It came as a surprise to me to find how honest immigration officials at Tribhuvan International Airport ask for donations. I arrived in Katmandu a few weeks ago on an evening flight from Bombay. Having already visited Nepal once this year I knew that the visa-on-arrival fee was $50. On submitting my application form and photograph, the immigration official asked me for $55. Upon inquiring what the extra $5 was for, he nonchalantly replied: "It is very hard to be working this late shift, it would be very nice for me and my friends to go out for a drink afterwards."

I was quite taken aback by the honesty of the answer. When I refused, he threw the visa form back at me and told me to go stand in another queue. After waiting in this queue for a number of minutes the immigration officer came back and said he'd let me go if I paid $51. Still, I refused, and placed the $50 before him, which he finally accepted grumpily.

It takes little effort to work out how much extra each immigration officer may make in a night when one counts the number of arriving tourists. It does Nepal little credit to start taking "donations" from tourists before they have even left the airport.
(Name withheld on request)