You don't go to Nepal for the beer ...

It's pretty undistinguished stuff, analogous to popular U.S. brands like Budweiser and Miller. This does not deter tourists from drinking thousands of cans, even on the Everest base camp trek. Porters trudge uphill with case upon case of cans on their backs. Presumably the scant local earnings from the trekking trade also flow in some quantities to the breweries.

I 'm back in the States from Nepal from my trek on the edges of the Himalayas. Unfortunately I've brought a touch of pneumonia with me, so regular blogging won't resume for a few days.

Just one anecdote here which illustrates yet again why we need a single payer health reform. When my feverish body was dragged into the western travel medicine clinic in Kathmandu, I was asked whether the doctor would have to fill out forms for some U.S. insurance company. If so, it would cost $85 to be seen. If not, all I needed was $55 cash ...