Nepal

international | rights, freedoms and repression | other press Wednesday February 02, 2005 13:37 by dalai lama - "grinning all the way to the bank"

It's a very big mountain Mao.

Nepal rhymes with
Bhopal
and Venepal.

It's a weird place, no foreigners were let in for a long time, and it's the only country to officialy have a pedent shaped flag instead of the usual rectangle or square variety.

The first western visitor allowed into Nepal on an ordinary tourist package was Prince Charles of the neighbouring statlet of Cymru, he picked flowers, did a few watercolours and wrote a childrens book, he didn't hunt the infamous Nepalese ox however.
As peculiar places go, it's peculiar and attracts peculiar people to stay in its many good hotels which boast easy access to no less than 12 major glaciars which stradle the mountains between Nepal and China.
Visitors can access Nepal by one of three of it's central airports, or the fourth which borders India.

Many people goto Nepal to climb "the big mountain".
Which has many names depending on which language you speak.

It's very big, and very famous, and covered in dirt and debris and the frozen bodies of the Nepalese who carry the food for the "have a go" types who want to sit on top of "the big mountain" and look down on the world.

Almost 400 people have got up to the top of the mountain, and after the first lot, the achievement sort of loses its cred.

Anyway, Nepal is having problems.

Apparantly its the Maoist rebels again.
As you probably know Mao was a Chinese man who made it big thanks to Andy Warhol's factory poster production line. He's now dead. The Maoist rebels are alledgedly crossing the borders of Nepal in the east, quite probably leaving the main road between Zongga and Xegar, and picking up bits of Khamti dialect on the way and teaching the kids of Dzonka and Marthili speaking Nepal how to say " I don't want to carry 50kg for you up the big mountain unless you give me country knit woolen socks, a decent pair of boots, and a cup of Bovril at the end".

Anyway the current King of Nepal, who survived a relative's drugged up rampage with a gun throgh the palace a few years back has last night on Nepal state TV announced his plan to head personally a 10 member council. Both India and the UK are clucking clucking about democracy and how it would a lovely idea in the region.
You can have a look at him in his TV studio looking effective and in charge in the photo taken by Aunty Beeb here-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4228309.stm

Background material-

King didn't like his nepalese speaking government and abolished it thinking he could rule the Gurung - Dzonha - Urdu - Bhojpuri - Maithili - Nepalese speaking hotel workers and baggage handlers himself.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2002/1005/nepal.html
The previous King and Queen went up in smoke after their son went on a "drugged up rampage" and shot the family.
http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/0602/nepal.html
rebels killing people-
http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/0707/nepal.html

If you want you can listen to Radio Nepal which broadcasts in english to help people climb the big mountain on various frequencies in AM/MW FM and Shortwave It's available on internet stream as well these days, so check it out.
http://www.catmando.com/radionepal
You'll find the Royal address of Oct 4 2002 and you can compare voices and styles with the state report yesterday. You'll get extra points for that.