Nepal

October 2, 2008 at 8:25 am · Filed under Uncategorized

O.K. so I finally have a chance to sit down and make an initial entry.  It is hard b/c the electricity keeps going off plus it’s hard to find a decent connection.  I will try my best to get you updated.  I arrived in Nepal at Kathmandu on September 4th with a one way ticket in my pocket.  I met up with a couple of Israeli guys and we got a room for the night.  The hard thing is the pollution in Kathmandu and traffic…….supposedly it is compared to Mexico City but either way I got super plugged up.  There are no traffic rules here and tons of motorcycles.  Now that I think of there are no rules for anything.   I contacted my friend Rajendra Acharya and he picked me up the next day.  He is the Head Director of Nepalese Television.  That afternoon he took me to his office building and not even locals can go to this complex……..this is the same place that the Prime Minister is located.  It was in good shape.  He introduced me to all of his co-workers including editors, reporters etc. etc.  I got a chance watch a live news cast and it was pretty neat……it helped that the News anchor was very beautiful!!!!

I met up with Yagya a couple days later (we got seperated but I will have to tell that story in person)  and he stayed with me at Raj’s home.  They have Saturdays off in Nepal so myself, Raj, his daughter Sanskriti (Nanu), his wife Salena (De De) and Yagya went Boca (goat) hunting!!!  I will also have to tell this story in person but Raj is one crazy man and also very hilarious.  We went from small farm to small farm and everywhere in between bartering and getting kicked out of homes for trying to get a Boca for absolutely next to nothing……These locals would get very angry and run us off of their property!!!! ha ha ha it was funny!!  So we finally found one at the Temple we were traveling too deep down in the jungle outside of town with a river running underneath.  It is for the God Cali.  Everyone was worshipping and we had the goat sacrificed by a priest…..very interesting experience.  I of course watched b/c I want the whole experience right?!!!  We had it completely cleaned out and skinned.  We ate every part of that goat including the Capaar (the skull) over about a week in half.  I mean everything…..  This is including him giving a lot of it away to neighbours and others living in his flat.  I helped Selena in the kitchen prepare and cook Momo ( a type of chicken and vegetables rapped in home ade doe and steam…..like pot sticker….very difficult to wrap but I managed.  I love his family very much and they have been sooooo hospitable and friendly……I am trying to learn as much Nepalese as possible to communicate with them.  I also went to a school festival of Sanskriti’s with dancing and food.  Salena works there as a teacher.

Sooooo the days following I went to many great Temples all over the valley and hung out with Yagya and met all his friends.  They are all very very interesting, very old and beautiful.  I’ll post pictures here or maybe on web shots or something.

After that Yagya I and another American Luke headed out on a trekking trip around the Annapurna Circuit!!!!  The mountains were soooo huge.  It was more beautiful then I could have imagined.  It rained so hard the first couple of days that some pretty intense landslides had come down and we had to navigate around them so it took longer then expected!!  I also had about a 30 pound pack………don’t ask me why and it got very, very heavy!!!  What the hell was I doing caring books?!!!!! I mean books?!!!  come on!!!  I also got sick on this hike but the view and experience through all the little Nepalese towns and villages were all worth it!!  We trekked from an elevation of about 1-2,000 feet all the way up to 17,000 feet so saw everything from rice paddies to jungle to Tundra and then just huge mountain peaks!!!!  We Trekked for about 12 days   I came down out of the Himalayas and stayed in Pohkara again for 2 more nights.  This town is sooo layed back and just a very neat place.  At the base of the mountains with a awesome view and a huge lake for canoeing a boating…..very relaxing place.  I have been meeting many other Trekkers.  I have only ran into 2 Americans since I have been here.  I have met French, Dutch, Spanish, Israeli, Chinese, etc. etc. but just not many Americans in this part of the world.  So after that (let me remind you I am probably missing a lot but this will give you a good idea)  I met up with 2 very pretty girls from Holland that were travelling to a National Park in Chitwan.  They were both medical students that have an internship in Eastern Nepal.  They were very great!! I had a really good time if you are reading this!!!  There I rode an elephant and saw rhinos, crocodiles, monkeys etc.  Went on a jungle walk.  Oh yeah I have fought 100’s and 100’s of Leeches in different hikes into the jungle….freaks me out!!!!  Also went to an Elephant breeding ground and took in a culutural show where I actually danced with the locals as they pulled me on stage!!!!  I got moves……. After that we went to Lumbini (Buddhas birthplace) travelling all day and even abandoning our bus to hike into another town b/c of a protest in the middle of the road blocking both sides of traffic……………protests and strikes happen all the time and everything stops…its frustrating but you just have to laugh and be patient.   We rented bicycles in Lumbini and visited the birthplace of Buddha, the tree his mother held on to to give birth and the exact spot and rock of his birth among many other historical things including the Pagoda Peace Temple (impressive) etc.  I travelled all day yesterday from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. b/c of a strike on the end of Kathmandu b/c of a child that got ran over and then accident.  In this country if that happens the driver must run for his life or be lynched and killed by the family and friends of the child.  We were stuck in traffic for like 4-6 hours.  should have only been about 6 hours of travel.  Now I am back in Kathmandu and am going to Yagys’ village Atcham in a very, very remote and rural village in Western Nepal.  It will be the most cultural experience of my life.  I will be there for about a month……….maybe I’ll teach english?!!!!  I may need to brush up on it anyway.  Also when we are there we are going to some more national parks, random hikes in the mountains and planning a trip down to the Taj Mahal and maybe to Dehli if I can talk him into………..should be really great.

O.k. so I know I missed a lot b/c that is almost a month of stuff in a couple of paragraphs but here it is my peeeeeeeps!!!

Love you and hope all is well in your life!!!

p.s. After that the plan right now is to hike to Mt. Everest and after that to India again………..we will see just planning it by year…………day by day.  Oh yeah and bungee jumping!! I will travel until I am tired, have it out of my system or go broke!!!  ha ha don’t worry Dad I am fine.

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