What the F***. It is pretty embarrassing http://www.gaywired.com/article.cfm?section=9&id=5313 Nepal Seeks Out Gay Tourism 01.25.05 By Ross von Metzke (Kathmandu, Nepal) ? In an effort to boost a sagging travel economy, several tour operators throughout Nepal are targeting the gay community. As tourism has suffered for much of the last nine years under the Maoist insurgency, tour companies have enhanced specialty tourism options beginning with the gay community. Aashan Nepal is at the forefront of tourism agencies catering to gay travelers, with services ranging from gay guides to booking gay-friendly hotels. The agency has also focused energy on exploring and writing up gay bars and nightclubs throughout the country. Aashan Nepal owner Bhismaji Pant said he got the idea for focusing on gay clientele while working at a travel agency in Japan and later, during a stint in Bangkok. ?In these countries I found gay clients making inquiries about gay-friendly services and guides and I realized we had no such agencies in Kathmandu,? Pant told a Nepalese news service. Nepal?s gay community was largely closeted until recently when, in 2000, the government recognized the Blue Diamond Society as the first public platform for the gay community registered with the government. Since, Nepal has seen a growing vibrancy to the gay community, emerging from the mostly traditional, male-centric culture. Aashan Nepal is the is the official tour agency of the Blue Diamond Society with a large amount of gay clients coming from Holland, New Zealand, Spain and Italy. Additionally, companies like Himalayan Humanity Trekking are working with Aasha and the Blue Diamond Society to format a focus on gay tourism.