The only tourist in town

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Today we met Mary, a lovely lady from Bournemouth, who's spending three months in Pokhara as a volunteer. Mary was previously in Pokhara three years ago for her first stint as a volunteer, training youngsters to become secretaries and, in addition, providing social and health care to the children, all of whom having suffered greatly at the hands of others.

Back then, Nepal became something of a no-go area (with the government declaring itself bankrupt yesterday, India turning off the 'tap' supplying oil to Nepal because of unpaid bills and the Maoist threat bubbling away just beneath the surface, it seems testing times lie ahead too). Maoists, Nepal's Communist faction, were waging something of a mini-civil war leading to a curfew being imposed by the beleaguered government. Tourists were staying away. Those caught up in the troubles were making a hasty exit. Except Mary. She remained in Pokhara, a town solely dependant on the tourist rupee.

Mary became something of an icon for sticking it out in the troubled town, enduring the daily routine of passing through army checkpoints on her pushbike, even dealing with an intruder trying to break into her room late one night. The atmosphere must have been tense - this is a Maoist area of Nepal after all and the town's people, without the tourist income, must have been desperate.

Mary noted on her return to Pokhara this year, how she had been greeted with great warmth and affection by the community - often by people she never met during her first stay but who instantly recognised Mary, the only tourist in town.

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