Annapurna

[Jacomijn]

Namaste

A year ago i did walk the annapurnacircuit. Right now i am back at university and i am writing a essay about the influences that tourisme has had on the annapurna region. I would be really thankfull for any comments regarding this subject.
- Do you think tourisme has been good for the region?
- What do you see as unresponsible tourisme?
And so on.

Thanks really much, jacomijn. The netherlands

[al barr]

hi jacomijn
i have walked the annapurna circuit too and it seems to me that tourism is both good and bad for the people and mostly destructive for the region. with tourism comes money and developement. there are families who can afford to send their children to school thanks to their trekking business or teahouse-- more education will equal more opportunity for the nepali people and seems like it should also equal a better standard of health and living-- now its hard to say but i have taken two trips to nepal, trekking both times so i only see life there thru tourists eyes and there are big changes in the three years between my trips the change that i see isnt much in the people but in the environment-- more people are building more teahouses to get in on the tourist business- its fine to build a wonderful stone teahouse with a kitchen and bunkrooms for all us tourists-- but there isnt a good way for the nepalis to deal with all the other things we need-- more of us trekking thru the himalayas means more @!#$ in the outhouses-- which are often way to close to the rivers more of us being served our pizzas and finger chips for lunch and dinner is good for the teahouse owner but not so good for the struggling forest nearby that supplies the firewood via the backs of the women and girls-- ACAP tries to educate us as tourists and i think has many projects educating hotel owners and trekking guides about how to continue to help tourism grow but in a way that doesnt ruin the environment--- i say tries because most if not all of the guided tour groups seemed to ignore all the things that acap told us to do to help---they constantly buy all their water and throw away the plastic bottles-- they hand out candy to the kids making the begging situation much worse-- and almost no one has any clue about how to properly @!#$ in the woods--- it makes me feel that as tourists we dont care at all we will just fly away off to some other exotic place to say how much we appretiate the beauty and the kindness of the loca people, then use it up over run it and complain its too crowded leave the mess to the people who live there and dont have the resources to clean it up -- thats my cynical view
in some ways all tourism is irresponsible especially in the developong world we are taking advantage of the economy and filling environments and cultures with blonde haired blue eyed digital camera wielding zip off pants wearing backpack carrying people!!! at least thats what i look like when i travel-- so what about responsible tourism ??? where the money brings education to the locals and to the tourists where the tourists respect the environment and the culture and the other visitors as well-- i know that there are heaps of good programs out there and the bad effects of tourisn are simply more visible
sorry for the rant
hope this is what you were looking for
-al