Nepal: Chobhar Village & Kritipur

  Kritipur, Nepal
Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Wed 10/1- Chobar and Kritipur

Hi Mom,

I awoke with the most wretched raw throat. Fortunately, i packed my Dr.Chris bag of meds and hopeful remedies, we'll see...

2 bobby pins = Friendship: My garlands from yesterday's pujas and the girls are a pleasant memory and its only now sinking in what these girls have gifted me of their friendship. The garlands consist of 2 small neck ropes and a red cloth rope and these are their prassad for puja! Also... yesterday, on the bus home, the 2 girls asked if i would be their friend. When i replied (duh) Yeah they shook my hand and gave me 2 bobby pins to put in my hair. I didn't catch what happened but just thought that my own bobby pins had fallen out. Looking at them today, I notice that they're NOT mine but theirs and is a token of friendship! Part guilt, part mortification as to my obliviousness to all that they've generously given of their own to me, I'm overwhelmed.  It's all made an indelible impression upon my heart. And I hope the phone numbers they left me with work so that I can send them the pictures from our day!

Deciphering Buses: There are a few types of "local buses" in Nepal that are distinguishable by bus styles: 1) your village to village bus, 2) inner city bus,  3) city to city, etc...  The village buses look like school buses- short or long- with festive décor, while the inner city buses can range from car vans, shuttle vans or small wagon trucks . The city buses run larger like your standard Greyhound. I'm still feeling the jittery effects of my bus incident last night, so today- NO bus and i will make sure to get back from my travel during daylight.



Greeting people in "Namaste" with a slight head bow & folded hands collects warm smiles from villagers and a "Hello- How are you?" receives delightful giggles from the children who know little english and are excited and curious about speaking to a foreigner.



The Children of Chobhar: Taking to foot, I Namaste'd every person i met along my way in the village, asking for directions to Kritipur, a neighboring city. While the Chobhar lacks a touch of economic prosperity, the open hearts and warmth on the faces of the young and old will say otherwise. Children are happily playing, mothers are nursing and laughing. .. I ask directions from an older woman returning home from her morning work at the quarry. She notices my hair in braids, then shows me her own to let me know - "We are alike! " I ask her if I can take her picture and with bursting pride she tucks her work bag under her armpit and raises her cigarette to strike a pose!



Further along, girls are playing "dress up" in back of their houses. Curious of me and me of them I stood nearby, waiting, making my confusion with their costumes apparent and comical. "I am... a Leaf!!!", one girl shouts to me and scampers to hide in the doorway, as the rest of her friends begin to emerge from the bushes. She has sewn leaves together to make a crown and necklace for her play! Chobhar is so untouched from the spoils of excess and technology, that each person seems childlike and prosperity is not gauged by having the latest novelty or gadget but by possessing imagination and resourcefulness.




boy playing with wooden blocks

Kites of Dusshain: The city of Kritipur is a small city town and is nowhere near as hearty as Chobhar and its neighboring villages. It's larger, busier, less smiles, less warmth and its dusty. Ads and marketing billboard signs are plastered everywhere. Nice and new apartment sectors crop up in the middle of open fields. Kids here are a bit more street smart with some understanding that a tourist camera might draw rupees. There is something a bit colder in this environment and people are a bit more weighted. If there is a charm, I don't have patience to figure it out.... Fast forward.



Still celebrating Dusain, kite flying is a popular activity all around. If you've seen the movie The Kite Runner, you'll know that there's more to kite flying than innocent play but its also a friendly competition of trying to cut your neighbor's strings. While I haven't seen this activity in full blossom, I see its occasional trail of kite flyers, abandoned kites whose strings have been cut, the popularity of spool and kites being sold at shops. I was at a buddhist temple in Kritipur when a child's kite had gotten cut. The nearby kids squealed and eagerly raced to catch newly fallen kite.



Woman and cranial power:  In Nepalese culture,  women are housewives but also handle a  shocking amount of manual labor that you would normally attribute to being a man's job! It is not surprising for a woman clad in a sari to be working at a construction site piling a basket that is strapped to her head in order to move bricks or to transport enormously huge sacks of grains and sticks back to the farms. In the quarry, women workers have little simple stick tents to shield them from the sun as they hammer down boulders to make sizeable rocks that are used for building things. Life has never been easy for a women but here, its definitely hard work!

 




Not quite Bollywood...Nepali-wood?  At the base of the hill, i notice some crew trucks and bounce boards which lets me know that filming or photo shooting is taking place. In the quarry, a Nepalese action film is being shot and a fight scene is taking place. Even though the economy is bad, Nepal has a small and young film industry that fights to gain a bit of voice for the locals of this land. This is isn't quite Bollywood but perhaps someday...  Nepali-wood? At the base of the hill, i notice crew trucks and bounce boards which lets me know that either filming or a photo shoot is taking place. In the quarry, a Nepalese action film is shooting a fight scene while passing locals hang out to watch. It's a bit humorous to me that I've left my entertainment industry environment only to travel several thousands of miles to a developing country only to find it again. However, Nepal's film industry is still in its seedling stage due to its struggling economy. It's a young industry that began around 1965. Well, this isn't quite bollywood but perhaps someday...

Kingdoms, Palaces & Momo Cafes:
On the climb back to my resort, Shankar, the manager of Le Chobhar, hails me down to invite me to his house for chai. Wednesday is his one day off, yet I am not one to decline this kind of invitation. His house is
huge- "a palace" -in comparison to his neighbors and he seems to have servants tending to his property and lawn. His wife prepares chai for us and he gives me a tour of his house. It is obvious to me that he and
his family are much more fortunate than the Chobhar staple; yet, their living is still simple, minimal and basic.





Chai time with Shankar is nice. He enlightens me to different things about Chobhar, Nepali culture and things in general I didn't think to know. For instance, did you know flour can be made from corn? Never gave it much thought but now I know why everywhere I look, almost every home in Chobhar, displays exponential bushels of dried corn husks! Which calls the realization- What? the villagers make their own "flour"?! (As far as I know, flour has always just come in a bag and I thought THAT was considered cooking from scratch until Duncan Hines & Sarah Lee upgraded my concept!)


Shankar and his wife

Back at my resort hotel, everyone- manager, groundskeeper, cook...ALL quietly wait for me while I eat and it makes me mildly uncomfortable that there aren't more people to spread this attention around. It's hard to believe that this entire house, the cafe food, resort people and the gorgeous view that's greeted each morning is ALL MINE!

The food prepared at Le Chobhar is done so with care, is quickly "made from scratch" (which is probably why the simplest foods can generate mouth orgasms for me) and makes a non-foodie like me look forward to these thoughtfully cooked inexpensive meals after a long day. While the menu is surprisingly
extensive and versatile for any resort standard and especially so for this village where people labor from scratch, I've consistently only eaten the same thing. I have a Nepali momo mouth and secondly am
addicted to their to-die-for tomato onion soup. "Dumplings" are common to asian food culture but here, dumplings are called Momo's. In Thamel,  Momo Cafes are a popular replacements to Noodle shops that exist in popularity in other countries. Momo cafes and cafes in general here, however, don't invite much of the light, airy feel but that of a dark
basement (not sure why that is...)

It's been a long day trekking through the villages and now I must hurry back to my room and prepare for 6P when night falls and all the power goes out!

Love, Me