CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK

There are so often strikes in Nepal and there has been some the last few days so all usual traffic ceases – quite a bummer after getting up at the crack of dawn in Pokhara and getting down from the mountain to the bus station only to find everyone standing around and general confusion. No refund on bus tickets already booked and no one responsible is the norm. I switched plans when I found a de luxe tourist company bus ready to leave for Chitwan so I hopped on and here I am based in a guest house with a terrace overlooking the river and I’ve just had the pleasure of enjoying the morning elephant bathing during which they have fun spraying all and sundry. Gorgeous gentle giants. Here they earn their food by bringing tourists on elephant safaris in the National Park which is a world heritage site. I didn’t want to do that so I went on a jeep safari for 5 hours but didn’t really see a lot of animals. There was a Rhino but it was submerged in a lake, some bears, spotted deer and a bison. For me the highlight was a Kingfisher that appeared several times with a vivid flash of turquoise. The roads in the park are like everywhere in Nepal – completely unfinished, full of rocks and holes so it was hours of bumping along
The little town here opposite the park is quiet and small, there is a law that everything has to close at 10 pm. It is so nice to just read and be lazy as now and again an elephant comes up just outside the terrace or a buffalo cart passes by. While I was there it was the 2 day “Holly Festival” at I think it was holly as that is how they pronounced it but I suppose it could have been “Holy” It seemed to consist of everyone painting their faces in very bright colours that spilled down on to their clothes. They also wanted to paint us but most were very nice about it and asked if it was ok. There’s very often a smell of Ganja in the air, it grows wild everywhere and they use it on their fires so it is very aromatic here abouts

POKHARA NEPAL

POKHARA, NEPAL

Pokhara is like an oasis in the dessert after one has been in Kathmandu, little traffic, few horns blowing, cattle wandering up the streets and clear air with unobstructed views of the lake, mountains and sky. Of course there are many restaurants, bars and guesthouses to cater for the many tourists who flock here before and after trekking as this is the place to be in preparation for hiking the Annapurna mountains or to Everest Base Camp.

I stayed downtown for a few days before going up a mountain halfway to a lovely hideaway called the Castle. It is owned by an Irishman Joe and a lovely Portugese lady Sofie who rightly describe it as a paradise. There s perfect little rooms in the round, a swimming pool, a bar named Brannigans, really good food and wonderful views. There’s little to do except roam the hills around and maybe meet a few monkeys and certainly some farmers and buffalo, hens and goats.

CHANGU NARAYAN HINDU TEMPLE

CHANGU NARAYAN

This ancient temple is not far from Bhaktapur. The courtyard there has wonderful statues of Vishnu and Garud The roof supports are all carved and painted in intricate designs. There were school children there on an outing and I was soon surrounded as they all like to have their pictures taken with a foreigner and I’m very popular since I have white hair, not seen so often here. Children here are so very nice. They are shy and always smile in passing but they are brave enough to greet and try to converse in English. Even their teachers want to spend time talking with interest

NAMOBUDDHA TRIP

A DAY TRIP TO NAMOBUDDHA

I started off to find this old, famous, Buddhist site, one of the 3 most revered religious pilgrimage sites south of the Himalayas. Taking local buses is an adventure with crowds spilling out of it on to the roof but managed to get a seat after half an hour. An hour later I was in the town Panauiti from which the trail began. I was told that a bus would come by so started walking but the distance seemed to get longer and longer. At first I was assured it would be about an hours walk even without a bus. After an hour it became another 30 minutes, then another hour. After three hours and still no bus I caught site of the Prayer Flags on a distant mountain peak and realized that it would be futile to continue as there was no way to make it there and back before dark so I never did reach it but did have a good Nepali tea break at a tiny Brahmin village where every local gathered around to chat with one attractive girl translating. The people there grow mainly potatoes and cauliflowers. All the women have a glittering ear ring in the side of their nose and some older ones have the most decorative multiple rings in their ears. Marriages here seem to still be arranged with one articulate man expressing some disappointment in his wife who is from the city. I can only imagine how she must feel arriving in that little place, miles from anywhere. Life would be lived without access to book shops, cafes, films, bathrooms and with limited possibilities for conversation, going out, further education electricity etc. Most villagers go to bed when darkness comes often by 7 pm and get up around 4.30 am Small doorways lead in to dark tiny rooms and houses where the sun does not penetrate so all over the country people are squatting outdoors on any pile of trash or dirt most of the day to catch the heat of the sun.

BHAKTAPUR

­­­BHAKTAPUR, NEPAL

Bhaktapur is a UNESCO World Heritage ancient Newari city, it is free of the beeping horns and traffic of Kathmandu. It is full of narrow alleys, wonderful medieval architecture and craftspeople. There are Pagoda roofs, richly carved wooden doors and windows and palaces built mainly of red brick. Wandering lanes opening on to beautiful squares and markets including Potter’s Square where the local black pottery is made and displayed

In the squares there are old pumps where the women still wash themselves and their clothes while others squat down to try to sell their wares of vegetables and fruit out of their baskets that they carry on their heads while walking.

NEPAL

Dear overcrowded, dirty Nepal with its lovely smiling polite patient people, the myriad colours, the dilapidated buses and taxis, the fascination of the teeming mass of humanity dodging out of the way of the darting, honking motor bikes, little cars, tiny men pushing laden down bicycles carrying huge amounts of fruit and goods, pushing heavy carts packed high with every type of building requirement – the women’s bright shawls and trousers, the men in their little Nepalese caps all adding up to a kaleidoscope of bustling life.

I’m back in Kathmandu after a very early flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and from there to the capital of Nepal. The airport here is just as crowded and dusty as ever with very long lines to obtain visas, go through customs etc. Having handed over $100 for a visa along with the usual required photos I was on my way in one of the tiny rattling taxis through the streets milling with people.

The situation here does not seem to have improved at all. Piles of trash still thrown around every piece of waste ground, women squatting down on the dirt with their children beside them, horrendous traffic with most vehicles blowing their horns and motor bikes weaving in and out between cars. Compared to here Thailand is spotless and so easy to navigate.

I am staying in an apartment rented by a friend, Murray, who is from Australia. His wife Maureen is from Ireland and they visited me there last summer but now she is in Australia and he’s doing some research here. It’s a shame she left just a few weeks ago so I didn’t get to see her. The apartment is very nice, it is not close to places where I have been before like Thamel, but the neighbourhood has some lovely houses and it is mainly residential although one sees the cows strolling by and the roads are a disaster.

There is the usual shortage of electricity so there is no power for many hours of the day but there seems to be more water available than last time. I heard that there was quite a monsoon season this year.

Murray is a walker so we explored all the streets around strolling through the dusty pot holed lanes keeping very much to the side as the motor bikes and taxis tried to go around all the holes. Going back to Thamel is fun with the huge mix of vendors, knife sharpeners, the heavily laden bikes of the fruit sellers and the offers to sell every imaginable type of outdoor trekking ware, wildly coloured tops and trousers and the huge curved knives of the Gurkas. There are the wild, dreadlocked Indian Sadues with their whitened faces and bright robes, sad street children, Nepalis, Newaris, Gurungs with the women wearing their nose ornaments, the Tibetans with the women attired in their beautiful aprons. I’ll put some pictures of street scenes in an email that I'll send out to my family and friends.. Everywhere is perfumed with the smells of incense offered to the many Hindu altars to their deities.

My friend Carol has been here from Israel where she has a shop so we went around buying lovely goods wholesale and I, of course, was tempted and bought a few nice things like water shawls and rings. It is fun shopping here and sipping on the Nepali tea that is offered at every stop. The sellers are really nice people and so gentle.

There is a fun market in Kathmandu every Saturday set up mainly by foreigners for ex pat people living here. Many of them are teachers or work with NGOs. Some are married to Nepalis. There are nice things available that are not in the local shops like cheeses and sausages made by the French vendors. There’s a great air of fun and meeting other people and chefs from nearby restaurants are kept busy flipping omelets and serving good smelling food while buyers joke, nibble on cheese and sip on wine, another expensive item in Nepal.

Welcoming 2012

tree made entirely from old CD's
Friends from Italy and England
Sending the "Kom Loys"soaring
Tray of local fruit
Wonderful dancer
Burmese musicians