In reply to TobyA:The problems in Nepal are not new,,they have being going on for a long long time,,there have been periods of stability and longer periods of instability,But since the Kings bloodline was murdered a few years back things have declined,,there is a lot of aid going to the poorest areas,,mainly in the form of education but also in medicines and agriculture and more sustainable crops,,non of this aid comes from the Nepalees Gov.
The treking ,climbing and rafting is a massive industry in Nepal,,,,Most trekkers are self supported and apart from paying visa fees to the Nep'Gov most of their money goes to the local population,,As does the rafting scene,But,,most of the main rafting companies are Nepalees owned and run(Ultimate Descents owned by a very good friend Megh Ale, Equator Expeditions, although owned by Jerry Moffat, is Nepalees run),,,But when it comes to climbing this is where the things get tricky,,as most base camp treks and major summits in the Nepalees Himalaya are run by western interests and their peak fees and permits etc go to the Nep' Gov,,so apart from the locals getting paid for sherpa work and the odd tea house on route the rest of the money goes elsewhere.
Nepalees have very varying attitudes to the western world and I can sum it up in to two destinct types of veiw..
1.Punha Sherpa comes from a long line of Sherpa,,his veiws of us are,,you waste so much,,you have too much,,you dont respect much,,you have horses and cats and dogs as pets!!( this is a very real veiw and Punha Sherpa is a live and well.name changed.
2.The Nepalees Business man, who comes from a higher caste knows how the west works, he tolerates the worst in us,,he tries to balance making money out of us, and still paying a fair wage to his Sherpa or Nepali employees,,he sees that he might not be able to have a horse as a pet( he neeeds it to work) but he is able to travel around Europe quite freely to promote his business in Nepal, and at the same time enjoy all the things we take for granted.
So, where does that leave those that pay to play in the greater ranges???Does the big western company that charges thousands to its clients put a small percentage in the price so that it can give a donation to the Maoists? year right,,so they can buy more ganga to smoke, or buy a few more guns,,nope..But making partnerships with local communities and giving them donations,or better still by sending much needed aid into Nepal to help where its own Gov' doesnt,, wouldnt this be a far better option, than the local poulation geting more and more bitter about all the rich westerners corroding their upland and mountain paths!,or leaving rubbish every where,,, how about helping them repair the flood damage after the monsoon season,,or taking big bags of Biros for the kids to do their school work,,,Never mind bloody worrying about wether your insurance covers cancelation due to civil uprising,,,, GIVE SOMETHING BACK TO A WONDERFUL COUNTRY
Namaste Beni