Japanese Dai and his Teashop (My Story)

My name is Phurba Wangdi Sherpa, a resident of Num Bazaar of Sankhuwasabha district. I have travelled to Japan several times over the last 25 years. Therefore, everyone calls me ‘Japanese Dai’ or ‘Japanese Brother’. I have heard about Arun-3 Hydropower Project for 20-30 years now. I bought this land (where this hotel is built) in 1984. I decided to start a small teashop on this plot rather than keeping it unattended. Now, the tea shop has been upgraded to Sherpa Hotel and Lodge. Since I started the teashop, I have been getting good responses from customers and other local people. I have been further encouraged as local people are demanding new dishes from my shop. Hence, I have started offering new dishes to my customers. Since the Arun-3 Project started, the flow of people to my shop has begun to rise. With the expansion of the road networks, the number of guests frequenting my hotel has increased impressively. However, the hotels in this area are not sufficient to accommodate the rising number of visitors. Many of my guests are from the Arun-3 Project. Since the project’s dam site is hotter, most of the visitors prefer to stay at my hotel. Keeping in view the increasing number of guests, I have planned to expand the capacity of my hotel. Lets see how it goes. ♦