A road through Nepal

My Photo scholarship 2010 entry

Worldwide | Tuesday, October 12, 2010 | 5 photos

I finished my PhD earlier this year & took a trip to Nepal. My aim was simple – to lose myself.

In the busy streets of Kathmandu, I searched for a local guide. I had just spent 4 years of my life thinking, questioning, answering. Now I wanted no anxiety of the unknown and to have someone tell me exactly what to pack, keep me on track, and help me communicate with the local people.

My guide [Kalu] and I decided on an 11 day trek along a section of the Annapurna circuit. We boarded a small bus and journeyed six hours south of the capital. Upon arrival we were given the option of a jeep to carry us several hours down the track [photo 4]. I asked my guide “why does the hike start here? There is still a road.” He sighed and told me that the region was changing rapidly. One day the whole trek I was about to walk would be accessible by car – the Annapurna circuit was being paved.

At first I thought this was terrible. Improved access to the area means a wider market for merchants; children are swapping tea for coke, daal baht for 2 min noodles [photo 1]. But development can not be denied to anyone.

From all around Nepal come able men in search of work. The days are hard, the pay is poor, and the consequences are great – 11 men died in landslides this weekend alone. Yet for some the alternative is worse [photo 2].

The industrial impute changes our relationship with the environment. Trash generated by workers attracts monkeys to campsites, now so accustomed to human traffic you can almost reach out and touch them [photo 5].

I sit on a dry stone wall and look to the path ahead. At least for now there are some parts still untouched by industrial reform. I finish my mars bar, pocket the trash and set off on my personal adventure [photo 3].