The Sun will Come Out Tomorrow
Nepali Times ईspecial 31 October - 6 November 2025 #1283
Hi there,
Nepal’s economy and investment climate were badly affected by the September Movement. Annual GDP per capita growth has been downgraded, some FDI already in the pipeline are on hold.
But even those powerful visuals broadcast worldwide of the towering inferno of hotels in Kathmandu and Pokhara set alight by arsonists does not seem to have deterred tourists. Visitors to Nepal come seeking adventure, so they expect excitement. Besides, which other tourism destination today is peaceful: Morocco? Peru? Tanzania? Madagascar?
Even so, Nepal Tourism Bored needs to urgently update guide books so that tourists are not taken by surprise. First of all, we need to reassure the world that Nepal still exists:
FACTS ABOUT NEPAL: Nepal is the oldest nation state in South Asia and the youngest republic in the world. It is landlocked, and squeezed between India and China. It is rich in history, geography and some arithmetic: Nepal is growing both horizontally (we recently added 335 sq km of Limpiyadhura to our total area) and vertically (the Himalaya is rising at 1cm a year).
GETTING THERE: Nepal is an adventure destination, and half the fun is getting there. Kathmandu is served by regular international flights, some of which tend to get diverted (like this week) due to dogs spooked by Tihar firecrackers entering the runway. Be Zen about it, and simply transport yourselves spiritually in the supernatural realm to get to Nepal through psychic translocation.
WHAT TO BRING: Even if you are not planning to climb Mt Everest, it is advised that you start breathing through a mandatory supplemental oxygen apparatus as soon as you deplane in Kathmandu because it is located in the Death Zone. Because of climate change, pack flip-flops and tank-tops to take selfies below the scenic Khumbu Waterfall.
HEALTH TIPS: The good news for travellers is that smallpox has been eradicated from Nepal, but here is an abridged list of the exotic afflictions you can still contract: diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, rabies, hepatitis A, B, C and D, typhoid, cholera, leprosy, yellow fever, giardiasis, amoebic dysentery, Japanese encephalitis, meningococcal meningitis, scabies, kala azar, bilharzia, malaria, dengue, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, syphilis, gonorrhea and motion sickness.
TIMEZONE: Adjust your watches. Nepal is 15 minutes ahead of India, but far behind the rest of the world.
Nepali Times spoke to some tourists visiting Nepal this week, and you can check out their responses in this video on our TikTok channel.
Elsewhere in this week’s edition, the paper carried a sobering reminder that the air pollution season is upon us even though we got temporary reprieve because of unseasonal rains. Crossborder emissions, Tihar fire crackers and crop residue burning have added to the high concentration of suspended particles in the air we breathe.
The report by the Boston-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) says 78% of Nepal’s 30 million people live in areas with dangerously high air pollution levels (Air Pollution Killing Season Starts Early, page 4-5).
There is more cheerful news from the world of sports. Nepali ultra runners performed really well in the recent World Trail Running Championships in Spain (Nepali Runners Score Breakthroughs, page 6-7). And after qualifying for the T20 Cricket World Cup in India and Sri Lanka next year, players will be getting a lot of practice in the NPL starting this month (Nepal’s Prospects at World Cup 2026, page 6-7).
Malaysia’s recent decision to implement a 10-point criteria in the selection of Nepali manpower supplying agencies risks undermining ethnical recruitment and will ultimately harm workers. Upasana Khadka dissects the new rule in her column, Labour Mobility, page 2 (Who Gets To Recruit for Malaysia?).
After the Tihar hiatus, correspondent Shristi Karki follows up on the challenges faced by the interim government of Prime Minister Sushila Karki in balancing the demands of the GenZ with recalcitrant political parties (Future Imperfect, page 1).
Ayusha Chalishe travels down to Sarlahi to analyse the reasons behind the Dasain communal disturbances, and says that the underlying anger is the same as what drove the GenZ unrest (Unfinished Federalism in Madhes Province, page 9).
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the United Nations and the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nepal. Kul Chandra Gautam looks at the past, present and future of the UN system (Quo Vaids UN@80?) and Bidhya Rai brings us uplifting stories of how help from UNDP has helped rural Nepalis (Think Locally, Invest Locally, page 10-11).
After a week of rain and snow in Nepal, the sun will come out tomorrow.
Kunda Dixit