Another fine day

Today we hiked to a ridge top to visit the World Peace Stupa, a big Buddhist shrine. We spent a little time walking along the Siddhartha Highway, which leads to India - 178 kilometers away, the guide said. It was a tough hike up the ridge -we had to follow some incredibly steep and long stairways to the top. It was interesting, there were great views of the Pokara Valley and we passed through some small villages, but I think we easily climbed 1000 feet or more in an hour. WHEW!!!
The Stupa itself was beautiful. (I think Stupa is another word for a large temple - I'll look this up
when I have a keyboard without sticking keys.) There was a small sanctuary but there was a ceremony going on so I only glanced in and moved on. There were also statues showing different parts of the historic Buddha's life. He is supposed to have been here, and our guide said that was true. As far as I know it is. Yes, I took pictures and will post them - yes we will!

The hike down the ridge was fabulous. We went through a thick forest of rhododendrons and ferns. Many of the deciduous trees were sal, a fairly common species around here; I am not sure of what the others were. Again, some local birds were singing and singing and singing.... We ran into a large troupe of monkeys, adults and babies on the way down!!! Many of them scurried up trees and made faces at us. I got much better monkey pictures than in Costa Rica and I'll post them!!! I promise!!!

Our guide was, again a really nice guy who had a sad situation. He'd been bitten by a monkey and didn't have money for a doctor. He had a huge bandage on his hand, and seemed to be in pain part of the time. We paid him well, gave him some aspirin and told him to see a doctor - I hope he does. It was interesting that he wasn't upset when we ran into the monkey troupe; he seemed to think they were funny!

We'll be here for two more days, then we'll head for southern Nepal to spend four days around a rain forest. I will miss the mountains a lot, but this will be interesting too. I don't know if we'll have access to the Internet down there, but I'll post the answer when I know.
Happy New Year! PG

New Year's Day

At least for the Gurung people of Nepal, this is New Year's Day, so it's another holiday. Winter break for schools starts today.

The Street Festival in Pokhara continues. Last night we heard a free concert by a wonderful group, Kutumba. For a sample, look here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOiuNjnSIs8

Nepal is a mixed bag of old and new. We've liked Pokhara, but what we like is only a small part of the city. We saw some of the rest today when we took buses out to the lovely Begnas Lake. Much of Pokhara is a big city sprawl of stores and smog, very unlike the tourist area of Lakeside where we are. Paul is writing about our adventures at the lake.

In cities, Nepal seems fairly modern, but then there's news stories like the following that give a different side, about the hardships for child brides in Nepal:

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82135

And as long as I'm posting, here's an article about the energy crisis:

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2008/12/30/nepal-facing-energy-crisis/

We do love Nepal and are already planning our next trip, but the problems seem overwhelming sometimes.

KR

Begnas Tal

Today we visited a lake that is near Pokara. We originally planned to do a long hike, but soon discovered that the trails we were looking for had vanished or possibly never existed at all.
We found a boatman who spent a few hours paddling us around the lake and led us on a hike through an interesting village village and a forest to see a smaller and more remote late. It was a quite lovely hike through a very thick forest that was full of constantly singing birds and wildflowers (which weren't singing.) There were also lots of wild fungi, a particular interest of mine as a naturalist. The lake itself was beautiful, and there were views of the Annapurnas. Great day!

Our boatman was a pretty sweet guy. He is 16 and helping to support his family when he isn't in school- he does a lot of boat rowing. He had today off from school because it is Nepali New Year, which happens to almost coincide with the Western New Year this year. He sang us Nepali folk songs as we traveled along. Again, he has a hard situation - he showed us a huge scar on one leg that he got from a bad fall. I am glad we could give him a bit of income; I have no idea of what the Nepali health care system is or what it will be in the future.

Part of the bus ride home was a wild experience. We missed our stop and had to take a second bus to our district. At one point it seemed like they were just trying to see how many people they could get on the us. At one point people were standing in the open doorway and holding on to the bus frame for dear life. (We had seats, fortunately.) Everyone did arrive at their destinations alive and well - but WHEW!

I haven't mentioned this, but we are really eating well on this trip. We get wonderful Nepali and Indian meals for less than $3 a piece. We had Indian tonight - it was quite delicious and very different from the curries and other hotly spiced dishes you get at Indian places in the US. I wouldn't know how to describe it, bit it was yummy!

That's it for now. If any Californians are reading, Please let us know what is happening with the budget hassles in our fair state. And anyone who is reading, give us a YO!

Take care, PG

having fun in Polara

This is a colorful and interesting mountain town as long as you know where to go to avoid the real touristy areas. Cows rule here, I have a funny picture of a car that has to wait while a cow loiters in an intersection. There are also Himalayan hawks who seem to be flying overhead and calling constantly. Mynas shout at us from the nearby trees, as well as many birds I haven't identified. And yes, there are many wildflowers and butterflies. Poinsettias abound! And the lake is beautiful. We can see the mountains from our hotel.

We wanted to kayak on the lake today, but spent most of the morning trying to find the International Mountaineering Museum. I was a bit disappointed in the natural history section, but they did have an interesting display on current projects to preserve biodiversity and the lives of mountain people. They are doing education on sustainable farming and wood gathering, and are looking at developing sustainable and reasonably paying jobs. These range from bee keeping to textile production to gathering of plants for medicines. I wonder how the recent guerrilla war effected these projects, there was no information on that.


The street festival has been almost too fine for words today. The traditional music and folkdancing have been great. Some has been going on outside of our Internet place
as I write. One troupe finished their set, then played volleyball while their musicians
accompanied the game.

There is also this game where people have to walk blindfolded along a course. The goal is to reach a clay pot and smash it with a stick. I tried it, but didn't get there - it's a lot harder than it looks! Kate has pictures of me, of course. We passed by an hour later and saw a woman breaking the pot.

We plan to get outside of town over the next few days for some hiking, and we do plan to kayak. I'll keep you posted. Oh yes, there are historical reasons for the conditions I described yesterday
I'll share what I know another time.
Take it easy, PG

Just in time for a street festival!

We got back to Pokhara in time for a street festival, and the usual congested streets are blocked off to cars. This will continue through New Year's. There seems to be only one place that has music and performances, fortunately close to our hotel. Restaurants have put out seating in the street, and there's some crafts sellers, but mostly the usual stores and vendors. There was a parade led by an elephant and people in costume.

Sangarkot was beautiful, and we enjoyed visiting villages. The sunrise view of the Annapurnas was spectacular. We spent our last night reading by candlelight in front of a kerosene heater. Nepal's great, but the 10 hour a day power outages are hard to take. Right now we're in a cybercafe with a generator, but there were few generators in Sangarkot. Our hotel used candles. Here in Pokhara our hotel has a backup generator. Still, Sherpa Resort was comfortable, and we enjoyed our mountain views.

KR

Back in Pokara

Odd being back in town after 2 days in the Highlands, but they have blocked off streets for a festival and it is incredibly quieter. We hope to see some music and dance performances.

If anything, the Annapurnas were more spectacular this morning. It was clearer and the sunlight on the snow seemed to turn all possible variations of orange, red and pink. Amazing!!! The ride back to Pokara was hair raising. The taxi crept along a really windy road and did some hairpin turns while dodging other cars, rocks, motorbikes, etc.

The longer we are here, the more we realize that Nepal, with all its fascination and glorious beauty is a heartbreaking place. Kate has mentioned the desperate poverty. People frantically call to us from stores to come in and look bedspreads, jewelry, wall hangings, all kinds of crafts. people follow us down streets trying us to buy jewelry and practically beg us to buy jewelry and trinkets. Cab drivers and rickshaw drivers stop in front of us when we stop and
look around and try to usher us into seats, and seem really disappointed when we say we are only going two blocks. People really try to convince us they should do our laundry even when we tell them we just had it done. These people are quite desperate, and barely making it at best. The wonderful kids we talked with yesterday are mostly pretty poor, it's a wonder they keep their sense of playfulness. We've seen desperate poverty in Mexico and other places, but this is harsher than those situations.

Then there are these power outages. In February electricity will be unavailable for 16-18 hours a day. We talked to someone in Sangerkat who mentioned several reasons for them. Nepal largely relies on hydro electrical power and the main dams have been damaged. Also, there is a water shortage; there has been low rainfall and snowfall n the mountains possibly because of climate change. Also, Nepal buys electricity from India, but the supply lines have been damaged by storms . The situation is a little 1984-ish; power isn't available in the evening, but is available around 2 in the morning when most people can't use it. Actually people tell us it's an ongoing problem - the current government didn't create it, but they are not solving it either.

What can improve this situation? Maybe the Buddhists are onto something when they say suffering is a given and the only thing to do is to work on one's own heart and consciousness and be helpful to people wherever it's possible. But this doesn't answer the question of why some people have it so much harder than others, especially in a place like Nepal.

I am a great believer that one can recognize the human suffering in a place and still love its birds, flowers, ecosystems and mountains. Non-human life also needs protection. Also, life is bittersweet for humans and for other creatures; recognizing this might help us think about realistic and kind ways to be helpful.

I am rambling, and will stop. We'll be based in Pokara for the next five or six days, and will let you know how we're doing. Namaste, as always. PG

ON TOP OF THE WORLD!

(Note - this will be a fairly long post. The power went out yesterday when I was writing it. Fortunately, the program saved it, so I'll finish what I was writing and add today's comments. It starts like this:)
We're not really on top of the world,, but it sure feels that way. We are staying at a simple but comfortable lodge up here tonight and next night. It really feels like we are in a different century and a different reality. We followed a trail along the steep hillside today, incredible views of the valley below. It's been cloudy, but the Annapurnas are making an appearance - again, pictures will be posted when we can find a cable to download them. Huge, huge mountains, wrapped in clouds... we expect better views tomorrow.

We hiked through some villages today. Most people live in stone houses, with tin roofs. Some have shutters but
no windows. More affluent ones are all stone with windows. People are farmers - they seem to grow lots of vegetables here. As we hike along the trail people come out and ask us where we are going, where we are from, etc. These are standard greetings along the trails in Nepal/ Some folks ask for money or try to sell something, but most just seem curious. Kids are especially curious about who we are and what we are about. I know they see a lot of hikers up here, but we must seem like a real oddity to them. We've gotten some real laughs from some of them by acting silly, the way we both do with kids at home.

On the whole life seems extremely basic here. We did see one guy talking on a cellphone, and he sure seemed out of space. I can't imagine what he does for reception up here, but he was talking away. Language is a problem. We both tried unsuccessfully to learn some Nepalese, we only know a few words. Most people in Pokara speak some English, but fewer folks here do.

They must get a lot of rain here, there are a lot of broadleafed plants and a number of ferns. There are a lot more wildflowers than I expected. At first I wondered what was pollinating them, but I have seen lots of bees and butterflies today. Some of the flowers are small roses, there are also some daisies and some that look like lilac flowers. The plant book I bought in Kathmandu doesn't have a key so I can't figure out what many of them are
beyond this. Oh yes - the poinsetta trees are in bloom with amazing red flowers.

(I completed last night's post and will go on to today's.)

How on earth do I describe dawn over the Annapurnas? The mountains that we saw from Nagarkot were distant and ethereal; these are much closer - IN YOUR FACE HIMALAYAS!!! Again, the concept of size seems meaningless here. Huge, huge peaks, largely covered with snow that catches rose and orange light at dawn.
They are shaped like pyramids, icebergs, great ovals all twisted in unimaginable angles. One is called Fishtail in English - I can't remember its Nepalese name. It does look like a huge, thin fish's tail among the others. Immense dark valleys separate the mountains. Their color turns to silver gray and snow white when the sun rises. They are wrapped in clouds now but we'll see them again tomorrow, and from other places. Again, I've written poetry and will share it with anyone who is interested later.And yes, photos will come when we can get a cable.

Today we took a long hike through some local villages, along a ridge overlooking the Himalayan foothills (which are also quite beautiful. Very interesting towns. The kids here are amazing. They gathered around us in small groups a few times, They were fascinated with my binoculars, which I let them use , and with my bird and plant books. Several of them looked at every page in the bird book. They told us the Nepalese names for the bird and we told them the English names - I'm sure none of us will remember the names in other languages, but it was fun. One pretty precocious boy who must have been about 7 just kept saying "Very bird! Very bird!"

Other kids asked us for money or sweets, one asked us for pizza and laughed loudly. Some of the kids are raising money for equipment for their sports teams; they ask hikers for small donations. They are very grateful when you give them a little, they record your name and country, maybe so they can show how many folks gave.

On the whole the situation had kind of a "Little Rascals" feel. Most of the kids seem to have a healthy combination of curiosity, sweetness and mischievousness, like anywhere. A few seemed a little tougher, like everywhere, but nothing troubling happened. Oh yes - one small boy seemed to think I was giving him the bird book and started to run off with it. His grandmother (I think) made him give it back.

Oh yes, we had a fun interaction with a couple of goats, one of whom tried to take a bite out of my sweater while I was petting it. I got the sweater away from it in one piece. We also saw an animal that I think was a mongoose
scurry across the road.

It's great here but very cold at night and the language difficulties are a bit of a problem. We'll return to Pokara tomorrow for some more adventures; I'll post from there sometime tomorrow. PG

Good day in Pokara

Most of today was devoted to planning this part of the trip. It was a bit of a hassle for a while, but it all worked out fine. I'll include details later.
We didn't like Pokara much at first - too big and touristy, but we have found some interesting sections and have come to like it a lot more. We saw an interesting Christmas pageant in town earlier; it kind of reminded us of the posadas we've seen in Mexico and Costa Rica. There is a big lake here and we took a boat ride on it to get from one part of town to another. A woman who was in her 50s or 60s rowed the boat, and she was definitely a tough person with a sense of humor. The lake is lovely, with forests and hills around it, I hope we get to explore it. We hope to kayak one day. And yes we did get our first glance at the Annapurnas, AWESOME! We'll see more of them soon.

When we were eating dinner tonight a demonstration passed by. Our Tibetan waiter, who we'd been chatting with said it was a Maoist union demanding implementation of the minimum wage. He said this had already happened so he wasn't sure of what the issue was. It was actually a rather jolly demonstration, people were chatting and laughing and one person had a balloon.
The cops seemed to be taking it in stride; it didn't look like a confrontation was coming.

We are going to Sarangkot in the highlands near here tomorrow for some hikes and better views of the Annapurnas. We've booked two nights but are considering staying for three, we'll decide when we are there. I am not sure if we'll have access to the Internet there; we'll know tomorrow.
If not our next post will be either Sunday or Monday (our time); I think that is Saturday or Sunday (USA time). Give us a bit of leeway, we'll be back in touch soon.

After Sarangkot we will stay in Pokara for a few more days and visit some mountainous areas around here. There will also be a street festival here which could be interesting.

Oh yeah, people are telling me that it is definitely too cold in the higher mountains for real trekking, this is what I expected. Some people are doing it; I guess they are more rugged and crazier than we are and we are fairly rugged and crazy. Maybe we'll come back another day and do it.
Happy holidays and namaste, PG
ps. What is going on in the US anyhow? We do hear some things, but would like to know more.

Christmas in Pokhara

In a country that's 80% Hindu, we were somewhat surprised at being wished Merry Christmas by just about everyone we met in Pokhara but even more surprised at finding a Christmas pageant being held in the middle of a street near our hotel. And even more surprising was that some schools and government offices were closed. We're reading in the papers that the government has made today an official holiday. Since 2006, Nepal has been a secular country, and they are trying to treat all religions equally. Right now there's a Christmas parade going down the street, including a group of Santas on motorcycles playing Christmas music and some bus loads of kids.

People here are eager to talk about politics, economy, Obama, and the problems of life in Nepal. The economic recession is hitting Nepal, and prices are rising while jobs are disappearing. Many Nepalis are moving to other countries, especially Saudi Arabia and Malaysia. One thing I didn't know is that the US has a Diversity Visa program for countries with low immigration rates, and many Nepalis are moving to the US under this program. Nepali communities are forming in places like West Virginia. Our waiter tonight has a sister in Berkeley and a wife in Oakland.

During dinner we saw our first demonstration. Our waiter said it was about enforcing the minimum wage.

Tomorrow we head off into the mountains for a couple of nights, to Sangarkot. This is a place for a great view of the Himalayas (if it's not cloudy) and a starting point for some mountain hikes. We don't know yet if we have internet access. Our place is the Sherpa Resort, sherparesort.com.

KR

We're in Pokara

Travel in the third world is always eye opening. When we got up this morning, there was no electricity and the water supply was out all over Kathmandu. Our hotel staff was wonderful, they made sure we had breakfast in time to make our bus at 7:30. They cooked with gas and used bottled water for coffee.
All in all our experience was relatively easy. Many people deal with issues like this on a daily basis with a much bigger impact on their lives. While walking to the bus station we saw people burning egg cartons to stay warm.
The bus ride here was incredibly beautiful. We traveled through great agricultural and mountainous areas and met nice folks on the bus. Pokara is bigger and busier than we expected - it's not Nagarkot but it's not Kathmandu either. We haven't had time to explore, we've been dealing with showers, laundry, etc. We will find adventures from here, I'll keep you posted. We are staying in a hotel that uses money to support educational programs for lower caste kids - we'll see what we can find out about it tomorow. More soon, PG

Nagarkot

First, a quick clarification. I got really excited in the temples the other day. I studied Hinduism and Buddhism seriously in college and have read about them since then. I respect many (but not all!) aspects of both without considering myself a follower of either. It was exciting to see things I've read about, and I love historical and archaeological sites.


The Kumari issue, which Kate mentioned is troubling, to put it mildly. Our guides assumed we wanted to see this "Living Goddess" and took us into her space without asking if we were
interested. Both of us kept our mouths shut while thinking that no child should be treated this way. How far should we go with cultural sensitivity?


Anyhow, Nagarkot, in the highlands near Kathmandu was unbelievable. It is a quiet and very interesting agricultural town. We had a hotel where we could see the Himmalayas from our room's window! I was really astounded and shaken at first sight. My father used to tell me I really had to see them someday, and there I was.


How to describe them? Immense and I mean IMMENSE mountains, shaped like pyramids,
cones, rugged rock constructions covered with snow. They were easily 50 miles away
but they dominated our view of the valley that separated us from them. We were at about 6700
feet above sea level, but these mountains were so much higher than we were that the whole idea of size stopped meaning anything. It was cloudy both days we were there, so the mountains would vanish then reappear. The really astounding sight was the mountains at dawn, when they emerged from darkness and the snow turned rose colored.

The highlands around us were huge rolling hills. This is a farming area, and large parts of the hills are terraced with farmhouses nearby. Farmers grow a lot of wheat there.There were all patches of trees on the hillsides as well. We were both amazed to find butterflies and wildflowers near us; I would not have dreamed it was the season for them.

Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) is pretty far from where we were, but somebody pointed in its direction and I am sure I picked it out. Another goal achieved.

These descriptions are not doing the area justice. We will post pictures when we find a computer
where we can download them. We'll do that at home if not before. Yes, I've written poems, I'll pass them on to folks who are interested.

The really interesting thing about Nagarkot is there was a strike by hotel workers about a month ago. The government supported the strikers and arranged for buses to take tourists back to Kathmandu until it was all over. The workers did win a wage increase. Things were so mellow when we were there you wouldn't have guessed this major struggle took place there recently.

It is hard being back in Kathmandu - after the mountains it seems more chaotic to me than before. We leave for Pokara near the Annapurna Range tomorrow morning, I think we'll have Internet access there. I'll keep you posted.
Namaste, PG

We're back in Kathmandu

We just spent two wonderful nights at Nagarkot Farmhouse, where we had a room with a view of the Himalayas and some lovely gardens. Nagarkot is two hours away from Kathmandu, but a world of difference after the stress of the big city. It's famous for its beautiful sunrises. It was hard to come back, partly because it was such a lovely place and partly because there was no taxi or bus service from the hotel, about an hour walk with our packs. The hotel arranged to have a guy shuttle us on the back of his motorcycle one by one to the bus stop. Anyway, we made it back, for better or worse.

Nepal is going through some interesting times, with a new constitution in the works. There's lots of debate and fighting going on, and we run into different opinions about how things are going. Many groups are fighting for representation. There is also news of fights between Maoists and other groups, including a physical attack on a newspaper that had been critical of strikes. Many journalists demonstrated in opposition today. We see news of demonstrations, but so far nothing has affected us.

We also see religious differences in the areas we go to. Patan had both Buddhist and Hindu areas, while Nagarkot seemed primarily Buddhist. Our bus today took us through a Brahmin area, and we passed an area that seemed to have some Christians, including a line of bikes with Happy Christmas! and Jesus is the One Path on their bikes.

Tomorrow we head for Pokhara, where we think we will have internet access. Our hotel at Nagarkot had a computer but it never worked. We'll be at the Butterfly Lodge, which uses profits to educate lower caste kids. KR

Patan

If we don't find internet where we are going, we'll post again when we hit Kathmandu, Wednesday (our time>) I think the other towns will have access, but you never know. PG

Some stuff

One place our Durbar Square guides took us to was the home of Kumari, the "living godess" of Nepal. She is supposedly inhabited by the spirit of a Hindu godess. The current one is new, just three years old, and she will serve until she hits puberty then become a nun. The godess goes on to inhabit a new girl, who will be from Lumbini, have certain physical characteristics, and not flinch in the presence of poisonous snakes. She used to be supported by the government but now lives on donations. So the guides gathered a group of tourists, the three year old girl peered at us from a second story window for a few moments, then disappeared from sight. More info here: http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/kumari.php

One of my first impressions is how difficult life is here. There are daily power outages of 10 hours per day, and some places also suffer from water shortages. Everyone we talk to complains about the lack of jobs and rising cost of living. Pollution in the valley is pretty extreme. Prime Minister Prachandra was recently quoted as saying that it was much easier running a revolutionary movement than running the country. Indeed.

Kathmandu

Ok,thinking back, Changi Airport was, in many ways like a mall. Very super consumerist. But it was also a pleasant place to spend a night, and a great place for people watching.

The flight across India was very interesting, I wish we'd have had a map to see where we were. And then you seethe Himalayas - huge mountains build from sky and clouds it seemed.

How to describe Kathmandu?Nothing will prepare you for it. We met folks from our hotel at the airport. The ride to the hotel was like being in a pinball, narrowly missing people, mototcycles, cars, etc. WE walked around the Thamel, the tourist district yesterday afternoon. Intense doesn't do it justice. No sidewalks, narrow streets and motorcycles rule. Anytime we stopped to get our bearings we'd be approached by taxior rickshaw drivers,
merchants who wanted us to come into their stores, beggars. In our tired jetlagged state it was tooo much. We did have a wonderful Nepali meal and found Pilgrim Books, which is fascinating. But we were asleep by 8.

Today has been both intense and interesting. WE went to Durba Square, the historic district where a couple of guides (one very drunk) hooked onto us and showed us around. It was quite interesting but they wanted quite a bit of money for an hour's walk. WE paid them less than they wanted, which they accepted nnot too happily. It is very obvious that there are very desperate people here. It is both necessary and tough to let them know we're not rich tourists.

WE visited an Ethnographic museum and learned about ethnic groups in Nepal. WE also had a long discussion
with folks at the office of an environmental education group - learned a lot about the situation here. I may work on some article proposals and contact them again. WE also wandered a lot. It's fascinating to watch people here,
but watch out for those motorcycles.
Enough for now, we'll try to check in tomorow.PG

Changi Airport in Singapore

PG says: We arrived here around 1:30 AM, fly to Kathmandu in about 3 hours. (it's 6:30 AM.)It's been a really peaceful and interesting night here. It looks like the whole world passes through here - I think Singapore is a major connecting point between Asia and other parts of the world. Security is tight - cops everywhere, they did check our passports but they were pleasant - no hassles. They were checking everyone's passports. The airport has free internet, gardens you can walk through - we saw an orchid garden and a fern garden. Stores are open all night - you can get coffee, beer, meals, clothes, cell phones, etc. all night long. I settled for a cup of tea about an hour ago. Very interesting night. My only complaint is that they keep playing the same CD over and over - it sounds like George WInston, the pianist. I do like his work, but variety is nice. They've changed it recently, thanks. On to Kathmandu!!!

WE'RE IN SINGAPORE

Man, it was a long flight from San Francisco to here, about 18 hours with an hour stop at Inchon, South Korea. We had to get off the plane there with carryons and go through security, go figure...
We had lots of food on the plane, served very graciously. The only thing was when we were sleeping the staff would wake us and ask if we wanted ice cream, pretzels, wine, etc. WE did manage to get some sleep.
WE are here overnight, then on to Kathmandu!! We'll check in from there.

We're gone in less than two days...

PG here. It is Sunday night, rainy in Oakland and we are both ready to go...
I thought I'd share some basic information about Nepal, things I've discovered recently.
This is going to be an amazing trip. It will be eye-opening to a lot of realities about that part of the world. Nepal is a very poor country with a long history of political disagreements.
Some conservative Hindu intellectuals, acting on instructions from the king created the idea that it is a Shangrila type of kingdom where everyone seeks enlightenment and believes the king is an incarnation of the god Vishnu. They put this idea out around the 1950s -60s, but some travelers still seem to believe it. I gather that many people in Nepal have been bemused by those Western voyagers who seem unaware of the real social and economic conditions. Kate and I will be among those who keep our eyes and ears open and share what we discover. FORGET KATHMANDU by Manjushree Thapa is a good book on the history and politics.

Still, Nepal is a very religions culture. It seems that most people are Hindu, with Buddhism coming in second. Apparently these two systems of thought blend together, especially in the Kathmandu region. People in the more remote areas seem to include these philosophies with
ancient anamistic religions - belief in local nature gods. Christianity and Islam are present, but they are minority religions. It's hard to tell, but it seems that many educated people are fairly secular, although with many Hindu and Buddhist influences on their perspectives. I'll know more soon.

Nepal has four basic ecological regions, running from south to north. The Terai is flat and fertile land near the border with India. It is agricultural and industrial but it includes some rainforests. The Churai foothills rise from the south towards the North. The Midmountain zone is higher and more rugged country that approaches the Himmalayas, and the high Himmalayas are the fourth zone. Each of course has its own climate, topography, plant life and wildlife. I'll send reports on all places we manage to visit. The weather may keep us out of the real Himmalayas, but we'll see...

And literature. I'll try not to hit you with a lot of poetry, but I'll post two short ones that give a bit of a feeling about the culture. The first is "I Hate" by Balkrishna Sama:

"I hate the loveliest star-studded silks.
I hate the scent of the prettiest flower.
I hate the moonlight's thin, lacy veil,
because, because,
they come between your lips and mine."

WHOA!

The second is "Last Poem" by Lekhynath Paudyal:

"God Himself endures this pain.
This body is where He dwells,
By its fall he is surely saddened,
He quietly picks up his things, and goes."

The classic Hindu attitude "Brahmin is Atman", or the idea that God is present in all of us and in everything. Whatever one may think of that belief, this is a touching poem, especially if it really is his last poem.

Both of these were 2oth century writers. I found their work in HIMMALAYA VOICES: AN INTRODUCTION TO MODERN NEPALI LITERATURE, translated and edited by Michael James Hutt, University of California Press, 1991

That's more than enough for now. I'll probably post again from the Singapore airport in a couple of days. PG

Almost there!

We just got our boarding passes and are less than 48 hours from leaving! We leave December 16 and arrive in Kathmandu on December 18. We'll spend a few nights in Kathmandu, then off to Nagarkot, then Bhaktapur. Around Dec. 25 we'll be catching a bus to Pokhara for several days in the region, then a trip to Chitwan. We'd like to fit in Lumbini if possible. Anyway, we'll be flying to Japan on Jan. 9, leaving on Jan. 19, back to Oakland on Jan. 19 as well. The flights are probably definite, but everything in between is open for change. Here we go!

--Kate

First thoughts from Paul Geof

This will be the trip of a lifetime. Nepal is supposed to be cool in December and January. We will focus our trip on the lower and mid-level elevations- Kathmandu Valley, the area around Pokhara(near the Annapurna Range) and Royal Chitwan National Park, which is actually a rain forest. I think the higher areas will be too cold and snowed in for a visit, but we may get some other information when we are there.

We are thrilled, departure time is in a little more than two weeks. We'll see lots of natural places as well as learning about the people and history. I hope we find a sitar concert or two! Nepal is going through a lot of political changes right now, this should be quite fascinating.

Japan will largely be an urban adventure, where we will experience the culture, people and history. We will make time for some hiking. We both have friends who live there and we will spend time with them. Again, I hope to make it to some cultural events.

Since some of you know me as Paul and others as Geof, I will identify myself as P.G. when I have something to say.

Take care, P.G.

Beginnings

We are preparing for our first trip to Nepal and Japan, leaving December 16. We don't yet have an itinerary for Nepal but will post our plans as we get them. In Japan, we will be going to Tokyo and Kyoto (overnight buses in between), with our last night in Nikko. At this point, we are making our packing lists, practicing Nepali, and hiking in our local parks to get in shape.

Kate