Today is our last day in Nepal. We fly out of Kathmandu at 11:30 pm and head to Hong Kong for a long layover. By the time we reach Colorado it will be after 8:00 am on Saturday in Kathmandu. Long trip.
It's been great (have a said that before?). We've had some adventures for sure, and met a lot of great people, and certainly have more stories to share than many of you will want to sit through (though some will do it patiently and I thank you in advance). There is plenty to be missed here. Delicious Momos and tasty Thenthuk, Masala chai, Tongba, the sweet, smiling old Tibetan woman that runs Double Dorjee, the incredibly friendly server at Stupa Dining that has become a friend (why do all of those revolve around food?). I'll also miss having children shout "Namaste!" at us as we walk down the road. I'll miss hearing pujas on an almost daily basis from one monastery or another around Boudha. I'll definitely miss walking through the random weddings and wedding parties. I'll even miss getting shoved out of the way by old ladies because I'm doing Kora too slowly. As always when I return from other countries, I'll miss bartering with merchants and that funny bond that develops when you're both laughing because their price is WAY too high and your price is WAY too low. We'll see how long it takes for me to try and buy something back home and offer the shopkeeper way too little followed by an emphatic "Good price! Good price!" I'll definitely miss the weather. Going back to Winter in the US is going to be quite the shock to the system, I think, after a 90-100 degree Fall in India and generally sunny and warm Winter days in Nepal.
At the beginning of the week, Laura and I went to Nagarkot and stayed at an incredibly nice farm hotel. Nagarkot is legendary for its scenic views of the Himalayas, including a peek at Everest (haha, get it?). The hotel was so peaceful and serene, removed from the main "town" of Nagarkot and all the other hotels. The room price included three meals, entirely organic and made primarily from stuff grown on site. The food was delicious, especially the crepe with homemade peach jam for dessert. There was also a large fireplace in the common room and board games! And, it was the best shower I have taken all trip. The only downside was the winding dirt road that offers the only access to Nagarkot. The bus on the way down was just a little nauseating and packed wall to wall with people. At one point I had a woman sitting on my shoulder, which I haven't had since public buses in India. It made me both happy and sad to be going home. Being in a crowded bus careening down mountains is an experience that forces you to recognize and appreciate that you're in an entirely different world, and at the same time truly appreciate where you came from.
Most likely this is the last post for Life as WWOOFer - India and Nepal. But I kind of dig this whole blog thing. I'll most likely do another for my next adventure, whenever and wherever that may be. I kind of dig this WWOOF program and would love to do it again in the future. Laura and I have been talking about doing it in the US for a bit too. It would be a great way to see more of our own country, or we could do it someplace near to wherever we may be living. I've certainly learned a lot and, although we spent about half the time on farms that we expected to, I'm excited to continue learning.
As Tigger says, TTFN, Ta Ta For Now (Who says I have to be grown up?)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day 115 - Boudha
Not much new to report, though some random things to share.
There was a strike on Jan 10th, which, if I haven't mentioned already, strikes are incredibly common in Nepal these days. Since the ousting of the royal family, Nepal formed a Constituent Assembly that was given the task of drafting a new constitution. The deadline for the new constitution is May of this year and things have been getting hectic with everyone trying to get their ten cents in. Usually the strikes are planned by the UCPN-Maoist party, which held power a couple years ago but vacated due to disillusionment with the government (whatever that means). Now, of course, they want their opinions heard. However, the Jan 10th strike was planned by a different party, the RJN, which apparantly pissed off the Maoists (despite the fact that both the UCPN-Maoist and the RJN are Communist parties). There was some inter-party violence (the paper said something about some stabbings), some destruction of property (especially busses that operated in spite of the strike), but no deaths. All in all just another day in Nepal.
We had lunch with a Tibetan family that Laura's parents met while here last year. They stuffed us so full of momos, fried rice, french fries, vegetables, and juice that I thought I was going to be sick. It's ingrained in their culture to keep insisting guests eat more, and it is ingrained in Laura and I to not be impolite. Every time we took a sip of mango juice, Sangey would fill our glass from the 1 liter carton. I said a silent "Thank God" when the carton was finally empty, only to have Sangey leave the room and come back with a 1 liter carton of orange juice to refill my cup. Eventually we convinced him that we could not eat even one more momo (every time we refused more food he would say "just one more momo," and we'd put another momo on our plate). The lunch was delicious and pleasant, but I don't think Laura and I ate much the rest of the day.
At lunch, Sangey told us some interesting stories about the political situation in Nepal. One was about how political leaders lie, which is not a surprising fact, yet the lie and the response was a bit surpising. Apparantly a politician was trying to play on some tensions between Nepal and India. He started a rumor that a popular Bollywood actor had said some bad words about Nepal. A group of Nepalis took this rumor to heart and proceeded to torch a local cinema hall that was playing one of the actor's latest films. Sangey also said that India and China have a lot of spies in Nepal trying to fuel contempt of the other country and sway power to their side. Definitely not a position I would want to be in.
Laura and I went to see Avatar at a local theater. The ticket cost about 2 dollars and the theater was a bit dingy, but not too bad. The sound or picture would go out every once in a while during the film, but never for more than a few seconds. The most awkward part of the experience came during the predictable romantic scene. Hindi and Nepali films are not without their romance, as most of you probably know, but they are extremely unlikely to feature couples kissing on screen. It's just not done. Western movies don't abide by that rule, and when the aliens on screen (surpisingly human-like) kissed and proceeded to more than kiss, the atmosphere in the theater changed dramatically. There was a lot of snickering, laughing and jeering from the people around us. Fortunately when the brief scene was over and done with, people returned to their normal movie watching state (which in Nepal includes having loud conversations and answering cell phones).
We start flying home on Thursday, which is only 5 days away. We have a long layover in Hong Kong, so we should have ample time to explore a bit before our longest flight. It's so hard to believe we'll be home so soon, yet there's much I'm looking forward to at home. Seeing my family and friends, of course. Eating a salad. Having 24/7 hot showers. Drinking water from the tap. Listening to my music. Eating sushi. Having my full wardrobe to choose from. I've enjoyed India and Nepal. People have been incredibly kind to us. But I'm looking foward to being away from so much garbage and some pretty noxious smells, not having people just stand and stare at us (mostly in India), no longer dodging motorcycles (sometimes driven by 10 year olds), and not having rickshaw drivers run us over shouting "rickshaw! rickshaw!" For the last time, no I don't want your high quality hash, and no I don't want my shoes polished. Thank you for complimenting my beard, but no I will not buy whatever it is that you're selling.
All in all, it's been a great trip. Wouldn't change a thing.
There was a strike on Jan 10th, which, if I haven't mentioned already, strikes are incredibly common in Nepal these days. Since the ousting of the royal family, Nepal formed a Constituent Assembly that was given the task of drafting a new constitution. The deadline for the new constitution is May of this year and things have been getting hectic with everyone trying to get their ten cents in. Usually the strikes are planned by the UCPN-Maoist party, which held power a couple years ago but vacated due to disillusionment with the government (whatever that means). Now, of course, they want their opinions heard. However, the Jan 10th strike was planned by a different party, the RJN, which apparantly pissed off the Maoists (despite the fact that both the UCPN-Maoist and the RJN are Communist parties). There was some inter-party violence (the paper said something about some stabbings), some destruction of property (especially busses that operated in spite of the strike), but no deaths. All in all just another day in Nepal.
We had lunch with a Tibetan family that Laura's parents met while here last year. They stuffed us so full of momos, fried rice, french fries, vegetables, and juice that I thought I was going to be sick. It's ingrained in their culture to keep insisting guests eat more, and it is ingrained in Laura and I to not be impolite. Every time we took a sip of mango juice, Sangey would fill our glass from the 1 liter carton. I said a silent "Thank God" when the carton was finally empty, only to have Sangey leave the room and come back with a 1 liter carton of orange juice to refill my cup. Eventually we convinced him that we could not eat even one more momo (every time we refused more food he would say "just one more momo," and we'd put another momo on our plate). The lunch was delicious and pleasant, but I don't think Laura and I ate much the rest of the day.
At lunch, Sangey told us some interesting stories about the political situation in Nepal. One was about how political leaders lie, which is not a surprising fact, yet the lie and the response was a bit surpising. Apparantly a politician was trying to play on some tensions between Nepal and India. He started a rumor that a popular Bollywood actor had said some bad words about Nepal. A group of Nepalis took this rumor to heart and proceeded to torch a local cinema hall that was playing one of the actor's latest films. Sangey also said that India and China have a lot of spies in Nepal trying to fuel contempt of the other country and sway power to their side. Definitely not a position I would want to be in.
Laura and I went to see Avatar at a local theater. The ticket cost about 2 dollars and the theater was a bit dingy, but not too bad. The sound or picture would go out every once in a while during the film, but never for more than a few seconds. The most awkward part of the experience came during the predictable romantic scene. Hindi and Nepali films are not without their romance, as most of you probably know, but they are extremely unlikely to feature couples kissing on screen. It's just not done. Western movies don't abide by that rule, and when the aliens on screen (surpisingly human-like) kissed and proceeded to more than kiss, the atmosphere in the theater changed dramatically. There was a lot of snickering, laughing and jeering from the people around us. Fortunately when the brief scene was over and done with, people returned to their normal movie watching state (which in Nepal includes having loud conversations and answering cell phones).
We start flying home on Thursday, which is only 5 days away. We have a long layover in Hong Kong, so we should have ample time to explore a bit before our longest flight. It's so hard to believe we'll be home so soon, yet there's much I'm looking forward to at home. Seeing my family and friends, of course. Eating a salad. Having 24/7 hot showers. Drinking water from the tap. Listening to my music. Eating sushi. Having my full wardrobe to choose from. I've enjoyed India and Nepal. People have been incredibly kind to us. But I'm looking foward to being away from so much garbage and some pretty noxious smells, not having people just stand and stare at us (mostly in India), no longer dodging motorcycles (sometimes driven by 10 year olds), and not having rickshaw drivers run us over shouting "rickshaw! rickshaw!" For the last time, no I don't want your high quality hash, and no I don't want my shoes polished. Thank you for complimenting my beard, but no I will not buy whatever it is that you're selling.
All in all, it's been a great trip. Wouldn't change a thing.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Day 106 - Boudha
After a few more days on the farm in Shukranagar, we returned to Boudha for the New Year. We harvested honey for a couple more days and did some more work out in the fields, but the work each day took only 1-2 hours and the rest of the time we had very little to do but sit and read or ponder our existence. The most we could do was walk about 10 minutes into the village and get tea and samosas while the people gathered round to stare at us. Some made conversation, which was nice. The days were long, though, and with so little to do we found ourselves watching movies with the son and daughter on their computer. After 15 days it felt a little like freeloading: not working very much but taking up space and eating food. The food consisted of Dal Bhat twice a day every day (rice with a thin lentil soup and some curried vegetables). It was always delicious, but 2 weeks of no variety wore on our morale a little bit a think. We would sit around and talk about nachos, sushi, and the salad bar at Whole Foods.
So now we are back in Boudha. A friend that we have made here from Utah has graciously given us a place to live for free. We insisted on paying a little rent, but he refused, so to show our appreciation we have offered him the jar of pure, unadulterated honey we brought with us from the farm. Being back in Kathmandu is nice. The other day we went on a hike into the hills looking for Kopan Monastery, and a few days later we went on another walk and actually found it. The grounds of the monastery were beautifully landscaped and there were monks playing soccer in the courtyard. There's another monastery and a hill nearby that we intend to walk to another day. The other day we went with a friend into Patan, which has a square of ancient temples and some small hidden temples down alleyways and side streets.
It is nice having variety in our diet. We've gone to my favorite restaurant, Double Dorjee, quite a lot since being back. They have really delicious Wantan soup, which is as close as I'll get to my mom's Peli Meni's while I'm away. We only have two weeks left, which is crazy to think about. We've been travelling for just over 15 weeks now and I think we're both ready to get back to some of the comforts of home.
I hope you are all safe, happy, healthy, and warm.
So now we are back in Boudha. A friend that we have made here from Utah has graciously given us a place to live for free. We insisted on paying a little rent, but he refused, so to show our appreciation we have offered him the jar of pure, unadulterated honey we brought with us from the farm. Being back in Kathmandu is nice. The other day we went on a hike into the hills looking for Kopan Monastery, and a few days later we went on another walk and actually found it. The grounds of the monastery were beautifully landscaped and there were monks playing soccer in the courtyard. There's another monastery and a hill nearby that we intend to walk to another day. The other day we went with a friend into Patan, which has a square of ancient temples and some small hidden temples down alleyways and side streets.
It is nice having variety in our diet. We've gone to my favorite restaurant, Double Dorjee, quite a lot since being back. They have really delicious Wantan soup, which is as close as I'll get to my mom's Peli Meni's while I'm away. We only have two weeks left, which is crazy to think about. We've been travelling for just over 15 weeks now and I think we're both ready to get back to some of the comforts of home.
I hope you are all safe, happy, healthy, and warm.
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