TravelStream™ news feed for member travelingamanda on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/travelingamanda en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:30:59 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1234319280/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1234319280/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1234319280/tpod.html Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:30:59 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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San Francisco, California, United States

Hi All,

A number of you have asked how I've been since I've returned - the trials and tribulations of 're-entry'. I've been thinking a lot about it and thought I would write an additional post.

To that end, one thing I've realized is that I was mistaken to think that the trip simply ended when I returned. The trip was more than just physically 'moving my body to a new place', which is then 'undone' by my return, but was actually a full shift in my awareness and consciousness of my reality.

As such, I may have physically returned, but the trip has continued...

Since we're talking about me on a physical level, I should explore that for a moment.

I weight myself yesterday. I lost ten pounds. I'm the thinnest I've been in about six years (not like I care but I'm a little self conscious that I'm too thin).

My stomach has been a bit uneven as it's a bit weirded out by this new type of (not e-coli-ified) food. I keep on saying to people (and to myself), "Where's the rice?" That's all I've had for dinner and lunch the last few days. I've had to help it re-acclimatize...

On an emotional level I've also felt rather unsettled. It's been very strange to come back and everyone already know what happened to me on my trip.

I sat in on a nice video chat (!) with Jon and his parents on his laptop in the living room last night. It was a bit weird, because our exchange was actually what's 'supposed' to happen when you return from a trip - they asked me how the trip was, they wanted to hear the highlights, I told them some stories, etc...

I feel interestingly uncomfortable and restrained as I haven't done that with Edie or Jon or my Dad. I haven't needed to. They already know the stories. I guess you do too...

So that begs the question, what am I missing from that process? What does it give me that I've been deprived of?

I think going away, particularly for so long and to such an out of body place, talking about it and recounting it upon your return offers you a sense of closure.

By talking about what happened with people, you 'process' the trip once again - your experiences, your adventures, how your consciousness has 'shifted'...

It leads to a deepened understanding and clearer, 'actionable insights' about how to use your learnings moving forward (oh god, I'm getting into my marketing wordspeak again) ;)

So I think that's really it. There's this misnomer that you just come back from an experience like that and just resume the life you left behind as though it never happened.

But you can't.

Really, how could you? You're not the same person. You've changed. The world that you left - which was designed to envelop and reflect back your personhood -- doesn't quite 'fit right' anymore. How could it? You have shifted, but the world you typically live in has stayed the same.

So what's changed for me?

Well, I've noticed small things that I probably wouldn't have thought of before.

The low income people in the Walgreens pharmacy waiting area smell. They seem mentally ill. I realized that I never really saw anyone that was mentally ill in all the places I visited - most noticeably India. Also, no one ever smelled. Not like that. Not like total BO. They were poor, homeless and begging but somehow kept themselves clean. They didn't poop on themselves. In our culture, if someone is very poor, do we as a culture have so much that if someone is down and out it's only because they're mentally ill and thus can't take care of themselves? I don't know...

I've realized this is a cold country. It's strange to have to bundle up at night to stay warm (or at least in SF where we don't have central heating).

The money looks funny. It seems more - for lack of a better word - 'important'. More valuable. Its more revered.

I took the train the last few days to work. I watch the people on the train, on the street, in my office.

People are busy. Rushing around. Talking on their cell phones. Walking fast. Wearing fancy office clothes. Clean. Pressed. Styled. Faces are made up.

They're trying to look important. Trying to be important.

People seem to care about little, insignificant things. Things that are pretty unimportant. To be fair, I've fallen into this too.

Jon and Edie kindly picked me up at the airport on Sunday and I took them out to lunch as a thank you. We went to coffee shop as we were waiting for a table and I was multitasking (trying to open the door while talking to my Dad while holding my just purchased latte) and I accidentally dropped my drink.

I felt sad looking at it on the floor. I was looking forward to it. People around me went 'awwww'.

To be fair, my sadness it was probably more than anything driven by the novelty of having a latte again. It's been so long! What a strange and expensive indulgence!

But as I looked at the wetness on the floor, the four dollars it cost to buy, the people who were sympathetically awwww-ing to me, I thought about how profoundly unimportant it is. If I wanted to, I could afford to get another. It's only a drink. Literally, spilled milk. It would have tasted nice, but how insignificant.

As I spoke with my Dad on the phone outside, Jon was very sweet and having seen what happened bought me another one. He's a great guy.

But my momentary sadness for my spilled profoundly indulgent drink actually made me a little worried - it made me self conscious. How much did I really learn on my trip? How much did I learn? And how much will I really incorporate into my life back home?

The more I think about it, I realize that with my return I've been feeling a tremendous amount of guilt.

Guilt that I have enough money to afford to go on such an extraordinary trip. Guilt that I was raised in a culture that has such abundance. Guilt that I have such abundance and had the audacity to never appreciate it before. Guilt that I live in a place where you don't have to worry about basic things - water is available, drinkable, from the tap. Food is on the shelves in the store. We have electricity. I can buy new clothes. I can buy new clothes that are warm, never worn, without holes. My closet is full of things to wear. I choose what to wear and buy based on fashion, not necessity.

I have guilt that I live in a culture that expects you to have only one person to a room. That I can afford medicine if I need it. Everyday products - like peanut butter - are available everywhere. That at worst, I have to walk a few blocks out of my way to get a 'special' or specific item.

I feel guilt that as a woman in this country I have so many powers and rights compared to women in other countries. I can have an abortion if I need to. I can afford to have one. I am not expected to have a child. I'm not banished to the cow shed when I have my period.

I feel guilty that I randomly live in a culture where I can be a gay. Not only can I be gay, but I can be gay and not be shamed, humiliated, beaten, and shunned by my family and community. I feel guilt that I have the ability to find someone else who is gay who I can be with.

I feel guilty that I can find someone to like and that they would like me back. I feel guilty that I can have an open, public relationship with them. That we can be affectionate in public. That my office knows I'm gay and they're OK with that. That I live in a city where we have such luxuries as having the option of 'gender bending'.

People can afford to buy clothes. They don't have any holes in them. They're clean.

I went to college. My teeth are white and my cavities are filled. I don't have worms in my stomach. I put products in my hair that help accentuate my curls. I only wear my socks once and can consider them 'dirty' after one use.

I'm drinking a bottle of sparkling water provided free by my company for my 'comfort' while I'm at work.

And more than anything, I feel so guilty that I have randomly been given all this and I've done nothing of significance with it. I've been so profoundly privileged and I feel so embarrassed that I haven't done something exceptional with it.



Taking a step back, I have to admit I've noticed that it's interesting that I'm having this response now. Why this time? There were a million equally poor people that I saw living in miles of miles of shacks outside Cape Town.

I think maybe on this trip I identified more with people. I think there might have been a racist disassociation, whereby in Cape Town I was on a tour bus, swept in, shown around, saw a lot of poor black people, and somehow mentally filed it away as 'those people are different than me.'

This time though, I empathized with them more. Maybe because they we're more white looking (?)

Or maybe because on this trip I too was living a somewhat 'compromised' existence - I was living out of a backpack, without hot water, typical comforts, etc. And also it was for a good amount of time, six weeks.

I guess in a certain way I had more of a taste of the life that they were living.

~~~~~~~

I think about how unimportant all our rushing around is.

How we're all going to die.

How it's pointless.

How we, as a culture, deny our inevitable death. How our economy is based on our denial of our death - prolong your life! Act like you're here forever! Spend! Feel good NOW!

I think about how we're all looking to feel like we're valuable. How we all feel meaningless. And we should because our lives really are.

I think about how we grasp for status - clothes, titles, things, money - to give us a feeling of self worth.

How we all feel inadequate. How our culture is based on feeding that feeling of inadequacy - it makes us want to spend so we can feel better.

~~~~~~~

So how have I changed?

I feel wiser. Older. Like I don't care anymore about getting ahead, things, wanting...

It's all an illusion. We already have so much. We live in absolute abundance. And we have no idea.

Do you want to blue pill, and go back to your dream world? Or the red pill, and see reality for what it truly is?

I'm happy I took the red one. Like Prince Siddhartha, upon leaving his protected life in his Kingdom and for the first time seeing someone who was dead, sick and old - he realize how he was living in a dream. He was not living in reality.

He was living in a sanitized existence. Sheltered. Edited. Abundant.

And totally in authentic. Not the truth.

As my friend Deb would say, and I think she might be quoting Lao Tzu here, "In your life, you should always seek the truth and you ask for the truth." And although the truth may be painful, frustrating, heart-wrenching, and embarrassing, you feel ultimately happy. For you know it is the truth and you would rather know the true than be living in a dream world.

So for the record, I - we - live on the moon.

We went to what was real.

The bodies that are on the Ganges in Varanasi were alive this morning.

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1234064100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1234064100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1234064100/tpod.html Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:15:39 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Beijing, China

Hi Kids!

So I've made it to the Beijing airport in one piece and I'm a live and well!

The flight from Kathmandu was delayed (no doubt - as many are - due to the power outages) and I was a little concerned about missing my connecting flights. Lo and behold, there was a layover flight from Kathmandu to Lhasa and then on to Chengdu (which was where I was going to go anyway), and the smart people at China Air switch me to that flight. Cool! That was really nice, since I was just waiting at the gates and hadn't asked them to do that.

So with the tighter turn around and not needing to change planes, I was able to reach my flight to Beijing in time.

The Kathmandu departure process is totally ridiculous. And I'm sorry, Chinese people are really pushy. They have no respect for a cue and almost have this cultural sense of entitlement - purely probably as a survival thing of living with a billion people - that if they just all swarm something (a gate, a line, a security check) they can just skip the whole process and force their way.

Maybe I'm just a bit cranky and tired...

So the Kathmandu departure process...

1) Entering the airport in a car you need to show a ticket or itinerary to the (Maoist) guard. If you're white though, they just say 'hi' and let you through.

2) Your taxi drops you at the gate and then you have to stand in line to enter the building. At the front of the line, you need to show another guard a ticket or itinerary.

3) Send all your luggage through x-rays. They don't seem to be paying attention to the monitors though.

4) Pay the airport departure tax (about $30).

5) Take already xrayed bags to counter and check in.

6) Take carry on upstairs to security. There is one enormous line with about three hundred people. And there's one x-ray machine. You wait, wait, wait, and then a random number of Chinese female tourists all swarm a non-working x-ray line. Almost by the will of the people, the guards decide to open that line. Then they make it a women only line. But men line up on it anyway. Thirty Chinese women cut the line and swarm the front. You scoot through on the original (though now male) line and put your carry on through the xray machine.

7) Since your a woman you have to go to another line to be hand groped by a guard behind a sheet (even though you didn't set off the detector).

8) Your carry on has now gone through the x ray but they then send everyone (and I do mean everyone), on to another line (women one, men another) for a hand inspection of your carry on.

9) You stand on the cue and then ten Chinese tourists cut the line and push their way to the front where the female guards are rifling through bags.

10) You finally get to the front where the guard starts unwrapping all of the carefully wrapped gift items you've precisely packed in both of your carry on bags. She keeps asking "what is this" and I say, "wooden a mask, a wooden thing, another wooden mask..." As though she's never seen tourist tchotche in a the stores and in her experience as a bag checker!!?!?

11) She demands you open one of the gift boxes that have more items in it (again, THESE HAVE ALL GONE THROUGH THE X RAY TWICE ALREADY WITHOUT SETTING ANYTHING OFF). Finally, she lets me go. You go to the waiting area.

12) When they call your flight (two hours late) you show your boarding pass one more time to someone to get you on the bus to the plane.

13) Finally, just to be absolutely sure that they want to fuck with you, they have people ON THE TARMAC do another body grope before you get on the plane (of course, they insist women have to be groped by another woman and there's only one female guard so that takes forever).

Then you're off...

OY!

But lo and behold, as I mentioned earlier, I was on a slightly easier travel schedule and was able to make my flight to Beijing.

And though it was a bit tedious to go through passport departure, emigration, check bag, pickup back, check bag, pickup back, check bag, international, domestic, domestic, international... it was actually the best thing as I was able to really micromanage my luggage throughout the multiple flights so nothing got lost.

I arrived at the Beijing international airport at 11pm last night and crashed on three comfy chairs in the waiting hall. I had a reasonably good 6 1/2 hrs sleep, woke up, got some tea at a Starbucks (!??!) and have been biding my time (noodle soup, reading, Suduku, and now the business center).

So all in all, its be totally reasonable. A little annoying in the beginning though, but otherwise hassle free.

My flight to SF is about to board, but I thought I would share a video clip that I took that last night in Boudhnath. It really captures how peaceful and special the place is. I really liked the Tibetan people there.

So the next question - as I have asked myself many times - is...

Did I go to the moon? Or come from the moon?

Well, the jury is still out on that one. But I can attest that on the return voyage, their's definitely a little bit of lost in translation and culture shock. People are ABUNDANT!! THEY HAVE CLEAN CLOTHES! NEW TRAVEL GEAR! MONEY TO BUY $4 LATTES!

What a weird place.

And I loved this sign in the airport (see attached pic).

You are HERE in 4F. [With no accompanying identification or map].

It's like, WHAT THE FUCK IS FOUR F!?!??!?!

Off to my gate... ;)


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233937800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233937800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233937800/tpod.html Fri, 06 Feb 2009 22:00:26 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Kathmandu, Nepal

Hi Kids,

Well, its that time we've been anticipating...

Re-entry back into life State side.

Its been a wild ride! And definitely amazing that we've been able to keep in touch throughout the whole journey!
The whole conflation of our geography is just extraordinary.

I was thinking about that earlier today - from only about 150 years ago trip correspondence was done via letters on messenger on pony (it would take months), then the telegraph was invented (took hours), then the telephone (initially a voice delay but then instantaneous), then the MOBILE telephone... And now this.

How extraordinary it is that you could essentially 'be' with me as I've traveled for the last six weeks. Just amazing.

And clearly its what's helped make this experience so enjoyable. I think the process of writing what's happened as its going down as well as hearing from you all during the whole experience (getting your thoughts, feedback, kind words, etc), has not only made it so much easier to be alone for so long but its also made the adventure that much more fun.

...cause really, I have been sharing it all along.

Amusingly enough, I'm not sure what to talk to you about when I get back! Its like, you've heard all the stories and seen all the pictures already!

Maybe we can talk about what it was like FOR YOU to be on the trip? I should interview you!!! ;)

~~~~~~~~

So for my last day I went to do the two big things I haven't done yet in the Kathmandu area: visited Pashupatinath and Boudanath.

On the health front, I'm feeling a lot better and my sulfur burps have gone away. I'm still a little worn out and not sleeping so soundly (I'm sure re-entry jitters are to blame) but overall my cold and burpyness is definitely in recovery. Maybe it was something I ate after all...

One thing that I came to appreciate today as I was taking a taxi to Pashupatinath was a better appreciation of the types of places I like to travel to. I really like visiting places that have a rich cultural history, but that the legacy of that culture is very much still ALIVE so you can experience it firsthand. I have a difficult time getting into 'historic sites' for simple historic reasons ("this is old, so its interesting" etc).

With that in mind, I realized why I got a little more engaged into my experience in India and Bhutan compared to my time in Nepal. To be sure, Nepal has been very interesting and I'm thrilled to have come here, but I was trying to put my finger on my Bhutan and India got more 'under my skin'.

I realize because I haven't gotten a real sense of the Nepali culture. What was alive doesn't seem to be around much anymore. And it makes me wonder really how much was around in the first place! That made me realize how this was such a totally nomadic place in the first place (nomads, traders, trade routes, varying conquerors), that the 1) the cultural history of this place is a comparatively a little bit lost and 2) it was never so completely full entrenched in the first place!

I think that's why Japan and Tibet are now on the top of my list of next places to visit.

So Pashupatinath...

Its holiest Hindu site in Nepal and quite auspicious to be burned there.

I had dinner last night again with Anne to celebrate my farewell, and she noted that Indian Hinduism and Nepali Hinduism are different in many ways. She didn't elaborate, but I think found the Indian bent a little more engaging as it seemed more spiritual. There was clear reverence and honor among witnesses to the burning ghats in Varanasi. Women were not allowed down on the beach. Photography is prohibited.

Here, its comparatively a very small site. Women are allowed (and quite vocal in their sorrow). People take photographs. Its a bit cramped and tourists (domestic and international) are streaming through.

Its a weird place. A little more of a partially functioning holy site, partially functioning tourist trap.

I couldn't' help but feel terribly voyeuristic and empathic towards these women who were bawling their eyes out at stranger oogled at the corpse of their dead loved one from afar. Very surreal.

its like the beauty and grandeur of the Ganges was smushed into this tiny place. There are only a few ghats. The 'river' (if you can even call it that) is barely running (you could walk across). There's so much ash from the burnings that there were actually people from the lowest caste (the Untouchables) who were IN THE WATER with shovels trying to move the ash, offerings, trash, etc to help the water go through a little more.

Sadly, it seemed a place in transition. Like it wasn't really a 'healthy' organically living place anymore but a homage to what it once was. A place that was once revered and holy, but more fitting for a village versus a country of 23 million.

So with that, I was off to Boudhnath.


OH! Before I forget, I had a TERRIFIC tourist revenge moment this morning! I went tot eh orange stand that's up the clock from my guest house where I've bought oranges about four times before. Obviously I've been here long enough to be well aware of how much a kilo of oranges costs (50 rupees). So what was GREAT was I went there and asked the guy for a kilo and a bottle of water. He said "ninety rupees". "NINETY?!?!" I exclaimed.

How much are the oranges I asked. He said "seventy rupees."

I said, "WHAT?!! They're fifty!"

And with that, he looked extremely embarrassed and then just handed me the correct change.

YEAHHHHH MMMMMAAAANNNN!! DON'T FUCK WITH ME AND MY ORANGES!!!!! ;)

So Boudhnath...

That was absolutely the most perfect place to end this trip.

In the spirit of 'everything happens for a reason' and its all a part of a larger tapestry that our little unevolved human minds just can't possibly understand, it readily apparent to me that I HAD to get sick yesterday so I would have gone to Patan and moved Boudhnath to today.

It just couldn't have worked the other way around.

Boudhnath is a great place. Its an enclosed tourist area, a UNESCO site, and the locale for the largest stupa in the world.

Tibetans and other Himalayan people have been coming to the site as a pilgrimage (particularly when it gets cold in the winter), to pay their respects, make an offering before a great journey (like a mountain climb) for at least 500 years.

When the Tibetans were exiled from their country by the Chinese in 1959, they set up shop here. I don't know what's left of Tibetan culture actually IN Tibet, but this place is operating in my mind almost as a time capsule or incubator for when they will be able to once again reclaim their homeland.

Amazingly, people have been here for fifty years and they still wear their local garb, eschew western style clothing and celebrate their culture in a peaceful, uplifting, celebratory way.

To be fair, the space is slightly antiseptic and sanitized as its a self contained entity almost separate from Kathmandu. The exiles have done well for themselves in the past decades, building good looking houses, keeping their space clean, and giving back to their community. Basically, they have a cohesive defined culture and an infrastructure that's evolved organically.

Something that I've been missing from Nepal as a whole...

The space is peaceful. Cars and rickshaws are not allowed. Its like a village.

And right in the center, in the heart, there's a big fucking stupa.

Everyday at sundown, pilgrims, monks, villagers, exiles, all come together and in a collective spirit of honor and reverence circumvent the stupa. Around and around they go.

It makes fantastic people watching. In many ways, I think the photos need no explanation.

Sad to think that these lovely, kind peaceful individuals are because they believe in non violence and another country greedily and aggressively came in and took over their homeland (or as that Chinese woman said earlier in my trip, to "help and liberate these people").

Its interesting though to see their faces and expressions. There's such a sense of peace. Like I'm here now, in this lifetime, in this place, with this situation that has come upon me.

Its not right, and its not fair, but over time, many lifetimes from now, I will return to that place. Justice will be served. Truth will be righted. Right now we have the most important thing: each other.

Amazing for people to culturally have such a long term perspective.

And it seems so wise.

Throughout this trip I've been ruminating on my observations about life here and life in the States.

Funny, a lot of people have asked about my 're-entry' into my life back in San Francisco and I've only really thought about it in a practical physical way: I'll probably get a cold from all the flying. I'll be out of it as I get back into the time zone. It will be nice to not have to wear the same clothes every day, etc.

But really, and maybe this was really what you were all alluding to in the first place, is how its affected me psychologically. And in my values and perspective in my larger life.

That my friends, is a definite unknown.

At least from here - and I haven't even left my guest house yet - i can see that in many ways life over here in India, Bhutan and Nepal seems smarter. Wiser. More 'advanced' than our lives back home.

The cab driver as i was coming back from Boudhnath was a Buddhist and it was so interesting to hear him talk. AS you know, i didn't have the greatest time in Lumbini (under developed, a bit boring, not a local community, a let down from Bodhgaya, etc). But he loved it there. He's visited it a few times. 'Its so peaceful' he said.

As he spoke, you could see he took such pride in the fact that of all the countries in the world, the Buddha came from Nepal. And how meaningful it was that so many countries from all over the world want to build monasteries in that place.

He had such a sense of national pride that I never have.

We talked more about Buddhism and I mentioned how people in India have nothing but they seem so much happier than the people back home. He said that the people in power and the royal family have that problem here too -- they have so much but their lives are so empty.

They feel so unhappy. So lonely. So unsatisfied.

He said, "You don't need much to be happy. You need a family. You need a community. You need enough to live on. But you don't need all these things. You spend your lifetime working to 'get ahead', to make more money, to have more status, to accumulate... And then you die.

What kind of life is that? What's the point?," he asked.

It made sense to me.

Later on, when I met Anne for dinner, she a I ran into a friend of hers who's Newari and owns a mandala shop in the Thamal district. We chatted for a bit and he mentioned that he went to the States on vacation about a year ago.

He asked me where I was from and I said San Francisco.

He said he had been to San Jose (!)

I asked him what he thought.

He said, "All these people are working so hard - working so hard in anticipation of something. But that something never comes."

Later, he also said that people there work so hard are rushing around, stressed and busy, "And for what point?!" he asked.

It just didn't makes sense to him.

And after this trip, I think I understand him.


I'm not sure if the point makes any sense to me...


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233843360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233843360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233843360/tpod.html Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:55:54 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Patan (Lalitpur), Nepal

Hi All,

The days are creeping upon us and our epic adventure is soon to come to a close. :(

I'm leaving on a jet plane Sat the 7th in the morning and arriving back in San Fran on the morning of Sunday the 8th.

As I got the ticket using my United miles (and amazingly they let me fly on an open jaw schedule - into New Delhi and out of Kathmandu!), I was able to save some serious cash.

However, on the down side I'm now about to face the shit consequence of saving so much moo-lah: a four leg return flight.

Purely just to elicit lots of sympathy, I thought I would include my itinerary for my return trip: ;)

Ok, ready?!?!


Feb 7th

Air China 408 Kathmandu to Lhasa Dep. 1045am Arr 205pm

Air China 4111 Lhasa to Chengdu Dep 355pm Arr 545pm

Air China 1408 Chengdu to Beijing Dep 800pm Arr 1030pm


[FIFTEEN HOUR LAYOVER IN THE BEIJING AIRPORT]

Feb 8th

United 888 Beijing to San Francisco Dep 140pm Arr 904 am (I go back in time!)


EEEWWWW!


Dr. Edie, accompanied by Super Jon (on guitar), have been kind enough to offer their services and will generously pick me up at the airport Sunday morning. Yea! What a nice and welcoming re-entry after my epic out-of-body return voyage! ;)

So on the health front, I've been doing OK but not great. Having puked two nights in a row in the middle of the night, I didn't sleep very well for a few days and subsequently got a cold.

Today (back in Kathmandu) I woke up feeling really achy and tired with tight chest and a sore throat. Bummer.

On the plus side, I started to feel better this evening after I did some serious motherfucking kiss ass shopping.

[I've since realized, it's pretty ironic that I go off on these rants about Buddhist idolatry, but what do but keep purchasing but lots of Buddha sculptures. ;) I think they calm me though when I look at them. Plus, they're just interesting art (particularly seeing the depictions of the Buddha from one culture to the next).

On the UH OH side I started to get something that's a definite yellow flag: sulfur burps.

It seems (and I wouldn't be surprised after my experience in India), that I might have had another traveling companion hitch a ride with me for the last several weeks. Her name is Giardia.

The jury is still out if I actually have her - I had similar sulfur burps in Zimbabwe and it turned out to be some peanut rice I ate the night before. But I have my ears to mouth (?!) and Dr. Edie's already on the case.

So given my bodily shit-itudness, I decided to swap my more chill planned activity for tomorrow and move it to today.

As an alternative, I decided to do my easier day plan and go about 20 min away to the neighboring Newari city of Patan. Its just an easy day trip, and I actually found it to be in many ways a lot more pleasant that Kathmandu proper. Patan, like Kathmandu was a major trade route between India and China and had its fair share of conquerors and resettlments. Historically, its been the art and craft capital of Nepal, with a rich history of crafts people and artisans living there.

With that in mind, the Durbur Square in Patan seems a little more artful to me, but more importantly was a lot more chill than the one in Kathmandu (They're both called Durbur Square since 'Durbur' translates as 'Palace' - basically, meaning its the main square where this local ruler's palace and all the main coronations went down). Architecturally, most of what you see is from the Newari period of the early 1600s (again, little doors, lots of wood carvings, etc), though there are some of the structures are from as early as 250 BC.

The cab ride was easy. I got dropped at the square and had to pay a tourist entry fee of about $3.

Architecturally, the buildings were a little more aesthetically pleasing and in better shape than the ones in Kathmandu, probably because its slightly less trafficked and as an artist community over the years its been better preserved and revered.

Fittingly, there is an EXCELLENT Patan Art Museum right in the heart of the square that has lots of really interesting Buddhist artifacts and sculptures. It has some really detailed explanations in English about Buddhist and Hindu deities which was extremely helpful to learn about.

After the museum, in my somewhat sickly state, I basically just walked around and took photos. There was some great people watching (as you can see from the accompanying pics), and it also offered a good chance photograph some of the cultural details that I think are 'signature' Nepal.

I've included my observations with the pic descriptions...


What else...

Dad also pointed out an interesting observation per looking at the map of my blog - unintentionally, on this trip I've been effectively circling around and around coming to a tighter spiraling point. He described it as almost following a labyrinth, where the pathway is clear but you're along for the ride following along on a journey. I thought that was a really nice metaphor as its definitely been true for the trip.

Other than that, some random observations that I thought I'd share from the last day or two...

- Buses here, and many cars for that matter, need to be started via a jump start. People have rigged the wires out from under the steering wheel so they either just touch the two points together or in some cases have bothered to jerry rig a switch that they can flip when they want to start the engine. I guess they're just used to things working like that!

- Also what's been amusing, was on my 35 min flight yesterday from Bhairawa back to Kathmandu, after take off they offered us candies as well as large cotton wads to shove in your ears. These weren't even balls of cotton, but full-on fistfuls! And older man next to me looked a little like Santa Clause with these large white puffs coming out of his ears. Quite entertaining... ;)

I should also say, it's been really nice to be back at my Kathmandu guest house where they have a backup ' to generator. Funny how along this trip I've dealt with some 'lifestyle compromises' to say the least: squat toilets, no toilet paper, no soap, no hot water, no heat, no TV, no lights, no train, etc.

But as I'm sure you've come to appreciate, my access to the Internet and subsequent correspondence with you all (through emails and through the blog), have been my shadow companion and in many ways lifeblood on this trip. I'm sure its one of the main reasons I've never really felt 'alone' while I've been away.

That being said, access to the Internet has been valuable and I've gone online at least once every three days.

It could be that I'm getting to the end of my trip and maybe my patience is wearing, or maybe that I'm a bit sick and grumpy, or that Lumbini was just really uneventful, but I definitely reached a point where I was going a little nutters with the power randomly going out and not being able to get online.

A typical 'power outage moment' in Lumbini (which I should note, is significant as its the TRUE reality of how it is outside the two major cities and really how most people in Nepal are living):

You're writing an email at 2pm, the power randomly goes out, the guy says he doesn't know why, you wait fifteen minutes, it still doesn't go back on, he says 'come back again at 8pm', you come back at 8pm, for some reason precisely on the dot the power comes on, it takes fifteen minutes to open your email because the power flow level is so low and the computer can't function, the lights flicker, you open your first email message and start writing, the lights flicker, the computer goes black and the power goes off again... etc...etc...

I decided with my fellow computer users that it was test of our Buddhist sense of patients.

Hence, being back in Kathmandu with backup feels nice. And access to electrical power is definitely something I've taken for granted.

So that's the scoop!

Tomorrow I'm off to Pashupatinath (Nepal's most important Hindu temple - and where they have more burning ghats), and the city of Bodhnath (which has one of the world's largest stupas and acts as the religious center for most of Tibet's exiles).

Let's hope I don't stay burpy... ;)



]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233742560/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233742560/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233742560/tpod.html Thu, 05 Feb 2009 09:15:03 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Lumbini, Nepal

Well, this was one of those moments in life where you realize your Father sometimes really does know what he's talking about... Or at least maybe about puking and buses... ;)

After my last post, for my final night in Lumbini, I went to pizza place recommended by Lonely Planet. The decor and pizza was good and I was happy to try something other than Indian or Nepali food [though for the record, Nepali Thali - or the standard set dish or spiced chicken, rice, sauteed veggies, lentil soup, papadum and salad) - is very very good. Its not as spicy as the similar Indian version, and has more of a 'meat and potatoes' offering to it. If you have a chance (do they have Nepali food in SF?), I definitely recommend it!].

My appreciation for my meal ended at about 3am when I woke in the middle of the night with some pretty bad cramps. That was not so pleasant.

New Lesson: If you order vegetable toppings on your pizza, the pizza may be cooked but the toppings may not.

I threw up three times and had a pretty crap night sleep (as you can imagine).

The following morning I was off to tourist bus stop to take my bus down to Lumbini. The roads are fairly twisty, so I took a Dramamine before just to be safe.

I had bought a ticket through my guest house (600 R, which is about $7.85, for an 8 hour trip - pretty pricey given the trip from Kathmandu was the same length of trip and it cost only 450 R, about $5.30).

When I showed up at the station (which is basically a field with about ten or so buses), I showed my ticket to a guy who pointed me to a bus. To be sure, I showed the ticket to a second guy and he also said to get on that bus. So, I got on the bus! We were about a half hour late but I happily waited in my seat half conscious from being so sleep deprived and nauseous. Finally as the engine started, another guy came back to take everyone's ticket.

I handed him mine and he said I was on the wrong bus. This was the bus to Chitwah National Park.

Not only that, my bus to Bhairawah had already left.

I was firm, and said I was told twice this was the bus to get on and that I needed to get to my destination.

The guy scolded the guys in front for their inattentiveness and then got on the phone and called a different bus to pick me up.

It was an hour delay in total, and the replacement bus wasn't nearly as nice (I should have gotten a refund since the ticket would have been half the price - it was a 'local person's bus' versus a 'tourist bus'). But frankly I didn't care. I was nauseous, tired and happy. I was finally on the right the bus!!

So, of course, lo an behold, that unexpected jaunt was actually a great experience. There were all kinds of things I got a chance to see and do that I wouldn't have been exposed to had I been on the more 'comfortable' tourist offering.

The Siddhartha Highway is the main (and I think only) road that connects Pokhara in the North with Bhairawa in the South (you need to go to Bhairawa and then take a local bus for 1 1/2 hrs from there to get to Lumbini).

As its the main drag, this was the bus of anything and everything - the commuter bus, the shlepping bus, whatever.

There were piglets in nylon sacks on the side of the road being taken to market. Children brought small puppies in plastic bags with them on the bus (recent 'purchases'?) and kept them on their laps as both the kids (and the puppies) slept. Super entertaining!

The bus twisted and turned along the curvy road and I did the best I could do not have my head slam against the glass window. That was rather hard as the roads are not very well paved and there are often pot holes. The bus got kind of full at one point but I think people were so baffled by a single white woman on a local bus that no one asked me to move my bag to sit next to me. The fact that I looked like I was about to hurl probably didn't help much either. ;)

So although I did have an orange and I still felt really ill from the pizza (and actually at one point I actually puked out the window! - I never did *that* before!). That being said, as a whole it was cool cause it was a more 'local' experience.

This was best typified by where we stopped for lunch. Coincidently about two minutes after I puked out the window and I was thinking to myself, "Self, I would really like a coke with something plain like rice", we stopped at a divey roadside shack (no tourist fair here!). A smiley woman asked if I wanted 'rice' and I said 'yes, with a coke'. That was perfect. I was thrilled to get exactly what I was hoping for (isn't that great when that happens?!)

So I went to the bathroom (squat toilet baby!) and everything felt a lot better. I was stabilizing. She brought out a full Nepali Thali meal and, after a good dousing of hand sanitizer, I did what the locals did - I used my right hand to mush my food together and scooped the rice into my mouth. No forks here! A few others from the bus looked over as I did this. They nodded approvingly when they saw what I was doing.

So although this was a full meal, and I didn't want to insult the nice female chef's cookin', to play it safe (really more than anything, since my stomach was off) I just stuck with the rice. Grand total for the locals pre-fixe meal with a glass bottle of Coke: $1.05 US.

I felt much better afterwards.

Things were much easier for the second four hours...

So after that second part of the journey, the bus left me at the main juncture at Bhairawa. Here was where I changed buses to the local 'pack you in like sardines' bus which takes you to Lumbini.

[I should note again that Lumbini is about 20 min away from the India border and they have an open border with India so all the stuff I had to deal with 'men in India' was now in the mix again].

What was highly entertaining at this point was there was this Nepali bus helper guy who saw me and got really excited about being chivalrous to a white woman. He dramatically escorted me to the next departing bus pas t the crowd of staring men, said, "Let me take your bag" (strapping it in to the top of the bus), and then dramatically said, 'I have a seat for you right here!' which was literally right in front sitting next to the bus driver (!) Everyone else was crowded in in back, and I was sitting there in the front with the bus driver almost on a throne. Quite amusing.

Once I was situated (and people around me stopped staring so much) I asked this nice older man who was next to me (and who was really nice and offered me some of his roasted peanuts!) how much the bus cost to go to Lumbini. "35 R" he said (about fifty cents).

His roasted peanuts tasted so good, that I quickly jumped off the bus to the peanut stand (10 R = ~ 15 cents) and I got a small funnel of them for myself for the ride. As the Peanut Man was helping another customer and the bus started rolling away (!) I threw down my 10 R note and jumped into the moving bus door (which is always open so people can easily hop on and hop off).

So there I was, recovering from my night of puking, after an 8 hour bus ride, with another 1 1/2 hrs to go, in a packed bus, sitting in front next to the bus driver in a special seat like a princess, chatting with this old man next to me as we tossed peanut shells on the bus floor ("When in Rome...")

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was excited to go to Lumbini as the final destination of my unintentional "Buddha Tour 2009" (which is strangely what this trip has become).

I must admit, the place was rather disappointing.

As we drove along, I envisioned it being much like Bodhgaya - a small and peaceful working Buddhist center with travelers from all over the world. As we drove along, it even looked like it would be similar - there were increasingly more sadus (holy men with their hair tied up and long beards) walking around, women in bright colored Indian sarees because we were so close to the border...

Even the environment looked a lot like Bodhgaya - flat, somewhat marshy farm land. You could see, if this was where the Buddha was born and the type of place where he grew up, why he would have settled under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya to meditate. It must have looked very familiar and comforting to him!

Unfortunately, Lumbini turned out to be Bodhgaya's very poor cousin.

Its fair depressing actually - there's no infrastructure and the monasteries are very very spread out so there's little sense of it being in a unified community. Ironically, there's even a bit of a competition between some countries with the size of the monastery they set up (the Koreans in particular). Not very Buddhist...

Basically, its dusty, under developed, and there's not much to see. The monasteries aren't as impressive or cared for as in Bodhgaya and there isn't a town. Though I could chalk it up to a thing I've done, I could have cut this part out of the trip (of course to put it in perspective though, all things considered given that this has been the ONLY thing so far that I would have cut out, its been a pretty sweet and amazing trip!!)

While I was walking around the grounds, the the thing I saw (which was actually pretty amazing!), was some women working on a construction site carrying a stack of bricks on their heads. WOW!

Its interesting per my earlier post abut the tole of women here - Women seem to have the task of carrying and transporting things (which they do on their heads) about 98% of the time compared to men in both India and Nepal. I wonder why? Are women just glorified pack mules? Is it assumed that women could do that as men do the 'back breaking' work? Are they perceived as being more 'structurally fit' to carry loads like that as they're equipped for childbirth? I have no idea...

After poking around some rather boring monasteries I needed to eat something.

As there are no restaurants in Lumbini other than some small side shacks, you have make due eating in your guest house or hotel. The place I stayed didn't have a kitchen, so I opted for what I figured would be the safest and most interesting food around: I walked to the high end Japanese tourist hotel on the central grounds.

That was great! Totally funny decor circa 1973 and tasty Japanese set menus. A nice way to switch it up and definitely a tourist time capsule.

The restaurant was half full with a bunch of Thai tourists. They were making a pilgrimage to Lumbini on a group tour. After I ordered, am older man who was sitting at the next table started chatting with me.

He astutely and ascetically said to me:

"Are you interested in Buddhism?"

"Yes I am," I said.

"Buddhism means living in the moment," he explained. "It means not grasping for things all the time. It means focusing on the impermanence of everything in our lives. Its not living in the past. Its not living in the future. Its living in the now. The way you bring yourself back to the present is through your breath. When you find yourself thinking of the future, bring yourself back to your breath. By focusing on your breath, when you walk you know you are walking. When you focus on your breath when you sit, you know you are sitting.

To think that there is 'permanence' is the thing that leads to suffering."

Well said, brother.

With that, I next went to the Maya Bodhi temple, which is the historic site (archaeologically confirmed!) as the place where 'A woman done birth the Buddha!"

The temple marking the site was originally erected in the 3rd century, It had been poorly maintained through the ages and only recently resuscitated. Even now, it doesn't look like much.

It was hard for me to get into it, because it seems so far fetched that they would somehow actually have marked the spot where he was born. Its like one of those things where it took centuries for Christ's teaching to be jotted down, so how the hell would anyone have the foresight to deify this person in their own lifetime and put down a marker where they were born?!

And that deification thing also really got to me. Buddhism is a *philosophy*. It is not a *religion*.

Siddhartha, upon realizing this philosophy and thus attaining enlightenment ("Buddha" means "Awakened One"), explicitly taught that people should look to themselves and reject idolatry! And he most certainly would have rejected any veneration of himself!

So to be honest, that just made me wonder why I even came to Lumbini at all. I guess I thought there would be cool representations of Buddhist culture.

It was disappointing that wasn't the case. Maybe I had too many 'peak' Buddhist experiences too early.

So I took a few photos (see attached) and then spent the rest of the evening basically killing time. It was kinda boring.

One highpoint was sitting at a dusty roadside table reading my Lonely Planet book while eating oranges. I heard a 'thump thump' and though "Oh great. Another annoying man trying to chat me up." As I was half rolling my eyes as I looked up, to my utter surprise: it was actually a goat! It had jumped up on the chair opposite me and had plopped its two front hooves on the table trying to reach for my orange peels.

How hysterical!

I guess its learned that trick from other roadside eaters before... ;)



What else has happened...

Some final random bits that I thought I would toss in...

- No one signals when they drive in any of these countries!! Not only do they drive on the left side of the road (which is the nail in the coffin for my renting a motorcycle here), but the roads are often too small for two four wheeled vehicles so they honk as they're turning or passing to signal to the other traffic. It makes it rather noisy and manic to be in the car with these people. Then again, taxi drivers in NYC are starting to make much more sense to me now... ;)

- As I've traveled through Nepal, people are quite poor but I've seen a few amusingly random 'Golden Bears' and 'Cal Berkeley' sweatshirts on the locals (strangely, no other colleges!). And bizarrely, as I was buying my plane ticket back to Kathmandu, the young woman who worked at the travel agency asked me where I was from. It turns out her brother is studying for a BA in Business at Berkeley (!)

(As per my previous post, its interesting to note that he's there and she's back in Nepal selling plane tickets in her family's travel shop).

- Finally, I thought I would also mention - and this has been really true the whole trip - the Mefloquin (my ant-malaria meds) have given me some weird ass dreams. The drug has a danger of giving people psychotic episodes (haven't had those - unless there's something you'd like to tell me!), but can also give you very intense visual dreams.

I had this crazy ass one the other day with Tom Cruise 'coming out' to me and Katie Holmes insisting to me that it wasn't true. I was a bit panicked stuck between this lovers quarrel.

I've also had these vivid dreams with these memories of all these random people from very early on in my life - like age 7-12 years old - woven in them. Like people I haven't thought about in fifteen years at least! Very weird. Amazing how much we do remember, but our brains just normally don't access.

Today, back to Kathmandu via Yeti Air on a 35 min flight.

I'll be happy to be back in the land of more regular power. Or at least where shops can afford a generator to supplement the sporadic four hour segments of power that's available each day...

So here's the schedule so you have fair warning: ;)

Two more days in Kathmandu and then I leave from Kathmandu for the States on Saturday morning Feb 7th. I have four flights on my return trip (three on Air China and then one on United from Beijing).

Bets on my luggage getting lost are starting at ten to one: they don't arrive for two days.

I arrive in San Francisco, U.S.A. on Sunday morning Feb 8th at around 9am. I will be wearing the same clothes I've worn for the last six weeks.

Also, I don't have my cell phone with me, so I won't be able to call anyone immediately. It will have to wait until I get back to my house.

Oh. And I go to work on Monday...

Oy... ;)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233476820/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233476820/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233476820/tpod.html Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:03:48 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hi All,

Nepal has power for four hour segments twice a day (e.g. 4-8am, 8-12pm, etc). These times rotate every three days. How businesses can function and people aren't up in arms is beyond me. And from speaking with fellow travelers, it sounds like I actually got it good compared to what the electricity situation was a month ago...

SO...

An ex-girlfriend of mine once expressed with annoyance that I was always trying to seek 'peak' experiences.

My response to that?

FUCK YEAH MAN!

I mean, who wouldn't? Isn't that what life's all about?!

Well, in the spirit of seeking "peak" experiences, I decided to do two 'peak' activities today: para-sailing in the Himalayas 6000 ft up and visiting the International Mountain Museum.

Parasailing is something that I've always wanted to do and one of the few things I had 'planned' for this trip.

So I took the four hour bus ride from Bandipur to Pokhara - teh second city after Kathmandu and the largest in the west. The bus ride was pretty easy - not much to report. Pokhara is pretty touristy, though more chill than Kathmandu. Best thing about it is there easy internet access til 10pm and you can actually walk around at night. The food is also pretty good - a nice variety to switch it up from the usual Nepali and Indian fare.

So parasailing...

Saranath is one of the highest peaks in the Pokhara region and the top place to go parasailing on the continent (or so I'm told). There are lots of Russians who come to Nepal just to parasail from this point.

I had been warned by my guest house that people 1) tend to get nauseous and 2) tend to get cold.

For good measure, I took a Dramamine beforehand and my wool hat and down jacket for the wind. Those were both smart moves.

The parasailing guy picked me up promptly at 11am and we drove to the launching space on the top of the Saranath mountain. The peaks of the Himalayas are easily seen and quite 'in your face' really (see attached photos).

An assistant guy prepared the sail as I took a few photos of the people who were already sailing. 'That's gonna be me soon!' I thought with a smile. ;)

My guide asked me if I had ever done anything like this before. I told him 'no'. He asked me if I had had breakfast. I said yes, about an hour ago - muesli and fruit with some chai tea.

He said he would promise to give me a good ride, if I promise not to give him back my breakfast...

I said, good deal. ;)

So with that, I put on my extra layers. The guide strapped me in the harness and locked down my (multiple) cameras. The para-sailing 'sitting in a chair' set up, contrary to lying flat in hang gliding, is actually quite comfortable. You're in a seat, basically like a tightly arched camping chair. Easy to get in, easy to get out. What's great about it is you feel very safe and snuggly in place. No worries...

Once strapped in, the guide said that we would wait til a good wind and then run towards the edge of this cliff and then basically launch in the air. He would explain how to land on an 'as needed' basis. 'OOOOOh Kayyyyy', I thought. That's reassuring...

What was amazing about it, is I thought we would be diving off the edge of this cliff and only as we were plummeting to our certain death would the sail magically pull us up.

Amazingly, it's nothing of the kind! Actually, we just ran a few feet and there's so much wind that it just lifts you off the ground! Super easy!!

And there we were! Going up, up, up! We would circle slowly higher and higher only relying on the thermals that nature offered. No propeller or fuel here!

And there I was. Up in the sky. 6000 ft.

For a while, I just kept laughing with delight.

How extraordinary! To be that high up. To see that far. To be with the Himalayas. To see the ground so small below. To watch hawks flying with you. To see the bright colors of your sail. To see the other para-sailors dancing in the wind.

What was most amazing is how bizarrely safe I felt! Really, my brain just seriously did not get I was up in the sky. It was like, OOOh I'm in a chair in the sky and things are little below, just like in an airplane... And there's wind on my face like riding a bike... And we're bending side to side like on a road in a car...

It just really didn't get it. And that was GREAT! I was worried I might freak out from the height.

Amusingly, the guide kept on pointing out their newly built large hospital (and I'm sure the guy wasn't doing this on purpose, but was genuinely speaking from a place of city pride). I was like, "thanks for sharing!" But probably more than anything, it was cause I really wasn't at all ever scared!

To be fair, there were a few very mild moments where there was a little dip and I held the side of the chair strap. But was really uneventful all things considered.

To say the least, the experience with euphoric.

I loved taking photos of the other sails in the sky - so colorful and carefree!

As I took a few shots of someone with one of the Himalayas in the back, I remembered my inspiration for doing this in the first place. Back when I was in junior high school, my Dad's parents (Omi and Opa) had sent me a post card from Zermatt, Switzerland. The image was of a lone hang glider floating in the sky with the dawn rising over the Matterhorn in the background.

And here I was, 6000 ft up in the sky, basically seeing that firsthand.

It was extraordinary.

So peaceful...

So colorful...

So light, airy, effervescent, serene, cooling, calming, joyous, delicate, smooth, colorful, childlike, awe inspiring and wondrous.

The hour flew by in minutes...

One problem that I did encounter towards the end was my being a little too camera happy. I got pretty motion sick at the end there.

I didn't puke, and kept staring at the skyline, but the last five minutes were a little tough.

So at this point, the guide pointed out our landing spot - basically a stretch of land near the lake where everyone else was landing. He said on his count, pull the chair out from under you (so basically you're just dangling there by your sides which are clipped into the sail).

I pulled it out on his mark, did a slight jog when the ground was reachable, and we stopped easily. Piece of cake.

I was still pretty nauseous and had to walk around a bit, but felt such a high from the experience that it really didn't matter. The guy gave me a ginger candy. That tasted good.

He drove me back to the hotel and I got a ginger tea and coke for good measure. An hour later, I was in one piece again with a settled stomach.

So with that, I was off to the International Mountain Museum.

It's a pretty big museum on the outskirts of Pokhara and has a really comprehensive collection of anything and everything having to do with mountaineering in the area.

I wasn't too gung-ho about the geological stuff, but it was interesting to learn about how the Himalayas formed and are still forming (love that Pangea!).

Most impressive to me was the antiquated climbing gear they had on display, which was what they used for summiting Everest and various other peaks in the area. They're SOOOOO big and heavy! What a pain in the ass to carry!!

God bless Sherpas!

There were also some interesting bits about the legacy of past climbs on the mountains (Everest in particular) which have left a lot of garbage and expedition trash. One climber had joked about how Everest is the highest landfill on Earth.

There has been several expeditions devoted to just cleaning up the site (I took a few photos of the exhibit). The leader of those journeys was less than subtle in his digs towards the Chinese (blaming them for all the refuse).

It was also interesting to see some photos they had on display - 1) comparing the village life in the Alps from 50 years ago to Nepali village life today (pretty similar looking!) and 2) images of Tibetan and Nepali life from 50-100 years ago. It was striking to me to see those Nepali images, as I from what I've gathered, most of, if not all of that nuanced cultural history has been lost. With rapid modernization, regional dress, practices and lifestyle have been compromised.

Lost forever? Probably. Quite the difference (hopefully) compared to Bhutan's slow development.

So with that, I am packing my things and off to the southern part of the country. Lumbini, which is about 20 min from the India border, is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama (who became the Buddha).

I take the bus at 7:15 am. It's an 8-9 hour ride on a 'puke bus' (as my father would call it) along the Siddhartha Highway...






]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233461940/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233461940/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233461940/tpod.html Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:15:27 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Pokhara, Nepal

Hi all,

A number of you have asked if I've seen any evidence of LGBT life over here in India, Bhutan and Nepal. On a basic level: no.

There's little of a open gay scene. As Lonely Planet notes on Nepal, homosexuality is not explicitly criminalized but 'any kind of unnatural sex' can bring a year's prison term. Gay Nepalis are frequently subject to police harassment and blackmail. However, as you've seen from my pictures in India and Nepal, gay (of course here I'm referring to male) couples holding hands in public will not have any difficulties. Significantly, this is because homosexuality is so *completely* off their radar that two men being affectionate with each other couldn't possibly indicate anything.

How insecure men are in our culture, that they can't be free and affectionate with each other.

In greater extreme though, in these countries the feelings, emotions and values of queer women are so completely silenced that they're not even acknowledged.

The relationship between two women is not a relationship. Its not fathomable. With a man not involved its not intimacy. With a man not involved its not a partnership. With a man not there it couldn't be sexual because there's no penis. And for that matter, how a woman wants to be touched or held doesn't at all matter.

Statistically, female mortality rates over here are higher than men's. Literacy rates are lower. Women work harder and longer than men for less reward. Women only truly gain status in traditional society when they bear their husband a son. Who knows even how a woman is regarded if she doesn't (or cannot) bear children.

Boys are strongly favored over girls, who are often the last to eat and the first to be pulled from school during a family's financial difficulties.

Nepal only legalized abortion in 2002. Who knows how much it actually costs; if any woman can actually afford it; or how many doctors are able to perform the task.

In a landmark 2005 ruling women, were under the age of 35 were for the first time given the right to apply for a passport without their husband's or parent's permission. It was only in 2005 they were allowed the right to inherit property.

In rural Nepal, it is the cultural custom is to exile a woman to the cowshed for four days during her period. This was only made illegal in 2005. I'm sure its still commonly practiced.

Still on the books, a man can legally take a second wife if the first has not borne him a child after ten years.

Further, on the death of her husband, a widow is often expected to marry the brother of the deceased. The property is not taken by her but then expected to be turned over to her sons, on whom she becomes financially dependent.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Could you imagine being a woman in this culture forever so profoundly disempowered?

Could you imagine being a gay man who's sexuality is forbidden?

Could you imagine being a lesbian who's identity is so silenced she's not even culturally acknowledged?


All I can think is just how amazingly lucky we are that we were born into the culture we were. Of course, women have a long way before really having equality (only 18 million cracks in the ultimate glass ceiling), and LGBT people are certainly not accepted. We also don't have inheritance rights, marriage rights, health benefits, or hospital visitation rights.

The other day Rebecca pointed out that in the US, there are still thirty-seven states your employer has the right to fire you with no questions asked simply because of your being gay.

How random it was that we were were born into the United States. How easy it could have been, and statistically infinitely more likely, that we could have been raised in a culture where we were hidden away. Silenced. Killed. Shamed. Where the possibility of living a life 'out and proud' would be just in-fathomable.

We're so lucky.

I've so taken it for granted.

I saw something interesting this morning as I was coming back from breakfast.

There was a western dressed white man, maybe fifty years old, who had white hair and was dressed in a slightly formal manner for what travelers typically wear. He was wearing a v-neck sweater over a collared shirt and some casual khaki slacks. Given his look, I would have guess he was English.

What was striking though, was as I passed him by I noticed he had an earring in his left ear. But not just a little hoop or stud, but a full on dangling bold green bauble. The type of thing I would never wear for pure practicality sake. His earring bounced against his neck as he walked.

This was not an accident. This was a statement.

So what was this Englishman doing? Why was he wearing that earring? What did that earring mean to him? Would he be wearing this in his own culture or was it him letting out part of himself because he was on vacation in Nepal?

I assumed, using my stereotypes from 'classic 1975 gay male culture coding', that this was an indicator of him being gay. But to be honest, I have no idea. Maybe he wasn't gay but just enjoying being a little flamboyant?! Maybe he was just being expressive in a way he normally couldn't!?

It was an interesting moment though, to think about how social mores restrict and oppress us. That this complex man, with his clothing and demeanor would be simultaneously both buttoned up, controlled and contained while also liberated, bold, and risque.

People are so interesting.

And we're so lucky to have the infinitesimally small good fortune to be from a culture that allows us to explore and express that complexity.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233316920/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233316920/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1233316920/tpod.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 23:04:57 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Bandipur, Nepal

I walked to Ramkot today. It was four hours total - two hours hiking there, two back. Ramkot is a remote village in the mountains from Bandipur. In my brilliance I thought I could just wander up there and get some lunch. As the hike wore on and I really came to appreciate how I was going into the middle of f-ing no where Nepal, I realized there was no way in hell there was going to be any place to get something to eat.

I would have to talk my way into someone's house - of course not speaking a lick of the language and their not speaking any English - and somehow get them to make me some food in exchange for some rupees.

Two of hiking hours wore on (up and down, up and down the hills). I passed only three people - one woman carrying a basket, one carrying a bushel of leaves, and a man with three cows. As I reached a point where I was getting really hot, fortunately the village came into sight.

The 'oh shit what was I thinking' factor kicked in my mind, and I took out my Lonely Planet book and looked up the verb 'to eat' in Nepali ("Khanu").

Walking through the village (which had maybe 200 people in it), people were quite baffled by this strange white woman who just happened to appear. I said 'Namaste' when I saw them and put my hands in prayer by my head. They relaxed a bit and returned the gesture. Can't say they get many travelers passing through.

I saw some elders (maybe 70+) chatting on the ground near a house and greeted them. "Khanu?" I said making a motion of eating. They spoke something to each other, said something to me, said something to each other and then motioned around a nearby house.

A 30+ year old woman with an infant came out of the side house. I repeated 'Khanu?" and she had some exchange with the two elders about what was going on. The three of them then escorted me into the ground floor of her house where she had some nuts, lollipops and instant noodles for sale. Who knows how long those had been there.

I took out a 100 rupee note (about a $1.25 US) and she motioned towards what was there. I took out my book and said some Nepali words for other types of prepared food (e.g. curries, cooked vegetables, etc), and they shook their heads with an amused laugh. What was this crazy white woman after?!!?

I gave the younger woman the 100 rupee note for an instant noodle and some nuts and she began to look around for some change. "Boiled water?" I said in Nepali after looking it up. The old woman made a gesture of boiling water by twinkling her fingers. I nodded and repeated the motion. She yelled something to the younger woman who was looking for change inside. The young woman came out, repeated the motion for boiled water, I nodded, and she went to a nearby stack of corn and pulled off some corn husks to start a fire on the dirt floor of her house.

The two old women were offered woven bamboo cushion disks to sit on outside as we waited. I was offered a wooden bench.

It was pretty awkward since I obviously didn't know any Nepali and they kept on saying things to me trying to communicate with this strange traveler. I was able to get a few things - if I was married (of course!! With two children!!), where I had traveled from (Bandipur), and what was in my backpack (they were very interested in the orange coloring and exotic pattern of the cotton scarf I had gotten in India - clearly they had never seen anything like it). At this point, the woman cooking came out and motioned if I wanted two eggs in my instant noodles. I nodded yes. Clearly they were from the chickens that were roaming about next to us.

I shared my nut packet with the two older women. One motioned towards her mouth. I came to understand that she couldn't eat it because of not having enough teeth and it hurt her gums. She carefully saved the half a handful of nuts in the package when I finished them. I thought she might later feed them to her chickens.

Next to us on the floor, a young woman (maybe about 13) was continually grinding some kind of grain in a stone grinder. The grinder consisted of two circular stones whereby the top one had a hole in the middle like a donut, and you put whatever you want to grind in there. On the outside of the top stone, there was also a small notch carved out where a wooden pole 6" long could be inserted as a handle. You hold the wooden handle and turn the top stone clockwise. The grains (or whatever you're grinding) is forced through the donut hole, ground between the two large stones, and comes out in a powder form on the side.

The young woman had a large pot of brownish black colored grains that she would periodically shovel in with her hand. Given her rate of grinding and the size of the bowl of grains next to her, the whole process would take at least 6 hrs to complete.

A little girl came by and sat down next to the elders. She looked inquisitively at me, the strange white woman.

I smiled and pointed to her nose which was pierced. I showed her that I had had a pierced nose at one time too. She smiled.

I then showed her how the tops of my ears were pierced. OOOH! They exclaimed. That was really interesting. I then motioned how I used to have my tongue and belly button pierced. They thought that was pretty weird. At that point, I though it best not to continue talking about piercings...

But it was funny though, as later, when the young woman brought out the instant noodles with scrambled egg (which actually is pretty good!); the group repeated the story of the weird places I had been pierced. OOOOH! The woman who cooked exclaimed, looking at me. That was clearly the hit - clearly odd stuff from this strange white woman.

As I ate my noodles off a metal plate, one of the older women motioned to her mouth. I imagine she wanted to eat too. I thought it was a bit rude that I was just standing there eating, so I went to the door and motioned to the woman who had cooked if she could make two more packages for the others. She nodded OK and went back to the fire to cook some more eggs.

A minute later she came out with a metal glass and poured me some water from a large urn. I politely declined the gesture, motioning to my bottled water on the side of my backpack. She nodded in understanding.

So after a few minutes, I finished my meal. I was quite hungry as it was already the early afternoon. I thought I would hang out until the rest got their meals, but looking at my watch I realized it was getting pretty late. It was about 3pm and the light usually dims at around 5pm. With a two hour hike back to Bandipur, I needed to get on my way.

As I gathered my things, I motioned if I could take a photo to remember the moment. They shook their heads no. I respected their answer and put my camera away.

As I put my pack on, the woman who was cooking came out and presented me with my change. 25 rupees (about thirty cents), which was what was left over after her cooking three noodle packets, six eggs and giving me one package of nuts. I gestured that she should keep the change. She graciously thanked me.

I said 'Namaste' goodbye, and was on my way. With a two hour hike in front of me, I was a little concerned about my stomach being upset (particularly after my food traumas in India). Was the mountain water safe? Was the water she used properly boiled? Had the metal plate and fork been properly washed?

As I walked I quickly came to realize that even if I got terribly sick - and was out of it for the next few days - it would have been well worth it given the amazingness of that experience.

How important is it if I get sick, really?! I'm sure they'll be talking for the next few years about the time that strange white woman wandered into their town. And I'm sure I'll be thinking during the next few years about the time I shared instant noodles and egg with the village people.

For good measure though, two hours later when I got back to my guest house, I swallowed four pepto tabs.

My stomach has been fine.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1232813760/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1232813760/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1232813760/tpod.html Fri, 30 Jan 2009 07:09:30 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Bandipur, Nepal

Hi All,

I've now moved about four hours west of Kathmandu to a hill village called Bandipur. Its absolutely amazing here.

I woke yesterday morning in Kathmandu at 6am to catch my bus out of the city. Oy. That was hard. I've been feeling a little tired/worn down recently (maybe too many 'on the go' activities!) that I've recently needed to sleep in. The last several nights I've been passed out for 14 hrs. I don't feel sick or anything. I just zonk! I guess my body needs it.

So getting only 7 hrs that night was a bit hard...

Happily, I left about half my stuff at the Kathmandu guest house so my bag is half the size. Basically its all the things I've bought along the way and the winter clothes that I've never needed. Very convenient.

I paid my bill and the guy at the desk at my guest house gave me a map of the city with a distinct line for where the bus to Pokara would pick people up. It was supposed to be about a fifteen minute walk...

Walking around Kathmandu at 6:30am is a pretty interesting experience. It was a bit cold (I wore my down jacket) and a little eerie, but not full on scary. People have small fires where they're staying warm with burning garbage and since its so early no one bothers you. You just need to pay attention where you are since you're wearing a headlamp and needing to navigate old and narrow streets that have no signs and all look the same.

There's this light fog that sits on the city at that time in the morning. I realized I was fortunate to be up at the hour as it was very special - actually downright amazing - to see people starting their daily routine. At that early hour, the shop keepers were only just starting to open their doors, but already poor merchants were laying their goods out on the street. Women, covered with scarves to stay warm, were carefully laying out their eggs, fruits and vegetables. Men were rolling out blankets, and carefully organizing (interestingly different) wares compared to women - spreading out hats, cigarette lighters, piles of socks, scarves, bags... anything and everything. Fourteen hour days. No days off. Same routine day in and day out. Probably their whole lives.

Here here I was, tired, cold, with two backpacks navigating these streets. I found where I was supposed to go. There were lots of city van, but no tourist buses... I walked up and down for at least twenty minutes. I started to get worried I would miss the 7am departure...

A new lesson: don't get map directions from someone in a culture that doesn't use maps. The spot that the guy had highlighted was about way off where I was supposed to go.

After asking directions from half a dozen people, I finally found the spot where there was a line of tourist buses for Pokara. It was about four blocks north of where the guy told me to go.

So Ruthie - You had asked me about the smell of India. I thought I would tell you about the smell of Nepal (or at least Kathmandu at 6:30 in the morning). It's very grey, dusty and polluted, and you have periodic distinct whiffs of sewage and diesel. Anne described Nepal as 'India Light.' I agree, though it's a little bit like India on an SSRI - the highs and the lows are cut out which makes it easier and in ways more pleasant. But conversely you can miss out on the more intense or extreme states which can actually be quite amazing. Ultimately, both have their appeal.

So I got on my bus (finally!) and was off to my new destination. Bandipur is in the mountains about four hours west of Kathmandu and three hours east of Pokara (Pokara is the next biggest city after Kathmandu, and where many people start their trekking adventures). As a result, I had to pay for a full bus fare to the end and the just get off the bus early (this was since they wouldn't be able to replace someone in that seat).

The countryside outside of Kathmandu and the bus trip was pretty. The roads are bumpy but not super twisty and it was quite nice to be in some greenery compared to the congestedness of the city. The outskirts are mountainous and green, and it looks a lot like Peru or Guatemala or the southern part of Mexico on the ride from the coast to Oaxaca. Small shacks on the side of the road sell water and chips.

I was dropped at the larger town of Dumre where I was to take a 'bus' (really the covered back of a jeep) up the hill inland for 5 miles to Bandipur. Originally there were 12 people smooshed in the back, but on the way we passed a jeep with a flat tire and picked up another five - seventeen people in the back of the pickup total. Good thing it wasn't a long ride... ;)

To say the least, Bandipur is amazing. Its this little village that looks exactly how it must have been 700 years ago. The Newari people live here, much like they have for many generations, and its filled with smiling faces and friendly folks. The prices are super cheap (a full Newari dinner - which is a lot like a full Indian dinner (chapati, rice, daal, curry, vegetables - with a cocktail costs $4). The architecture is brick and wood and looks like something out of the middle ages. Stylistically, it looks a lot like the older parts of Bhanikpur and Kathmandu, but significantly its still a working and living town. There's maybe 1000 people between the main village and the surrounding houses.

My room in my guest house is one of the most fantastic places I've ever stayed. It looks like something I would imagine Mozart would have lived in. There are small wooden doors (about 4 1/2 ft tall) and the rooms are on the second floor which you access from by a steep wooden ladder. My space is literally a wooden room, with a small latch door and a small alcove for a gas lamp. There's a little balcony with a wooden door that latches shut using a small slab of wood that's permanently in the door frame. It's hangs loose, and when you want to closed the doors you slide it up, push the doors closed, and then it slides down from gravity to 'lock' the doors in place. It costs about $3.25 a night.

In the back there are chickens with newly hatched babies roaming about. Kids catch them in large bamboo baskets. There's an occasional free roaming cow and there are some well fed dogs that lazily bathe in the sun all day.

Down the little road, there's the village washing spot that to me looks like a time warp. Fresh spring water gurgles out of the mountain and flows out of five stone dragon carvings. Someone put a leaf on the end of each one so it creates a more fine flow of water. Women from the village bring their laundry in large metal bowls. They soap their clothes against stones slabs, push and pound each piece with dedication and vigor, an then rinse under the stone dragon carvings with leaf 'tongues'. Occasionally people come by to wash off their sandals, faces or just take a drink of water on a hot day. I saw a thoughtful Dad cup his hand and scoop water into the mouth of his appreciative infant son. Though small in scope, and absent of full 'pools' for actual bathing, the scene looks like something out of what I imagine existed 1000 years ago -- almost like a living, working 'Roman Baths'.

What's most striking about Bandipur, besides that simplicity of it and the friendliness of the people (no cat calls on the street or solicitations to buy things), is there are no cars. There is no pollution. Its quiet. You're up in the mountains, in what used to be a trade route between China and India (it was particularly popular in the early 1900s since it was malaria free). The 'bus' jeep drops you a the far end of the town and then you walk into the village on cobblestone and dirt paths. I've never been to the villages of France, but I imagine this is what is must be like - it has somewhat of an old town, European feel. Maybe its just what I associate with that time period.

No cars, no rickshaw drivers, no honking. Few cell phones or signs of urban life. Few street lights. Lots of candles on outdoor tables - some on the main street, some on balconies overlooking the mountains. All in all, its strikingly quiet and very peaceful. I went to bed last night at 7:30pm because frankly, there was nothing else to do. ;)

I chatted with a very well spoken guide who told me about some of issues within Nepal today. Clearly, its a developing country and doesn't have much of an infrastructure. I was surprised to hear that Nepal has an open border with India (obviously this is in contrast to the closed border of Bhutan). The exchange rate is 48.5 India Rupees to a US $1 and 77 Nepali Rupees to US $1 so you can see its attractive for a Nepali to work down in India. I asked why the Indians would permit Nepalis to 'go down and take their jobs' i.e. the US attitude about Mexicans (particularly since there's so much overpopulation and people are having a hard time just getting by). The guide speculated that Indians 'trust' Nepalis more. He thought Indians would think that an Indian in a low paying job, like a cleaner in an office, may steal something and then sell it to their relatives and personal connections in the country. Whereas in contrast, the Nepali is seen as more trustworthy since they don't have as many personal connections and, given the attractiveness of jobs being more high paying, wouldn't want to risk losing their job.

It sounds like it doesn't cost much for a typical Nepali to take a regular bus down through Nepal to India, and not too much for them to then take a train on to some other part of the country to find work. I asked if many Nepalis settled there, and said not typically. They usually go for a few years to make some money and then come back.

Tomorrow I'm off to do some hikes in the area. From what I've read in the guide book, there are some spectacular views of the Himalayas.

What else... Last night I just remembered a story that I had heard from someone at conference I attended in the Spring that I thought I'd share...

The guy I was talking to told me about his friend who had gone to India with his girlfriend. He was planning to propose to her, and thought Varanasi would be the best place (why, I don't know). Supposedly, he was about to propose to her at one of the ghats (again, you've heard my stories of the hot, manic, ooglingness of the place. With that and dead bodies being burned up the road, it has to be one of the most manic, unromantic places I could possibly imagine to propose). So in this story, lo and behold, he was about to ask her to marry him and then accidentally stepped in some fresh cow poop. Seemingly, that ruined the 'romance 'of the moment and he had to wait for another time (I'm not even sure if he actually ultimately even proposed to her on the trip).

Last night, as I was sitting in the serene peacefulness of the mountains and listening to my candle burn, that just popped into my head. I guess it just struck me as such an odd and unromantic place to ask someone. I wonder what the guy was thinking.

Bandipur, and its peacefulness, timelessness and delicacy seems far better in my book.

Thinking of you,
Amanda

P.S. I just saw that there's someone that saved a document on this computer called "Business Goals First Quarter Fiscal Year 2009". Amazing what people are thinking about where they're in places like this...


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1232813160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1232813160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travelingamanda/1/1232813160/tpod.html Tue, 27 Jan 2009 06:37:10 -0500 Asian Invasion - Amanda's Backpacking Adventure Through Northern India, Bhutan and Nepal

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Nagarkot, Nepal

Hi All,

For those of you who work in art related professions - namely Brett, Catherine, Patricia, Jon, Kevin, Ruthie, Allen, Stephanie, Margie, Hanne - your husband Craig - if you haven't read Lewis Hyde's classic book 'The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World,' I strongly recommend you immediately stop reading this blog now (!) and take a walk over to your local bookstore for a copy. ;) Its been a joy for me to read on this trip and I highly recommend it to any or all people who are interested in Sociology, Literary Criticism, and the Arts.

There's a great quote by Pablo Neruda in it that really hit the nail on the head for why this blog has been so simultaneously interesting, therapeutic, creative, grounding, meditative and soothing for me as I've been traveling:

"I have been a lucky man. To feel the intimacy of brothers is a marvelous thing in life. To feel the love of people whom we love is a fire that feeds our life. But to feel the affection that comes from those whom we do not know, from those unknown to us, who are watching over our sleep and solitude, over our dangers and our weaknesses -- that is something still greater and more beautiful because it widens out the boundaries of our being, and unites all living things." - Pablo Neruda, as quoted in 'The Gift' by Lewis Hyde

Some recent thoughts and observations about Kathmandu:

The food is really good here! Nepali food is way more tasty than what they have in Bhutan and the city itself has an excellent range of other international fare. Anne and I had Italian food the other night that was really good! It was funny to have a Nepali guy try and imitate and Italian accent. ;) The chocolate cake for dessert was excellent! Goes to show you what you miss. In India, they don't have ovens so the whole Western cake thing doesn't work there (and shows you that the Indian restaurant 'Indian Oven' in SF in the Lower Haight doesn't make any sense!)

The rickshaw drivers here all have bike horns that sounds like ducks quacking. Many have attached the plastic body of a dish soap bottle to the end for extra air when they squeeze = extra loud noise!

As compared to India, the women here - to be honest - simply aren't as attractive. They're not as elegant. I'm not sure what it is (maybe simple evolutionary genetics), but one thing to note is that some women, but certainly not all, wear sarees. To that end, there's less color and visual vibrancy in the street life. Especially in the morning fog, the street scenes look a little grey.

Men don't cat call like in India! Yea! Some do, but very moderately. I've now taken to doing what Austin Powers did in (I think) his second movie with the 'SHHing'. I don't even let the guy respond. He says, "Madam! How about a..." And I just say, "No." I don't even let him finish. So it goes something like this... "Madam, would you like a..." "No." "But what about..." "No." "But have you considered..." "No." And so on, until the go away. Its quite funny actually! ;)

Kathmandu was a cross roads for trade between India and China for the last several thousand plus years. As such, there are all these weird little shrines and things all over the place, quite randomly fit. And the city has just grown and build around them. Many date from the 9th-13th centuries, so they have a slightly medieval quality about them. I started off taking a walking tour thinking I would stop at each one (they happen about every 50 ft or so on some streets) but then realized that to be honest I really didn't care! I couldn't get into it - some, though few, people seemed to care about them so why should I? And I think I just don't connect as much with Hinduism as I do with Buddhism so it wasn't so interesting to me.

Architecturally, it's clear that there's more of a 'Chinese' influence, at least with the older buildings. You can see that in the pics I've attached.

Everyone speaks English! How convenient!

They have a 6 day work week, where most people take Sunday off.

I mentioned in my reply post to Jon about how they Maoists destroyed a number of the hydro power projects so they don't have a strong electricity infrastructure. Also, to deal with this issue, they supposedly have to get rid of 'excess' power in the system, which is called rotating 'load shedding'. Supposedly, that's REALLY why the power goes out - its that they have TOO MUCH power in the system!

Anne has firsthand experience working in Nepal. It was really interesting to hear her experience dealing with the people in her NGO. There are about a dozen people in total and pretty much everyone else is Nepali. Further, they're almost all Brahmins, people of the highest class (though officially they've outlawed the class structure in the country). The Brahmin's are the most entitled, and commonly the people most in power, in political and managerial positions. Thus, as Anne reports, all of these people act very entitled and are used to telling other people what to do. They're used to having servants in the house to order around and don't bother with more menial tasks. As such, they even order one person (I guess like the office assistant) to dial someone one the phone for them! As you can imagine, this makes it quite difficult to work, as there's all these fiefdoms and people grabbing for power even though there is supposedly a set hierarchy in the organization. No one shares info. They all want to cling to power.

What else... Anne mentioned, and she admitted that its not something she's seen firsthand but something she's heard about, that when someone gets into a car accident you're obliged to pay for that person's pain and suffering. And to that end, if you kill someone, you have to pay the family back for that person's life. However, the problem is that pain and suffering for someone who becomes disabled is far more expensive than when someone is flat out killed (I'm making it up, but lets say in that case you just have to pay a flat rate of $500). So as a result, Anne says there are these situations when someone gets hit by a car or a bus (she noted that municipal buses were known for this) and the person gets injured, they actually then roll back over the person to actually kill them because its cheaper. That's just off my radar on multiple levels...

Other than that, I did a day trip to Nagarkot (Where there is a really nice view of the valley) and Bhaktapur where there's an old historic village, which I imagine is a bit of what Kathmandu must have looked like when it was much smaller. Lots of interesting wood carvings on old 12th cent buildings, old stupas, and little doorways for little people.

Saw a woman tweezing her eyebrows when I was walking around Nagarkot. Her tweezers were as long as chopsticks! Fascinating! I also saw a woman mixing pebbles with something like cement using a green plastic flipflop. I guess it works!

Some other details... The city is definitely not designed for cars. There are all these little side streets and as in India there's no traffic systems, lights, etc so people just go. I've gotten into a number of situations with cars coming in opposite directions down one way streets. People also, as Anne explained, don't use maps here, so showing them one is pointless. The don't conceptually seem to understand them even if you do. You have to ask them for directions to some landmark and then they can point the way.

Finally, it was interesting to get out of the city to the neighboring 'countryside'. There's more of a farming community, but definitely not as idyllic as Bhutan. Anne explained that all those smokestacks I saw when I flew in (which I saw again when I was in the taxi) are for brick manufacturing factories. There is farmland, but the land is definitely not as lush and green. There are lots and lots of half built buildings outside of the city with steel sticking out of their columns - why they weren't completed is beyond me. I must admit though, I was happy to see the green that I did when I was coming back from Nagarkot. The drive out there was at about 10am and it was really really grey. I wasn't sure if that was pollution or fog. By the time I was driven back at the end of the day though whatever it was had been blown away and you could see more greenery.

Tomorrow moving Westward to Bandipur (I'll stay there for a day) and then on to Pokara (the main city in the west). As an FYI, I'll be there for a few days, then bus down to Lumbini (the birthplace of the Buddha) and then fly back to Kathmandu on the 4th. I leave to return back to SF on the 7th, arriving on Feb 8th at about 9am.

I have to wake early tomorrow - I have to be at the bus station at 6:30am for a 7am bus ride (though it will only be about four hours long)...

Missing you all!
Amanda






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