Thamel
Encyclopedia
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. It is a full Wi-fi
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
zone in Nepal. Thamel has been the centre of the tourist industry
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
in Kathmandu for over four decades starting from the hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
movement when many artists came to Nepal and spent weeks in Thamel. Even though Thamel has been referred to as the "ghetto" by some, most low-budget travelers consider it a tourist haven.
Its concentration of narrow streets are lined with small shops selling everything from food and provisions to clothes, walking gear, cakes, pastries, music, DVDs (mostly pirated), handicrafts, travel agents and budget hotels.
The area has some very good restaurants. Although prices tend to be significantly higher than non-tourist areas, food hygiene is generally a lot better too.
Thamel also acts as the pre-base camp for mountaineers. It boasts a wide range of mountaineering gear shops, foreign money exchange booths, pubs, clubs and nightlife along with the numerous travel agents,and guest houses. All in all, Thamel is home to a wide range of audience of the Nepalese population for entertainment and employment purposes. On Wednesday, 28 September 2011, Thamel was declared a full Wi-fi zone in Kathmandu.
Thamel acts as Nepal's Red Light District in terms of accommodating erotic services for gentlemen seeking pleasure.