A starting point could be teaching the immigration and security staff basic etiquette. They treat travellers as if they are criminals and that they are doing a favour by letting us go in/out of the airport.

Add to this the fact that the domestic airline cartel think it is perfectly acceptable to charge foreigners 2-3 times the normal fare, despite the fact that this is not practiced anywhere else - resulting in some of the highest domestic fares in the region. Even foreign residents living in Nepal for years are not exempted. Imagine the vast areas of the country (beyond Pokhara and Lukla) which would be opened up to tourism if this changed.

Requiring visas is fine for any country, and I do commend the government for offering them on arrival which makes it a lot easier than elsewhere. The process at the airport needs to be streamlined though.

My family and I visited Nepal a few years ago, and as luck would have it, my wife broke her foot shortly before our departure.  Not wanting to cancel the trip, we changed plans so that trekking was no longer part of the itinerary, secured a wheelchair, and set off for Kathmandu.  Arriving at the airport, we were pleased to be assigned a friendly elderly porter to push the wheelchair around.  Pointing out the long lines for visas, he helpfully volunteered to take our forms and fees through officialdom for us.  He did just that, allowing us to sit and chat and sample a mango drink while he handled the paperwork.  Half an hour later, with visas in hand and all our luggage accounted for, I happily gave him a generous tip, which he pocketed without even looking at, which I took as another sign of his good customer service orientation.  It wasn't until departure 3 weeks later that I found out why grandpa didn't bother looking to see how much I had given him.  He had taken money from us for visas for our children, but actually the visas they were issued were gratis (free) for children of their ages, so the tip was only a small fraction of the money that he had earned by scamming us out of the visa money.  When I realized what had happened after looking closely at the visas when filling out departure forms at the airport, I demanded to see a supervisor and filed a complaint, providing my contact details, but perhaps needless to say, never heard a thing. 

Bingo! I have often tried to find an explanation for what is wrong with our country. And there, in one sentence you have done it:

"Nepal has the look of a country that doesn't know where it is going, and doesn't care if the rest of the world knows it."

Suprising that we read this article in a cybercafe in Thamel today, the day that we flew into Kathmandu from Delhi. It was a one-hour flight, but we spent two hours in line for our visas. We stood in one line and were told when we got to the counter that it was the wrong line, no signs, and the staff was not very helpful. We didn't mind since we were not in a hurry to go anywhere, but it leaves a very poor first impression on visitors. If the Nepal government needs our visa fees, just take our money and stamp the passport, don't make us wait around uselessly. 

We Nepali people are so dumb and dumber. We are also blind. We are also deaf.  The political parties and their corrupt and immoral leaders have only spread anarchy and lawlessness. Why do these thugs from UML or NC or Maoist as well as other parties are always getting away with all their criminals activities. Communism  should be dead. Only in Nepal people like Dahal and Bhattarai thrive by murdering people. Why is there no outrage from any quarter. Does this really mean that all the leadership of Nepal is so corrupted that no one can bell the cat.  Do we really not have any honest men in Nepal. The Intl. Airport should going all out to welcome the precious and vauluable tourists. There should be a red carpet for them. But its just the opposite. Right from the start, there is a bad taste in the mouth. Just read what Janet   (  12) has commented. Where does all the visa money really go. My Tibetan friend was harrased by a policeman at the departure gate. He was forced to pay USD 100.00 or he would have missed his flight. This sort of thing happens everyday. Its so disgusting.  Nepal has so far been ruled by only incompetent and really stupid men. Now, its time for a woman to rule Nepal. I think the women of Nepal are much more smarter than men.  Let us join hands in making the next PM of Nepal a woman.  Lets make sure she is not from the NC, UML, Maoist or Madhises. We can nominate her. This is the best solutions. India, Pakistan, Bangaladesh, Sri Lanka, all have done well under the leadership of a woman.   We must change the game in Nepal. We must change the conversation in Nepal.

 The first paragraph is simply not true, if it were, Nepal would have decreasing rather than increasing visitor numbers.

As for the second�Northern India treks? Where??? Would be interested in how the editor found info let alone estimated prices? As for Lao and Thailand, the cost of treks there are much more pricey and certainly not less! (That's the trouble with an 'editorial', anything can be claimed with impunity and most readers haplessly believe it.)

To be sure, entrenched, pampered bureaucrats have the power and run the day to day show throughout Nepal. They have been deep-rooted for decades. Even an honest and well-meaning politician cannot be everywhere at once and if they might do a spot visit, bureaucrats put on top performance. Bureaucrats are usually just clever enough to avoid a supervisory eye. Otherwise, no one can police them as these bureaucrats hold the power and status, and no-one dares confront them...actually Maoists confronted for 10 years but the bureaucrats have since only clawed deeper into their corrupt ways, trying to eke out as much ill-gotten money as they can before being replaced once and for all.

Any guess from which sector of society these self-serving pompous administrators are spawned?