Holiday in Pokhara and Chitwan…

Friday 22th July 2005

I’ve only been in the village ten days and though I know the time has been quite short but it feels like an age here. I’m starting to settle into the village life - I even get up at dawn and I'm in bed by 8:30! The food is fantastic and I'm not sick of it yet so I'm actually not that excited about being back in the big city.

In fact Kathmandu is a big wall of stress now so I won't stay long here. It's quite warm but I'm wrapped up as if it were the depths of winter just to stay hidden. It's not really working so I'm going to head off on a wee adventure for the week as it's my one holiday from school.

I'm not going to rattle on about Godavari as that is yet to come but it suffices to say anyway re the village that I am very happy there. I am well impressed with the miniscule footprint the lifestyle is leaving on the earth.

Everything is home grown, bartered or gathered wild so each family is almost completely self-sufficient (by western standards). The house I am living in was built by the family and everything from even baking the bricks was done locally. In fact the schoolyard next door exists today as a result of their clay gathering. Not only that, but the people are so educated and concerned about environmental issues. Unlike in a lot of places, it is the locals who are preserving the rainforest here and doing a great job too. As a result, the valley is a like a little piece of paradise in the Kathmandu hills.

Kudos Godavari!

Tuesday 26th July 2005

This latest comes to you all from Pokhara. I'm in the middle of my school holidays at the moment and I'm making the most of it as it is my one chance to explore. I spent two nights in Kathmandu getting stuff done, then came here to Pokhara, a lakeside town with a seaside resort feel. It's off-season now though so it has a slightly ghost-townish feel about it. Still, it's very peaceful, the people are lovely and it's a great change from Kathmandu

.

This town is the starting point for a lot of the major treks so I thought of bracing my self and braving the slog up the mountains. I decided to start with the tiniest hike, up to the 'World Peace Pagoda', via a lovely row boat ride, and back around by the dam side. I thought I was going to die! I'm so unfit and on top of that the humidity here is stifling. It's been a disturbingly dry monsoon – this town is supposed to have the heaviest rainfall and I haven't seen a single drop - so this has led to much heavier weather and could cause problems for farming if the rains don't come. In a way it's nice though as I can do some things that would be difficult in the rain. This afternoon I'm going to head off for a little boating so that should be nice. I've also done a lot of shopping here (fairtrade, no less!).

I've been well-impressed with Pokhara's easy-going feel... but enough! On a crazy whim I've decided to leave early and head instead to Chitwan National Park on an elephant safari! Hoorah! Here we go hunting tigers and rhinos! Gung ho! Jolly good! etc, etc. I reckon it would be a pity to come all this way and not do something a bit more interesting. I feel a bit pathetic about shying from the treks so this is going to be it. The people here have been so friendly – I've been invited to dinner by a headmistress I met on the bus, boating by a waiter in one of the restaurants, fishing by the boatman who brought me to the pagoda and I was invited to give a lecture by a college dean! But, I'm going to leave all these lovely offers and leave Pokhara behind tomorrow morning.

Security

In case anyone's worrying about the situation here, worry not. I have heard of some unpleasantness on the treks – another reason not to go – but that is the only time tourists come into contact with Maoists. Even then, they just shake them down for 'fundraising' money by setting up trail tolls. I was talking to a Swiss girl, Annika, who was confronted by the Maoists. She said they were very nice (huh?). They wanted 1200 rupees and she only had 700 so they took the seven and gave her a 'local pass'. That was it really. Anyway, besides
these trekking tolls, they have no interest in us foreign types. The only experience I have had of the whole thing was having to crawl around some barbed wire with the help of the soldiers to get home after curfew! Naughty, naughty late night (by which I mean 10ish!).

Anyway, I'm off for a little rowing so I'll leave it there and catch up again later.

Tuesday 26th July 2005 (again)

I've had a pretty interesting time today. I did a little boating and a lot of shopping but the most interesting was the blackout as a result of the lightning storm and rain (at last). I've just had dinner in the dark and made three attempts at e-mailing. It's so strange with the town alive and kicking but in almost total darkness. I was tempted to continue on to one of the lovely bars to soak up the weird blackout atmosphere but I've an early start in the morning and I also will need to get back to the guest house before too long - them there soldiers will start getting ratty if I try a jump-n-roll through the barbed wire again!

Aaargh. Just met another new creepy-crawly. I'm not sure what this one was but it's big and funny-looking and just hit me in the face!

My hike yesterday was great for spotting new critters - fabulous butterflies, varied creepy-crawlies and even the local monkeys who are rarely spotted so that was cool. They came right up to stare at me for a minute or two but I couldn't keep their interest long enough to get a good piccy. Still, it was a great and apparently unusual treat to see them. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I got a camera so I’ll have piccies soon. It's not great outdoors as the screen is too dim - cheap chinese jobbie - and I'm a dreadful photographer so apologies in advance for the poor quality. Still with the elephants and rhinos yet to come, I'll at least have some cool subject matter.

Friday 29th July 2005

I've been really lucky having a holiday from school which has given me the chance to explore a bit further. Because of the political dangers and the dangers of traveling alone, I haven't ventured as far and exotic as I normally would, staying mostly within tourist-oriented areas. Still, the fact that things are so touristy in some ways makes it very easy to travel. I arrived first in Kathmandu to get some stuff done and make arrangements to head off. I'm finding it a little easier to take the more often I'm here but it's still mostly a big ball of stress. Almost everyone has the same feel from this city. The 'wow, such exotic bustle' feeling lasts a fleeting time while the 'polluted, sleazy, hell-hole' sensation sticks like filth. Still, I'm getting the hang of it and a few things like wandering in the early morning and avoiding the tourist areas can make it an almost pleasant stop over. For all the making the most of it though, the best plan is to move on ASAP so that's what I did.

Onwards to Pokhara! A lovely little place tucked in between mountains and lakes. It's normally a busy tourist resort but very different off-season. I caught up with you all last time in the middle of a blackout caused by the rain finally arriving. It was much needed for all of us there with the humidity rising to difficult levels. I love the heat but with this level off water in the air it's just a bit much. Add that to the general sleepiness of the town and it was hard to stay there for much longer than I did. It was really very pleasant with some nice walks and a little boating but I knew if I stayed I'd feel obliged to hike the nearby mountains and I'm just too darn lazy dammit!

So, on a whim, to Chitwan! What a fantastic move that turned out to be. I was originally thinking of going there to the national park instead but I wasn’t feeling so intrepid until I got on the move. It was so well organised and a great experience overall. I met a lovely Dutch couple on the bus who were in the same boat as me re being too lazy to hike and had similarly thought to do the next must-do thing – safari. They were going to try and do it step by step but when they started getting hassled on the bus with touts, they asked if I would mind if they joined me. I was happy to have the company and I reckoned the organisers wouldn't mind so we set it up and they hopped in the car to the park with me. We started to get a little worried when we had gone 30km with no camp in sight as we realised there was no turning back now. But when we arrived at the park to be met by river boat and apologies that we would have to go from the other side by elephant, we were all giddy with excitement.

The trip into the camp alone was an experience. The river was wide and wild but a lovely trip across and the elephants were so comfy to ride. The camp itself was the lap of luxury. We each had our own spacious, beautiful cabin and, as we were deep in the park, everything was laid on for us from food to night torches. There were four others already there – three more Dutch and their Nepaali guide – making seven of us in total. A perfect number for the safaris. We did most of the exploring on elephants with just one trek on foot. We saw a great variety of creatures from pythons and lizards to monkeys and rhinos. I was totally fascinated with the array of bugs of all sorts and any bird-watchers would have been in heaven. Unfortunately, the river is too high and wild in the monsoon for canoeing so no crocs! It would have been lovely to stay a little longer but with limited activities, the two nights was almost enough.

I hope the pics come out (I'm a terrible photographer as I was saying) though the only creature I could catch on film was the rhino. On the walk we saw tiger tracks and markings but no tiger. Apparently, sightings are
very, very rare even for the residents of the park. So you'll be glad to hear, no tiger wrestling for Janey!

Friday 12th August 2005

I’m back! Finally in the Big Smoke (and with the pollution here, I kid you not when I call it that). It’s actually great to be back despite my general disdain for Kathmandu. The tourist season is sneaking in so there’s a lot more prey on the streets and I’ve also come dressed in my Nepaali kurta so I’m getting a lot less harrasslement. Add to that the sweet, sweet beer (I have actually had that Carlsberg moment from Ice Cold in Alex!) and surprisingly decent coffee and you have one happy Janey!

Despite my joy at a few city luxuries, I’m having a fantastic time in the village. It’s a pity the time is so short. On one hand, I’m dying to see my family and friends again but on the other, I’m only just settling in. I have a nice sleepy routine going on. I wake every morning around six thirty (yes, really!) and potter around doing a whole load of nothing, reading my book and sipping chiya (nepaali chai), until breakfast (always daal bhaat) at about 9ish. Then, school at 10ish (all of 2 classes, oh the weight of this workload!) and then kaajaa (lunch – literally translated it kinda means ‘eat n go’). I’ve slowly convinced my lovely family that I am not, in fact, a calf to be fatted and if they don’t stop feeding me I will literally be rolling home! So now I have just some delicious fruit for lunch (bananas and mangos) which I buy myself in the nearby market. Fruit is expensive enough but at all of 90c for a kilo of mangos and a dozen bananas it’s pittance for us Europeans.

After lunch every day, I have taken to going for walkies around the valley. The valley is very beautiful, the climate is ideal and every walk is a new and varied experience. The other day I met a few kids picking mushrooms who were very nice and chatty and absolutely mesmerized by my hair and skin. I was forcibly pulled to the ground so they could touch my hair and root through my bag – not in any dodgy way as the kids in the village are very innocent, but just out of sheer fascination. I finally escaped with nothing lost but a lovely French plait gained! Yesterday, I headed the same direction again and was met by the same kids and their friends who ran at me at full speed, knocking me to the ground in their sheer excitement. I had my camera this time which they had a ball with. I have some very funny pics courtesy of my new little friends so I can’t wait to see if they turned out.

All the kids in the village are like that – super friendly and all excited just to say hello. Every day I pass by a rooftop where three little kids sit playing and every day they jump up and down with excitement screaming ‘namaste, namaste!’ If I happen to pass the hundreds of kids emptying out of the school, it’s a deafening stream of greetings and they’re somewhat chuffed to say that they know me from school. You’d think they’d be bored of me by now! And there are actually very many volunteers here from all over the world so we foreigners are not that exotic. Still, it’s a sleepy, quiet kinda life so I guess little things are quite exciting there.

After keeping myself occupied for the afternoon, I join the neighbourhood kids on our front porch for homework club. The kids were too shy to ask for my help at first but now they are all very happy to work with me. I bring out my drawing paper and colours after the homework is done and we all have great fun drawing pictures until the sun goes down (quite early at about 7ish). Then a little more pottering around until dinner (also daal-bhaat) and finally I go to bed at an amazingly early 8:30ish. Despite the fact that both breakfast and dinner are always daal-bhaat-tarkari (lentils-rice-veggies) I’m still not bored of it. The types of lentils and veggies are so varied and there are so many spices and cooking methods that it’s always a little interesting. I get great cookery lessons (along with veggie farming lessons), the best being two nights ago when aamaa cooked a Nepali-style risotto thingy the traditional way – on an open fire in the corner of the room. I tried to get a few pieces so I hope they turn out ok.

There is so much more to tell but it won’t be long now till I’m home. I’m really going to miss my home here and my lovely Nepali family.
for more information you can contact with her.

Jane Courtny
Ireland
E- mail: jane.courtney@dit.ie
              janec@o2.ie    
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