Wow, what a last few days. I know I keep saying this, but life just keeps getting more interesting I guess.
Thursday morning, the family left to go to Pokhara, a town 200 km West of Kathmandu and the place where I will volunteer next month. We jumped on a bus at about 6:30 but didn’t arrive in town until 3:30pm even though the trip isn’t supposed to be more than 5 hours. See, our bus broke down only an hour into the trip. I guess the gas wasn’t making it to the engine, so we were stopped for almost 2 hours while random men in the bus tried to fix it. We finally got it finxed and continued on our way, but I was a little bit nervous, not least because the road is windy and bumpy, the bus is tall (and obviously crappy and old) and we are slowly climbing in altitude.
As soon as we arrived in Pokhara I wanted to go on a boat ride on the lake. I had seen pictures of the lake, with the hills and Himalayans in the background, so I was really excited to soak in the nature and peace of it all, especially after having breathed in all that pollution in Kathmandu the day before. I have several pictures of the lake and the hills and I will post them as soon as the internet connection is better.
I was told that Friday morning we would leave to go visit some of Muna’s family members in their village, but I had NO idea what to expect! We hopped in a jeep at 6am and then I was told that the ride would be about 5 hours long. I began to worry a little bit because I was crammed in the back seat with 3 other people and wasn’t exactly what I would call comfortable. But I think I was more comfortable than other people that hopped into the jeep after because within 20 minutes there were 21 people on the jeep!!! 3 people up front, 4 in the backseat, 9 people in the bed of the truck, and 5 people on the roof (along with all the luggage!). That’s not the end of it though because we were plagued with a little more bad luck – a flat tire which took an hour and a half to fix because the driver had to first put on his spare and then drive to a tire store which was quite out of the way. After all that, we were back on our way to the village. Then I got another surprise. I had been told that the road to the village was new and that it was not a great road, but boy was that an understatement!! It was essentially a road made of rocks, mud, and boulders, and it took us over 3 hours to wind around the hills to the village. In total (minus the tire problems) the trip is 45km long and takes 5 hours!! And it takes 3.5 hours to complete the 20 km “dirt”road!
And the village sure is a village!!! No electricity, a hole for a bathroom, no running water inside the house. The house itself is made of brick with clay around it. There is one tiny window and one main room. The kitchen is off to the side and there is no chimney so the smoke fills the house. What an experience! Though it was tough because the beds were hard, it was cold, and the conveniences like a modern shower and western toilet aren’t to be found, I am glad I had the village experience. It is so cool to see how self-sufficient these people are! They all have oxes to help them plow their hilltop terraces, buffaloes to provide them with milk for their tea, butter, and oil. In the summer they harvest corn, wheat and millet and those serve as their staples all year long. They store corn for the winter, dry the wheat in the sun and then crush in to make rice, and they use the millet to make strange tasting wine. They also grow fresh vegetables like spinach, potatoes, and cauliflower, and so those were the ingredients of all our meals!
We spent the afternoon sitting in the warm sun, visiting family members in other homes, and drinking countless cups of tea with buffalo milk (not my favorite). Once it got dark and dinner had been eaten, we looked at the stars and sat by the fire before going to bed. In the morning I tried to clean myself up. Then we went to visit more family members, drank more tea, and looked at the beautiful view of the hills.
Now, after 24 hours in the village and a total of 7 hours driving over the bumpiest road of my life, I am back in Pokhara. Tommorow we are going to Tamjung, a village on the top of a 5000ft hill. We will trek to the base camp tommorow and then walk to the top on Christmas day. On December 26th we will climb down and make it back to Pokhara and spend the next day visiting more family members in Pokhara before returning to Kathmanduon Thursday.
Again, I promise to post pictures as soon as possible, but now is not the time.
P.S. My Nepali is coming along slowly but surely. I have learned a few important phrases and words but my biggest accomplishments are 1) getting the pronunciation down, which I find very difficult, and 2) somehow understand a lot of what Ama (Muna’s non-English speaking mom) says to me. I think I must be well on my way I guess.
Thursday morning, the family left to go to Pokhara, a town 200 km West of Kathmandu and the place where I will volunteer next month. We jumped on a bus at about 6:30 but didn’t arrive in town until 3:30pm even though the trip isn’t supposed to be more than 5 hours. See, our bus broke down only an hour into the trip. I guess the gas wasn’t making it to the engine, so we were stopped for almost 2 hours while random men in the bus tried to fix it. We finally got it finxed and continued on our way, but I was a little bit nervous, not least because the road is windy and bumpy, the bus is tall (and obviously crappy and old) and we are slowly climbing in altitude.
As soon as we arrived in Pokhara I wanted to go on a boat ride on the lake. I had seen pictures of the lake, with the hills and Himalayans in the background, so I was really excited to soak in the nature and peace of it all, especially after having breathed in all that pollution in Kathmandu the day before. I have several pictures of the lake and the hills and I will post them as soon as the internet connection is better.
I was told that Friday morning we would leave to go visit some of Muna’s family members in their village, but I had NO idea what to expect! We hopped in a jeep at 6am and then I was told that the ride would be about 5 hours long. I began to worry a little bit because I was crammed in the back seat with 3 other people and wasn’t exactly what I would call comfortable. But I think I was more comfortable than other people that hopped into the jeep after because within 20 minutes there were 21 people on the jeep!!! 3 people up front, 4 in the backseat, 9 people in the bed of the truck, and 5 people on the roof (along with all the luggage!). That’s not the end of it though because we were plagued with a little more bad luck – a flat tire which took an hour and a half to fix because the driver had to first put on his spare and then drive to a tire store which was quite out of the way. After all that, we were back on our way to the village. Then I got another surprise. I had been told that the road to the village was new and that it was not a great road, but boy was that an understatement!! It was essentially a road made of rocks, mud, and boulders, and it took us over 3 hours to wind around the hills to the village. In total (minus the tire problems) the trip is 45km long and takes 5 hours!! And it takes 3.5 hours to complete the 20 km “dirt”road!
And the village sure is a village!!! No electricity, a hole for a bathroom, no running water inside the house. The house itself is made of brick with clay around it. There is one tiny window and one main room. The kitchen is off to the side and there is no chimney so the smoke fills the house. What an experience! Though it was tough because the beds were hard, it was cold, and the conveniences like a modern shower and western toilet aren’t to be found, I am glad I had the village experience. It is so cool to see how self-sufficient these people are! They all have oxes to help them plow their hilltop terraces, buffaloes to provide them with milk for their tea, butter, and oil. In the summer they harvest corn, wheat and millet and those serve as their staples all year long. They store corn for the winter, dry the wheat in the sun and then crush in to make rice, and they use the millet to make strange tasting wine. They also grow fresh vegetables like spinach, potatoes, and cauliflower, and so those were the ingredients of all our meals!
We spent the afternoon sitting in the warm sun, visiting family members in other homes, and drinking countless cups of tea with buffalo milk (not my favorite). Once it got dark and dinner had been eaten, we looked at the stars and sat by the fire before going to bed. In the morning I tried to clean myself up. Then we went to visit more family members, drank more tea, and looked at the beautiful view of the hills.
Now, after 24 hours in the village and a total of 7 hours driving over the bumpiest road of my life, I am back in Pokhara. Tommorow we are going to Tamjung, a village on the top of a 5000ft hill. We will trek to the base camp tommorow and then walk to the top on Christmas day. On December 26th we will climb down and make it back to Pokhara and spend the next day visiting more family members in Pokhara before returning to Kathmanduon Thursday.
Again, I promise to post pictures as soon as possible, but now is not the time.
P.S. My Nepali is coming along slowly but surely. I have learned a few important phrases and words but my biggest accomplishments are 1) getting the pronunciation down, which I find very difficult, and 2) somehow understand a lot of what Ama (Muna’s non-English speaking mom) says to me. I think I must be well on my way I guess.
Anonymous - Hey “Binti” – we missed you on Christmas Eve – hope your having fun in Nepal……Shelly Sharples