C300: Anyone filmed in Nepal recently?

B

bengiles

Well-known member
We're heading out in November to start shooting a doc in Pokhara, Nepal. Last time I was there was in 1992, so I think things have moved on somewhat. My contacts out there are saying personal security is no longer an issue (Maoist separatists etc), but I'm thinking about kit and whether we take the usual flightcases, whether we'll need a carnet and whether customs are still partial to bakshish etc. Or do we need to split the kit up into small parts and nestle them amongst clothes etc? I'd rather take a modest flightcase system and know that we've got our usual routine, once we're out there.

Would welcome some input from anyone who has filmed in Nepal recently.

Thanks in advance,

Ben.
 
I filmed some interviews and scenes for a documentary in Kathmandu a couple of years ago. Was pretty low profile and had no issues. Also been trekking in the mountains there a couple of times recently and had no issues with a fair bit of camera gear. There are no longer Maoist check points, etc.

In principle, you need a permit to film and should be accompanied by a government minder and have your material reviewed.
 
IMG_0596.jpgIMG_0639.jpgIMG_0664.jpgIMG_0683.jpg

Not lately, but I shot a documentary about 6 years ago there. Went to Pokhara for R&R afterwards. Pok is small and rustic. Outfitters, bars, hostels, repeat, for about three blocks plus a big military outpost. The scariest thing, and be sure to close your eyes, is the winding mountainous 7 or 8 hour drive from Katmandu to Pok has NO GUARD RAILS! And it's about 1000 feet straight down. So be forewarned. I've attached a photo of a fatal accident that we stopped and lent muscle to pull up the wreck. They actually play chicken driving head on. I was told they are not cautious drivers because they believe in fate, if they were meant to die today it is preordained so why drive safely? They don't fear death like we do. Constant horn honking so don't do interviews in town. I'd be scared to take a plane, if you do... have your affairs in order. And if it's a chartered plane check with your insurance agent, small print usually negates your life insurance in chartered aircraft and rental copters. For a couple of days you'll be light headed from the altitude. Tremendous amount of beggars which is not a problem except they will get in your shot, being mobbed by kids, etc. Buy bags of small candy for the begging children.

You may want the Nepalese stamp for your passport done on a separate piece of paper like you can do with Israel because if you get it China won't let you in. Reason: too many Tibetan refugees and activists there. That's why the Chinese wouldn't give me a visa to film the olympics.

Depending on if it's the dry season they have rolling blackouts of about 8 hours each, scheduled in advance, so you need candles and flashlights when the sun goes down to eat and socialize. It's 100% hydro power from river dams. But I bring that up because you should bring MANY more batteries in case you can't charge during that period.

I didn't need a carnet, I was using a HVX200 which didn't look too pro, and besides, they're so happy to have visitors if you look like a tourist with money. They are trying to cut down on cheap backpackers who leave no coin in the kingdom.They respect official looking paperwork with seals and stamps, they get goo-goo eyes, so perhaps have your local contact write something up on nice looking stationary in their language and LAMINATE IT. They're very bureaucratic so if you can get something on any kind of government letterhead you'll be golden. They are very concerned about bad PR so if they see you filming a cop will come up to you and NO ONE SPEAKS ENGLISH once you leave the hotel. They try but it's gibberish. So you need something for the cops to read, nod and go away. It really helps if you can find a translator to stick with you. Lots of unemployed guides will come up and you can get them cheap to be with you and run interference. And there's lots of military driving around, don't aim at them.

Once you get out of towns electricity is a luxury, often it's a small gennie, so you may want to bring surge protectors to protect gear. Bring your brightest folding reflectors to save on batts. Theft is a big issue. In Kat only walk at night in groups, it's an ancient warren of alleys and if you have a female with you she should not be alone after dark. Western women are considered "easy". Try to spend 1 day in Kat's old section, called Thamel, it is something from another world!

Pokhara is the jumping off point to the climbing base camps for Everest. It's quite a party town, young, super athletic people drinking heavily but also you can get North Face winter parkas knock offs, certified or stolen for real cheap. Nepal (and Vietnam) is where they are made but beware of cheap stitching if it's counterfeit. I'd imagine in Nov it will be terribly cold and windy so bring LOTS of glove and toe warmers. You will need to sleep in your long undies. Nepalese are impervious to cold so it doesn't occur to them to offer heat in your room. Showering didn't seem to be a priority with them and I do not remember any hot water being available. The hotels had bathtubs. Some had the hot water on demand from an electric heater but since the electricity was out I couldn't test it so I did bird baths for two weeks. I was ripe.

I brought a huge, dry, hanging salami (18"x5") which I am prone to do on long 3rd World trips where I ration my slices by the amount of days but when I landed and saw the cows roaming freely I felt guilty being in a country of vegetarians and threw it in the garbage. But within a day I learned garbage is not a place to hide something because the lowest caste actually picks through it! My least favorite memory of beautiful Nepal (besides the stink of raw sewage all over Katmandu) is the fact that they eat the exact same meal 3 times a day, called Dal Bhat. Perhaps test it out before you go. They change it a wee bit and act like breakfast is different than dinner but trust me, to a western palate it tastes exactly the same. So bring LOTS of high protein bars, Pop Tarts, Lipton Soup, anything you can keep sanitary and eat raw. As if you were in a disaster zone. Bring antiseptic wet wipes and your own fork. If the sign in the window or on the menu says "steak" it could be anything, such as yak, water buffallo, dog, etc. so ask, although they tend to answer all questions with "Yes". I mentioned the sewage, well that becomes a fine dust and you want to keep it off anything you put in your mouth, including a beer bottle neck. So bring Lomotil and any other meds for stomach ailments like Pepto Bismal. They use the hole in the floor toilet so getting diarrhea there would be a bummer! As per all 3rd World travels have all prescription meds in their official bottles lest you be considered a drug smuggler. Don't bring the vitamins and supplements because they could be misconstrued as drugs and they do have a big drug problem there. Since the 60's Katmandu has been a hippy HQ. Strangers, both locals and westerners, will constantly offer you hashish for sale but I would beware they are setting you up and imagine trying to go through their court system...

I don't know how much you travel but if it is your own camera gear check with your insurance agent for if you need a rider for "confiscation by government authorities". So if you stray into an unmarked military zone or a corrupt cop confiscates your kit you need to be covered. And if you're out in the boonies like I was the mountain rivers are raging so you need marine coverage if you lose the camera in water. What you may have coverage for in the UK may not be valid outside, depends on your policy. Now that the Maoists guerrillas have signed a truce you won't need K&R insurance.

Back in the day we would bribe our way all around the world but nowadays I would be afraid to offer a bribe unless I was with many witnesses who understood both languages, lest I be set up for a fall. If you have a fixer give him the cash so you can't be arrested for trying to "corrupt" an officer. Too much gets lost in translation.

Because of the tall peaks your exterior shooting hours per day will be limited I'd imagine, throwing you into shadows, like our Rockies.

Anything high tech like USB cables, AA & 9v batteries, SD cards, hard drives, bring many extras, they will be very hard to find there. Also, no matter what they tell you, the internet will be about as fast as it was for us in say 1997. Practically dial up. Once you are out of Kat & Pok no one will have heard of the internet. So don't think you'll be FTPing or uploading to Vimeo when in Nepal.

They are a very positive people like the Japanese so when you're trying to do your Pre-Pro everything is NO PROBLEM. They will not say anything negative. So if you ask is the room quiet enough for interviews, it can be on a bus route next to the airport and they will say NO PROBLEM. So beware. And everything will take much longer than usual, they do not like to be rushed, so don't come at it from the point of an efficient UK schedule. No one is on time there. It is rude to rush them. They are formal and polite, besides the thieves everyone is conscious of doing good in this life to go onto a better life. Friendly once they get to know you. Once out of Kat & Pok everyone is absolutely dirt poor so I would advise to not take any jewelry to avoid resentment or be a target. None. You don't need a watch because no one shows up on time.

Well, I could go on and on, it's fun to remember all this. I was totally alone so if you have some crew members you'll be better off. It is extremely mountainous so combined with their backwards tech infrastructure, you get 3 miles from that one main scary highway and you will have NO MOBILE PHONE SIGNAL. As in None, so have Plan B, C, D as to where you all agree to meet if separated. There is no need for cell phone towers because once outside of Kat and Pok no one could possibly afford a phone. Pok will have island prices, very gouging, so bring everything including sun screen. Let us know how you fared.

One last thing, in the rural areas they still have snake charmers who will put a boa constrictor around your neck for a souvenir photo for $5 but then want an extra $10 to take it off. Really! And there's a hissing cobra with fangs in front of you until you give the swami the $10. That pissed me off and you'll see with his left hand he's gesturing for me to calm down, stay still. Why? You'll see in the photo that there's the cobra looking and hissing at me and still has it's fangs. If I were you don't get roped into the "Westerner gets his picture taken with the cobra & boa" scam. Too dangerous. There's no hospital for many hundreds of miles.
 
Last edited:
bengiles said:
We're heading out in November to start shooting a doc in Pokhara, Nepal. Last time I was there was in 1992, so I think things have moved on somewhat. My contacts out there are saying personal security is no longer an issue (Maoist separatists etc), but I'm thinking about kit and whether we take the usual flightcases, whether we'll need a carnet and whether customs are still partial to bakshish etc. Or do we need to split the kit up into small parts and nestle them amongst clothes etc? I'd rather take a modest flightcase system and know that we've got our usual routine, once we're out there.

Would welcome some input from anyone who has filmed in Nepal recently.

Thanks in advance,

Ben.
Click to expand...

Email the guys at Stillmotion, they went about less than a year ago to film their documentary #standwithme.
 
Many thanks for the comprehensive answers so far. Ned - that's really quite a write-up. Thank you for your time and knowledge.

I've sent an email to Stillmotion and will update with any reply I get from them.

Cheers,

Ben.
 
Ned,
Great write up. I am an Indian and visit Nepal. By the way the snake on your neck is a python. It is not poisonous but can give a nasty bite when provoked. Normally these snakes are tortured and are often hungry. They are used to sliding around the neck of a person. You can easily take it from your neck or throw it away. The poor cobra would be defanged. They grow back the fangs. At times they remove the venom sacs of the cobra. But it is actually difficult without harming the cobra. They often die when someone tries to remove the venom sac. So these snake charmers leave the venom sacs intact but remove the fangs. So I have touched such cobras. Don't fear such dirty tricks.

Ben,

People normally crowd around foreigners. I would prefer to be quick on my feet, shoot and then leave a place. Out of curiosity people will often ask you about the price of your equipment. Better to avoid such questions. Even I being an Indian get such questions within India, Nepal, bangladesh etc. At times I am forced to say that these are second hand cameras and the long lens is a 30 year old lens etc and my maid polishes it every day. :D Placing a few black tapes on the logos etc helps.

Maoist issue has subsided. I would prefer to have the main camera equipment in backpacks. The pelican cases screams expensive and PRO all the time. You shouldn't have much of hassles there.
 
indiawilds;1986476004Ben said:
Thanks Sabyasachi.

I'll be shooting solo on a C100/Ninja Blade - so I could go very low profile, cover it with tape as you suggest and hopefully it won't look too "pro." I'll be staying with a Nepalese friend and his family in Pokhara, so we should be able to avoid too much crowd hassle (I hope.)

I've booked flights and will be getting a regular tourist visa. Would you bother going through the process of obtaining a filming permit? I'm trying to avoid getting bogged down in paperwork and opening a can of worms, as it were. The Film Board website speaks of hiring local co-ordinators, liaison officers and paying their travel expenses etc - all of which I'd naturally like to avoid on a low profile project.

Cheers,

Ben.
Click to expand...
 
Hi Indiawilds,

I remember seeing your posts and you are the man for that area to get advice from.

Ben:
Pulling a permit is an alert for some countries that are sensitive to bad PR. They will use that to assign you a handler who you can't get rid of. I'd say if you hand carry the C100 with a medium lens, detach and spread through luggage all your non- essential accessories, you will look like a hobbyist. That's the way I'd do it. Permits are good for bigger crews who may need traffic control, etc.

Also as Indiawild says- Don't use pro looking cases such as Pelicans. However, I'd worry that there could be theft by the baggage handlers so if you have your body, best lens, batts & charger and a zillion SD cards and a mic ON YOU, then if the worst happens you can still function. I just did 6 days in Gary, IN (an incredibly dangerous place) for a Michael Jackson 5th Anniversary Special. After the first day I returned home and used my regular suitcases filled with bath towels, so when I opened my van or rolled into a location I wasn't pegged for having valuable gear. Same in a poor country.

Sometimes Customs will ask what you're doing in country and I play down the video part, saying video is my passion. They are used to amatuers with high end looking DSLRs because Nepal is so photogenic, so a C100 is not that much of a stretch if you pare it down. I'd take the lightest tripod (if any). I hope you are in great shape because flat terrain doesn't stretch very far there. They are like billy goats.
 
Thanks Ned.

Yes, that's my fear with permits.

This will be my first time back in Nepal/India since 1992 - funny how, since those simple days when I was trekking around on a photo assignment, I've since got used to a Western approach to bureaucracy and "getting stuff done" etc, only to get rudely awakened again by the reality of most of the world - paperwork, rubber stamps, bakshish and reliance on a winning smile/charm.

Whatever happens, it's a welcome kick up the arse to my cosy life and hopefully the realisation of something I've wanted to do for 22 years, since meeting the subject of the doc, back in 1992.

He's 90 years old and told me the other day that he now "only" walks 10 miles a day, several of such walks on which I'll be accompanying him.

Fitness levels - yes, working on them. Crap Dads football training on a Monday night and copious amounts of Mountain Biking/running. I'll still be knackered, I'm sure!

Good point about playing down the pro/journo angle - I made that mistake in Malawi many years ago and enjoyed several hours at the border, negotiating a bribe with the guard.

Cheers,

Ben.
 
bengiles said:
Good point about playing down the pro/journo angle - I made that mistake in Malawi many years ago and enjoyed several hours at the border, negotiating a bribe with the guard.
Click to expand...
Which angle was it? The "rich tourist needs to bribe me" or "If you get money for this shoot, you need to bribe me" angle?
My last trip abroad still was with a DigiBeta, now way of not being labeld "pro".
But with the C100 I wouldn´t bother, many tourists will bring a not that much smaller 5D3 with battery grip and 70-200 combo...
 
Hi Ben,
Since you are going to be shooting with C100, it shouldn't be an issue. No need for a permit. Behave as a normal tourist and it should be fine. Don't be fidgety. Be cool. If someone says that you are not supposed to shoot at a place, behave as if you didn't understand what you are saying and then slowly move away. Let him think that you are another "mad western tourist". :D

To avoid attention once I was shooting with my C300 and a gitzo tripod instead of my Sachtler ENG tripod and OConnor 1030HDs head. Still I was asked if I am shooting video. Despite my bs the guy was suspicious but still didn't have any answer for what I was saying. knowingly I was shooting without the LCD, so no one can ask me to play it back. Well that was the max I could push my luck. I am sure you won't have such problems. :)

You have already mentioned about fitness. I find all the hill folk to have amazing fitness. I feel a bit ashamed while on treks with them. I am sure that 90 year old man will still be walking at a fair pace and you will be panting. Better to have some IS lenses. All the best!
Sabyasachi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top