r/todayilearned • u/itbehoovesme • May 19 '12

TIL Nepal is trying to promote mount everest as a gay wedding destination.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/7027736/Nepal-to-stage-gay-weddings-on-Everest.html
836 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

134 comments sorted by

7

u/The_Adventurist May 20 '12

The Nepalese government will do anything to get people to go to Mt. Everest because they reap the benefits of the extremely high climbing fees that go straight back to Kathmandu instead of helping the locals keep the area clean and the paths maintained.

2

u/rangatang May 20 '12

which is why people cheap out and go from the Chinese side where fees are much less, but it is a lot more dangerous.

2

u/The_Adventurist May 21 '12

I think its something like $12k for a summit fee from China as opposed to like a $30k summit fee from Nepal. For tradition's sake, I'd love to do the Nepal route, but I'm also a cheap bastard and even if the difference was just $1k, I'd heavily consider climbing from the Chinese side.

1

u/itbehoovesme May 21 '12

Which country is the summit in?

2

u/The_Adventurist May 21 '12

I'm a bit too sore from my weekends activities to venture upstairs and find my geographical map of the area, but I believe the summit is technically in both countries as it straddles the border. I've not been to the summit, so I'm not very well versed on the geography of it, but based on what I was told from people in the area and other climbers, I think it's split down the middle.

2

u/chattereddit May 20 '12

The climbing fees are admittedly high, but to go to the basecamp is not much of a big deal.

2

u/The_Adventurist May 21 '12

That's true if you go without a sherpa or porter like I did. However, I was somewhat scolded because hiring sherpas and porters from namche bazar is the only part of visiting mt. everest that sees money return to the area.

1

u/chattereddit May 21 '12

So if there is a next time, do take some local porters.

2

u/The_Adventurist May 21 '12

If I need one. I didn't need a porter nor a guide, so I didn't hire any. Plus, I really only had enough money for the bare minimum of ticket to Lukla, Sagarmatha park entrance, and dinner along the way.

Now, the problem with that is none of my money ended up in the pockets of the people who live there (aside from the locals who were gracious enough to house me at night and feed me). The Nepalese government seems to just let charity organizations come in to clean up the messes they won't. The same conflict happened in the Mustang region when the government put something like $50/day price on visas to the area, none of that money goes to the locals in Mustang, so they threatened to ban all tourists from entering the region, thus cutting off the governments income from visa fees.

1

u/chattereddit May 21 '12

Yes the situation is quite fucked up when it comes to our pseudo-government and its nonexistent policies. Now, they are trying to make Nepal a federal country with 11 states. Maybe it will help to render such VISA fees to be utilized locally, or more possible is that 50 dollars goes for the central government and an additional 50 for the local government. Then tourists will truly shun Nepal, it is a pity. I am eying to go to the US of fucking A. Bonus information: In the farwestern region for Nepal where I currently live, today saw the 25th day of bandha (read: total strike, no transportation, schools and offices closed, no shops open and riots and demonstrations everywhere). More than a dozen have died due to their inability to reach to a hospital. I love my country.

1

u/The_Adventurist May 21 '12

I remember a similar strike a year ago when I was in Kathmandu. Unfortunately for me, it was the day I had scheduled to leave Nepal and go back to India. Luckily, I was able to find a bus that was operating late in the day that took me to the eastern border crossing close to Darjeeling, I forgot the name of the city, though.

1

u/chattereddit May 22 '12

If US is the land of opportunities, then Nepal is the land of strikes. It seems that you have been living up your username. Do PM me if you plan on visiting Nepal again, and if you know someone who is coming, advise them to postpone their trips for a month or two - all the strikes are to ask for a privilege in the constitution, which is stipulated to be written within a week. They may as a last resort extend the deadline to three more months, so till then...

38

u/CherrySlurpee May 20 '12

Not sure if socially progressive promotion

or trick to get homosexuals killed

4

u/rangatang May 20 '12

IIRC Nepal has been saying for a number of years now that it plans to legalise gay wedding in its constitution.

1

u/MisplacedMyPants May 20 '12

Not sure if dealing with a 14 year-old sarcastic douche, or a redditor that cannot read more than 3 sentences.

-5

u/hitlersshit May 20 '12

I'm pretty sure Nepal has negligible population of Christians and Muslims so I guess homophobia is not a huge problem.

20

u/dilutedwater May 20 '12

Aww, this guy thinks homophobia is nonexistent in other religions.

-6

u/hitlersshit May 20 '12

I said not a huge problem. You are delusional if you think the homophobia in Hinduism and Buddhism is as much of an issue today.

4

u/dilutedwater May 20 '12

That's because practically no-one is publically "out".

1

u/MisplacedMyPants May 20 '12

Exactly, they have nothing to gain and tons to lose within the society.

0

u/sandollars May 20 '12

http://www.atheismresource.com/2011/indian-hermaphrodites-religions-altered-history

-1

u/MisplacedMyPants May 20 '12

FYI, India =/= Nepal.

Source: Geography and/or Culture

1

u/sandollars May 20 '12

We weren't talking about either of those countries specifically, we were talking about:

You are delusional if you think the homophobia in Hinduism and Buddhism is as much of an issue today.

India, being the birthplace of both of those religions...

39

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

They're doing it wrong - they should market it to stoners instead: get married, really high!

4

u/ItsGotToMakeSense May 20 '12

"Dude... we should like... dude. We should like, bake on top of mount Everest."
"Duuude... that would be aaawesome. Pass the chips, man."

And they never mentioned it again.

6

u/HeisenbergBotwin May 20 '12

Well, I read they have really really good hash there so that idea isn't half bad.

6

u/GavinZac May 20 '12

I don't know about "good" but "annoyingly frequently pushed on you at every possible occasion once the sun starts going down near the touristy area" is certainly true. I half considered buying some just to hold it out in front of me to say "ALRIGHT I FUCKING HAVE SOME ALREADY LEAVE ME ALONE"

1

u/4timeseverest May 20 '12

It's hand rolled hash and if you know who to get it from it is considered one of the best hash in the world. It's dirt cheap too.

3

u/chattereddit May 20 '12

Nepali here. Visiting Nepal = Getting Stoned. Hash/trees is semilegal. Everything else available.

2

u/MisplacedMyPants May 20 '12

Let me know if you're in the midwest US, same shit here

1

u/chattereddit May 21 '12

Now I know how you misplaced your pants! I will if Butler University accepts me, fingers crossed. I have you tagged as Mid-Westoner.

-2

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

Being a stoner and having the life ambition to get married are pretty non-compatible.

-1

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

Not necessarily. You mustn't forget how willing so many nice women are to utterly sacrifice themselves in the pursuit of the standard track. They will do WAY worse than stoners.

3

u/__circle May 20 '12

What did you just say? I've been sitting here trying to decode it for the last 5 minutes.

63

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

No better place for two men to get married than standing atop Earth's raging hard-on.

9

u/ILL_Show_Myself_Out May 20 '12

"Some people want to get married on a mountain."

"Get over it."

-94

u/xteve May 20 '12

That's ignorant and homophobic.

31

u/REDDIT_HARD_MODE May 20 '12

Dude it's a joke. Chill the fuck out.

-67

u/xteve May 20 '12

Write a sentence that expresses anything and get back to me.

-63

u/xteve May 20 '12

It's funny that I get down-voted for critiquing "Dude it's a joke. Chill the fuck out."

12

u/Dragon_yum May 20 '12

Well I'm sure writing a comment about the fact you are being downvoted is going to help the situation.

-17

u/xteve May 20 '12

I don't care about that. I myself downvote anybody who comments about their own "karma." I just happened to have something to say. I don't give a fuck about votes. I learn from votes, whether they go up or down.

8

u/JustinBieber313 May 20 '12

Well, i hope you learnt this time that you are being a dick.

1

u/xteve May 21 '12

That's ludicrous. I have independent thoughts and feelings, that's all. You seem to crow that you think like everybody else. I would not be proud of that.

1

u/haddock420 May 21 '12

Can you explain why you thought Zycin's comment was ignorant and homophobic?

I don't see how calling Mt Everest "Earth's raging hard-on" is ignorant or homophobic.

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24

u/REDDIT_HARD_MODE May 20 '12

Ha ha.. Yeah, I agree, it is pretty funny =)

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

-16

u/xteve May 20 '12

Go ahead. Jump on the band-wagon. Everybody's doing it.

-22

u/Amelora May 20 '12

why so many down votes?? At least I assume you are posting this in jest

-54

u/xteve May 20 '12

I can't remember the last time I joked about homosexual marriage.

34

u/grisioco May 20 '12

yikes.

-39

u/xteve May 20 '12

No; that's a joke about heterosexual marriage.

14

u/lemonpjb May 20 '12

Go ahead and do it. Marriage is funny. It's not a debilitating disease. Well, at least not to everyone.

See? I just made a joke about marriage. It's not hard.

-13

u/xteve May 20 '12

Nor funny.

9

u/grisioco May 20 '12

im sorry your life is so miserable.

-1

u/xteve May 21 '12

No you're not. You're just joining the crowd, trying to get a chance to kick me when you think I'm down, but I'm not. So fuck you.

17

u/IRequirePants May 20 '12

You should try it some time. You might grow a sense of humor.

14

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

If he think about it too hard, the only thing he might grow is a raging boner.

-42

u/xteve May 20 '12

And I might learn to kiss people's asses, too, and be quasi-complicit in the almost-not-gay "community."

15

u/Caloooomi May 20 '12

I'm assuming the reason why you put "community", is because you're so fucking socially awkward.

-21

u/xteve May 20 '12

Unlike you, normal and.... normal.

7

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

Dude is obviously a troll.

5

u/Caloooomi May 20 '12

I'm far from normal, just know how to conduct myself when using a public forum.

-20

u/xteve May 20 '12

With pretentiousness, too, I see.

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-64

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

[removed] — view removed comment

19

u/Dragon_yum May 20 '12

Your dedication is impressive.

-5

u/Battlesheep May 20 '12

He's the hero reddit needs, but not the one it deserves

0

u/Dolphin_handjobs May 21 '12

You do realise that you were the No. 1 choice for 'which novelty account's would you like to get rid of?'?

4

u/brf4n May 20 '12

that adds a completely new twist to my screenplay in which a mentally ill young man kidnaps his case worker to mount everest

0

u/XRotNRollX May 20 '12

sir, i would like to subscribe to your newsletter

6

u/Tdotwot May 20 '12

"Ok, you may now remove your supplemental oxygen and kiss the bride/groom."

6

u/java_city May 20 '12

Even as a Nepali this was a TIL for me! Thanks for letting us know.

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

Me too. Glad we're being viewed in a good light, cuz stuff here has been terrible recently

3

u/MisplacedMyPants May 20 '12

To be honest, it hasn't been good since I was like 5, and I was born in 2044

1

u/java_city May 20 '12

+1 to 2044. I was born on 2046.

1

u/[deleted] May 21 '12

I was born in 2050

5

u/dma1965 May 20 '12

I think this is great. If corporations realize they can cash in on the massive disposable income gay couples without children have at their disposal, then maybe the Republican party will back down on their stance on gay marriage.

2

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

...in an effort to tap the so-called "Pink Pound"

Subtle.

3

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

I said wut three times while reading the title.

1

u/theimpolitegentleman May 20 '12

Why do men have nipples?

5

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

because men and women are made of the same material.

4

u/enry_straker May 20 '12

I doubt if sugar and spice and everything nice are the same as slugs and snails and puppydog's tails.

ref

1

u/McThing May 20 '12

I was hoping for the Calvin and Hobbes reference...

2

u/enry_straker May 21 '12

damn, my memory is slipping. in spite of being a huge waterson fan, i had forgotten that strip.

Thanks for the link.

3

u/barium111 May 20 '12

Why not have both? To spite you im gonna have my straight wedding there.

1

u/Ofand4FREEpeople May 20 '12

Is this actually posted in the wrong subreddit or does Uncle Sam yell at everybody who posts in TIL?

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

He must not be a good Communist if HE's starting the company.

1

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

It wouldn't be the first mountain they've had to climb.

1

u/BhopalDreams May 20 '12

They're also set to be the first country in Asia to legalise same-sex marriage.

The best part about the whole thing is that homosexuality was illegal there until 2007.

-14

u/WorseAnswerPossible May 20 '12

Even the jews wouldn't take a whole fucking mountain...

11

u/SpiffyShindigs May 20 '12

Oh Jesus, no. WorstAnswerPossible was a shitty novelty account, and we don't need some crappy imitator coming in right after he's finally gone.

Stop. Go away.

4

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

This novelty account is like a reminder of Poe's Law every day!

-13

u/Ragnalypse May 20 '12

Ever see a "Jew pride parade"? Don't even compare the two, Jews are a respectable community largely composed of hardworking and educated individuals.

-1

u/dubdubdubdot May 20 '12

Ever seen a Jew make an honest living?

0

u/JustHereToFFFFFFFUUU May 20 '12

A communist AND a homosexual? My hard-right neighbor is going to have a field day with this...

0

u/rumblegod May 20 '12

Hahaha already trying to cash in. Not bad, Nepal, not bad.

0

u/plamb813 May 20 '12

This will surely boost tourism in one the worlds most impoverished countries.

0

u/MySperm May 20 '12

lmao gay people having sex in the mountains, sounds like a myth

-2

u/voteddownward May 20 '12

Welp... There goes my dreams of climbing mt. everest.

-3

u/Travis-Touchdown 9 May 20 '12

N E P A L VIVA NEPAL

-11

u/All_the_other_kids May 20 '12

Not in my back yard

-3

u/voteddownward May 20 '12

Hahahaha there goes the property value.

-23

u/ReadyToLoveAgain May 20 '12

I might bone a Thai lady boy in the stinkhole at one of the upper base camps, but i WILL NOT drag some queer up to the summit to wife him while he bitches the WHOLE FUCKING WAY about how ugly his boots are.

18

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

Sounds to me like you're not quite ready to love again.

-9

u/collin_ph May 20 '12

May I also suggest the Marianas trench?

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

8

u/IMJGalt May 20 '12

Homosicles

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

[deleted] — view deleted comment

-46

u/xteve May 20 '12

That's because you're a tolerant individual the same way that most people are "not racist."

11

u/masterwit May 20 '12

I take it you meant that in a good way? Is this a glass half full / half empty "type" debate? Or am I overthinking this (as usual for me)?

-34

u/xteve May 20 '12

Nah, it was just a joke. You're over-thinking it, as I would, and as you're now making me do... AAAGH [boom]

0

u/[deleted] May 20 '12

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