Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
In a folk culture, people do not travel far from their village
unless they are a nomadic population that follows their herds
of livestock. Most residents of permanent villages spend their
entire lifetime in or very near their place of birth. Travel away
from the village where they are born may be only to seek medi-
cal help or for religious purposes, such as participating in a
pilgrimage. Leisure travel is a totally foreign experience for
most villagers (people living in a folk culture) worldwide. It is
often said that “the folk never travel farther than the horizon
that they can see at birth.”
Until recently, Nepal's rural environment remained little
changed from what it was like many generations ago. Outside
of Kathmandu and several other larger communities, few
permanent trails existed, and those were often in very rough
condition. The quality of mountain “highways” depended on
how difficult it was to pass by foot, or on the back of a domestic
animal. Suspension bridges over rapid, deep canyons had no
rest areas from which to admire views.
If Nepal is to modernize, it will require extensive and ex-
tremely costly improvements in the country's transportation
infrastructure. Without any major connections to the world,
the need for such a project has never been more urgent. Both
political stability and economic development depend on reli-
able and extensive transportation linkages. You may have heard
the expression, “All roads lead to Rome.” The vast Roman Em-
pire was able to maintain itself because it had well-developed
links to all regions under its control. In the absence of such
linkages, remote areas are often subject to terrorist activity,
secessionist movements, and guerrilla warfare.
This has been a problem for Nepal in the past, including
during the Maoist movement of the past decade. If transporta-
tion networks are well developed, uprisings can be easily sub-
dued because troops and goods can be moved rapidly around
a country's territory. In Nepal, it is critical that connections
