Teasing Tourists
After the Royal Massacre in June and the attacks of September 11 2001, tourism in Nepal has taken a severe hit. It is down by as much as 75% from a year ago, if not more.
Several countries (such as Canada and the USA) are advising their nationals to avoid coming to Nepal. Under these circumstances, one would think that those in the tourist sector would be doing their utmost to make people feel welcome and feel that Nepal is a good destination to come to.
Last week I had the opportunity to meet with some tourists of the kind that do not pay much attention to their country's warnings about Nepal; young (early 20's), 'low budget' travellers. Some were in a 'gap year' (a year taken out of study at university), some just loved travelling. As a long term part-time resident I am not normally aware of the problems this type of tourist faces. My own days of such travel were over 20 years ago when times were very different indeed.
I was absolutely appalled by the stories they told me. Particularly the young women had problems, but all of them complained of being cheated and harassed. They told me that word on the grapevine is that Nepal is worse than India. This truly shocked me. Ladies and (most especially) gentleman, this is your wake-up call! Smell the roses and do something about it! This kind of tourist relies heavily on the grapevine - that is the only kind of 'advertising' there is for them.
Here are just some of the stories I heard:
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Upon arrival in Nepal two young women got into a taxi after passing through the gauntlet of taxi drivers at Tribhuvan Airport. There were two men in the taxi (some of these young women are very naïve). The driver refused to take them to the guesthouse they requested; instead they were forced to go to the hotel of the other person in the car. This hotel was much more expensive than they could afford, yet they felt compelled to stay there AND they had to pay the taxi driver an inflated fare for NOT taking them to the destination they had requested. They stayed one night, then moved on, but at what cost? Was that cheat of a hotel owner really smart?
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One capable young woman travelled to Pokhara on her own. She was the only foreigner in the bus. Before she had got out, men were pushing onto the bus, surrounding her, shouting to get her to stay at their hotel. When she refused, they began to abuse her and harass her. She had to physically push them away to get out of the bus. She went to a shop to make a phone call and these men were jeering and shouting terrible things. She asked the shopkeeper to get rid of them so that she could make her telephone call, but he just laughed and did nothing. What do you think she is telling her friends?
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Another young woman found a really nice family-run guesthouse in Pokhara. She was pleased and she felt safe. The last evening she was there, the 15-year old son came to 'fix a leak' in the bathroom. He sat down in her room, causing her to feel quite uncomfortable. He then bold-faced asked if he could stay the night with her. She kicked up quite a fuss, told his family AND refused to pay for the last night's stay, but many would not have. Perhaps he (and many Nepali men, no doubt) thinks that if he asks 50 foreign women, one will say yes. What do you think that the other 49 say about Nepal and Nepali men?
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In another low-budget guesthouse in Kathmandu two young women are accosted every night by the proprietor who tries to get into their room and bothers them by talking through the door.
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How about the women who walk down the streets of Kathmandu (most especially tourist centres like Thamel) and get accosted in the street by men who grab their wrists and walk along beside them making indecent and lewd suggestions? Or who talk in loud voices about them to their friends? Even when a young woman is with her boyfriend!
These are just some of the stories I heard. This is not to say that it is only the tourists who are bothered, local women - both Nepali and foreign - are also harassed regularly. Nor is it that all Nepali men are like this - it is but a small percentage of mostly young (early teens to early twenties) men who are behaving in this fashion. Are your sons acting properly?
I would like to call your attention to this sorry state of affairs and hope that you will do what you can to stop this harassment and cheating of foreign guests in your country. Times are hard, but it will only become worse if people continue to act in this way. Tourism in this country is in a critical state. It is up to you whether it is killed outright or is revived.