The Valley in the 1970s was a haven for biologists, ethnologists and anthropologists It still stands, a rather plain large brick house whose once-spacious garden has since sprouted several new residences, cheek by jowl. Located on the corner of Sanepa and Kiran Bhawan, the so-called ‘staff house’ was where I…
Through their enthusiastic lenses, nature film-makers introduced Nepal to a global audience Götz Dieter Plage (above) drove into our lives in one of those iconic early Range Rovers, a red one if I remember right, bristling with all the latest gadgets. His arrival in Nepal heralded a decade-long partnership with…
The world, and Nepal, have changed since the days of Wilfred Thesiger and Freya Stark Dame Freya Stark looked around her with some bemusement as we left the bustle of Kathmandu airport and headed into town. “I feel we must be somewhere East of the Euphrates,” she said vaguely. Excited by my task of…
Typhoid is just another part of Nepal’s adventure tourism package There is never a good moment to contract typhoid, and I’ve had it three times in Nepal. With a two-week incubation period, many different strains, and highly contagious through shit and spit, I never did work out where I picked…
“I don’t think we get many tourists at this time of year.” The Mongolian airline official looked doubtfully at the lines of stocky Mongols lined up at the Hong Kong airport check in desks. “Mostly only foreigners coming for business. Winter in Mongolia. It is cold.” In Ulaanbaatar it is dark when…