Tourism in Nepal

From treks to sex

Jan 24th 2008 | KATHMANDU
From The Economist print edition

Is a new sort of thrill-seeker heading for Nepal?

“I CAN only dance when I'm drunk,” confides Srijana, a 20-year-old employee of the Pussy Cat Bar and Shower, a tavern in Thamel, Kathmandu's main tourist hangout. A few slurps from a customer's glass later and she mounts a small stage. There, to whoops from a few tipsy locals, she sheds most of her clothes and gyrates to a Hindi pop tune. Dangling above her is the Damoclean sword included in the bar's name: a silver shower nozzle, positioned to spray flesh-revealing water on a dancer below.

Such gimmicks are common in Thamel's bars, where competition for lascivious males is fierce. Until a few years ago Nepal had no obvious sex industry. There are now an estimated 200 massage parlours and 35 “dance bars”, such as the Pussy Cat, in Thamel alone—with over 1,000 girls and women working in them. Many sell sex. In the Pussy Cat, another dancer admits to turning tricks, for 1,800 rupees ($28).

That is a tidy sum in Nepal, South Asia's poorest country. It is much more than Nepali women are paid in India's flesh-pots—to which over 5,000 are trafficked each year, according to the UN. But the dancers in Thamel are chasing a richer sort of Indian: tourists. And their government seems to be encouraging them. In an advertisement for “Wild Stag Weekends”, the Nepal Tourism Board offers this advice: “Don't forget to have a drink at one of the local dance bars, where beautiful Nepali belles will dance circles around your pals.”

In a country with a rich tradition of dance, where paying for sex is illegal, this might be harmless innuendo. But not everybody thinks so. During the recently-ended civil war, Nepal's Himalayan tourism industry collapsed. Some activists think that sex tourism is replacing it. According to John Frederick, an expert on South Asia's sex trade, “Ten years ago the sex industry was underground in Nepal. Now it's like Bangkok, it's like Phnom Penh.”

The war, which put much of rural Nepal under the control of Maoist insurgents, has increased the supply of sex workers. Srijana is from the poor and still violent district of Siraha in southern Nepal. She was widowed there two years ago, and left an infant son to come to the capital. Yet she is remarkably cheerful—perhaps because she is drunk, and the shower is not working.

Source: http://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10566777

I am sorry that people have to resort to sex trade to make a living. However, the Government of Nepal should not be promoting sex trade (Wild Stag weekends). I doubt the smart *ss that inserted that sentence absolutely did not even think twice about the social costs.

From Nepal Tourism Board's website(http://www.welcomenepal.com/):

Wild Stag Weekends

Lucky casinos, Dance bars, Sukuti & Sekuwa taverns, Go Karting, Fusion jam sessions

Why don’t you and your buddies plan an action-packed weekend in Kathmandu? Start Friday evening by checking out the bars next to your hotel. Then, head to Thamel where the streets are full of places to party. Follow your ears to joints that have live hindi, pop, jazz, rock and blues. Join the band, jam, dance, hang out and meet new people. Don’t forget to have a drink at one of the local dance bars where beautiful nepali belles will dance circles around your pals. Also try places full of stylish night crawlers where the booze is cheap and the music loud. Lose your inhibitions and dance till you drop. At daybreak, catch a rickshaw ride back to the hotel and feel the morning breeze on your face. Then retire. Rest. And get ready for Saturday night partying with the boys.

 

another:

Awesome Dirty Weekends

Jungle resorts, Intimate restaurants, Erotic carving tours, Pashmina shawls, Nepali handmade paper products

 

When was the last time you took your wife off for a dirty weekend? Surprise her and fly her to Nepal (without the rest of the family). Spend the weekend in a remote jungle resort showing her what an animal you are. If you prefer the city, spend your afternoons meandering through markets showering her with gifts of love and objects of desire. Jewelry, semi precious stones and intimate restaurants can only sweeten the weekend. Walk hand in hand by day and sleep little at night. Flirt outrageously. Be naughty. Take her on an erotic carving tour and make her laugh. Retire to the hotel room early and make her smile. Enjoy the fact that the family is not around. Sleep late. Feel exhausted. Wake up at noon and start all over again.

(http://www.welcomenepal.com/nepal/profile_week.asp?catkey=18&catmainkey=1&h_image=100-party-1.jpg)

 

Absolutely outrageous! Is this how they are promoting tourism???The jerks at NTB, like the ones at Nepal Airlines have showed their stupidity and have made all the Nepalis ashamed. It hasn't been that long when the Nepal Airlines used Peru's Machu Picchu to promote tourism in Nepal. What a shame that was and what a shame this is! They should immediately remove such content from the NTB website.