The people of Nepal know they live in a poor country. One of the poorest. Yet they are constantly surrounded by people who spend as much on souveniers as they do putting their children through school.
Even in the country's major city, Kathmandu, the poverty is evident. When you drive through the countryside the extent of the problem becomes unavoidable. Most of the population is living in third world conditions. Brushing their teeth in streams outside ramshackle homes with large rocks holding the metal roof tops down against a storm.
There are no grocery stores. There are few hospitals or health centers. There is no system of sanitation. The roads are barely passible in places. There are certainly no sidewalks and children learn the way to navigate the overcrowded streets is to keep moving forward on the premise that no driver wants to hit anyone or anything.
A hotel owner in Pokhara told me nothing will ever change here. "We are a poor country," he said. "We think poor." The implication being Nepal is unable to even make the most of what it has. Building on its assets is not a possibility given the mindset of the people and the government - which many Nepalis consider to be corrupt.
In India I had a Nepali driver. He convinced me to buy a piece of jewelry from a shop owner he knows. I assume he got a percentage. The next morning, as he looked at it, he shrugged and said, "That bracelet cost you as much as it costs me to put my daughter through school for three months." The bracelet was $70 and I gave it to him as part of his tip.
Although he loves his country, and will soon go back after nearly 20 years in India, he said the only hope for the future he has - his only goal in life - is to make sure his two children have a good education so that they have options and they can leave Nepal if they want. His son wants to be a scientist. His daughter wants to be a doctor.
Last week I presented a wanderer's guide to Nepal complete with the photos most foreigners want to see. The Nepal most people imagine. And if you go you will find that Nepal, just outside the airport. But the whole truth is most of Nepal looks like the images captured in these photos. Miles and miles of poverty and want and a government unable or unwilling to lift a finger to help even though it is in the government's own long-term interest to try to make a difference.
The images in this series were taken from the window of a bus on a seven hour journey from Kathmandu to Pokhara a distance of about 125 miles.
Credits:
© Dean Pagani 2019