Nepal: Chobhar Village & the Singing Nepalese bus

  Chobhar, Nepal, Nepal
Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Tues 9/30 NEPAL- Chobhar Village, Dakshinkali

Hello Mom & Dad,

There's no email here so I'm writing from my mobile phone and will email this later when I get to Thamel.

Chobar Village
Today i awoke to Le Chobhar Village Resort and a breath-taking view of the unspoilt Taudaha Valley. It's a grand feeling- I have full run of the resort ; momentarily, I am its sole guest, so the resort and this view is all mine! The resort house is an old Newari house that's been renovated. It sports 3 rooms, its own café & a neighboring monastery.  Chobhar, itself, is not like a quaint French village, the hick farm regions of Virginia Beach or the backwoods territory of Upstate Catskill in New York. Instead it epitomizes the barest sentiment of the word "village" in its most medieval understanding of country living and simplicity. Perhaps even then i am being too generous- the word i'm really searching for is closer to "poverty" although its doubtful that the hearty villagers see themselves that way.

villagers

The conditions here appear ..."lesser". I've met many soulmates in bad teeth and people's clothes can be as brown as their sun-tanned skin. Most things like laundry are done by hand and laid out to dry upon neighboring bushes, rooftops, balcony rails and anywhere one can create hanging room. A boy gets his haircut sitting in a chair in the middle walkway between houses. An old woman sits on the porch while a neighborhood friend applies henna from a bowl over her graying hair. Little babies and children with runny noses run around barefoot and bottomless. Baskets off chilis, lentils and corn bathe in the streets in front of open-door abodes. Meanwhile, the older men of the village seem to pass time by not paying attention to time pass. Each seems, if not at home or busy at work, to have his own lounging spot amongst fellow male companions either at the local "cafe" or in pairs and threesomes under shaded areas where it is cool. Village animals - ducks, dogs, chickens- aren't nearly as concerned with staying cool but sun-bathe where there is comfort and companionship, oblivious to each others' differences. Every man, woman, child and animal lives in harmony with its surroundings, crossing borders of space and living a life without invisible walls.

There are regular power outages from 6P TO 9P where you live in darkness or by candlelight (this is general of Nepal). I too am affected by this - nothing operates at this time and the resort provides me with an electric lamp which allows me an extra hour of light.

Catching a Nepalese bus to Dakshinkali
It is the first day of Dusshain (or Durga Puja) and there's an air of festivity to the country roadside. Many are making pilgrimages to Dakshinkali whose temple holds regular animal sacrifices (each Tuesday and holidays). Today, in lieu of Dusshain, the temple is said to be "flowing with the blood".  Family-packed motorcycles, passenger-crowded trucks and festively-flagged country buses all decorate the Taudaha roadways. like sparkling Christmas lights.

Ring Road to Dakshinkali

I too am pilgrimmaging out to Dakshinkali and want to take the local bus! The fronts of country buses are painted in festive design and when over-crowded, there is the secondary art of passengers hanging out from the sides and riding on rooftop.

passerbys

Observation #1:   There are NO bus stop signs & buses along the countryside won't stop unless you "hail" them down.  
People forget to tell you these important things when they give you directions ...and "hailing a country bus" is NOT a passive activity but is like hailing a NYC cab- you have to make it apparent you want them to stop for you. Local Nepalese more "practiced" at the art of boarding a bus have another alternative - when the bus slows, the person runs with it and hops on!

waitin for the bus

Beside Ring Road, next to a roadside shack selling ice cream, 2 cows reclined up against motorcycles & a couple of sari-clad women hanging out, waiting to see what I would do... I stood and waited up to an hour baffled as to WHY buses were driving past me but not stopping. When the only boy waiting for the bus with me boarded it via the "run and hop" method, good 'ole Ring was taking on circus quality I wasn't sure I wanted to participate in.

sanjju

Fortunately, enlightenment to my dilemma arrived in the form of Sanjju, a handsome 4'10" - 5' tall NLRN (No-Longer-Residential Nepalese) who took up rest from his "dare-devil mountain bike wheelies" upon the Ring. Sanjju, now living in Santa Barbara, CA was gearing up as a star biker representing Nepal in a big October bike race.  While waiting for his entourage of press friends to catch up, he disclosed advice as to how to hail my bus. After some time chatting with Sanju and meeting his press, I hailed and boarded my bus! Over-crowded with passengers, I had to hold onto the side rail to keep from spilling out...I was finally enroute and living a dream!

Observation #2:  All that crazy, colorful  decoration you see on the outside front of the buses... 

bus driver

Continues INSIDE the bus too and is accompanied with bollywood music! I call this the "Nepalese Singing Bus" and at the cost of 25Rs (a little under a 25 cents USD), I don't know why I didn't try this sooner! The driver section of the cab is decorated with fake garlands and hanging cha-chas which jiggle a dance to the bumps and turns of the bus's Bolly-roading. Additional cushion seats and an open view of the road are available in the front cab with the driver. Turn around to the back and you'll see a sea of beautiful brown faces clothed in an array of colorful saris, bangled hands and fez-like cloth hats staring wide-eyed back at you.

Observation #3:  The Nepalese Height Limit
Dan's observation about the standard height of Nepalese people seems true. The average male ranges under 5ft tall in height, while the women average 4ft. As a 5'8" Asian/Pacific Islander, i cannot stand to full height in a Nepalese bus and thus, ...cannot blend. Instead, I stand hunched over, which is why the whole bus has now focused their attention upon me for their viewing entertainment.

bus

Observation #4:  Friendly Seats to Strangers, Cargo & Livestock.
Nepalese passengers can transport all kinds of cargo and livestock- via back of the bus or on rooftop! How they get them in, on or out during peak crowd conditions, I've no idea...  My "particular" bus had a back door  for secondary exits.

But the Nepalese are friendly and accommodating people in general.  Standing out as "obviously awkward", people were thoughtful to offer me seats. The first seat offered had baby vomit on it, so i declined it and opted to stand. Next, I was offered an arm rest to sit on, which i was grateful, but still hunched as I wanted to peek out the window (a funeral procession carrying a body wrapped in white cloth, crossed the road to the local river). My third seat was at the back of the bus on a heap of grain-filled bags. Ironically, with all the courtesy codes of Unclean : "NO eating with your left hand, NO sharing food/drink which has touched your lips (to share drinks, you would "pour" the water into your mouth vs sipping), NO blowing your nose while eating", etc..., i was a bit surprised that sitting on someone else's grain bag was not considered offensive and breaking some kind of "NO Ass to Mouth" rule.

my new friends

It was on the heap of grains that 2 young girls, Latika & Reiju (approx 11yrs) adopted me. At first they whispered to each other, pointing and giggling at me, while looking at my New Balance shoes as if trying to decipher my country. Finally, Reiju leaned over to ask me where i was from. The girls (along with their mothers and Latika's little sisters) were going to Dakshinkali for Durga Puja. Following their mothers through puja, they pulled me along, while each girl gifted a part of her own puja with me.

  Latika asked if she could place a red tikka on my forehead then gifted me her garland rope tie, while little sister #1 placed her garland tie around my neck & little sister #2 fed me a piece of her food prassad (in this case, a homemade sweet given by the priest for taking puja). Reiju gave me her red garland tie as well.  Such was my initiation into puja, into their family-friendship and them, into my heart. I in turn, entertained the girls, letting them take pictures with my DSLR camera!  Latika and Reiju went crazy taking pictures of us, me, flowers, their mothers... and more flowers....At one point the girls all started picking flowers and gifting me with them. This day is going to be one of fondest and most defining memories of Nepal.

Quick Tip: Always carry a flashlight.
Aside from power outages, everyone will tell you that its NOT safe to travel at night and to be home before dark... but you don't understand it until night actually falls and you're trying to find your village in the dark! The economy in Nepal is said to be in bad shape and have been many cases of foreigners & women being robbed or kidnapped. Now having survived the Watts Riots, L.A. earthquakes and NY's 9-11, I'm part risk-taker, part street-smug cocky and part stupid; meanwhile being from Hawaii, I'm  part-naive too. With all those factors, its difficult to say which is the part that manages to ellude danger each time.



  When I left Dakshinkali under the wing of my new friends and their mothers on the last bus out, it was still daylight.  Sunset was swift and before I knew it, it turned to night and it was very very VERY DARK.  (PITCH BLACK  to be specific)  Panic #1:  Street lights seem as uncommon to country villages as are bus stop signs, and not thinking to have left a bread crumb "count trail of stops" along the way, I wasn't sure where or if there would be a Chobhar stop.  Panic #2:  IF there was a Chobhar stop, there was an 10 minute obstacle course up a winding hillside road to the village  and then to my resort stay. I poured thru options - each feeling either flawed or fucked depending upon the equations of inadequate information. Translations to english were weak which didn't help & somewhere along the lines i was charged 125 Rs bus fare due to a situation of "communication failure" (or tourist extortion). Panic was setting in. Man, woman or child- NO ONE on that bus thought it was safe for me to get off of the bus alone to find my way in the dark. Finally, communication breakthrough- the fare collector/extortionist affirmed a Chobhar stop!

When the bus left me at my stop, all the light had left with it. The night sky and the stars were a brief consolation (If you can see the stars then all is not completely dark & stars don't move, so you can navigate by them).  Fortunately, the hillside wasn't as deserted as I'd thought- occasionally, a car or motorcycle would drive by and shed light to the path ahead. Another handy tool was my free keychain mini flashlight that I remembered I brought for such emergencies (never discount free- it can sometimes save you). Scared shitless and briskly hoofing it up that hill, i made it back to my hotel and into the safety of a concerned resort manager and an electric lamp with 1/2hr of light left to it.

beautiful friends

me & the little one

Avoiding unavoidables
Having a low immune system sometimes makes me a hyper-HYPOCHONDRIAC. Traveling in countries where the water is considered unsafe and leads to bad-baad stomach problems, I adhere to strict "Safe Food Rules" as if it were an ass-tight religion. BUT there is NO EASY WAY, NO ALTERNATIVE to declining questionable food if it's a FRIENDSHIP offering. Some people have no problem maintaining strict NOs in their eating standards despite risking hurt feelings to goodwill efforts. I am NOT one of those people. When my little friends, excited to have me join them in Durga Puja-  offered me a portion of their own prassad; begged me to take chai & roti (bread) with them from a sit-down run-down-shack café (BTW- much to my dismay, their mom paid for us all, despite my offering), etc... there is no way to pretend to eat it and then secretly toss it out when you have 4 eager pair of young eyes awaiting your response! What can you do?!... Well, you do what any polite person would- you silently pray "God Bless Germs, please", then you open your mouth and insert sickness.

Dakshinkali

Who can say what it really was- bad food, pollution (which there's a surprising amount in Thamel such that some wear masks), mosquitos, a reaction to the massive quantities of deet i've sprayed on myself or all my obsessive paranoia to the food i've just taken... I feel myself coming down with a cold. Its mostly in my throat. For now, I take an Airborne & leave it up to Durga.

Still Breathing, Me