Nepalganj Off The Beaten Path

Hardly a tourist attraction, it's still well-worth knowing about social conditions in the Terai. Just a few years back thousands of domestic slaves, mostly of the Tharu peoples who inherited debt due toa big landowner, and daily interest matching a day's labour... became freed. They had nowhere to go, and a big action was organised to get them land and assistance to settle and build up new lives as agriculturalists. The success had been mediocre, but some have stayed on the new land and made use of the small opportunities given to them for subsistence agriculture. To see the Kamaiya camps for yourself, the nearest are up the Surkhet road to Kohalpur and then west on the Mahendra Hwy for some kilometres. Then, with local guides and assistance you will find at least one camp. Do not go there without a sense of purpose and local guides.