Went for a walk along the lakes edge today. I didn’t take my camera with me because the light was bad and offering little chance of nice photos. It was a mistake. I met a couple of beautiful ladies. They escaped Tibet in 1959 when the Chinese moved in and have been living in a refugee camp here in Pokhara ever since. They carry their little shops on their backs. The make all sorts of beautiful stuff at the camp, then peddle them on the tourist strip. ‘Lots of beautiful things for your girlfriend’ they say. ‘I don’t have one of those’. They laughed. They still managed to get me to buy a few things. I had to buy from each because they explained they are separate businesses. ‘Now you buy from my friend’.
There is an obvious Tibetan influence here in Pokhara, which adds a character to the place. In stark contrast, there is some crass tourism development going on, funded mainly by the Chinese and Koreans. ‘The Chinese are worse because it’s all about money. They buy everything then they buy you’ was an explanation given to me by a hillside cafe owner today. The number of hotels here is astounding but the number of new ones under construction is just as amazing. How can this be sustainable. The hotels here seem to be struggling for occupants. Clearly the developers see things differently. I just hope the right people are benefiting from all this, though that often is not the case. Anyway, the ladies from the Tibetan refugee camp are clearly benifiting, and that’s a good thing.
The afternoon is given to reading about the history of Nepal. So far it’s all about fighting each other and lots of royal intrigue and assassinations. Perhaps the 2001 Royal massacre is just an extension of that, though on a much bigger scale.
angusmccoll 
The Chinese will benefit from their developments, they will bring in Chinese tourists to stay, eat and shop in chinese establishments, this is what they do! very little will percolate down to the locals in that instance….very sad!