Showing posts sorted by relevance for query visa. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query visa. Sort by date Show all posts

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Nepal's Visa Debacle- Making Sure Nepal Keeps Out Investment & Talent

The last six months have been a roller coaster dominated by one exceptionally difficult goal, to get a business visa in Nepal. This post might be especially relevant since there have been calls to make the year 2012, foreign investment year...which just like Nepal tourism year would consist of them declaring it so and then doing just about nothing else to achieve any kind of relevant goals. In a sensible world one might think that a self styled impoverished country that sends large numbers of its working age men overseas to do very difficult labor in places like the gulf states or South East Asia would welcome with open arms injections of foreign capital and business, or talented young professionals that are looking to do meaningful work in the country- but this assumption would be incorrect. Unlike countries like Cambodia, with arguably much better living conditions, where business visas for foreigners are so say to get that you can apply for them through travel agents, Nepal has created a nightmare procedure that would test the patience of a saint, costs tremendous amounts of money in legal fees and quite a bit in government fees as well, and basically says to the person trying to create something posative in the country "Not Welcome".

Sunday, June 12, 2011

When Cows Attack and Immigration Office Migrations

At what point in time individuals of any given country became the property of their respective government I'm not entirely sure, but the paperwork involved in staying outside the geographical confines of the place you were born is a headache it seems for everyone on the planet. Still to avoid further headaches it's a game we all it seems have to play. So while walking up toward the grocery store other day I was texting back and forth with my Lawyer about getting an extension to my visa. Walking and texting in Nepal can be a bit challenging, as there are very rarely sidewalks, there are many sink holes, occasionally cow dung, uneven pavement and other traps can be underfoot. The road is often in use by pedestrians, cars, trucks, mopeds, motorcycles, fruit vendors, ice cream carts, wandering cows, and street dogs...it can be a congested place. At one point I was walking along the side of the road and had to move past a bull and a few cows on the side of the road, oncoming traffic demanded that I walk within about a foot or two of them.

Now normally cows, even bulls here are quite docile- calm as Hindu cows. In all my time here I've never seen one do anything rash, and people often touch them and then touch there head as they walk by as the cow is considered holy. Well this bull, for what ever reason, was not a fan of me and while walking by he decided that he'd put his horns into my arm...which kind of hurt and got my attention in a hurry. Now looking over at the bull I could see that he still wasn't happy with me and decided to come at me again, throwing me out into oncoming traffic. The guy driving the car that was coming toward me had a look of terror on him, I think he thought the bull was going to continue to come after me, but I walked out of traffic, and on my way as if nothing had happened, and I had no more trouble from the bull. Still it was a very odd experience, and I may avoid walking too close to those things in the future. Once it kind of dawned on me what had just happened I got quite a laugh out of it. These aren't the kind of things that seem only a little strange here, but when I tell people back home it sounds like I'm on another planet.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Endless Rain, Goats in Taxis, Possible Visas, and Opening Dates

This blog has been quiet, but only because my life has not been at all. There was a time when I had half of just about any day to sit and write as I wished, that time has long passed. Finding time where I'm not exhausted to sit and write anything that someone might want to read- or that I could even go back and decipher, has been lacking. Also though I can only write about my adventures in opening a restaurant so many times before it becomes a little monotonous, and essentially that's what every day is. Some days it's chasing down visas and paperwork, other days it's opening bank accounts, transferring money from overseas, other days it's working on the menu or testing out recipes with friends over lunch or dinner. So here in this post I'll give the rundown of what has been going on in Kathmandu.

The Big Wet- It's been raining like crazy! Every day since I've been back from the US seems like it has had at least one rain storm. By this time last year the rain had really subsided and I remember while I was up in the Everest region the monsoon broke. No luck this year, as we head into October and the high Hindu holiday season kicks off it's still raining, and not just a little. Last Monday it rained literally all day, and it poured the night before, something that tends to be somewhat uncommon here. At the market yesterday we had to move the tables around as rain leaked through the tarps. Forecasters are saying that the monsoon should break this week, we'll see.

Goats in Taxis- Wednesday marked the kick off of the multi-week holiday event  of Dashain, a time when many people travel to their villages, get together with family and apparently eat lots of goats. This week goats started arriving in the capital as people prepare for the large family feasts. While not in full swing yet, there will come a point where goats occupy every other corner in town as they are sold off for dinner. Last year I saw goats being transported in the backs of taxis, on mopeds, bus rooftops, and walked on leashes like a dog. Last time I never seemed to have my camera when my favorite goat sightings occurred, this year I will at least have the camera on my phone and hope to get at least a few good goat shots. Nothing makes me laugh as much as goats in taxis- it really strikes me funny.

Business Visa- This will at some point have to be its own post, as this has been one of the longest and potentially frustrating things I have ever done. I say potentially, because to expect too much out of any process including lawyers ad bureaucrats is to set yourself up for disappointment, especially here, so I advise to always expect delay, absurd rules, endless signatures and plenty of visa extensions. I've been working on this since I got back, and apparently despite the fact that the department that approves names already gave us the go ahead, and the fact that we already opened bank accounts and have a company stamp and letterhead with that name, the Department of Industry had decided that they didn't think it made sense that we were a restaurant and a bar- because apparently you can really only be one or the other. Despite the slight absurdity of this position it has held us up for the last few weeks, and apparently just the other day it was approved. So with this last hurdle cleared my passport and company stamp have been sent out to get the business visa that I set out initially to get back in early May. So finally after five months, some 200 or so signatures, opening 2 bank accounts, some two dozen plus passport sized photos, half a dozen thumb prints, countless visits to the department of immigration and industry, and plenty of money in legal fees and visa extensions I may actually be getting my visa. I'm not actually holding it in my hand yet though, so I'll hold off on declaring victory.

Brian's Grill House Will Open, Someday- The great news is that I have a lot of people asking me when the restaurant will be opening, a lot of people seem genuinely excited about it, and that's really encouraging. We are moving forward, the building has electrical and plumbing going in now, word arrived that my elevator is actually on its way and won't be delayed as long as initially feared, and we are about ready to go ahead with interiors. That all said, I have no idea when we will actually open. In Nepal things get done when they get done, and coordination of contractors and timing is not this countries strong point. Currently we are looking to  a general opening some time in December, with our earliest possible ready date being some time in November, where we might have friends and family as we work out systems and train the staff. But who knows, maybe things come together quickly, maybe I'm writing something similar come February. At this point I'm really itching to get going, and will feel a lot better once the space is in place and ready to go.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Mr Smith Goes to China?

As the horribly slow process of registering a company and getting a visa here continues, I'm scheduled to fly out to Guangzhou China on Monday to pick up the majority of the kitchen equipment, furnishings and dishware for the restaurant. For those that don't know Guangzhou is a large provincial capital that sits just on the mainland side of Hong Kong. If it means anything to you it was known (and still often is) as Canton in the west.

I've never been to mainland China with the exception of Tibet, but then Tibet is Tibet and China proper is something else entirely really. I really don't know what to expect. From the pictures that I've seen it looks very much like a well to do modern city. In fact quite a bit should look familiar there as much of what I've purchased over the years back in the US was shipped out of this area. With everything in Nepal also imported from China, it just seemed to make more sense to go to the source to get everything. That and the selection here in KTM is really abysmal. Often types of glasses or dishware you are looking for can't be found, and if they can be found there is only one or two options available to select from. Asian dishware is often made to fit Asian eating styles, so finding bowls that are better fit to salads and not rice, curries or soups is often tough. Plates are also either too small, and those made for Indian audiences often have these horribly gaudy patterns. I'm hoping to find stuff that is ready to be shipped across the ocean to western clientele as those products will obviously better accommodate the food I'm planning on serving.

Other items I hope to find are kitchen appliances. Some items that we need,like fryers, griddles on a gas range, char broilers, and cheese melters would have to be custom made in KTM or possibly imported from India if even available there. We're hoping that we can also hunt down cooking equipment that is made for western forms of cooking. We will also be looking for refrigerators and freezers, though these are items I know we can get in KTM, it's simply a matter if it will be cheaper to get it in China.

All of this though hinges on whether or not the Chinese decide to grant me a visa  to go or not. Hopefully I'll find out tomorrow. If you are from most countries the cost for a single entry visa costs 29$, but for Americans we have to pay 150$. While I'm use to paying more for a visa as an American, the scale of the difference is kind of crazy. Anyway crossing my fingers that I walk out of the Chinese consulate with a visa tomorrow and get to fly out on Monday.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Respiratory *Cough* Problems and Other Updates

I'm not sure exactly what it is here, but I keep getting terrible sore throats along with a cough and occasionally other symptoms. Sure once in a while when adapting to a new climate you expect these things, but it seems almost once a month I get hit with this for a week or so. The last two days I've been hit with this again, although not debilitating, it certainly can be a little annoying. The upside is that it seems to be clearing up a little faster each time I get it, and it's almost gone already this time, so maybe next time it'll be just a day. Maybe it's the dryer climate, maybe the dust, possibly the pollution, allergies or a combination of some or all of the above. Who knows, but it is definitely one of the more troublesome things I've had to deal with here.

The Visa Process that never ends-
We are still waiting to get our work visa. After talking to our Lawyer it looks like we take another step Friday morning, then maybe get the visa early next week. Originally we expected this to be completed around the end of April, as we draw into the middle of May, my chances to go trekking without encountering a plethora of leaches, rain, and areas prone to avalanches due to the increased snows is dwindling. We also can't apply to the American Club until we have a non-tourist visa, and then it takes five or six weeks to process. Patience is a virtue, and it is twice as valuable in Nepal.

Learning Nepali-
So just looking at a book wasn't cutting it, and Kim, Sami and I signed up for Nepali classes together with a woman named Geeta. I enjoy her teaching style quite a bit, and I find I am picking up some very basic knowledge of the language. While purchasing vegetables tonight I actually caught a bit of the conversation that was going on around me. My understanding is still very rudimentary, but the fact that the sound of the language took some form in my brain and didn't just sound like gibberish is a very positive step forward.

Upcoming Events-
So assuming we get our visa in the near future I am planning on a three week trip in the Annapurna region. In July we are planning on taking a trip to Tibet, where we can hopefully meet up with a friend of Kim's from home who will be travelling there in the same time period. We have a custom made outdoor grill that was supposed to have been done last Sunday, but who knows when we will actually get it. All I know is that I will definitely be having a cook out when I do, and everyone is invited.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

No Visa For You!

As we enter day four of the nationwide strike it is becoming increasingly evident that I will not be getting my 1 year visa this week. So with our extension up as of Thursday I had to walk on down to immigration today and get a tourist visa extension for another 15 days. With a little extra money handed over this went easy enough, but yeah, no business visa for me yet.


Essentially I have to stick around Kathmandu until I get this thing worked out, which keeps me form doing the trekking I really wanted to do here. I've been wanting to get out to the Annapurna area for a month now, and as we get closer to the monsoons, the less pleasant that trip looks. The pass I want to go over that leads from the Nar Phu valley area in the north back on to the Annapurna circuit also becomes more avalanche prone as more snows swept in from the monsoons begin to cover the adjacent slopes. Sigh. If I don't go through that pass it means not only missing the sight of some rare blue sheep, but also back tracking a couple days to get to the main circuit.


The more I deal with this whole visa process the more I wonder how needed the whole process of people checking the flow of people and where they are really is.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Bangkok to Siem Reap Overland

This route is notorious in the region for lots of scams, and things like 'scam vans' and fake consulates are often brought up in its description. It really isn't that bad, in fact it was quite easy compared to anything one might attempt in South Asia. A tiny bit of research (and I mean just doing a minimal amount of homework) and just a dash of travel savvy and anyone could navigate this overland trip. So besides relaying my small adventure, I'll point out some of the basic tips for travel and some scams to avoid along the way. In the end I was able to do the whole trip in just under 11 hours, and it could have been faster if not for some random bad timing instances and an unnecessary snack stop just before Siem Reap.

The route itself takes you from Bankok to the Thai border town of Aranya Prathet where you walk across the border to the Cambodian side of the border to their border town of PoiPet and then it is a short ride to Siem Reap and the Angkor Temples. There are many options for the first leg of the journey including numerous bus services, mini-vans and trains. Scam number one to look out for is that many of the travel agencies hawking bus services will try to sell onward travel on the Cambodian side, and this is almost sure to be rubbish. The Cambodian side is controlled by a state sanctioned private monopoly, and they don't deal with Thai travel agents...it's not like you're going to use someone else when you get to the border so they don't need the business via agents. So if you take a bus just book it as far as Aranya. I've also heard conflicting reports that the vans can be terrible and cause a lot o problems. Some claim that they arrive at places late to force an overnight at the border and other garbage. Others have stated this went off fine. I didn't take the vans so I wouldn't know.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Back in the USA

So it's been a few very crazy days. As my flight approached in Nepal, I still didn't have my business visa, which for all intents and purpose I kind of need to get back into the country. I spent the last few days running back and forth to government offices, and banks to try and make sure this would get done. As they say though, the best laid plans of mice and men... Now offices in Nepal open around 10am, and essentially close by 3pm. Some private offices may stay open until 5pm, but nothing new really can get started after 3pm. How anything gets done, I'm not entirely sure. Anyway, to make a long story short; on the day I was flying out I found myself called to the immigration office at 5pm, and after almost two hours I left without a visa. As my flight was leaving I had to rush to pick up Kim and get to the airport.

So no visa, despite having everything completed and ready to go,despite having the company fully registered and even the required letter from the department of industry. What a pain in the ass. Well on the other side of things we got to the airport and were upgraded to business class, which was a nice treat at the end of a rather crazy day, adn a nice start to 30+ hours of plane travel. Our first leg was to Abu Dhabi, and after a short layover there it was on to Paris, both flights with Etihad airlines. Friendly service, decent food, and the airport in Abu Dhabi was nice as well. Charles DeGaul airport on the other hand is a confusing mess of an airport whose layout doesn't make a bit of sense. That said, we had no issues in Paris and then flew Delta back to Boston. Now normally I think American companies excel at service, but our airlines are a grade or two behind most foreign competition. While the flight was fine, and no one was unfriendly, it just lacked in quality compared to any other airline I've flown in the last year and a half.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Some Thoughts on Nepal Tourism Year 2011

So 2011 is Nepal Tourism Year, and they are aiming at getting one million tourists into the country during this year. Now I want to be the first person to say that if you even think you might be interested in visiting Nepal you should. I've visited over thirty countries, and Nepal is one that offers more than almost any other. Culture, natural beauty and a relatively low cost (once here) combine for a spectacular holiday. I have plenty of countries I still want to visit, but here i am in Nepal (for the third time) and even though I have spent a combined 10 months or so in this country there is still a lot more that is worth exploring. The little tag line that 'once is not enough' that they are using to advertise their tourism now is accurate. Nepal is a country you could come back to again and again and always find something exciting to do.

Now all of that said, from an outside standpoint this whole tourism year thing seems like it is being as well managed as most Nepali government endeavors; terribly. Now to be fair, some of the promotional pieces that they have put together aren't all that bad. I've seen some decent posters and to be honest the website that they put together looks better than what I would expect (you can see it HERE), but i am highly skeptical that these kind of promotions will bring many additional tourists. Other promotional measures taken overseas are also of dubious value.

The largest problem I currently see is that there is a huge question mark as to what is actually being offered. This uncertainty and ambiguity is really not a good thing as we start to near the time when people are planning their trips for the next year. For many people a trip to Nepal is a rather large undertaking, and it isn't uncommon to plan well in advance. As someone who has a vested interest in how visas will work next year, I don't even know exactly how that will work. I've heard rumors that the normal five month limit will be lifted, and others say no way. I've heard that the visa fee will be waived, I've heard that only a second visa fee will be waived, and I've heard that they will not waive any visa fees. There were rumors of increased flights into KTM through both Nepali airlines and other international carriers, but as someone who is researching flight costs for family and friends for early next year, I can attest that they are as high as ever right now.

On the NTB website (Site is HERE) there are some stated goals;

1- Establish Nepal as a choice of premier holiday destination with a definite brand image,
2- Improve and extend tourism related infrastructures in existing and new tourism sites,
3- Enhance the capacity of service renders,
4- Build community capacity in the new areas to cater the need of the tourists, and
5- Promote domestic tourism for sustainability of the industry.

Now they announced this project in 2008, and all five of these stated goals are not anywhere close to being realized. You could argue that they were over ambitious to start with, or that most of it was a way to funnel public funds into the hands of connected people within the government and contractors that did the promotion, and you may have a strong argument. But if certain steps had been taken, ones that were available with the funding they received they could be much closer.

Now point one the devil is in the definition, but Nepal will not be a premier holiday destination any time soon. It lacks the infrastructure, it lacks many amenities that western tourists would consider required to fit that definition, and it would need destinations that included more relaxing experiences. Nepal is an adventure tourism destination, and that is what it will remain for the foreseeable future, its appeal is only to a limited segment of those societies outside Nepal and that really should be where the focus of their marketing should stay for now.

Now number two is something that I agree is a good goal, but has it been done? Not that I can tell. In fact sites like Durbar square in Kathmandu seem less accessible now than the first time I arrived due to the increase in traffic through that part of the city. Roads to trail heads  like Dunche and Jiri are amongst some of the most frightening I have ever been on and the buses that take you to them very rarely inspire any confidence. As to new destinations, there is a lot of buzz about the Great Himalayan Trail, but I'm not aware of any tourist sites receiving any significant upgrades or  easing of infrastructure.

Number three has not been implemented to my knowledge, and I don't have a whole lot to say about it.

Number four is implying that an infrastructure would be created for tourism in these new tourism areas they are developing. Again aside from some talk of expanded infrastructure on the Great Himalayan trail I have no idea what they are even promoting that is new. I should add that I actively look for these kind of things, I love going to new and different places here, so if these places are being worked on, the promotional division is doing a terrible job of getting the word out about them.

I can't say a whole lot about number five, aside from saying that I've been more places in Nepal than many Nepali's I have talked to, but many of them don't express a whole lot of interest in going to the same kind of places that western tourists like to go. Mostly when I bump into Nepali's traveling in the same circles as myself they are going to Hindu pilgrimage sites like Mukinath or Gosainkund lakes. You see some people going to Pokhara or to Kathmandu, but not really as tourists so much. While there is a segment of Nepali society, especially in Kathmandu, that has the time and the money to travel within Nepal as domestic tourists, most seem to be lacking the desire. I could however be very wrong about this one.

Now anyone can complain or say negative things about the job someone else is doing, that's easy, the harder thing is to come up with sollutions and practicle ways of meeting at least the obtainable goals that were mapped out for this project. There are a couple of cheap inexpensive things that could have been done, and then there are other things that are not as cheap, but would have much larger payouts. So here are a few of my recommendations for things that could be done to make Nepal Tourism Year, and really tourism in general more attractive and increase the number of tourists.

1- Beautify Thamel- This is the tourist nexus of Kathmandu. Now I love Kathmandu, I chose to move here from the US, but many (meaning 90%) of tourists I talk to describe Kathmandu as something like hell. Westerners can't stand the honking (the use of horns has a cultural difference), the streets that are both for foot traffic and speeding motorcycles is unnerving to many, they hate the burning trash, and the constant harassment by kids sniffing glue, touts and tiger balm salesmen can be really tiresome. Most tourists come through this section of the city at one point in their travels, so changing this one section could change the opinion of many tourists, and more importantly change what they tell their friends back home. So what to do:

   A- Close Thamel to Vehicles- This is done in tourist districts the world over with the result of making them much more pleasant. Now there are some vested interests (most notably the two parking garages in the area) that wouldn't like this plan, but that would immediately make that section of town much more enjoyable and immediately give a more laid back atmosphere where tourists are not jumping out of the way of oncoming traffic or cursing at the honking taxi that is behind them. Bollards and police could enforce the zones easily enough it would seem.

  B- Trash Collection & Waste Baskets-  Waste baskets or rubbish bins are cheap, and with the cost of labor in Nepal the collection should be as well. Trash on the streets is an eyesore that can be easily cleaned up and managed. while city wide this would be great, if it at least worked to clean up where most tourists see it would be an improvement.

  C- Enforce a No Harassment Policy- I would confine this rule to just Thamel, make it a special zone or something, but limit the selling of goods and services to people that have shops. Get the guys selling tiger balm and those annoying instrument things as well as the trekking, rafting and other scammers off the street. If someone wants a service or a handicraft there are hundreds of stores in Thamel where you can get those things, tourists don't need to be bothered every step they take by people trying to sell them things that they don't want.

2- Diversify the Tourist Seasons- Right now most people are under the impression that Nepal is not worth visiting in the "off seasons". This is a terrible misconception that needs to be dealt with so that people will come to Nepal on a more even schedule. Trekking in some of the western parts of the country, the back side of Annapurna and even the Langtang region that I just did can be very enjoyable this time of year. For people that are traveling here for more cultural purposes it would seem that much more attractive to come during the times of year when the country isn't over run with trekkers. Also the myth of the monssons needs to be dispelled. The monsoon rains are not the endless deluge that many westerners believe them to be, in fact most days during the monsoons are no different than what many parts of western countries are like year round. The perception that Nepal can't be traveled in during this season really reduces tourism, and it doesn't have to be that way.

3- Reduce and Open Some Restricted Trekking Areas- Some of the existing restricted routes would be the easiest to open up and develop. If you really plan on doubling the number of tourists, especially in the peak seasons, then you need to give them places to go. As the new roads reduce the appeal of large sections of Annapurna, it only makes sense to open up some of those nearby areas that currently require guides and additional fees and paperwork.The areas that stand out as able to accommodate trekkers with only a minimal increase in infrastructure would be the Nar & Phu valleys, as well as Manaslu. Making Upper Mustang and Dolpo more accessible might not hurt either. By doing this you not only open these places up to more tourists dollars, give tourists more options as to where they can go, you also create an incentive for people to come back to Nepal for a new hike that they wouldn't have done before.

4- Create Financial Incentives That Are Clear- As I said at the beginning, one of the big problems with this campaign has been its ambiguity. If this years financial indicators are any forecast to the future, many western nations will be filled with economic uncertainty and reduced incomes. This makes it all the more important to promote Nepal in a way that reduces the largest costs, which is getting here, permits and visas. Reduce or negate visa fees and streamline the process, so that when tourists get off the plane there is a favorable first impression. The current first impression is one of inefficient over priced bureaucracy that one does not often encounter at "premier holiday destinations". If there is any way to reduce flight costs that would also help get people here. Currently the better deals coming from the States are somewhere near $1500 which is about as high as it has been since I've checked flights here. Any incentives that would reduce that up front financial obstacle would be a big help to getting people here.

5- Target the right Population- Look, hardly anyone in the US or Europe uses travel agents since the internet has been around, so the promotion or development of trips that are to be peddled through overseas travel agencies will not bring the numbers. Besides, package tourists generally come for shorter stays, they spend most of their money on some foreign firms and do less to benefit the larger segment pf Nepali society. Independent travelers on the other hand often stay for a month or longer, spend their money at more diverse restaurants, adventure outfits, shops and hotels and all that money goes directly to Nepali people, it isn't siphoned off by western tour operators or one large Nepali travel company. Target independent travelers, not only in their home countries but ones that may already be in places like India or south east Asia.

Well those are my thoughts. I realize it's all a pipe dream, but thought I'd put it out there. Nepal is a great destination, and it could receive far more tourists than it currently does, but my guess is that the promoters won't be able to get out of their own way.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Wanting to Write Something Positive

The more settled I get in Nepal the harder it is for me to find things to write about it, as nothing seems all that different to me. So just like back home, conversation and thought about the country turns to the events and politics that the country engages in. In this area it is quite difficult to say anything positive about Nepal, and so I have put off writing about it. For instance I really wanted to write something about Nepal Tourism Year 2011, but as I started writing about it, I found that the entire piece was cynical and disparaging. Indeed it is hard to look at what has been done for this and come up with a single good thing to say, and what makes it worse is that the general population seems to have high expectations of it.

Sure people should come to Nepal, it's a great destination, it has the best trekking on the planet, it's temples, people and culture are something that can be spellbinding, and places like Chitwan offer some of the best jungle safari's in the world. For all these reasons and more people should come to Nepal, and more tourists could certainly help the economy here, but that really isn't the issue. The issue is that Nepal declared 2011 tourism year, and then proceeded to create no new incentives to come here, did not reduce the archaic paperwork or ease the terrible visa process, they actually upped the fees for tourists at places like Bhaktapur and infrastructure throughout the country continues to get worse instead of better. There were no new trekking routes opened, no permit requirements eased on some of the more interesting trails, etc. At the airport the visa lines are still terribly long, but there is a nice shiny newly painted gate as you leave the airport that declares "Welcome to Nepal". Sigh.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Trekking Annapurna

So I've signed all the things I need to sign for my visa, my picture has been attached to an untold number of documents, and I've had my thumb prints attached to half a dozen other documents. My passport is with the Department of Industry and/or Immigration and hopefully within the next day or two I'll have my Business Visa. This means I can finally get out of Kathmandu for an extended period.

My initial hope was to go and hike a combination of the Annapurna circuit along with the Nar and Phu valleys. Nar and Phu are in a restricted are that costs $90 for a permit, but that cost seemed well worth the sights and culture up in that region. Further investigation however revealed that the permit has to be arranged by a tour operator, you have to have a guide, and it's a minimum of two people for a group to go. No thanks. I'm an independent trekker at heart and I only use guides when I absolutely have to (Kilimanjaro is it so far) and I am even more averse to using porters....I carried my own pack up Killi (though to be fair the porters carried the food and the means to cook it, and I ate it). Point is, that was a deal breaker for me. So Nar and Phu may have to wait until a later date.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Reading, Writing and Trading

As a short follow up to my last post, I have almost been able to make the bread correctly, I can't quite get it to full with air like it's supposed to, but I get it close and it tastes good enough to eat. I still have no idea how to get meat, and I think about all I would trust to order is the chicken, but I haven't had the time or inclination to ask a butcher here yet. Kim also has noted I should update on the post before that, and all I have to say is the antibiotics did their work and I'm fine.

So with that out of the way we can move on to todays topic which is what the hell are we doing. Kim seems to have maintained a fair amount of her work and has been busy with much of the same real estate marketing, web design, flyers and whatever else she has been doing for the last few years. I didn't bring my work with me, so I have had to try and find something new. At first it looked like it might be getting involved with trekking, but that is looking like it really isn't the way to go. The whole teaching thing looks like kind of a bust too as the pay is just dismal. The only apparent reason to possibly pursue that in the future would be if other visa options look to dry up.

So what have I been doing? Well aside from working to get ourselves settled, find our lost luggage, get the apartment and everything that went inside of it, running around the mountains for a week and being bed ridden for another half week, I have been reading writing and looking into trading. So the reading part first I guess. I've been on a big kick of reading Buddhist and Stoic philosophers as of late. Just before leaving I read Marcus Aurelius' Meditations and Steven Asma's The God's Drink Whiskey (about Buddhism in South East Asia). I've followed these up with reading a couple other somewhat forgettable books on Buddhism as well as Epictetus' Enchiridion and Discourses Book one and two. Although I am not about to become a convert to either camp, Buddhism isn't nearly as silly as I once thought it was, and some of the God and Nature overtones aside, I really am impressed with the stoics. The other book that I have gone back and reread is Consciousness Explained by Dennett. This was one of my all time favorites and the last time I read it was the leading cause for me dropping out of Orono. Explaining this might require a post all its own, let's just say there was a professor who literally should have been in an elderly home, not teaching, there are mental patients who could have given more accurate appraisals of this books chapters. Anyway it's good to read the book again, so moving on.

So writing. I've always been in the habit of writing, some blogs, some stupid long e-mails about MMOs we might have been playing, stuff for games, and at times even stuff for work. I've written a good amount of political analysis (how many people do you know who picked Sarah Palin before McCain announced it?) and at times even attempted short stories or whatever. At least for the last few weeks I've been organizing some of my thoughts on philosophy and religion, an old topic for me that I had in many ways long ago abandoned. Prior to my departure for Kathmandu I had read a bunch of books on the Greeks in Bactria (the Stans) and India. This got me interested in the exchange of thought between the east and west, and in particularly the stoics and Buddhists. That lead to my reading list in the last paragraph and caused me to want to kind of revisit the topic again. We'll see if it leads to anything.

All of this is great, but it isn't making me any money, or getting me a visa. So my other project is creating a company here in Kathmandu as well as registering it as a legal entity in the US. What I would like to do is export goods from here wholesale so people back in the US can sell them. I'll be putting a catalog together at some point in the near future. The idea is to sell the products and the marketing materials so people back in the US are informed about what they are selling, where it came from and even who made it. We'd like to provide pictures, pamphlets and in depth descriptions of the products. We also want to approach it with a fair trade angle donating some proceeds to good NGO's like Girl's Education Nepal. The wheels have started turning on this and I'll provide updates as it becomes more concrete.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Nearing Departure

A lot of things go in to getting ready to go to a foreign country for an extended period of time, especially when you have a fairly limited time period to prepare yourself. The last few weeks have included a fairly signifigant amount of running around making sure to tie up loose ends on this side of the world, and taking care of things that are harder to get done over there. A short list includes;

Rent out the duplex
Move out of the duplex
Give tenants bank deposit slips for rent
Sell the cars (haven't quite done this yet)
Find homes for the dogs
Give notice at work (and try like hell to stay focussed before leaving)
Move all billing to paperless
Change of Address
Get new glasses and a new prescription
Get all dental work up to date
Make sure Laptops are properly stocked with software
Get electrical adapters for all chargers
Get additional memory/batteries for cameras
Decide what is getting packed and what goes into storage
Actually pack stuff and put stuff in storage
Sell, throw out, or donate the rest of the stuff
Cancel Utilities/cell phones etc.
Set up contact information and software for people for communication
Notify Banks/Credit Cards of travel plans
Sell other assets and link online financial accounts
Buy cell phones that can be used on arrival
Arrange plane tickets
Try to figure out where one might be staying on arrival
Try to figure out how one might make money after arrival
Try to figure out how one might get a visa after the tourist visa expires
See everyone before you leave
Go out to dinner with half of these people before you leave

In some ways it doesn't look like much, but it has really kept us busy over the last two months. Now with only a few days left everything has for the most part fallen into place. The things that are up to us have been dealt with as best as we can, the rest you just have to roll with as it happens.

A lot of people ask if we are nervous about being close to going. The short answer is absolutely not. All I can say is that with so much out of the way, it will be a real relief to finally be over there.





Thursday, March 7, 2013

Mr Smith is Home in Kathmandu

It's been far too long since I posted here, and with my life as hectic as it is, I just don't have the time to write here like I should. As this has been a site I have kept up at least monthly (until recently) for over three years, it doesn't seem fair to me to just let it wither away, so I will make this my official last post. Not to say that I might not write something here or put up photos of trips I do, but as a regular thing I think it's time to bring this to a close.

My Dad visits Nepal & the Grill House 

It's been a crazy couple months since my last post. In December we held a couple of large events at the restaurant around Christmas and New Years, and then in January my Dad, my uncle Bob and my aunt Geri all came to visit. This was my first family to come to Nepal since I've been here, and I was really excited to show them around the country that I have fallen in love with. While they were only here for ten days, we kept all of them rather full, from showing them around Kathmandu and the valley, flying to Pokhara, seeing the sun rise over the Annapurna range, paragliding down to Phewa lake, driving to Lumbini, going on safari in Chitwan and then flying back for a few final days in Kathmandu for shopping and going the last day of a Nepali wedding.

Panoramic of the Annapurna Range

Showing other people around the country reminds me how comfortable I have become with a place that seems so alien and different to other people I share a similar background with.  In fact part of the reason I haven't found so much to write abut here is because I lack that same perspective I arrived with and most readers in the West would identify with. I no longer gawk at cows in the road, become indignant at skin whitening cream commercials, or am surprised by the appearance of swastikas on people's lapels or above home's doors. I am certainly not Nepali, and lack the upbringing that would ever make me truly understand all of the cultural dynamics at play here, but I have become infinitely more comfortable and aware of them since I arrived, to the point where I occasionally am out of sync with what I was once comfortable back in the US.

This place, Kathmandu, with all its quirks and what seemed at first strange ways, has become my home. When I first arrived, I wasn't sure how long I would stay, and I suppose I still don't, but I don't foresee myself leaving anytime soon. I've met and become friends with a great group of people, love the restaurant that I run, and am optimistic about the future here. I look forward not only to the opportunities that seem to endlessly fall into my lap to do interesting and exciting things, but also to continue to meet equally interesting and exciting people.

I will continue to answers questions posted in the comments of this blog, and reply to e-mails that are sent directly to me. I think the trekking section contains some of the better information out there, and I'm always happy to talk to foreigners that are thinking about staying in the country longer than a tourist visa would allow and what kind of options you might have. So just because the blog may be rarely updated doesn't mean I can't expand on some of the topics I've covered over the last three years.

So I suppose that's how this ends. Not as a tidy and neat story with a beginning and an end, but then life rarely ever does supply that kind of story line. I doubt this is happily ever after for me, in fact I'm sure it isn't, but I've learned to respond to life's curve balls not with disdain or opposition to those things we can't change, but to enjoy them to the extent that they can be enjoyed. Like a roller coaster, dread of an upcoming descent does nothing to change the the course of the tracks, so better just lift up your arms and embrace what has to come. Accept what you can't change, do the best with what you can, and enjoy the ride.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

One Week Back in the Du

Well I've been back in the big Du for a week now, and have finally gotten over the Jet Lag monster. Although following quickly on it's heels was the Kathmandu Cough, which thankfully also seems to be receding. Still getting back into a rhythm here isn't easy, even if these ailments weren't bothering me. Aside from the normal chores one faces when the apartment has been empty for a month, I also found that my internet shut down and my phone ran out of minutes. Now these don't sound like difficult problems, but they are things that Kim had been doing for us, and I was a bit unsure how to fix them.

The phone was a piece of cake, just stop by any corner store, get a charge card for my carrier and text some code in. The internet however was a bit trickier. Because internet is horribly slow here we pay for some kind of premium service that gets a certain amount of "high speed" bandwidth every 3 months. Once that amount or time has been exceeded you have to go down to the office, give them your account number and pay up. Problem was that I didn't know our number, and I had no idea where the office was. After asking the staff at Imago, I found out the office was just down the road from Bhat Betini in Naxal, just a quick walk around the block. After some searching I found our account number and went and paid the lady at the desk and my internet supposedly was going to be turned on. After another trip back to the office and a four hour interval it finally was.

The thing about all these little chores that kept popping up was that they were getting in the way of what I really wanted to focus on, which is getting the restaurant up and running. While I was away not a whole lot got done, and I'm still waiting on my business visa, which I will supposedly get this week. I stopped by the building site and the plumbing and electrical have started to get put in. They have also filled in the giant hole in the ground where there had been stairs in the middle of my dining area. The walls have an initial coat of primer like white paint and most of the debris that had filled a lot of the space has been cleared out, giving the sense that it could actually be turned into a restaurant in the near future, which is somewhat exciting. It almost masks the lack of progress that has been made on other fronts, or setbacks like finding out our elevator may be delayed until November.

One thing I really wanted to get fully back into this week was the Saturday market at 1905. In preparation I went back to the fully expanded selection of salsas, pulled pork, chili, pasta sauce, tzatziki, etc. While I was away the hot sauces I had made have matured, so I was able to sell them as well, both a Louisiana style sauce and a chipotle sauce. I also made a buffalo wing sauce of Frank's Red Hot. Most importantly I'm rebranding the products with the restaurant logo and trying to push that connection to drive up interest. With the market now also taking place on Wednesday from 4-7 I have the opportunity to train staff in how to prep many of the condiments and sauces in preparing for these markets, that is as soon as our kitchen is ready and we actually have staff.

 All in all it's been a hectic thrust back into the life of Kathmandu, and in many ways it's not as exciting to write about as trips up into the great Himalaya (this time last year I was going up to Everest), but to live it is in many ways more exciting, and I can't express how much I am looking forward to getting things up and running here. For now it's baby steps toward the opening, and one of those steps includes working on vanilla and cocoa vodka infusions tonight and getting designs ready for the jars of next weeks market. Almost like climbing the trail, these are the steps we must take now so that later on we might sit back and admire that which we have surrounded our self with.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Why go back?


The single question that just about everyone close to me asked the last time we got together before I flew back to Nepal is "So why are you going back?" It's a question that I've had to increasingly ask myself as Kim will be staying in the US another three months in order to expand what Harilo can do from the US, and she has made it clear that we need to come up with some kind of plan to transition out of full time living in Kathmandu in the future. People look at me dumb founded when I tell them I live in a place that goes without electricity for up to 18 hours a day, water is only available if someone remembered to pump it up to the roof from the cistern- and that's if there is water in the cistern. You mention the pollution and the dust, the shit and trash in the road, the incredible amount of corruption and the hair pulling insanity that is the Nepali bureaucracy and people think that possibly you're a little insane to want to go back into this.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Lots of Updates & No Time to Write

Time is not a commodity I have too much to spend at the moment, as everything seems to be happening at once. Most of it has to do with starting Brian's Grill House, but there is more to it than one might think. Interwoven in the process of setting up the business is getting a visa. The paperwork required for this combined effort is mind numbing, including signatures, thumb prints, letters, statements and more passport sized photos than you can shake a stick at. Combine this with a culture where it takes several hours to do anything, and the involvement of six busy people in the restaurant itself whom I have to collect signatures, photos and various forms from and you can begin to see that this is a time consuming process.

Paperwork though is not the only thing we are trying to manage at the moment. Having found the space we will be using we had to quickly figure out the layout of the restaurant so that the head engineer of the building could remove and erect walls as required, put toilets and doors where we needed them etc. This isn't an easy task as you have to take into account how everything is going to run. What kitchen equipment will we be using? Where will staff place orders, how will they place orders, where will dishes be dropped off, how will clean glasses be delivered to the bar, will the guy working the grill want to kill the guy working the fry station if I arrange the kitchen this way? Bathrooms were incredibly tricky as there were columns in unfortunate positions, making it very difficult to split them into men's and woman's rooms. Differences in how ventilation, lighting and separation of facilities is done here made this even more of a challenge.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Game Theory in Nepal- Avoiding the Sucker's Bet

When you travel as a tourist or read guide books to any place you travel to the local population is often portrayed in way that people want to believe they are, and not as they truly are. You watch faux cultural dances, observe "traditional"attire that nobody has worn in at least a generation and in much of Asia the western population is presented something akin to a concept of the "noble savage"....though to make it palatable to modern sensitivities the word savage is never used. Still there is often a romanticization of the cultures we observe, an unwillingness to call a spade a spade and often a self conscious form of collective guilt that does not allow us to come out and make statements about another culture due in part to the West's colonial past. I'm going to say something anyway.

Anyone who has spent any time in south Asia knows that business practices here are abysmal. Scamming, bribing, cheating, fraud, etc. are every day occurrences and almost an expected part of any business transaction here. Credit card infiltration is not low in this part of the world because people are unwilling to spend money, it's because no one pays their bills on time, not even the government of Nepal, and there is very little accountability. I always shop at the few fixed price stores when I can because it avoids the hassle of absurdly high prices I get quoted when someone sees the color of my skin, while many merchants are happy to rip off anyone regardless of skin color, they know white people not only have infinite money (clearly) but we also take the suckers bet- we take people at their word.

While many people I've spoken with in Nepal will go on about things being the way they are because it's a poor country and there has been an insurgency these excuses are just that. Nepal's largest obstacle is the populations state of always expecting the person they are interacting with to be a cheat, and thus for everyone to always be looking for the quick buck and not prolonged relationships which net mutual benefits over time. I don't know a single foreigner that has started a business here that didn't at some point get cheated by their Nepali partner (us aside) and ended up dumping them after losing at least a few thousand dollars. Our first lawyer screwed us and then tried to charge super inflated rates, and we dumped him. My point is not that we got cheated and you should feel bad for us, but that the Nepali people in these incidents cheated themselves in the long term.

Sure these people might have made a quick buck by taking the short pay out, but what if they had been fair all along? If our lawyer had been an honest man and charged reasonable rates I'd still be using him, and not only that I'd recommend him to other expats who ask me for visa advice, instead I'm writing this article about him. The businesses that many expats here run are successful and make decent money for Nepal, and instead of being off somewhere scamming someone else (or possibly getting scammed themselves) they could be part of a decent  honest business that makes good money. Aside from robbing someone else in the short term and being a blight on the better part of humanity, they also robbed themselves of future returns and contacts, something that is often much more valuable.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

A call to innovators

The following article was written by Akshay Sthapit, co-founder of Harilo.com, and was in the Kathmandu Post as a special for New Years. He makes some excellent points about not only starting up a business in Nepal but also calls out some very simple changes that Nepal could make to really invigorate new business and and investment in Nepal.


It's been an interesting journey, the last five months, which is how long it took Harilo.com to go from concept to launch to steady operation. While it's not the first company that I have started, this was my first in Nepal, and I have learnt a lot of lessons unique to Nepal. Some of the many lessons I learnt along the way might be useful for other Nepalis looking to start their own companies. It could also help convince many young and talented Nepalis who are either abroad or thinking of going abroad that opportunities do exist in Nepal—in the long run you will be better off developing a technology-based business in countries like Nepal where the cost of living to quality of life ratio is low rather than moving to a developed country and spending all your capital on rent and other living expenses. So start a company in Nepal, not just because it's your country and it's patriotic to create jobs and keep talent in the country, but because it makes business sense—there are a lot of problems in search of solutions in Nepal with potentially large payouts and it's a great place to be in startup mode to develop products for other countries as well.

The good news is that, from a purely technological perspective, it's easier than ever to create products that can scale. Advances in cloud computing mean that you can develop massive applications with nothing more than a laptop and if business picks up, you can add resources on a need-to basis. No longer do companies with deep pockets have an advantage just because they can afford more servers and bandwidth. Internet speeds in Nepal, although not nearly as fast or as reliable as I would like, are getting better and it's finally possible to hold video conferences with our warehouse in Florida and use screen sharing to collaborate remotely with partners abroad. And I am happy to see that labs and student groups in Nepal are using Harilo.com to order hard-to-find items to move their projects along so they are no longer constrained by what is available in the local market.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Mr. Smith Goes to Thailand & Cambodia

So with my visa running out at the end of the month we were faced with a few different options of what to do. The easiest thing was to leave the country for a few weeks and come back. Due to plenty of things to do for Harilo, Kim was faced with what is essentially a business trip where she gets to see family around Christmas and new year. The cost of flying all the way to the states for both of us is a bit prohibitive and I came all the way out here to not visit Asia not fly back and forth to the US. So I'll be flying to Bangkok on Sunday and will split the next few weeks split between Thailand and Cambodia.

  Map showing the route I'm looking to take.

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