Skateboarding in Nepal.

My homie Samip hit me up the other day over facebook telling me that he was on his way to go help with the DIY skatepark build over in Pokhara Nepal. Basically he helped push skateboarding in Nepal a lot since he's been back. When my buddy Shawn Ward needed a place to stay in Nepal, Samip hooked him up with a house so Shawn got to stay in Nepal without having to bust his wallet on a hotel room, took Shawn out and skated with Shawn a lot. Samip is a homie through and through and has helped out people when they needed it. You can go a few posts down to check out the video on Shawns trip to Nepal.

Thats Samip on the low angle fisheye

So my curiosity was sparked and I wanted to know what was going on, so Samip showed me the Pokhara Skate Park Facebook Page and I was immediately interested. They're . Now whenever I meet traveling skateboarders, if I hear that they plan to go to India or anywhere in South Asia, I will reccomend Nepal to them! GO TO NEPAL! SKATE IN THE HIMALAYAS!!!

The DIY park in Pokhara is being built by the OG Nepali Skateboarder Ram C Koirala who is the first skatepark designer and builder in Nepal. He had already previously built a concrete skatepark in Nepal by himself and a few other friends many years ago behind an elementary school. I got to meet Ram on his trip here to Thailand a few months ago. He's a really great guy who just wants to skate and help grow the skateboarding community in Nepal. Essentially he can be considered the Nepali equivalent of Red aka Mark Scott.

The reason why I'm mentioning Nepal in my blog is because a lot of boards and skateboarding hardgoods are donated, and Thailand is one of the countries that donates a lot of those boards. The local scene in Thailand has no shortage of skateboard supplies, but Nepal has a huge shortage of skateboarding hardgoods, so they need it.

This right here proves that the Nepali skateboarders are not slacking off and are being proactive in their community helping push and contribute to the project, and they've had some help from a number of skateboarders from all over the world have traveled there and put some work into helping build the park. This is proof that when skateboarders want something done, in this case its a concrete park, they will get up and do it themselves. And with their effort came help from traveling skateboarders who helped put effort into getting the park built, only to leave and hopefully they will be able to return and skate the fruits of their creation. Skateboarding is happening in Nepal right now, right as you're skating. Plan for Pokhara, Nepal if you ever travel to this side of the world. 

SKATE CAFE x DREG Mini Ramp Jam

Let me introduce this to you. There is a Bar/Cafe/Restaurant here in Bangkok called "Skate Cafe". Self explanatory, it has a miniramp on the property so go there, grab a beer.... Make fucking sure that its a Leo Beer... and skate. If you're just visiting Thailand and you didnt bring your board with you, dont worry theres a bunch of set ups there you can use (in all different conditions). Skater owned and operated.

Its open from morning till late at night (closes either at midnight or 2 am depending on the circumstances). Go there in the morning, grab a coffee and breakfast and hit the mini-ramp. Or grab lunch. In the evening you'd definitely want to go there and grab a beer and skate the mini. Theres even a live band there on some nights.



Skate Cafe and Bar x DREG Skateboards x Made From My Fucking Thailand - Mini Ramp Jam



I put up both a vimeo version and a youtube version of this video. Hope you enjoy the video and stop by Skate Cafe and Bar the next time you come to Thailand. You can check them out on their facebook page here and if Bangkok is ever in your travel destinations, put Skate Cafe on your itinerary. Dont miss out!