annually and requires each visitor to pay a $500 fee for a ten day visit. Other restricted areas include border communities in Humla, Gorkha, Dolpo, Manang, and Manaslu. Since then, Nepal’s electricity generation landscape has undergone a dramatic transformation. The country currently has a surplus from hydropower and solar energy. This is expected to keep growing for the foreseeable future. Harnessing this electricity to boost mountain tourism can enhance local livelihoods and reduce outmigration of youth. The tourism sector employs 1 million people and contributes 8% to Nepal’s GDP. In comparison, more than 3.5 million Nepalis work abroad and their remittances make up 27% of GDP. Growth in the tourism sector could significantly expand employment opportunities at home.&nbsp; Namche Bazar is proof that electricity can take mountain tourism to the next level both by increasing the carrying capacity of high Himalayan regions by substituting for biomass fuel, and increasing employment through value-added services and infrastructure development.&nbsp; Electrifying the country’s tourism sector has the potential to significantly increase its contribution to the economy, and take it closer to another tourism-powered South Asian country, the Maldives, where tourism’s share of the economy is 60%.&nbsp; Given that Nepal’s electricity is from renewable resources, any tourism it powers can also be marketed as producing minimal greenhouse gases. If tourists could be transported in electric vehicles to and from the airport and to the roadhead leading to their trekking destinations, it would further lower emissions. This is an additional selling point at a time when many environmentally conscious tourists are looking to lower their carbon footprint. The NEA can play an important role by increasing the supply, capacity, and reliability of electricity along existing, popular trekking trails. The extension of the national grid to Tilicho Base Camp last week is the right step. Even though the country’s electrification rate has now reached 99%, supply challenges remain. The task is made easier for NEA since practically all <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/decentralising-power-in-nepal" target="_blank">regions with tourism potential have hydropower projects</a> either operating or under construction within their own districts. This makes it much easier to ensure a reliable supply with good voltage. In the Annapurna region, electricity has reached nearly all communities with Ghandruk and Jomsom connected to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-electricity-demand-soars" target="_blank">national grid</a> in 2017 and 2018 respectively. However, without improved reliability of supply, tourism enterprises will continue to use firewood and imported LPG for cooking.&nbsp; In light of the damage caused by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood" target="_blank">glacial lake outburst flood that hit Thame in August</a>, the power supply for Namche and the region would be much more resilient if it was connected to the national grid. NEA also needs to extend transmission lines to Upper Mustang and other restricted areas that aspire to host higher tourist numbers than they are currently allowed.&nbsp; Investment in extending power supply along the 16 districts traversed by the Great Himalayan Trail would accelerate the development of green and sustainable tourism in those areas. For other tourism sites where NEA does not plan to extend the grid in the next five years, micro-hydro and solar energy will remain important solutions.&nbsp; The two 900 kW mini-hydro projects under construction to supply the villages of Ama Dablam and Monjo, both in the Everest region, are good examples of the support the <a href="http://www.aepc.gov.np/" target="_blank">Alternative Energy Promotion Centre </a>needs to continue to provide for off-grid power to support the tourism sector. Bikash Pandey is Director of Clean Energy and Circular Economy at Winrock International. People Power is his regular column in Nepali Times on global energy issues relevant to Nepal.

Bikash Pandey

Nepal can level up tourism with electricity

The daily 10-hour curfew at Tribhuvan International Airport from 8 November that will last five months has affected tourism during Nepal’s peak season, with some hotels and trekking agencies here reporting cancellations into spring next year. The reduced hours at Nepal’s main aviation gateway till 31 March means that a third of all flights have been cut. This has also caused ticket prices to surge by up to eight times of normal fares. For example a Kathmandu-Delhi ticket that used to cost Rs12,000 is now listed at Rs50,000, and even then seats are not available.&nbsp; “Especially if they are here to trek, change in flight dates can cause tourists to miss their connections,” says Jagan Timilsina, who runs a trail running and outdoor education business. &nbsp; Pokhara is feeling the brunt as hotels report last-minute cancellations for November because of flight disorders. Some hoteliers also say although there have been some cancelled trips, most itineraries have been rescheduled.&nbsp; Hari Prasad Sharma Gaire of the local chapter of the Hotel Association of Nepal says the Kathmandu airport closure should have been timed for the off-season. He told us: “Starting construction during the peak tourist season was a mistake and will cause the tourism industry to lose a lot of business. The upgrade could have been spread out over a longer time but closed for fewer hours at night so that disruption was minimal.”&nbsp; Nearly a third of the 1.2 million tourists who visit Nepal annually come to Pokhara, which is also the gateway to Mustang, the Annapurna treks and pilgrimage tourism to Muktinath. Located by scenic lakes with a range of adventure sports like hot air ballooning, paragliding, canyoning, bungee and ziplines, Pokhara is also popular among diaspora Nepalis. “Besides its own attractions, Pokhara is really the hub for central Nepal, and we have been trying to get visitors to extend their stay here,” says Timilsina, who started out as a trekking porter and rose up the ranks to be an expedition guide and entrepreneur. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024111603114_0e071ce63ea9b0a9a7ee76f8c3cea0ff08c6767c41dd09f6bc4413d2db067a60" data-rendition-name="original" width="3500" height="2333" loading="lazy" alt="Pokhara's tourism woes NT"> <figcaption>Tourist arrivals in Pokhara have slumped since the disruptions at Kathmandu airport due to upgrading work. Photo: KRISHNA MANI BARAL/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Even without the Kathmandu airport closure affecting tourist arrivals, Pokhara was already suffering from a decline due to many factors like the poor state of the Prithvi Highway, the shortage of luxury accommodation for high-end tourists, and the reluctance of international airlines to start direct flights to Pokhara despite an expensive new airport that was inaugurated two years ago.&nbsp; “There was a lot of initial excitement on the construction of the international airport,” says Timilsina, “but it hasn’t delivered as expected due to politics. People have invested in nearby businesses, and have faced losses.” India has blocked direct flights from its cities to Pokhara because the facility was built by a Chinese company. Although tourists and pilgrims from India hit record levels this year, the poor state of the highways and the Indian bus accident on the highway to Kathmandu in July that killed 27 pilgrims from Maharashtra state dampened arrival figures. Gaire says, “While tourist arrivals to Pokhara are now approaching pre-Covid levels, we haven’t seen the improvement we were expecting. We need a better marketing strategy. What are our embassies abroad doing?”&nbsp; Indeed, Pokhara used to be a favourite destination for Chinese tourists. There was a boom in arrivals from China before Covid, especially after a popular Chinese tv serial was shot on location here. But arrivals from China have not really recovered since the pandemic because of the economic slowdown there. Promoting Pokhara airport to handle direct flights from Chengdu or Kunming could revive Chinese arrivals.&nbsp; Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAAN) has used the Kathmandu airport closure as an excuse to arm-twist international airlines to start flying to Bhairawa, which has barely been in operation for two years since it was inaugurated. So far, Fly Dubai, Thai AirAsia, Jazeera and Qatar are flying to Bhairawa, but most use it as a hop before flying on to Kathmandu, which does not reduce congestion at Kathmandu.&nbsp; An ideal situation could have been to get Pokhara to run to full capacity while Kathmandu is partially out of action. Pokhara entrepreneurs are puzzled why the CAAN and the national government have not taken more interest in promoting Pokhara as an alternative to reduce the congestion in Kathmandu. Nepal’s football team that was flying to Dushanbe this week couldn’t get tickets via Delhi, and took a domestic flight to Bhadrapur, crossed over to Bagdogra and flew on to Delhi to catch their flight to Tajikistan.

Vishad Raj Onta

Pokhara’s tourism woes

Basking in a golden sunset reflected off Machapuchre, guests gather in the courtyard of Hita Sharma’s house in Ghandruk for a party. In the kitchen, Sharma is sorting through a nanglo filled with freshly picked niguro fern as strips of mutton sizzle away in a pan. Cucumber, radish, and greens from her vegetable garden have been chopped neatly, and laid out.&nbsp; Sharma lost her husband when she was 23, and overnight became a single mother raising two children and an elderly father-in-law. All she knew was how to farm the terraces on the steep slopes nearby.&nbsp; Her family has lived here in the Gurung village on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/trekking-in-the-time-of-climate-change">Annapurna trekking trail</a> for generations, she speaks the local language and is familiar with the community’s customs. But unlike her Gurung neighbours, she was not involved in the tourism industry in a town that gets 175,000 Nepali and foreign trekkers every year. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_7b6b49e2257264a87add62ccdd2a3d528096b934acd7154f9f51ec89efa50387.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241004111044_7b6b49e2257264a87add62ccdd2a3d528096b934acd7154f9f51ec89efa50387" data-rendition-name="original" width="4160" height="1972" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> </figure>  “Everyone ran hotels, homestays or businesses, while I was alone with two young children,” says Sharma, who was also convinced by her neighbour Harimaya Gurung to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home-in-nepal">start a homestay</a>. Ghandruk had just been connected to Pokhara by road in 2016, and the flow of tourists was increasing.&nbsp; A decade later, Sharma’s homestay is a thriving. The loans are paid off, her son is a chartered accountant in Pokhara, and her lab technician daughter is settled in Japan. “They have made me forget all the hardships I faced to get here,” beams Hita Sharma.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_2e59e9200b7fdb74ff993777e15a2e0fab0ec38b0b41436d5b9ddbaabc4ba434.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241004111044_2e59e9200b7fdb74ff993777e15a2e0fab0ec38b0b41436d5b9ddbaabc4ba434" data-rendition-name="original" width="6000" height="4000" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> <figcaption>Hita Sharma</figcaption> </figure>  Gandaki is number one among Nepal’s seven provinces in the Human Development Index, even higher than Bagmati, where Kathmandu is located. But even more surprising is that rural parts of the province, like here in Ghandruk, are even more prosperous than towns like Pokhara. Only 12% of the population of Gandaki is below the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/not-rising-nepal">poverty line</a>, much lower than the national average of 21%. In total, Gandaki has only 5% of Nepal's poor, lowest among the seven provinces.&nbsp; Just a decade ago, the story was different. In 2011, the poverty rate in Gandaki was higher than the national average at 28%.&nbsp; “We recalculated the results of the survey to see if there was a mistake, but the data was sound,” says Hem Raj Regmi of the National Statistics Office. “The rural areas of Gandaki province have leapt ahead in prosperity.” TOURISM  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_f72ee29e5b82e52b3aa8d253e31436a551fb6a75e3d8b26f2d3bb357d839f39b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241004111044_f72ee29e5b82e52b3aa8d253e31436a551fb6a75e3d8b26f2d3bb357d839f39b" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="523" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-nepal-can-avert-an-economic-crunch">Tourism and remittances</a> from those abroad are the main factors. The incoming cash has had a multiplier effect on downstream sectors like vegetable and poultry farming, manufacturing and schools. “The villages of Gandaki have always been more prosperous than elsewhere,” notes Nepal’s former finance secretary Rameshore Khanal. “But tourism definitely played a prominent part.”&nbsp; Apart from 656 hotels in cities like Pokhara, there are 342 rural homestays across Gandaki, and the provincial government provides Rs1 million subsidy to open new homestays benefiting many families who have rooms empty because so many members are abroad. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241005031032_973542d98efc075f5e9e6d5ddd8f0c42ada74bbbd1d2ff7124c4e9aab9a1d5bc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20241005031032_973542d98efc075f5e9e6d5ddd8f0c42ada74bbbd1d2ff7124c4e9aab9a1d5bc" data-rendition-name="original" width="985" height="669" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki province map"> </figure>  More than half of Gandaki’s tourism-centered businesses are in rural areas like Ghandruk, Ghorepani and other villages along the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-season">trekking trails</a>. Nearly three-fourths are female-owned. “The villages of Gandaki are famous tourist destinations, and domestic visitors kept most homestays in business when foreign arrivals fell during and after Covid. This has maintained employment and income levels,” says Krishna &nbsp;Chandra Devkota of the Gandaki Province Policy and Planning Commission.&nbsp; Although tourism has now become the main source of income, the backbone of Gandaki’s rural economy has always been farming.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_4f6d6a79280fc85a91b9c2528d8816983f543760c781fbfb1d58ebcd2fe8e039.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241004111044_4f6d6a79280fc85a91b9c2528d8816983f543760c781fbfb1d58ebcd2fe8e039" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="1688" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Province prosperity NT"> </figure>  “Agricultural prospects were always good in Lamjung, Tanahun, Kaski and Syangja districts because of community irrigation systems,” explains Khanal. Indeed, while a little over 60% of Nepali households are engaged in agriculture, in Gandaki it is 64%.&nbsp; A robust irrigation system means that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/helping-farmers-who-help-themselves">Gandaki’s farms</a> are insulated from droughts and the impact of climate breakdown. Unlike other provinces Gandaki produces enough rice, maize, and wheat to wholly meet its own demand.&nbsp; REMITTANCE  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_44b122c3bbff125b4eb3137f74b327c403d38786549707d5a51f1932e47e99b2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20241004111044_44b122c3bbff125b4eb3137f74b327c403d38786549707d5a51f1932e47e99b2" data-rendition-name="original" width="2976" height="1984" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> </figure>  Gandaki’s literacy rate is 83.4% (nationally it is 77%) and has always been historically higher than elsewhere in Nepal, except Bagmati. Better education has increased employment prospects both domestically and abroad, and higher earnings means greater inflow of remittances.&nbsp; Gandaki Province has always been the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/in-the-line-of-fire"> recruitment centre for soldiers in the British and Indian Armies</a>, and many families of Gurkha veterans have settled down in the UK and send money home to their villages. &nbsp;Maya Timsina, a member of the Provincial Planning Commission in Pokhara, says: “I would put remittances as main factor in reducing poverty in Gandaki.”&nbsp; On average, each household in Gandaki receives Rs215,000 in remittances every year, compared to the national average of Rs145,093. Villages in other provinces are far behind Gandaki in inflows.&nbsp; Former Finance Minister Surendra Pandey says that Gandaki’s ‘Lahure’ tradition of joining foreign militaries has contributed greatly to higher remittances. “Today, soldiers have been largely replaced by migrant workers, but even they earn more than workers elsewhere because of better education and skill sets.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_7f6bcf53b00b963b02ad78b8bda739941a82f66644e6f9c7b7c1b68167b5f533.jpg" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20241004111044_7f6bcf53b00b963b02ad78b8bda739941a82f66644e6f9c7b7c1b68167b5f533" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="533" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> <figcaption>Photo: SALUTE GORKHA TRAINING CENTER</figcaption> </figure>  Daily wages are also higher in Gandaki at Rs711, when in the rest of Nepal the average is Rs511 per day. The province has traditionally been more entrepreneurial because of its location astride the Kali Gandaki trading route. &nbsp;&nbsp; Residents of Gandaki went to India for seasonal jobs until the 1990s, after which industries evolved in cities like Birganj, Butwal, Bhairawa, Nepalganj, Kathmandu, and Biratnagar.&nbsp; But while there is an industrial park in Pokhara, Gandaki province still does not have a major <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/post-lockdown-comeback-for-nepal-s-industries">manufacturing sector</a>. Experts say people living in the province have been able to achieve poverty reduction despite a lack of industrial development because of the importance of the service sector. COMMUNITY&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_c6fec6f4427b41025f7dc5fb322077b028e1f7da6c023b06928404c11dbbe3d2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20241004111044_c6fec6f4427b41025f7dc5fb322077b028e1f7da6c023b06928404c11dbbe3d2" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> </figure>  Homestays have not improved living standards in other parts of Nepal as much as it has in Gandaki Province. For example, only few of the Tharu homestays in the Tarai have done well because of the lack of facilities and promotion.&nbsp; Gandaki has thrived because it has a cohesive community spirit in rural areas. Explains Khanal: “The tradition of coming together, exchanging pleasantries, and discussing problems of the community to find solutions is much more pronounced here.”&nbsp; True, few other places in Nepal are endowed with such <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-six-decades-ago">stunning scenery</a> as the mountains near Pokhara and that is the main draw for homestay guests. &nbsp; “While individual and community efforts have played important roles in lifting people out of poverty in Gandaki, the state must do its part to help,” says Devkota of the Gandaki Province Policy and Planning Commission.&nbsp; “Private sector investment must be encouraged in the mid-hills, and tourism, agriculture and water resources should all be developed.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241004111044_a48197944613ffd2b960e34a32c8e00c10b3fa643825790bcb750f94eee285fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20241004111044_a48197944613ffd2b960e34a32c8e00c10b3fa643825790bcb750f94eee285fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="615" loading="lazy" alt="Gandaki Pronince prosperity NT"> <figcaption>Community homestay in Kailali's Bhada village. Homestays in other parts of Nepal have not been as successful as they have in Gandaki.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal was a country of villages until a decade ago, but the categorisation of local units including the introduction of new municipalities has made it mostly urban, at least on the paper.&nbsp; In 2021 a third of Nepal’s population lived in rural municipalities, and 66% in urban areas. In comparison, 83% of Nepalis lived in rural areas, and only 17% lived in municipalities in 2011. However, there has been no infrastructure development in many newly-announced municipalities, which means such local units are essentially still villages. One way to curb the high outmigration rate would be to improve basic facilities in rural municipalities.&nbsp; Some of this is already happening in Gandaki. Because of added income from tourism, and better connectivity, many youth are returning to their villages. This model could easily be replicated elsewhere in Nepal and reduce the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/brain-gain-into-brain-drain">outmigration of young people</a>. Meanwhile in Ghandruk, Hita Sharma’s son urges her to join him in Pokhara, but she has no desire to leave her scenic village where the air and water are clean, and the food is fresh. She tells us: “I have lived here all my life through joys and hardships. Now that things are finally looking up, I will not leave. In fact, it is time for all those who have left their villages to return.” &nbsp;&nbsp; This report was punlished in collaboration with the Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJ).

Prosperous Gandaki is thriving

The 14th <a href="https://www.apthc2024.org/">Asia-Pacific Travel Health Conference</a> is set to take place in Kathmandu from 18-21 September, bringing together 200 delegates from 27 countries to explore advances in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19282">travel medicine</a> which have relevance for Nepal’s own tourism industry.
The biannual conference is the first in four years after its 13th iteration in New Zealand in 2020 was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Previous conferences have been held in Bangkok and in Kathmandu in 2016.
Lessons for the travel industry from the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-covid-19-impact-worse-than-official-figures">Covid-19 pandemic</a> will be prominent in the agenda of the conference in which experts from the <a href="https://www.istm.org/">International Society of Travel Medicine</a> will also be taking part. Nearly 60 of the 200 participants are from Nepal.
"The careful practice of travel medicine can be an important sentinel for diseases,” says <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-porters-sick-on-everest-trail">Buddha Basnyat, MD</a>, Chair of the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit-Nepal, who is part of the Nepali delegation.
The 3-day event will kick off with a day-long Pre-Conference Seminar on Adventure and Wilderness Travel, as well as separate sessions on mental health strategies and military medicine before the main events next week.
“Travel medicine is very relevant to Nepal because it has always been a desirable tourism destination,” says Pratibha Pandey, MD, of <a href="https://ciwechospital.com/">CIWEC Hospital and Travel Medicine Center</a>, which is a partner to the <a href="https://www.apths.org/">Asia-Pacific Travel Health Society</a>.
She adds: “Outbreaks of diseases like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/mosquitoes-move-up-mountains-as-the-earth-warms">dengue</a>, issues of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/fatalism-and-fatalities">road and aviation safety</a>, and economic hardships have had an impact on the number of travellers coming to Nepal, which will be reflected at the conference.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/poor-safety-to-hit-nepal-tourism">Poor safety to hit Nepal tourism</a>, Sonia Awale 
Each day of the conference will include three plenary panels, followed by parallel symposia, communication sessions, and interactive workshops. The conference will highlight special groups, including the elderly, pregnant, and otherwise immuno-compromised travellers. 
An ‘ABC’ workshop which will provide participants with the basics of setting up a clinic and explain pre-travel consultations. Other sessions include discussion about vaccines, including a plenary on the changing immunisation landscape, newer vaccine technologies, as well as a seminar on the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/japans-takeda-partners-with-indias-biological-e-boost-dengue-vaccine-production-2024-02-27/">Japanese Qdenga vaccine</a> against dengue that has not yet been licensed for use in Nepal.
Travel medicine is not just important for tourists coming to Nepal, but also for Nepalis since non-endemic infections like <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-02912-6#:~:text=Mpox%20is%20caused%20by%20variants,materials%20contaminated%20with%20the%20virus.">Mpox and other diseases</a> can be brought here by visiting carriers.
“We were diagnosing dengue and typhus fever in travellers to Kathmandu who came via Rajasthan or Bangkok in the 1990s, long before these diseases became well-established in the local population,” explains Buddha Basnet, who is delivering a lecture on the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/a-shot-in-the-arm-for-vaccines-in-nepal">Typhoid Conjugate vaccine</a> and its roll-out in Nepal in one of the symposia.
The conference will also discuss airlift and emergency evacuation and a workshop on the role of the military in disaster and outbreak relief operations — both especially relevant to trekking and mountaineering in Nepal. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">Climate breakdown</a> has increased the need for better preparedness and rescue.
 Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-loses-its-open-spaces">Kathmandu loses its open spaces</a>, Tom Robertson and Nilima Thapa Shrestha
Other sessions include a plenary on sustainable travel in the age of no-jet set and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/06/travel/travel-climate-no-fly-pledge.html">climate guilt</a>, as 4% of greenhouse emissions are from air travel. Workshops will also look into other infectious diseases and the use of AI and Large Language Models like ChatGPT on travel medicine.
Because travel medicine specialises in diseases and health conditions that are acquired during international travel, it involves pre-travel, during travel, and post-travel consultations. Apart from the relevance of travel medicine to provide medical care to visitors to Nepal, there is also the opportunity to advance pre-travel and post-travel medicine for Nepalis.
Says CIWEC’s Prativa Pandey: “Heartbreaking as it is, migrant workers and students are leaving in droves, and many migrants are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/saving-kidneys-to-save-nepal">coming back with kidney failure</a>, about which there is very little data or research, so there is an urgent need to address those areas as well in Nepal.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/brain-gain-into-brain-drain">Brain gain into brain drain</a>, Sonia Awale
Some of the participants include the ‘father of travel medicine’ Robert Steffan from Switzerland, Tomas Jelinek of the Berlin Centre for Travel and Tropical Medicine, editor of the Journal of Travel Medicine Annelies Wilder Smith, David Shlim who was Medical Director of CIWEC in Kathmandu 1983-1998, and <a href="https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/professor-david-warrell">Sir David Warrell</a> a world expert on snake bite, rabies and infectious disease.

Shristi Karki

Medicine on the move

Daniela-Mariana Sezonov Ţane was fascinated with the teachings of the Hindu epics, and studied Hindi at the University of Bucharest before joining the Romanian foreign service. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
In between, she served with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Nepal in 2007, the year after the ceasefire. Ţane is now Romania’s ambassador to Nepal, Bangladesh and India and is in Kathmandu this week to launch her book, Twilight Chronicles of which two chapters are about her time in Nepal. &nbsp;She spoke to Nepali Times about her impressions. &nbsp;
Nepali Times: How did you land up in Nepal with the ICRC?
Ambassador Ţane: My work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) lasted some eight years and took me to several countries affected by conflicts or in post-conflict time. The mission in Nepal was the third one, after one year in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and 10 months in refugee camps in Eastern Tanzania. In Nepal, initially I was assigned to work on the missing people file. In June 2007 there were still some 1,200 people unaccounted for. I did some field work for families of the missing affected by conflict, recipients of a small assistance program which was meant to help them out of dire poverty.
The last months of my mission were spent mostly in Tarai, preparing the ground with the Nepali Red Cross for the<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14692"> first elections in 2008</a> after the king’s abdication. If you remember, there was a lot of tension at that time because the Madhesi people felt underrepresented. We were making contingency plans in case there were violent clashes.
My most memorable moment is presented in this book, in the chapter Solukhumbu. Together with my Nepali colleague, Roshan, we went to search in a very remote area for the family of a minor girl who had been separated from her loved ones a few years before. She was rescued and kept by a humanitarian group in a shelter for unaccompanied minors supported by ICRC. She expressed the wish to go back home, so we needed to see if the family was still there. After three days of trekking, we found them in a remote ward, living in a very poor house.
In the meantime, more siblings had been added to an already very poor family. But the reaction of the parents, when they saw the photo of their missing daughter, now a teenager, was a very emotional moment, as well as the insistence of one of her schoolmates to give us a letter for her, next day early morning, before we would start our long journey back.
What I loved the most in my mission in this amazing country were the people. A real bond with my Nepali colleagues at the office was created, and I keep in touch with some of them even today.
After that you became ambassador, how did the book come about?
I started writing my Indian diaries, while posted in India as third secretary and cultural attaché at the Romanian Embassy in New Delhi, beginning of 2000. My friends wanted to know more than the emails sent sporadically. It also came out of the need I felt to make India easier to grasp by my fellow citizens. After being the guide of many delegations, I realised there is a need to better explain the countless puzzling, contradictory expressions and manifestations of India. I noted in my diary the people and the moments which marked me the most.
The entries about Nepal and Sri Lanka came naturally after that somehow. Writing made me explore the various cultural, religious and social aspects of those countries where, by staying longer than a tourist, I became adopted and felt like a local. I hope the readers will like the chapter dedicated to Nepal, a country that will always remain in my heart as one of the most beautiful places I have visited, with warm people and an amazing culture.
How is being ambassador to Nepal in peacetime different from when you were here with ICRC?
Working as a humanitarian comes with a lot of field work and direct contact with people at grassroots level. Time spent in the office alternates with time in the field. There is no diplomatic glamour, just hard work, sometimes in dire or extreme conditions, to which one needs to constantly adapt. As an ambassador, the perspective is totally different.&nbsp;
It means to run both an embassy, as a manager, cultivate the contacts in all areas and at all levels with the countries where you are accredited, and work towards the deepening of ties and economic cooperation. It implies a lot of protocol aspects, and the only common ground with the humanitarian word lies in the 100% requested dedication, leaving almost no time for one self.
Romania is now in the Schengen group, how will it affect Nepalis going to work there?
Belonging to Schengen means we have to apply strictly by the book the Schengen regulations for granting all types of visas. There is no exception from the need of physical presence at the interview and of presenting all the required documents demanded for every visa type.
Nepalis will continue to go to Romania for work, provided they have a valid work permit, and they pass the interview. Nepali workers are highly appreciated in Romania, they are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/europe-now-favoured-destination-for-nepalis">currently more than 20,000 there working</a> in many sectors like hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs, agriculture, supermarkets, construction. They are appreciated for their seriousness, hard work, good behaviour and pleasant personality.
How much interest do Romanian trekkers and mountaineers have for Nepal?
With the increase of living standards and of wages, the past decade witnessed a growing number of Romanians coming to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/ever-gone-wildlife-trekking-in-nepal">trek in the Himalaya</a>. I do not have any exact figures, but during the second wave of the pandemic in June-July 2021 we managed to evacuate some 60 Romanian and Moldovan trekkers and tourists with the help of our Honorary Consul General, Narayan Bajaj.&nbsp;

“The most amazing thing about Nepal are its people”

Creator of the successful Shangrila hotel group, with properties in Kathmandu, Pokhara, and soon in Chitwan and Begnas, renowned tourism veteran Shyam Bahadur Panday died last week after a long illness.&nbsp; In a double hit for Nepal’s tourism industry, we lost <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/ambica-shrestha-1933-2024-9kaynjv7">Ambica Shrestha</a> the same week, another giant of first wave tourism entrepreneurs. Next generations of family carry both their legacies into the future.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240730120756_5fe83f58816944a200d05cceb23cb8d3dca994df8353a5dab43f3af0e6160580.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240730120756_5fe83f58816944a200d05cceb23cb8d3dca994df8353a5dab43f3af0e6160580" data-rendition-name="original" width="1030" height="830" loading="lazy" alt="Shyam Bahadur Pandey mugshot NT"> <figcaption>Shyam Bahadur Panday 1936-2024, one of Nepal's pioneering tourism entrepreneurs</figcaption> </figure>  Shyam had a pioneering vision for hotels that reflected the spirit of Nepal, and had the foresight to hire many of Kathmandu Valleys best expatriate artists and designers to realise his dream.&nbsp; Cleverly spotting a space in the market between Kathmandu’s five-star properties and the budget lodges that were moving from Freak Street to Thamel, he was able to procure a license due to King Birendra’s coronation. Shyam charged <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/the-lyrical-life-of-Desmond-Doig,1052">his friend Desmond Doig</a>, to design the perfect mid-level Kathmandu hotel. It opened on 1 July 1979.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024073013070_eca3189ae138fca1b1249b826c0083f9556bedcaa1356a379e46a6905a69e9a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024073013070_eca3189ae138fca1b1249b826c0083f9556bedcaa1356a379e46a6905a69e9a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1366" height="620" loading="lazy" alt="1979 inauguration of Shangrila Hotel NT"> <figcaption>The 1979 inauguration of Shangrila Hotel by Shyam Bahadur Panday (left), his daughter Millu and mother.</figcaption> </figure>  Desmond was an editor, author, painter, designer, photographer, expeditioner and conservationist, a Renaissance man who delighted in the Valley’s vibrant living artistry. Retiring to Nepal in the 1970s after a lifetime in journalism in Kolkata, ‘Des-la’ adapted his talents to architecture and landscape design.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/remembering-des-la-at-shangri-la">Remembering Des-la at Shangri~la</a>, Lisa Choegyal&nbsp; Utpal Sengupta, the curly haired member of Desmond’s original entourage, managed the hotel with flair and imagination for 20 years. Former employees who cut their teeth at the Shangrila can still be found running travel agencies, resorts and restaurants in Kathmandu and beyond.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240730130724_ce4f4a5d5cc1bbcb21d907698ee1641f74868b00be5af8effe4daab0827c7501.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240730130724_ce4f4a5d5cc1bbcb21d907698ee1641f74868b00be5af8effe4daab0827c7501" data-rendition-name="original" width="3029" height="2412" loading="lazy" alt="Shangrila Hotel plans 1979 NT"> <figcaption>Desmond Doig (left), Elizabeth Hawley, Boris Lissanevitch and Sir Edmund Hillary looking at the Shangrila Hotel plans 1979. Shyam Bahadur Panday requested the talented Desmond to design the original Shangrila Hotel and garden.</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/In-memorium-of-Dubby-Bhagat,3180">Writer Dubby Bhagat</a>, artist Robert Powell and designer Chino Ronchoroni were amongst those who contributed their special style in upgrades and additions. Shyam, and later his sons Prasidha and Prabin, maintained a watchful eye over the decades.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/book-review-of-Down-History%E2%80%99s-Narrow-Lanes-andMy-Kind-of-Kathmandu,2413">Saving what is left</a>, Sonia Awale The Shangrila Village Pokhara at Gharipatan followed and a site was secured in Meghauli in Chitwan. Pranay Panday proudly showed me the resort at Begnas he was building, overlooking the lake and the Annapurna peaks, faithfully following his grandfather Shyam’s original concept. Shyam’s ‘Shang’ became a fixture for many of us local residents, as well as a friendly base for tourists, trekkers, journalists, consultants and film crews. We would often encounter Shyam lurking in the lobby, a gentle smiling presence always with time for a chat or a laugh, usually on his way to a government or industry meeting.&nbsp; Following a career in the civil service and a Masters’ degree from University of Southern California, Shyam realised his talent for business. After establishing the Shangrila group, he became instrumental in developing responsible tourism policies and regulations with the government, HAN and PATA amongst others, recognised with a lifetime achievement award in business leadership.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1742">The legends still live</a>, Sraddha Basnyat Hotelier colleague Yogendra Shakya recalls his devotion to high class hospitality: “Shyam’s contribution to the tourism sector is unparalleled.” Lingering in the al fresco restaurant, lounging at the hiti pool, or enjoying a hot rum punch by the roaring fire in the lobby bar, one might have run into <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19173">Tony Hagen the Swiss development pioneer</a> who walked the length of Nepal, Dudley Spain long-term British Embassy implant, UNICEF’s Gordon ‘Golden’ Temple before he decamped to Bhutan, Jim Edwards the indefatigable owner of Tiger Tops, or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/hiking-with-jimmy">Col Jimmy Roberts</a> with his floppy-eared spaniels, the founder of trekking in Nepal.&nbsp; <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10754">The legendary Boris Lissanevitch</a> regularly graced the kitchens as a special guest chef, bearing bottles of flavoured vodka and bones to make his famous borscht.&nbsp; Dame Freya Stark, Arabist explorer and British eccentric, was one of the first to stay at the Shangrila. Already in her 80s and rather forgetful, she declared on arrival: “I feel we must be somewhere east of the Euphrates.”&nbsp; We arranged two treks for her in the early 1980s with her favourite hill pony named Red Balls. Freya wrote in the Shangrila guest book: “This is the finest hotel I have ever stayed in with the nicest people in it.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240730130728_66048d35cc12a3818bd29b2ef833184a30d110b0734eb2f89dc0c3ac3024bf42.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20240730130728_66048d35cc12a3818bd29b2ef833184a30d110b0734eb2f89dc0c3ac3024bf42" data-rendition-name="original" width="970" height="688" loading="lazy" alt="Dame Freya Start NT"> <figcaption>British explorer, Dame Freya Stark was one of the first celebrity writers to stay at Shyam's Shangrila Hotel in 1980, with Lisa Choegyal</figcaption> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/adventurers-in-a-vanishing-land">Adventurers in a vanishing land</a>, Lisa Choegyal <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/highs-and-lows-of-sir-ed">The great burra sahib Sir Edmund Hillary</a>, an ardent Shangrila fan, was feted with a garden dinner by his Sherpa friends to mark the Everest Golden Jubilee 50th anniversary in 2003. Suites were named after him and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter">Tenzing Norgay</a>.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/what-next-for-reinhold-messner">Reinhold Messner</a> stopped by between 8,000m peaks. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climber-activist-david-breashears-68-5jqz27nf">David Breashears</a>, maker of IMAX Everest documentary that put Sagarmatha on the trekking map, used the garden as a quiet haven to shoot interviews, &nbsp;including with British film director Stephen Daldry (The Crown and Billy Elliot).&nbsp; Writer and nomadic traveller <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/When-Bruce-Chatwin-was-in-Chitwan,1017">Bruce Chatwin </a>came as one of a long line of yeti-hunters en route to the mountains. American Mikel Dunham visited annually, author of Buddha’s Warriors and my co-editor of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-liz-hawley-in-kathmandu">Elizabeth Hawley’</a>s diaries The Nepal Scene, which covered the turbulent political and social history of Nepal from 1988-2007.&nbsp; Over the years Shyam’s Shangrila Hotel hosted local weddings, rites of passage and some remarkable celebrations. Desmond arranged Utpal’s marriage to Caroline (of Chez Caroline) in 1981 amidst the terraces, fountains and newly planted marigolds in that soothing garden.&nbsp; The Prime Minister attended the 1994 reception honouring the Himalayan chronicler, Elizabeth Hawley, with 35 years of service to Reuters. Always a stickler for accuracy, to our embarrassment she kept interrupting the regional boss’ laudatory speech with factual corrections.&nbsp; Kunda Dixit had survived as Miss Hawley’s youthful journalist intern: “The Shangrila garden reminds me of Desmond Doig who was pivotal to my early career.” As Nepali Times’ publisher, Kunda chose it to mark its twentieth year and one thousandth issue in July 2020. As befitted a celebration in the time of Covid, numbers were limited, the party was muted, and hugs and handshakes were replaced by knuckle taps, elbow embraces and namastes. It would be one of the last events held there. Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/1-000-weeks-of-nepali-times"> 1,000 weeks of Nepali Times</a>, Mark Turin Today the old Shangrila Hotel is a gaping hole in Lazimpath’s landscape, an empty space echoing with memories. Under the direction of Shyam’s two sons and their offspring, Kathmandu, Pokhara, Chitwan and Begnas are in preparation to launch under the prestigious Intercontinental (and Indigo) brands. Whilst the family hotel properties are reincarnated to meet the changing times, founder of the dynasty late Shyam Bahadur Panday’s inheritance will continue to set benchmarks for the future.&nbsp;

Lisa Choegyal

Shyam’s Shangrila

Ambica Shrestha (1933-2024)

Since Nepal first opened its doors to the outside world in the 1950s, it has steadily gained goodwill and friends around the globe. The Nepal brand has remained strong despite political instability, a ruinous conflict, corruption, poor infrastructure and air pollution.&nbsp;
First came the high fliers of the sixties to this Shangri La, then the hippies and overlanders seeking Nirvana. Himalayan hikers and development volunteers travelled and worked in the remotest corners of Nepal where even Nepalis had never been. Scientists, academics and experts like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Toni Hagen</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-s-legacy-is-goetz-hagmueller-s-legacy">Götz Hagmüller</a> made Nepal their adopted home, and gave the country a global identity.&nbsp;
They worked in schools, hospitals, conservation or heritage projects, building lifelong connections with Nepal, immersing themselves so much in the Nepali way of life that they felt alien in their own homeland.
Many wanted to spend their last days here, and some did. But in the past year the state has made it more and more difficult for long-staying foreigners to remain, and many in their seventies and eighties have bid tearful farewells to Nepal.&nbsp;
Why is Nepal driving away its best friends? Most of those interviewed for this report did not want their names used, and many teared up when they recounted the humiliation and dead-end they encountered while trying to renew their visas.&nbsp;
Countries like Thailand issue long-term retirement visas to foreigners in return for spending a minimum of $25,000 a year. Nepal had been allowing retired foreigners to stay on long-term residential visas until recently. This has been discontinued, but no one seems to know why. When asked, officials say it is a directive from the Home Ministry.&nbsp;
The website of the Immigration Department, which falls under the Home Ministry, says that a foreigner aged 60 or above can apply for and get a residential visa in Nepal as long as they have $20,000 in their bank account every year, pay an annual visa fee, obtain a no-objection letter from a related embassy, a health certificate issued by Teaching Hospital.
But the Immigration Department has not granted any new residential visa for over a year, forcing many elderly applicants to leave for good after being given the runaround. Expats can extend their tourist visas but only for up to 5 months during a calendar year.
We asked an official at the Immigration Department why no new residential visas had been approved. His reply: “You will have to ask the Home Ministry about it, they stopped it.” Only 3 long-term residential visas have been renewed in the past year.&nbsp;
After agreeing to speak anonymously, an official asked a rhetorical question: “It boils down to two alternatives: are we going to make money from long-term visas for foreigners, or is Nepal going to be an old people’s home?”&nbsp;
Foreigners who have given up knocking on doors at the Immigration Department are used to such cynicism. One 72-year-old applicant who has spent 30 years in Nepal was bluntly told: “Sir, we don’t care if you are here or not.”
An American who has been living in Nepal for over 25 years has been trying to apply for a long-term visa for five years, and has been going in and out on a tourist visa. He was told the only way would be to pay off a broker, or get a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-Marston-Menagerie,4084">British couple Wendy and Robin Marston</a> who have lived in Nepal for over 45 years left the country after they were denied a residential visa. Robin was one of the pioneers of trekking in Nepal since 1978, and Wendy was involved in life-saving charities to help burns victims at hospitals in Kathmandu. &nbsp;
Austrian architect Götz Hagmüller died earlier this year in Bhaktapur aged 85 after spending more than half his life in Nepal. He made the preservation of Kathmandu Valley’s cultural heritage <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352">his life’s work</a> and never left, restored<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/style-and-substance"> Kuthu Math</a>, Kaiser Mahal’s Garden of Dreams and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece">Patan Museum</a>. He was refused a residential visa, and only got to stay on in a different visa category.&nbsp;
Foreigners have two ways to get long-term visas: by enrolling as students or investing in a business. The government is tightening the student loophole, and requires foreigners to invest Rs10 million or more in Nepal. This group is mainly made up of Chinese and South Koreans who have opened restaurants in Kathmandu or Pokhara.&nbsp;
But there are hassles even in renewing business visas every year, and a hydropower investor says he cannot get his passport stamped without getting his fixer to hand cash under the table.&nbsp;
“If the Nepal government is serious about foreign investment in the country, it must clean up its act,” he told us on condition of anonymity. What puzzles long-time Nepalophiles is that officials are so intent on undermining the country’s international goodwill by being so nasty to its most devoted brand ambassadors.
There are many theories about the tightening of visas: traditional xenophobia from a time Nepal was a hermit kingdom, geopolitics, suspicions about foreigners engaged in proselytisation, corruption and lack of coordination between the tourism promotion and immigration authorities. It could even be immigration officials doing a tit-for-tat for someone they know being refused a Schengen or American visa.
The Visit Nepal Year 2020 sign is still painted on the sides of Nepal Airlines jets, the country’s tourism promotion has lofty slogans like ‘Guest Is God’ or ‘Visit Nepal: Once Is Not Enough’. On the other hand, visitors whose visa fees could be a lucrative source of income are being told they are not welcome.&nbsp;
“Nepal has so much goodwill it can capitalise on, it is a wonder that it doesn’t,” says a long-term resident. “There is a larger xenophobia and suspicions at play here, especially with the relations with the United States and the rise of India and China. But Nepal is losing out on other friends and opportunities.”
Indeed, some see pressure from China on the government to control the activities of Westerners who may be sympathetic to the Tibetan cause, and India is also seen to be wary of the presence of third-country foreigners. &nbsp;
Writing for Nepali Times, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/race-against-time">researcher George van Driem</a> says xenophobic legislation enforces an ethnic bias that seals off Nepal for long-term residents.
‘Even with the written approval of His Majesty King Birendra, it took Lt. Col. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home">John Philip Cross</a> 32 years, 6 months and 2 days before he was granted citizenship. When his struggle was finally rewarded, the legendary Gurkha figure was already deep into his retirement. Yet he is the lucky exception,’ van Driem wrote. ‘This grudging attitude with respect to Nepali citizenship reflects a mind-set firmly rooted in the racial attitudes of the Mulukī Ain.’
Ironically, while Nepal is pushing away long-staying foreigners, Nepalis themselves are emigrating in droves to their countries.&nbsp;
Says an American academic who first came to Nepal in the early 1990s: “We are definitely not a drain on the economy, we are happy to pay but it is a real shame that Nepal has made it so hard for us to stay. So many have left and gone to Thailand and elsewhere. They had no other choice.”
Another 72-year-old resident who has lived in Nepal for 30 years is emotional when she says in a soft voice and with a faraway look: “Despite everything, I still wanted to live here for the rest of my days.”&nbsp;
Her residential visa application was turned down, and she is leaving Nepal for good this week.

Sonia Awale

'GO AWAY'

The old Newa trading town of Bandipur, 145km west of Kathmandu, fell into a gradual decline after the Prithvi Highway was built in the 1970s. The town was bypassed, but that is probably what also saved its old world charm. The capital of Tanahu district was then shifted from Bandipur to Damauli down the mountain next to the highway, further diminishing its importance. Local traders started moving to Bharatpur or Kathmandu, taking their business with them – leaving Bandipur in splendid isolation for decades. Now, in a stunning comeback, Bandipur has been transformed from a Ghost Town to the Queen of the Hills. Its quant pedestrianised slate-paved streets are lined with traditional Newa buildings, their bougainvillea-draped facades intact. Dilapidated homes of traders have been renovated with locally available material. The main Bandipur Bazar is vehicle-free, a decision welcomed by both businesses and locals alike. There is very little cement to be seen, at least in the core of the old town – although an eyesore of a highrise cable car terminal has sprouted on an adjoining ridge. Credit for preserving the town goes to Bandipur Ecocultural Tourism Project launched 20 years ago to revive the once bustling town which served as a business centre in the region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Merchants went through the town to get to Kolkata in India, and for the trade between Kathmandu and Tibet. “Before there was reliable local transport, people from western mountains of Kaski, Lamjung, Gorkha and Manang would come to Bandipur to exchange for goods from Chitwan,” says Shanti Kunwar, who runs the Bindabasini Homestay in the heart of the bazar. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/dapcha-s-old-world-charm-awaits">Dapcha’s old world charm awaits</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240512080548_3bbbd96b4192f06edb0329a6ecf3b7a1bdd776f05664d2f1b135b55480391b7b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240512080548_3bbbd96b4192f06edb0329a6ecf3b7a1bdd776f05664d2f1b135b55480391b7b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1299" height="729" loading="lazy" alt="Go Bandipur map NT"></figure>  Locals have also added walking steps so that it is easier to climb up the scenic hills that Bandipur is famous for. Hiking trails offer panoramic views of the Himalaya to the north. Nearby Thani Mai hill with its shrine on the peak offers a bird-eye-view of the main bazar, the Marsyangdi Valley below and the mountains beyond. For thrill-seekers, there is now paragliding and some of the best rock climbing in Nepal. Cave enthusiasts can go exploring in the Siddha and Pataleshwar Gufa. There is also a 13km long mountain biking route between the nearby villages of Ramkot to Korikha via Bandipur Bazar. “About 200 years ago, Newa people from Bhaktapur and Kirtipur settled in this area,” explains local academic Dinesh Shrestha, “and they brought their architecture, culture and festivals with them.” Bandipur has its own Biska Jatra, at the same time as Bhaktapur celebrates the same chariot festival. It also has Lakhey masked dance parades. Bandipur today is a microcosm of Nepal with a diverse Magar, Gurung, Rai and Brahmin-Chhetri population. In fact, the name ‘Bandipur’ is a slightly Nepalicised word derived from Magar words for ‘a place where water comes from the forest’. In the summer, Shiva fanatics of the Bolbam type have a mela at Siddha Gufa. During Dasain, a similar mela is held in Pataleshwar Gufa on Ram Nawami. Bandipur is also historically significant. Mani Mukundeshwari, Chandrakot, and Huslangkot Forts still stand in the town once ruled by the Sen dynasty. The ruins of Mani Mukunda’s fort are still on a hillock nearby. The Mani Mukunda Sen Wall which looks like and is known as the ‘mini great wall,’ at 1,100m was recently rebuilt to attract more visitors. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">What sustainable tourism means in practice</a>, Bimbika Sijapati  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240512080544_5bb230a8fcb2fb08cef4b7330782cb2952219ac5db525c7e9cdba4d3cc546de6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240512080544_5bb230a8fcb2fb08cef4b7330782cb2952219ac5db525c7e9cdba4d3cc546de6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1067" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Go Bandipur NT"><figcaption>Mani Mukunda Sen Wall. Photo: WEWONDERWHY.COM</figcaption></figure>  Like Kathmandu, Bandipur has its own Tundikhel which was used as a parade ground for the garrison here during the Rana regime. It is now a park from where visitors get a sweeping view of peaks from Dhaulagiri to the west to Langtang to the east and the sharp khukri-shaped icy ridge of Himalchuli straight ahead to the north. Also visible across the Marsyangdi Valley is Gorkha, and the palace of the Shah kings, and with binoculars one can also see the historic Ligligkot Darbar, and Rainaskot village in Lamjung. Inside Bandipur Bazar, one building in particular stands out. A fine, white structure designed by an architect from Kolkata, constructed by masons from Bhaktapur, and bankrolled by Chandragopal Pradhan in 1929. However, the Ranas thought the design of the building was a little too similar to that of their palaces. Pradhan was arrested and made to pay a fine for his audaciousness. The building is now one of more than 70 heritage hotels in Bandipur. Most lodges are family-owned and is the main source of livelihood for locals. The homestay culture really started in Bandipur 13 years ago with Chandeni Pipalthok Homestay, and its success inspired many others. Now, there are 12 homestays registered in the village, and four in the Bazar. “They let you experience a culture authentically and the nearby villages of Korikha and Dharampani even have Gurung homestays,” says Shanti Kunwar, “and to experience Magar hospitality, go to Ramkot.” After the pandemic Nepali visitors compensated for the lack of foreign tourists. But while domestic tourists tend to stay at homestays for one or two days, foreign tourists often stay much longer - some are there to research Bandipur’s history and culture. Recently, the Gandaki Province made it mandatory for government officials to stay at homestays, on tour or on duty. Bayberries (काफल), raspberries (ऐंसेलु), and millet pancakes (कोदोको रोटी) are part of the Bandipur diet in the summer, making for a stay that is delicious, healthy, and organically authentic. Bandipur is now a five-hour drive from Kathmandu on the Prithvi Highway because of the bad roads. But with the tunnel and road upgrading, it should be a comfortable 2 hours soon. Being halfway between Kathmandu and Pokhara makes Bandipur a perfect night-stop to recuperate from the rough road. It is a pleasant 30 minute steep uphill drive up hairpin bends from Damauli. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/time-catching-up-with-timeless-dolpo">Time catching up with timeless Dolpo</a>, Alton C. Byers

Go Bandipur

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

The streets of Patan are alive this month with lavender jacaranda trees under rain-washed skies as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-red-god-rises-again-in-patan">the chariot of Rato Matsyendranath</a> is pulled across town. This is the festival of the rain god, and inevitably the heavens opened up and pre-monsoon showers pelted the chariot as it started being pulled in Pulchok last week. Thousands of devotees, onlookers and the chariot procession organisers thronged the streets on the first day last week. The rhythmic cymbals and drums exuded a vibrant energy as the enormous four wheels turned and the chariot lurched.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  The<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Red-rain-god,3141"> red rain god</a> has Hindu and Buddhist antecedents, alternatively called Bungadya and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-gravity-defying-chariot-festival"> Karunamaya</a> — reflecting Kathmandu Valley’s syncretic mixture of the two religions.&nbsp; “Bungadya is a profoundly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/marketing-the-intangible">intangible form of heritage</a>,” explains heritage expert Monalisa Maharjan. “It embodies traditional knowledge,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft"> artisanal skills passed down through generations</a>. Local communities and specific families have specified roles in being custodians of the heritage, ensuring their survival over the centuries.” There are many legends and stories about this annual tradition. Lichhavi king Narendra Dev is supposed to have brought Rato Matsyendranath from Assam to Kathmandu Valley to convince Guru Gorakhnath to lift a spell that created a two-year drought in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1503" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Matsyendranath was Gorakhnath’s mentor, and upon seeing him, the serpents were released, unleashing the rains. The chariot festival honours the return of this life-giving rain. The deity is seen as an icon for thriving agriculture, t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">he arrival of monsoon</a> showers, and the welfare of the community. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain">The reign of the god of rain</a>, Vidhu Prakash Kayastha Till this day, the Rato Matsyendranath festival is no ordinary celebration. Patan does not sleep for a month as the chariot is pulled through various neighbourhoods. It unfolds at a state level with the president (formerly the king) attending the climax of the Bhoto Jatra in Jawalakhel later this month.&nbsp; The intergenerational transmission of tradition is unique in the world, and the reason the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural expressions that thrives despite inroads of modernity. The other unique aspect is that it is a transnational festival, binding Patan with Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  “Unlike Nepal, where the deity commands grandeur and devotion, many in Assam are unaware of Rato Matsyendranath,” says Khagen Sharma of Gauhati University, which convened <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-assam-connection-revived">a symposium in February in Guwahati on the rain god</a>. Attending was a delegation led by Lalitpur Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, organisers of the festival, and builders of the chariot. After the symposium, a committee was formed to explore and revive the tradition in Assam as well. Although the team had planned to visit Nepal this month, logistical challenges delayed the trip. Still, there are plans to build a Guru Matsyendranath statue in Assam to reestablish regular worship practices in the Guwahati shrine.&nbsp; The vines used to build the chariot in Patan are sourced from the jungles of Assam. But Sharma notes that in recent years unclear regulations have blocked the official import of the vines, although they are still brought to Nepal informally. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/makers-of-machhindranath,2204">chariot making</a> has also had a taste of modernisation in recent times. In the past, even a single nail or piece of steel was avoided. But over time, the wooden structure, particularly the shaft between the wheels, has been replaced with bronze. When that too proved unstable, metal clamps were introduced, which have become a pragmatic compromise.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Another welcome change is the focus on safety. Builders climbing the chariot’s tower now wear harnesses and there are efforts in crowd control. The most visible change in recent years has been the involvement of Patan’s enthusiastic youth in the festival — the tradition is now passing to a new generation. Says Matsyendranath expert Vidhu Kayastha: “There is more energy, the young people in red t-shirts this year were very organised, these modern touches aren’t diluting our culture, they’re keeping it alive in new forms.” He adds, “We are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">reconnecting with our roots</a>, we have more resources, more awareness than ever before. We must not be swept away by western values that may not serve us, and in some ways, cause more harm than good. We must revive our own culture.”&nbsp;

Divine chariot

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.