We live in a prosperous country, with ample technological resources. Nearly everybody owns a cell phone and we have come to depend on them for our communication needs. While our coverage still isn’t 100%, it is improving steadily, typically only inaccessible in regions blocked off by rugged terrain, or low population density. That is why I thought that Nepal would just be an exacerbated version of the same system, except with fewer smartphones. Turns out, while they might not have 4G speeds, their wireless coverage wins by leaps and bounds. One of our destinations lied over 20 miles from the nearest road and they still had coverage. Our younger guide was always pounding away at his Blackberry, replying to text messages and checking on his friends’ facebook statuses. There was only one point of the trip where our guides had no service, and when we drive up to Hyalite reservoir we lose coverage a mile into the canyon. So Verizon, AT&T, please take note of how your international brethren get work done, they could teach you something about coverage.
While the nerd in me longs for ubiquitous cell coverage, I am glad that I can escape the signals from time to time.