On Thu, 06 Mar 2003 01:46:48 GMT, Jonathan Bond <
[email protected]> blathered:
>>>>>>
http://www.lhasa-2-kathmandu.co.uk
>>>Paying someone else to carry your bags and arrange the logistics. Yep, I'm inspired.
>> And paying those people is their principal source of income.
>
>He's not talking about Sherpas, he's talking about the tour companies that arrange for everything
>and carry all your gear in a support vehicle. And yes, it is their principal source of income
>because they chose to make it their job.
It's the principal source of income for the company that appears to have organised the trip - KE
Adventure, based in the town where I live right here in the UK. Don't delude yourself, Fish - that
cash isn't going to help poor starving Tibetans, it's going to subsidise a very nice lifestyle for
the guys who run the company here.
If Martin had a nice holiday, great - but there are plenty of people, like the Dutch guy mentioned
further down the thread, doing far more epic trips than this without any help. And all the money
they spend goes directly into the pockets of local people along the way.
Having said that, I had a kind of epiphany in Laos this winter. I'd been feeling uneasy about the
effects of tourism that I was seeing as I cycled through SE Asia. After riding through NE Laos
(pretty remote area) I touched down in backpacker land again at a village called Nong Khiaw. Nice
little cluster of guest houses at the upstream end of town, all their toilets emptying straight into
the river....150 yards upstream of where the local villagers (the ones who haven't cashed in on the
tourist trade) are busy washing their clothes. And themselves. Too bad for them, eh? What struck me
was the fact that none of the tourists even seemed to be aware of what they were contributing to.
I've always known intellectually that tourism causes problems e.g. deforestation in Nepal to provide
trekkers with hot showers and pizzas. Living in the Lake District I can see how it's deteriorating
year after year. However, as a country we're rich enough to do something about it. The developing
world isn't, and I can no longer stomach what uncontrolled (and unsustainable) tourist development
is doing to these places.
As a solo cyclist I've always consoled myself with the idea that it's probably the most impact free
form of tourism going, but that's mere sophistry. It's the reason I finished the trip early, and the
reason I've decided I won't be going to any more countries that can't sustain my presence.
Pete
----
http://www.btinternet.com/~peteajones/
