Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Trekking on Tradition

1997; Western States Folklore Society; Volume: 56; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/1500393

2325-811X

Stephen Epstein, Jennifer Rhodes,

Philippine History and Culture

Trekking on Tradition. 1993. Produced by Jennifer Rhodes. 45 min. 1/2 Video, Color. Distributed by University of California Extension Center for Media and Independent Learning, 2000 Center St., Berkeley, CA 94704. (510) 642-0460. $225. Rental: $65. Trekking on Tradition opens with a series of attractive still shots from the Annapurna region in central Nepal: magnificent landscapes, smiling children, Buddhist prayer wheels. But the ultimate value of such idyllic, exoticizing post card images that entice foreign visitors is soon subjected to interrogation in this compelling study of the impact of adventure tourism upon the inhabitants of Tatopani, a village in the region's Kali Gandaki valley. The video succinctly establishes a historical context, outlining the dramatic change in the nature of visitors to the area created by the demise of traditional trade routes through the valley and the subsequent opening of Nepal to tourism in 1950. Explanation of the basically positive attitudes held by the local people towards Westerners provides a helpful framework in which to understand ongoing cross-cultural encounters (meetings initially with motivated aid workers, then open-minded hippie travelers, followed now by more mainstream, but still adventurous and respectful, tourists). This favorable assessment of contact thus far from a villager ends, however, with the aporetic statement, About the future...I don't know, and it is such uncertainty about the direction of continuing rapid change that motivates the video thematically. At this point-predictably, perhaps-the traditional Nepalese music of the soundtrack yields to the high-energy rock and roll of Bob Seger's Katmandu, and we encounter images of crass commercialism (souvenir t-shirts, Rambo posters, ads for Coca-Cola), images that underscore the essential incongruity of the trekkers' presence in Tatopani and the headlong clash of cultures. Nonetheless, the video scores high marks for allowing complex issues to emerge with only occasional obtrusive editorializing, usually in the form of studied juxtapositions, often humorous or cynical, that provide a darker view of Nepal's contact with foreigners. The tourists interviewed tend towards introspection and are largely portrayed in a sympathetic light Had Ugly Americans (or their equivalent) been hunted out, it would have been easy to paint a black and white portrait of the pernicious influence of tourism, but, to its credit, the video shuns this easy tactic. We hear that many trekkers genuinely want to share of themselves and to bridge cultural gaps, but at the same time feel guilty about the encroaching Westernization they bring with them, and that despite their best intentions, most interactions between trekker and native boil down to a guest-host relationship with an economic basis. The dilemmas are well summed up in an interview with a Canadian woman: feel like I'm a hypocrite because I'm a tourist and I'm here. I want to see the world, but I don't want to be a tourist, so what do you do? Of special note is one unpleasant interaction captured by the camera in which an older European tourist finds himself badgered by a local woman to buy a souvenir, and tries unsuccessfully to ignore her presence by remaining haughtily aloof; here it becomes all too apparent that some intercultural encounters do not necessarily benefit either side. …