Bugs Abroad: December 2012

It's amazing to think we've been on the road for three months and that we are leaving Nepal tonight on what we expect to be a hellish 16 hour night bus to Silugiri, India. We are both excited to continue with our journey and have some new experiences but also sad to leave Nepal. At this moment, however, we are itching to get out of Kathmandu.

Since the Indian visa process is convoluted and a bureaucratic nightmare, and because we have both suffered two bouts of food poisoning (the fancy Thanksgiving dinner we splurged on put us out for three days, thanks Kilroys) we have spent too much time in the city. Kathmandu is one of the most polluted cities in the world and the sound of the congested vehicles clogging the roads and blaring their horns can give you a headache, take your toes off and turn your boogers black. The people in the city aren't particularly as friendly as in other places in the country and the sheer crush of humanity makes you go a little crazy. I find myself wanting to break out into a zombie trance or start convulsing and shouting nonsense just so people will give me some space as I walk down the crowded streets.

We walked from the main tourist ghetto of Thamel to stay near the Durbar Square of Kathmandu, the historic center of the old city, on Freak Street. This was where all of the hippies of the '60's that flocked to this part of the world in search of spiritual enlightenment and legal hashish would stay. It is also where the Snowman bakery is still operating, an institution from those days and where one can get the best cakes and pies this side of Mom's kitchen. We recuperated from a belly bug there for a few days and chilled out a little further from the madness that is most of Kathmandu.

We also took a trip south of the Bagmati river to Patan, which was a rival city to Kathmandu in the past, but has been all but swallowed up in the sprawl today. There were many old stupas and other religious buildings to see scattered throughout the congested streets. It was nice to get a peek at what life is like for more people in the city, a little bit away from the well developed tourist business, although they still leveraged large entrance fees for the major sights.

We have spent several days around the Kathmandu valley as well, to escape the city as we wait for our Indian visa to be processed. We found a great homestay on a permaculture farm just 40km from KTM called Hasera Farm. It was a great opportunity to meet some people and get to know some Nepali traditions as well as helping out around the farm. It's amazing how good it feels to do a little work after being idle for so long. The family was extremely friendly and made unlimited supplies of delicious healthy food, including fresh curd made from the milk of the cow that lived on the farm.

One of the days there was a wedding ceremony in the village so we went to watch. The Nepalis were extremely welcoming and we danced and ate with the rest of the village. The ceremony was very different from weddings in the West. There was so much going on at all times and people talking, laughing and dancing and not necessarily paying attention to the bride and groom. The ceremony took place around a fire that the couple walked around and gave offerings to. Most Nepali marriages are arranged and the couple didn't look particularly happy during the ceremony.

From the farm we hiked to Namobuddha, one of the holiest sites south of the Himalayas for Tibetan buddhists. The grounds were beautifully groomed thanks to the monks that lived in the several monasteries around the complex. The next day we continued our hike and stayed in Panauti, a well preserved Newari (the cultural group that lives in the valley) village with traditional pink brick and dark wood temples that surrounded the burning ghats where Hindus hold their cremation ceremonies at the confluence of two rivers.

Heading back towards Kathmandu we stayed two nights at Bouddha, 6km from the city center and a world away from the bustle. Bouddha is one of the iconic Nepali white stupas with golden eyes staring down at pilgrims circumambulating the grounds and prayer flags surrounding it. A large Tibetan community lives in the neighborhood and there are several monasteries and places to study Tibetan medicine, massage and culture. Amazingly enough we ran into a Ukranian girl we had met several times trekking who was studying massage. We gladly offered ourselves as volunteers for her to practice.

We have spent the last couple of days dealing with the Indian Embassy (have we mentioned that it's a hassle?) and having some fun bartering in the many shops around Thamel to pick up some souvenirs. Nepal has been an extremely interesting place to visit culturally and geographically. We have walked for hundreds of miles with our few belongings on our backs through fields of grain, all around the highest terrain that either of us have ever set foot on, and along mighty rivers to their sources, glaciers tucked into the folds of jagged mountains. We have also met many people here, tourists from all around the world, simple farmers and herders on small holdings in the hills and mountains, and modern young Nepali city dwellers blasting Adele from the tinny speakers of their cell phones. It is with a bit of sadness that we leave this small country so densely packed with wonders, but it is an exciting prospect to be about to embark on another leg of our journey in India, a huge country even more densely packed with experiences awaiting us.

Sprawling Kathmandu in the heart of Thamel (the tourist ghetto).

Our fancy Thanksgiving dinner, the "Royal Dal Baht" supposedly the royal family would eat here when there was royalty- too bad it gave us food poisoning.