Hello Friends,
So we have been back in Kathmandu for the past week. When we first got here we both got a bit sick from the pollution. Rughaa lagyo. But now we are both feeling better. We got some magic potion called "Sancho" (health) which is available at every corner store. It works wonders. It's a mixture of eucalyptus oil, mint oil, camphor, cinnamon oil, and lemongrass oil. "For cold, cough, rheumatism, stuffy nose, fatigue, bodyache, muscular ache, neuralgia, sprain, and itching." Really works like a charm. You can put it on bites and they stop itching, or a couple drops under the nose before bed to cure a rughaa. Awesome.
We also met Ben, my boss and friend. I am super excited to work with him and he is a very inspiring guy. Speaking of inspiring people, I also met Madan Rai, the man whose home I will be staying in. He is really incredible. A man who started life as a child porter, never had a pair of shoes until he was 18. Now he is a Thulo Manche, very highly respected and well to do. He spouts philosophy of life most of the time too, so I think I will learn a lot living with him. Another cool person that I met was Pawan Rana, a friend of a friend. He was really cool and he also lives in Patan, so we will have to hang out later too.
We also went to Bhaktapur because we wanted to get out of the pollution a little. That was really nice. We stayed at a guest house up on a hill and out of the noise and smoke of the city. Tonight we are back in Thamel because we are heading to the Chitwan tomorrow. We will wake up early for a raft trip tomorrow, spend the night on the river and then continue south to see the elephants and rhinos and look for tigers. So that's what's up! Leave me a comment if you love me, hahahaha...
Take care,
love,
Hailey
Monday, August 16, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Pokhara, Tangting, Bandipur
Wow, I have really been failing at updating my blog, sorry about that - having too many adventures! So today Sarah and I got to Bandipur - a little Newari village on a hilltop with an amazing view of the Himalayas and a sweet little bazaar area. It's fantastic. Not so hot as it was down in Pokhara, but it's still hot. I haven't used my sleeping bag once! I had a sleeping sack but Sarah and I both left ours on the bus today - ditched due to bed bug concerns. Hopefully the bugs were contained in the plastic bags we left on the bus haha, I feel a bit irresponsible disposing of them thus, but ke garne... So you are probably wondering what I have been up to and also where the bugs came from. Sarah and I have decided to do a co-post to attempt to sum up our times here. I'll try to be better in the future... hehehehe
Day 1 - Hung out in Thamel. We met some people from the Gandharbha caste - musicians - they played a concert for us and we danced. That night we went to a pub quiz for charity at PUB MAYA - nothing to do with Mexican food...
Day 2 - Perfection of Giving practice. This is sort of a long story but I will just say that we now have an Indian family. We went to Bouddha.
Day 3 - We found Heidi, a lady from the plane who we toured Hong Kong with, at the Hyatt and the orphans she was helping were swimming in the pool. We also met a friendly dog that adopted us for the day.
Day 4 - Breakfast with our Indian family in the tent village - butter toast and cookies from home. Then we went to see my Nepali family in Balkot. We planted rice in the fields with them and got muddy and sunburned. It was fun to see them and they LOVED the gifts.
Day 5 - Rest day, hung out around Bouddha. Spent the morning painting and reading. Our Indian brother wanted to buy us Indian dress that day so we had an adventure to get some.
Day 6 - Bus ride to Pokhara, the seats smelled like a fat man sweat all over them - ICK. Met Roshan and his friend Avinash at the bus station. Met my Kumari didi and gave her some stuff. Went and saw a real live lotus pond - it was gorgeous.
Day 7 - Went to visit Roshan's old school and ended up teaching classes. Fun, challenging, awkward. In the afternoon we went to the Mountain museum and climbed Macchapuchare. For dinner Roshan took us to the Korean restaurant in Lakeside - kim chi is interesting.... not my favorite - I would put it in the same category of likingness as sushi.
Day 8 - We visited a bunch of Roshan's relatives in the morning, taught a couple of periods at the school, and then went to the caves. We went to the mall first to get Roshan's soccer jersey. Then we went to see the bat cave and the Mahendra cave. We only had one flashlight and were not wearing our spelunking attire, but we got deep into the caves. The exit from the bat cave was a shimmy tunnel, surprise! The other cave was even better though. There was a man at the front who wanted to guide us and told us that the cave went deeper than the lighted section. Naturally we chose to explore it ourselves. We saw WAY more bats, and WAY closer than in the bat cave and had the awesome experience of finding the way in the dark dark dark. After the caves, we went swimming at the extremely chemical-ated pool. Roshan's buddy is a lifeguard there so we got in free. It was fun, but we were afraid our hair might be green at the end. That was a big day.
Day 9 - Roshan's grandma had a new house puja going that we checked out. After seeing that once in the morning, we walked to the powerhouse and Sarah got the first leech bite. That night we went back to the puja - an all night party for god and old ladies. We sang and danced.
Day 10 - We slept late that morning and had DiDo for breakfast. That day we went to David's Fall, an AWESOME waterfall with Roshan's friend from the Tangting community in Pokhara. It was huge and beautiful.
Day 11 - Sarah and I went for a walk in the morning on our own, there is so little privacy here it felt like we had hardly had a chance to just talk! That afternoon we went Begnas Thall and (almost) to Rupa Thall on Roshan and Avinash's bikes (motorcycles). We got stuck in a HUGE mud pit at one point. The lakes were cool though and it was fun.
Day 12 - We took a canoe across Fewa Thall to see the "Chinese Gomba" or Peace Pagoda. We went swimming in a nice cool stream in our clothes - it was worth the wetness. Then we climbed up to the Pagoda. It's big and white and has a nice view. On the way Roshan and I sang. It was fun. We walked down the other side by way of a less traveled hilltop that was also awesome. There were some menacing clouds in the sky and on the bus ride back it broke. The water POURED out of the sky in buckets turning the road into a river. Roshan lives in the Compton of Pokhara so it was hard to get a taxi that night, but finally one took us. We tried to stay dry at first, but by the time we got to Roshan's house we were pretty well soaked. There were some huge puddles and we prudently splashed in them before bed.
Sarah is writing the next days:
Day 13 - We woke up early (4:45) and walked to two nearby temples. On the way to the second we ran into Nathalie, a student from Whitman, and Josh, a guy we met at Roshan's school and made plans to meet them for dinner. We attempted to make pancakes for Roshan and his family - it kinda worked, chocolate and bananas, yum! That afternoon we climbed up a hill and danced on a picnic table at the top. Then we went to Lakeside for dinner at a place with traditional music and dance. Roshan's mom scolded him for staying out too late.
Day 14 - We spend most of the day chilling up on a hill near SarankoT, the paragliding place. I taught Roshan some photography and we tried dried meat - suketi.
Day 15 - We spent most of the day hiking up to Tangting with Kumari didi, a nearby Gurung village where Hailey stayed last time. There were lots of leeches, but our boots and pants kept most of them out. Some escaped detection until bed though and we smashed and sliced them with Hailey's knife...ick...
Day 16 - We went to Kumari did's house. All the houses have bathrooms now (they didn't 2 years ago). Then we went to the school (Kumari is a teacher there)thinking maybe we'd get to interact with the kids somehow or at least watch a class, but no, we just sat in the office/library all day reading books. At least it was a half day...Oh, and on the day we arrived in Nepal, one of the teachers at the school died mysteriously. The villagers stay it was a ghost - they found her out in the fields. After school we went to the 'hotel', a sort of cafe, and sang (or listened to rather) a bunch of Gurung songs that we didn't understand. Our stomachs were acting up a bit too.
Day 17 - We didn't sleep well because our stomachs were still cramping, but probiotics work pretty well. Roshan showed us a sliding rock he used to play on as a kid - you sit on a bunch of leaves and branches and whoosh, like sledding without show, fun. We went skinny dipping that afternoon, fun, excitement, cold and refreshing! When we got back the neighbor, a tiny 11 year old girl named Purnimaa wanted to take us around. There was a dance program that night for us, awkward, Hailey gave a brief speech. Her and Roshan danced on stage. We tasted raksi (local alcohol) and decided it tastes like sour milk that has had sweaty gym socks soaked in it, yum!
Day 18 - We showered (or poured cold water on ourselves). We went down to the powerhouse and ran into the other Americans who were visiting. A HUGE (like tarantula sized) spider fell down onto my bed which I realized once I grabbed it, came really close to screaming. We went to another dance program, this time in someone's house, for the other Americans. They finally got me to dance, if you can call it that...
Day 19 - We hiked up to nauju. The original plan was to go up to get a good view of the mountains, but it was misty and you couldn't see a thing, still fun though. There were lots of leeches on the way up and we killed them with salt. We felt so bad though watching them limp away, we literally cried, the poor things. That afternoon we played with the neighbors (the little boy is ADORABLE!) and gave them bubbles which were a huge hit! On the way back from wandering around it started pouring and we borrowed some traditional umbrellas which were surprisingly effective. That night there was another dance program for us, at the other community house. Hailey gave another short speech. There was a storm right over our heads, rained all night long. Bedbugs appeared that night, no good, now we're both completely covered in spots (fleas took care of our arms and legs).
Day 20 - The rain caused a huge landslide where there'd been a smaller one before, blocking Seti Kholaa ('white river') and creating a lake dammed by a giant pile of dirt that could go at any minute, so our plans to hike back to Pokhara that day were canceled. Instead, we walked down closer to the landslide for a better view. It was intense and amazing! I've never seen anything like it. So many newly planted fields were destroyed and 4 or 5 people were buried in the debris. The school is right above the slide, and the whole area around it looks like it could go at any minute if there's more heavy rain (or rather when, it's monsoon season after all).
Day 21 - We walked back to Pokhara, took up most of the day. The water had created a fairly stable channel through the mud so we thought it safe to continue, less danger of a flash flood. We showed countless people photos of the landslide. I slipped and fell and my churaa (glass bangles) broke and scraped up my wrist. We ran out of water and used iodine, yuck. We were lucky to find a jeep and had an exciting ride back. The jeep couldn't cross the river this time so we walked across and hopped on a local school bus, walking the final few minutes back to Roshan's, exhausted. We showered and slept.
Day 22 - Our last day in Pokhara. We washed pretty much all our clothes, decided to toss the bug ridden ones. Then we made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (managed to find all the ingredients, sort of, they were a bit odd, but still tasty). We went to Lakeside for dinner with Roshan's friend. Roshan and I arm wrestled, he won, but it was the longest arm wrestling match I've ever seen. My arm is a bit sore today...
Day 23 - we took the bus today to Bandipur. Went to our hotel which is pretty awesome and has a gorgeous view. We showered and slept, then ate, and now we are in the internet cafe, and have been here for several hours checking email and writing this, so it is time to go I think before the power goes out or something...
So that brings us up to date. There is much more to say of course, but now I am very much finished with staring at this screen.
Lots of love to everyone!!!
Hailey / UMA
Oh, and Sarah's nepali name is Ritu, it means "season."
Tata
Day 1 - Hung out in Thamel. We met some people from the Gandharbha caste - musicians - they played a concert for us and we danced. That night we went to a pub quiz for charity at PUB MAYA - nothing to do with Mexican food...
Day 2 - Perfection of Giving practice. This is sort of a long story but I will just say that we now have an Indian family. We went to Bouddha.
Day 3 - We found Heidi, a lady from the plane who we toured Hong Kong with, at the Hyatt and the orphans she was helping were swimming in the pool. We also met a friendly dog that adopted us for the day.
Day 4 - Breakfast with our Indian family in the tent village - butter toast and cookies from home. Then we went to see my Nepali family in Balkot. We planted rice in the fields with them and got muddy and sunburned. It was fun to see them and they LOVED the gifts.
Day 5 - Rest day, hung out around Bouddha. Spent the morning painting and reading. Our Indian brother wanted to buy us Indian dress that day so we had an adventure to get some.
Day 6 - Bus ride to Pokhara, the seats smelled like a fat man sweat all over them - ICK. Met Roshan and his friend Avinash at the bus station. Met my Kumari didi and gave her some stuff. Went and saw a real live lotus pond - it was gorgeous.
Day 7 - Went to visit Roshan's old school and ended up teaching classes. Fun, challenging, awkward. In the afternoon we went to the Mountain museum and climbed Macchapuchare. For dinner Roshan took us to the Korean restaurant in Lakeside - kim chi is interesting.... not my favorite - I would put it in the same category of likingness as sushi.
Day 8 - We visited a bunch of Roshan's relatives in the morning, taught a couple of periods at the school, and then went to the caves. We went to the mall first to get Roshan's soccer jersey. Then we went to see the bat cave and the Mahendra cave. We only had one flashlight and were not wearing our spelunking attire, but we got deep into the caves. The exit from the bat cave was a shimmy tunnel, surprise! The other cave was even better though. There was a man at the front who wanted to guide us and told us that the cave went deeper than the lighted section. Naturally we chose to explore it ourselves. We saw WAY more bats, and WAY closer than in the bat cave and had the awesome experience of finding the way in the dark dark dark. After the caves, we went swimming at the extremely chemical-ated pool. Roshan's buddy is a lifeguard there so we got in free. It was fun, but we were afraid our hair might be green at the end. That was a big day.
Day 9 - Roshan's grandma had a new house puja going that we checked out. After seeing that once in the morning, we walked to the powerhouse and Sarah got the first leech bite. That night we went back to the puja - an all night party for god and old ladies. We sang and danced.
Day 10 - We slept late that morning and had DiDo for breakfast. That day we went to David's Fall, an AWESOME waterfall with Roshan's friend from the Tangting community in Pokhara. It was huge and beautiful.
Day 11 - Sarah and I went for a walk in the morning on our own, there is so little privacy here it felt like we had hardly had a chance to just talk! That afternoon we went Begnas Thall and (almost) to Rupa Thall on Roshan and Avinash's bikes (motorcycles). We got stuck in a HUGE mud pit at one point. The lakes were cool though and it was fun.
Day 12 - We took a canoe across Fewa Thall to see the "Chinese Gomba" or Peace Pagoda. We went swimming in a nice cool stream in our clothes - it was worth the wetness. Then we climbed up to the Pagoda. It's big and white and has a nice view. On the way Roshan and I sang. It was fun. We walked down the other side by way of a less traveled hilltop that was also awesome. There were some menacing clouds in the sky and on the bus ride back it broke. The water POURED out of the sky in buckets turning the road into a river. Roshan lives in the Compton of Pokhara so it was hard to get a taxi that night, but finally one took us. We tried to stay dry at first, but by the time we got to Roshan's house we were pretty well soaked. There were some huge puddles and we prudently splashed in them before bed.
Sarah is writing the next days:
Day 13 - We woke up early (4:45) and walked to two nearby temples. On the way to the second we ran into Nathalie, a student from Whitman, and Josh, a guy we met at Roshan's school and made plans to meet them for dinner. We attempted to make pancakes for Roshan and his family - it kinda worked, chocolate and bananas, yum! That afternoon we climbed up a hill and danced on a picnic table at the top. Then we went to Lakeside for dinner at a place with traditional music and dance. Roshan's mom scolded him for staying out too late.
Day 14 - We spend most of the day chilling up on a hill near SarankoT, the paragliding place. I taught Roshan some photography and we tried dried meat - suketi.
Day 15 - We spent most of the day hiking up to Tangting with Kumari didi, a nearby Gurung village where Hailey stayed last time. There were lots of leeches, but our boots and pants kept most of them out. Some escaped detection until bed though and we smashed and sliced them with Hailey's knife...ick...
Day 16 - We went to Kumari did's house. All the houses have bathrooms now (they didn't 2 years ago). Then we went to the school (Kumari is a teacher there)thinking maybe we'd get to interact with the kids somehow or at least watch a class, but no, we just sat in the office/library all day reading books. At least it was a half day...Oh, and on the day we arrived in Nepal, one of the teachers at the school died mysteriously. The villagers stay it was a ghost - they found her out in the fields. After school we went to the 'hotel', a sort of cafe, and sang (or listened to rather) a bunch of Gurung songs that we didn't understand. Our stomachs were acting up a bit too.
Day 17 - We didn't sleep well because our stomachs were still cramping, but probiotics work pretty well. Roshan showed us a sliding rock he used to play on as a kid - you sit on a bunch of leaves and branches and whoosh, like sledding without show, fun. We went skinny dipping that afternoon, fun, excitement, cold and refreshing! When we got back the neighbor, a tiny 11 year old girl named Purnimaa wanted to take us around. There was a dance program that night for us, awkward, Hailey gave a brief speech. Her and Roshan danced on stage. We tasted raksi (local alcohol) and decided it tastes like sour milk that has had sweaty gym socks soaked in it, yum!
Day 18 - We showered (or poured cold water on ourselves). We went down to the powerhouse and ran into the other Americans who were visiting. A HUGE (like tarantula sized) spider fell down onto my bed which I realized once I grabbed it, came really close to screaming. We went to another dance program, this time in someone's house, for the other Americans. They finally got me to dance, if you can call it that...
Day 19 - We hiked up to nauju. The original plan was to go up to get a good view of the mountains, but it was misty and you couldn't see a thing, still fun though. There were lots of leeches on the way up and we killed them with salt. We felt so bad though watching them limp away, we literally cried, the poor things. That afternoon we played with the neighbors (the little boy is ADORABLE!) and gave them bubbles which were a huge hit! On the way back from wandering around it started pouring and we borrowed some traditional umbrellas which were surprisingly effective. That night there was another dance program for us, at the other community house. Hailey gave another short speech. There was a storm right over our heads, rained all night long. Bedbugs appeared that night, no good, now we're both completely covered in spots (fleas took care of our arms and legs).
Day 20 - The rain caused a huge landslide where there'd been a smaller one before, blocking Seti Kholaa ('white river') and creating a lake dammed by a giant pile of dirt that could go at any minute, so our plans to hike back to Pokhara that day were canceled. Instead, we walked down closer to the landslide for a better view. It was intense and amazing! I've never seen anything like it. So many newly planted fields were destroyed and 4 or 5 people were buried in the debris. The school is right above the slide, and the whole area around it looks like it could go at any minute if there's more heavy rain (or rather when, it's monsoon season after all).
Day 21 - We walked back to Pokhara, took up most of the day. The water had created a fairly stable channel through the mud so we thought it safe to continue, less danger of a flash flood. We showed countless people photos of the landslide. I slipped and fell and my churaa (glass bangles) broke and scraped up my wrist. We ran out of water and used iodine, yuck. We were lucky to find a jeep and had an exciting ride back. The jeep couldn't cross the river this time so we walked across and hopped on a local school bus, walking the final few minutes back to Roshan's, exhausted. We showered and slept.
Day 22 - Our last day in Pokhara. We washed pretty much all our clothes, decided to toss the bug ridden ones. Then we made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (managed to find all the ingredients, sort of, they were a bit odd, but still tasty). We went to Lakeside for dinner with Roshan's friend. Roshan and I arm wrestled, he won, but it was the longest arm wrestling match I've ever seen. My arm is a bit sore today...
Day 23 - we took the bus today to Bandipur. Went to our hotel which is pretty awesome and has a gorgeous view. We showered and slept, then ate, and now we are in the internet cafe, and have been here for several hours checking email and writing this, so it is time to go I think before the power goes out or something...
So that brings us up to date. There is much more to say of course, but now I am very much finished with staring at this screen.
Lots of love to everyone!!!
Hailey / UMA
Oh, and Sarah's nepali name is Ritu, it means "season."
Tata
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