It is interesting to note that there have been a lot of changes in Nepal over a short period of two years. People, including children, have become more enterprising and entrepreneurial. Business also seems to be flourishing. Along the trail, young children were offering us apples (abundant in Marpha area) and bamboo ‘walking’ sticks in exchange for a few rupees or sweets / pens. New lodges are springing up along the trails while existing ones underwent extensive renovations. The same goes to Pokhara and Kathmandu. These new lodges / hotels are more modern and have better facilities. Electricity was now more readily available on the mountains. Stalls had been set up in Poon Hill offering drinks, snacks, biscuits and etc. to the tired and hungry trekkers (I was told there were no stalls two years ago). Children have also changed. They have become more ‘sophisticated’. When they asked for sweets / pens and when we said we had run out of them, some would ask for camera! Many children greeted us with ‘Hello’ instead of the usual traditional ‘Namaste’.
I hope amidst all the changes and development, it would not lose its peace, tranquility, charm and beauty.
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