We have been in Nepal for several days now, and continue to having fascinating experiences on a daily basis. We are learning so much about these countries and their people, as well as each other. Travel days are long and hard, always with delays. Once we settle into a new place (14, to date!), we tend to fall in love with the area.
Before I get to Nepal, just a few thoughts on India. It has been a most interesting time to be in India, as the Commonwealth games begin today, causing so many changes for Delhi. The difference in the roads was incredible from our earlier flights and road trips through Delhi. It’s now or never for this country to show its best side to the world with these games, which involve 54 countries of the British Commonwealth. They’ve had 7 years to prepare for the games, and the debacle they have created has been absolutely unbelievable. From the sites not being ready, to building dorms in flood zones(monsoons ended last week, so this is a big deal!), to the collapse of the main pedestrian bridge to the stadium, cleaning up the filth in the atheletes dorms, removing snakes from tennis stadium, and getting rids of thousands of homeless surrounding the games area.
By now, people know that the roads and byways are filthy, littered with everything, both living and nonliving that one can possibly imagine. From the time we left the airport terminals, which are both new and very nice (completed in time for the games), the highway is congested, with cows, people and dogs living roadside, with trash scattered solidly along the way. Every imaginable vehicle, both old and running way beyond their years, packed with goods, people, and who knows what else, travel along without regard for lanes, who they are cutting off, nor speed limits.
When we arrived back into Delhi last week, the roads were clean. The people, cows and the rest of the trash were all gone. It is unbelievable that the army(who they used for much of the cleanup) made this happen. We felt like we were in a different city! Due to threats of terrorism, security is top notch. We want to keep up with what goes on with these games, as we now feel a connection to India we didn’t feel a month ago.
Our trip through Nepal, to date, included Kathmandu and Chitwan National Park. We just arrived today in Pokara, having sat through a road shutdown in a village where the locals were holding a protest about the roads not being redone. When the road blockages occur, you sit and wait. And read, and accept there is nothing that can be done until they reopen them. At home there would be riots as people would have no patience for having to wait for such an inconvenience. Here, waiting is the name of the game. Nobody gets upset, they just wait. After the road was opened allowing the massive traffic jam to move we came to a bridge on the main road between Kathmandu and Pokara that is broken. The Nepali solution? Just allow one vehicle at a time to cross the bridge to keep it from crashing down into the river far below! We held our breath…and made it to the other side! Tonight we are in a the Fishtail Resort that can be reached only by boat. It’s in the middle of a lake, peaceful, beautiful! Tomorrow we fly out from here to do several days of trekking.
Main Street, Swartha, Chitwan, Nepal
Chitwan National Park was great. Staying in a lodge that reminded me of my days at Girl Scout camp, we were in the middle of the jungle, in a village of indigenous people. Our guide told us that 46% of the women who give birth there don’t know who the father of their babies are, as rape and sexual violations are rampant, between trafficking and police and military abuse! The Army is there to protect the tigers and rhinos from poachers. The lives these women live is unimaginable!
Rhino Sighting
Things always look better in the A.M. than they do when we arrive in the evening. We’re learning! Our day started with an elephant safari, where we followed a rhino through the jungle, on the back of an elephant. We saw some other wildlife, including monkeys, deer and peacocks. After, as we strolled through the village, elephants and water buffalo passed us by. We then went on a river safari, in wooden dugout canoes made from Sal trees - a wood like mahogany but much harder, in search of crocodiles. It was so hot, so I sheltered myself with an umbrella. The sun was more than hot for that to happen. We THEN went on a jungle walk- which almost put me (Mary) over the edge.
Our guide tells us, after we get out of the canoe, observing fresh tiger and elephant footprints as we walked up the bank, that we needed to be quiet, stick together(us and 2 guides), and watch out for 3 dangerous animals- sloth bears, Bengal tigers and rhinos. He wanted us to wait until dusk came close so our chances were increased at seeing these guys! This wasn’t sitting well with me, especially when we were told that if we saw them, we were to run “zig zag”, hide behind a tree if the rhino charged us, and climb 6 feet up a tree for safety. At this point, they about lost me. I have always wanted to go on safari, but this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. We were ½ hour into the jungle when Crocodile Dundee decided that we would traipse through deep mud, bugs, and tiger tracks to see if we could spot any! That’s when I knew I wasn’t going any further. My idea of safari was to ride in a jeep, surrounded by at least some protection from tigers, rhinos and bears! As we continued to the hike, we went to an elephant breeding ground, where we saw the 2nd set of twins born to an elephant. Turned out to be a cool day!
As we headed from Kathmandu to Chitwan, we traveled on what was to be a 5 hour drive, turning out to be 7, I reflected on what life is like for the Nepalese(could be Indian, too) people. We were on the main highway from Kathmandu to India. This road is less than 2 lanes wide, windy, with steep ascents(or descent, depending on the direction you are headed), bumpy, dusty, heavy diesel fumes from trucks, people and young children on foot, horns honking, motorcycles, with more trucks than I95 has on the entire east coast. We had the opportunity to be part of a traffic jam like we‘ve never experienced in America. We were fortunate to be in air conditioning, with each other, and with food and water.
This is a normal part of life in these countries, so plans and schedules really don’t mean much of anything. The people aren’t reacting in anger and road rage. It just is what it is. And they deal with it. I can’t imagine, as a mother, letting my young children walk these roads, or letting my babies play 5 feet off the road with their friends, unattended; living in a shack sitting on the road with the dust and fumes being breathed daily. I can’t imagine having a store(shack), with the food stuff(both fresh and packaged) covered with dust and black soot. I can’t imagine being a woman, carrying a load of stones on my head that weigh more than they do, being a child begging for money for food, a truck driver who has to earn a living driving to and from India with no front windshield on their truck to be protected from the elements, or being so physically deformed that a piece of wood with wheels on it is what you sit on to beg for food. How blessed we are, and how we can take what we have for granted, or worse yet, complain about what we don’t have or what we think we “need”.
The most intense experience we’ve encountered so far was our visit to the Monkey Temple in Kathmandu. I was overwhelmed with the many mothers with babies and young children, who were desperately begging from tourists. You have to ignore them, as there are too many of them. There is no assistance of any sort available to the people of Nepal. None, no food stamps, no welfare no WIC, no housing. Nothing! What is the answer?
Another experience, encountered that same day, was a visit to the Basmati River, a holy river, where they cremate their dead. That was all pretty surreal. We arrived early in the day, so the wrapped bodies were being carried to the site, to be cremated. Other bodies were being carried out immediately after death, to have their feet placed in the river and a ritual of makeup painted on their faces. After their feet are washed, they too, are taken to be placed on the funeral pyre, with the eldest son starting the fire for cremation. Because we were there early, the fires had yet to be started, which was fine by me. Across the river, we were, lots of families were sitting together, performing rituals done on the 13th day after death. School children milled about the area, which was somewhat bizarre to us. There were lots of Holy men around, whose photos we captured. Teenagers were in the river, barefooted, cleaning up the trash and remains of the cremations. The Hindis do death quite differently than we do in the western world. The experience will stay with me a lifetime.
We’re off tomorrow for several days of trekking, heading to village for 3 nights where only transportation mode is the tractor that will pick us up at the airport to take us to the hotel.
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