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Published: March 27th 2010
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Bandipur is delightful. The village enjoys a stunning location, perched high on a ridge, it's a mixture of spectacular natural beauty and stunning viewpoints. On clear days it's possible to see a panorama of Himalayan peaks that include Dhaulagiri (8167m), Machlapuchlare (6997m), Langtanglirung (7246m), Manasla (8162m), and Ganesh Himal (7406m) as well as a view right down into the Marsyangdi valley, 1000m below.
The village itself has a medieval ambience, restored Newari architecture, and tiny two-tiered temples. My first thought was 'it's gorgeous, charming, a land time forgot'. The bazaar is traffic free and clean. No litter anywhere. Not a single plastic bag. Stone cobbles, compact town houses with ornate carved wooden windows and doorways, and tin and slate roofs. A covered veranda extends in front of the houses and shops to provide shade from the sun and the monsoon rain. The cramped dark little shops open onto the street - a pharmacy, a general provisions store, a stationers and a couple of vendors selling fresh vegetables. The produce spills out onto the cobbles, huge piles of podded peas, mounds of cauliflower, mountains of cabbage, tons of tomatoes. Locals from outlying villages bring produce to sell, others want to buy.
It's a social event - people inspect, haggle, chat, laugh. School children race up and down. Porters walk, bowed under the weight of several large cardboard cartons, - beer destined for the two high-end hotels.
The Lonely Planet guidebook states "It's hard to believe that a place so delightful has managed to escape the ravages of tourist development". Things have changed. Bandipur is neither fish nor fowl. It's being promoted as a living Newari town, a town 'that retains much of it's centuries old appeal' but it's neither unspoilt nor unchanged. Tourism is leaving a big mark - and while Bandipur is not yet a 'Disneyland' kind of tourist experience - it's hard to avoid the feeling that it's heading that way.
Undoubtedly, much good has been done to breathe life into a decaying village. Once an important stop on the India - Tibet trade route, the village flourished until it was bypassed by the Prithvi highway in the 1960's. Bandipur was left literally high and dry. Locals left, houses crumbled, stunning architecture was in danger of being lost forever. The Bandipur Social Development Committee has opened Bandipur up to tourism in order to save it. Bandipur has
been given EU aid as part of a European Commission/Asia Urbs funded partnership project with two European partner cities.
Yet, under the surface there was a sense that all was not well here. Throughout the village 'Big Brother' like notices exhort the inhabitants not to throw litter. The streets are clean but a walk to the edge of the village revealed a rubbish tip cascading down a hill side. Old habits die hard and cannot be changed instantly - programmes have also been set up to educate villagers about the importance of hygiene and school children are taken on excursions to pick up litter. The tourist dollar has bought several benefits - school buildings, a computer in the library, restored architecture, but I wonder if the hearts of the people living here have been truely engaged. Many guesthouse owners, restaurant staff, seemed detached, and had a kind of 'take it or leave it attitude' - there seemed to be no enthusiasm, no information, no welcome. Prices were inflated, and in most cases the facilities offered did not match the prices asked. The two high-end hotels were constantly full, hosting package tours - a sizable influx of tourists into a
In the vicinity of Bandipur.
Moving on to new pastures... tiny town. Most of the little home-stays and guesthouses seemed to be near empty. The traffic-free bazaar that at first sight seemed to be so charming, began to irritate after a while. Where was all the traffic, the bustle, the pipping and hooting - it had no real life. The villagers themselves, I learned, did not want this change, it was forced upon them.
One wonders if tourist development is saving Bandipur, or destroying it? What is responsible? What is too much? Should tourism indeed be touted as the lone saviour of this almost forgotten place? Tourism may have saved Bandipur from extinction - for now - but at what cost?
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nick bale
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Bandipur
I liked the photo of the "Keep Bandipur tidy" sign. The streets look very clean in the other pictures so that sign must have worked.