Nepal Ease
Nepal is everything Tibet was not.
The landscape is crowded with thick vegetation, from bright, green rice paddies to tall, leafy banana trees. Rivers and cascading waterfalls cut through forested valleys. The warm air is thick and humid, rich with the smells of life and spice. The food, the wonderful food! Everything is available, from Nepalese curry and lentil soup through to pizza and burgers .
Kathmandu is a sprawling expanse of a city with restaurants, hotels, showers, sit down toilets and Laundromats. It's overflowing with beeping traffic, with every type of vehicle ever to have wheels. This newly found luxury and civilization has also come with reduced prices. Tibet was not expensive, but Nepal is dirt cheap. A quality hotel room with bathroom costs no more than AU$3 a night. A three course meal at an expensive restaurant is lucky to cost AU$4.
And on top of all this, the thing that wins it all hands down for Nepal, is the people. They are possibly the most friendly people on this planet, almost too friendly. A simple act of changing money becomes a half hour chat with the guy behind the teller. Every time we leave our hotel we end up chatting with the guy behind the counter for half an hour about our plans for the day, the weather, the Maoists, even dating procedures in Australia.
Everybody speaks English, but it's more the laid back attitude of "hey, welcome to our country" that wins us over. There's a justifiable pride in these people for their homeland and at the same time an in-built sense of hospitality - there's nothing they won't do to help. Of course there are plenty of touts and scam artists that take advantage of this, but even these guys are so friendly and easy going that you don't mind over much that they are trying to sell you a trek (or a pound of hashish) that you don't really want or need, for double the normal price.
The Maoists - a strange bunch. They are basically rebel, freedom fighters, trying to reintroduce democracy to Nepal, which is currently run by a government appointed by the King. They are communists, and are inspired by Mao Zedong, the late leader of Communist China. To us, it seems a strange choice of inspiration, since Chairman Mao was an insane dictator responsible for the death of thousands and the destruction of a lot of Chinese, Tibetan and Uyghur culture. Obviously the history of China has been a little embellished in the telling to these Nepalese rebels.
The Maoists are a formidable force, and generally have the support of the public (though not always). When we first arrived in Nepal, we were told that the Maoists had set up a 'blockade' around Kathmandu, demanding the release of political prisoners. It was with some surprise then that we boarded one of the many buses to Kathmandu and arrived some six hours later without any sign of a blockade. No one in Nepal, it seems, wants to upset the valuable tourists.
Most of the economy is based on tourism and both the Maoists and the government have decided to keep their little war away from tourist based activities. There are military check points all over Nepal and at each all passengers have to get off the bus and walk through, getting checked out for possible Maoist links. The exception to this is the tourists - we sit on the bus and drive through, the heavily armed soldiers waving and saluting us with friendly smiles.
Aside from the Maoists, the student groups in Kathmandu are another source of political unrest. There are frequent protests and rallies in the city (though rarely near the tourist area of Thamel where we are staying). These often end when the police march in with batons and tear gas. Strikes are called frequently too, and there has been at least two days where shops, buses and taxis have shut down at the 'request' of Maoists or student groups in protest against the government (anyone who ignores the 'request' has their shop or car stoned).
All in all this hasn't affected us, though the frequent stopping of buses for check points (buses are crowded, even the roof has little seating space left) makes public transport enough of a hassle that we avoid it. Instead we hire out a couple of mountain bikes. Kathmandu is in the center of a lush valley and within a few hours ride in any direction you can be up in the mountains looking down over the rich, green expanse of rice paddies and forests.
Kathmandu traffic takes some getting used to. For westerners on push bikes, it at first seems like total chaos. Six lanes of traffic seem to squeeze into one tiny back alley, with pedestrians scrambling in between cars, carts and bikes. After a while, however, we start to find the rhythm to it all. There's no order, no rules, but there is a flow and everything seems to just work itself out. The trick is to ebb and flow with the traffic, never stopping, never rushing, like a river meandering down a mountain.
Of course at least one of us has to have a stack. It's inevitable - Murphy's Law combined with the coordination levels of your average computer geek. Being the generous lad that I am, I take the hit for the team and go down hard. Ironically it's a traffic light that causes the problems, one of the few in Nepal.
Glover is ahead of me and rounds the corner just as the lights change orange. Not wanting to lose him in the crush of traffic, I jump up a gear and go for the standing pedal. The bike slides out from under me as I turn and the next thing I know I'm lying spread eagle on the road, bleeding from a few shallow wounds, while a copper (who had been standing on the corner watching me attempt to run a red light) picks up my bike and traffic swerves around me. No serious damage is done, but the copper, with a mischievous grin, explains that I should slow down when the light goes orange not speed up.
We spend four days riding around Kathmandu valley. It's the monsoon season so the shortcuts we take put us on mud covered roads. We arrive each evening at our destination covered in sweat and mud. Luckily the Nepalese hospitality extends even to us dirty bikers and we are given prime rooms each time - with good showers. Tourism is slow as well at the moment due to the Maoist threat (more physchological than physical) and we are often the only guests at most places.
Every day seems to be festival day here in Nepal, whether Buddhist or Hindu (although sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between a riot and a festival). We've visited Doshinkali, where every weekend Hindus gather to sacrifice chickens and goats to Kali (the blood hungry goddess, spouse of Shiva). For us it's strange to watch chickens have their throats casually cut and bled but in reality the 'sacrificed' animals are just being butchered and cooked. Basically it's an excuse for a big BBQ and party every weekend.
There's also been the cow festival, where families who have lost members in the previous year, dress up in colourful clothes and parade down the street. They lead cows (who have a damn good life in this country), and it's believed that the cows will help guide their lost family members to Heaven. Apparently if you are holding a cow's tail when you die you are almost guaranteed to be led to Heaven - I imagine Last Rites in this country are interesting: "He's dying. Quick, bring in the cows!".
There's been festivals for the retying of holy necklaces, festivals where holy men wash away illnesses in rivers, rice festivals, and who knows what else we've seen but not known the name of. Every festival is accompanied by brightly dressed dancers and loud, energetic music. Maybe it's just this time of year, but we feel like we've walked into one big, endless party. We're not complaining.
We've returned our bikes today and are now preparing for our trip to India. In order to avoid the slow and dull public buses we have decided to raft our way to the border. We are booked on an eight day trip down the Sun Kosi river (apparently one of the top ten rafting trips in the world - once again our careful and detailed planning has served us well).
This rafting trip will take us all the way to the east border of Nepal, where we will enter the wild national parks (home of the rare Bengal Tiger) and relaxing tea estates of North East India. From there we will work our way down to Calcutta and for me my trip will reach its end. I feel I could easily travel through this exotic land for an age and a day but home is calling. Life is best enjoyed with balance, and friends and family await.
The landscape is crowded with thick vegetation, from bright, green rice paddies to tall, leafy banana trees. Rivers and cascading waterfalls cut through forested valleys. The warm air is thick and humid, rich with the smells of life and spice. The food, the wonderful food! Everything is available, from Nepalese curry and lentil soup through to pizza and burgers .
Kathmandu is a sprawling expanse of a city with restaurants, hotels, showers, sit down toilets and Laundromats. It's overflowing with beeping traffic, with every type of vehicle ever to have wheels. This newly found luxury and civilization has also come with reduced prices. Tibet was not expensive, but Nepal is dirt cheap. A quality hotel room with bathroom costs no more than AU$3 a night. A three course meal at an expensive restaurant is lucky to cost AU$4.
And on top of all this, the thing that wins it all hands down for Nepal, is the people. They are possibly the most friendly people on this planet, almost too friendly. A simple act of changing money becomes a half hour chat with the guy behind the teller. Every time we leave our hotel we end up chatting with the guy behind the counter for half an hour about our plans for the day, the weather, the Maoists, even dating procedures in Australia.
Everybody speaks English, but it's more the laid back attitude of "hey, welcome to our country" that wins us over. There's a justifiable pride in these people for their homeland and at the same time an in-built sense of hospitality - there's nothing they won't do to help. Of course there are plenty of touts and scam artists that take advantage of this, but even these guys are so friendly and easy going that you don't mind over much that they are trying to sell you a trek (or a pound of hashish) that you don't really want or need, for double the normal price.
The Maoists - a strange bunch. They are basically rebel, freedom fighters, trying to reintroduce democracy to Nepal, which is currently run by a government appointed by the King. They are communists, and are inspired by Mao Zedong, the late leader of Communist China. To us, it seems a strange choice of inspiration, since Chairman Mao was an insane dictator responsible for the death of thousands and the destruction of a lot of Chinese, Tibetan and Uyghur culture. Obviously the history of China has been a little embellished in the telling to these Nepalese rebels.
The Maoists are a formidable force, and generally have the support of the public (though not always). When we first arrived in Nepal, we were told that the Maoists had set up a 'blockade' around Kathmandu, demanding the release of political prisoners. It was with some surprise then that we boarded one of the many buses to Kathmandu and arrived some six hours later without any sign of a blockade. No one in Nepal, it seems, wants to upset the valuable tourists.
Most of the economy is based on tourism and both the Maoists and the government have decided to keep their little war away from tourist based activities. There are military check points all over Nepal and at each all passengers have to get off the bus and walk through, getting checked out for possible Maoist links. The exception to this is the tourists - we sit on the bus and drive through, the heavily armed soldiers waving and saluting us with friendly smiles.
Aside from the Maoists, the student groups in Kathmandu are another source of political unrest. There are frequent protests and rallies in the city (though rarely near the tourist area of Thamel where we are staying). These often end when the police march in with batons and tear gas. Strikes are called frequently too, and there has been at least two days where shops, buses and taxis have shut down at the 'request' of Maoists or student groups in protest against the government (anyone who ignores the 'request' has their shop or car stoned).
All in all this hasn't affected us, though the frequent stopping of buses for check points (buses are crowded, even the roof has little seating space left) makes public transport enough of a hassle that we avoid it. Instead we hire out a couple of mountain bikes. Kathmandu is in the center of a lush valley and within a few hours ride in any direction you can be up in the mountains looking down over the rich, green expanse of rice paddies and forests.
Kathmandu traffic takes some getting used to. For westerners on push bikes, it at first seems like total chaos. Six lanes of traffic seem to squeeze into one tiny back alley, with pedestrians scrambling in between cars, carts and bikes. After a while, however, we start to find the rhythm to it all. There's no order, no rules, but there is a flow and everything seems to just work itself out. The trick is to ebb and flow with the traffic, never stopping, never rushing, like a river meandering down a mountain.
Of course at least one of us has to have a stack. It's inevitable - Murphy's Law combined with the coordination levels of your average computer geek. Being the generous lad that I am, I take the hit for the team and go down hard. Ironically it's a traffic light that causes the problems, one of the few in Nepal.
Glover is ahead of me and rounds the corner just as the lights change orange. Not wanting to lose him in the crush of traffic, I jump up a gear and go for the standing pedal. The bike slides out from under me as I turn and the next thing I know I'm lying spread eagle on the road, bleeding from a few shallow wounds, while a copper (who had been standing on the corner watching me attempt to run a red light) picks up my bike and traffic swerves around me. No serious damage is done, but the copper, with a mischievous grin, explains that I should slow down when the light goes orange not speed up.
We spend four days riding around Kathmandu valley. It's the monsoon season so the shortcuts we take put us on mud covered roads. We arrive each evening at our destination covered in sweat and mud. Luckily the Nepalese hospitality extends even to us dirty bikers and we are given prime rooms each time - with good showers. Tourism is slow as well at the moment due to the Maoist threat (more physchological than physical) and we are often the only guests at most places.
Every day seems to be festival day here in Nepal, whether Buddhist or Hindu (although sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between a riot and a festival). We've visited Doshinkali, where every weekend Hindus gather to sacrifice chickens and goats to Kali (the blood hungry goddess, spouse of Shiva). For us it's strange to watch chickens have their throats casually cut and bled but in reality the 'sacrificed' animals are just being butchered and cooked. Basically it's an excuse for a big BBQ and party every weekend.
There's also been the cow festival, where families who have lost members in the previous year, dress up in colourful clothes and parade down the street. They lead cows (who have a damn good life in this country), and it's believed that the cows will help guide their lost family members to Heaven. Apparently if you are holding a cow's tail when you die you are almost guaranteed to be led to Heaven - I imagine Last Rites in this country are interesting: "He's dying. Quick, bring in the cows!".
There's been festivals for the retying of holy necklaces, festivals where holy men wash away illnesses in rivers, rice festivals, and who knows what else we've seen but not known the name of. Every festival is accompanied by brightly dressed dancers and loud, energetic music. Maybe it's just this time of year, but we feel like we've walked into one big, endless party. We're not complaining.
We've returned our bikes today and are now preparing for our trip to India. In order to avoid the slow and dull public buses we have decided to raft our way to the border. We are booked on an eight day trip down the Sun Kosi river (apparently one of the top ten rafting trips in the world - once again our careful and detailed planning has served us well).
This rafting trip will take us all the way to the east border of Nepal, where we will enter the wild national parks (home of the rare Bengal Tiger) and relaxing tea estates of North East India. From there we will work our way down to Calcutta and for me my trip will reach its end. I feel I could easily travel through this exotic land for an age and a day but home is calling. Life is best enjoyed with balance, and friends and family await.
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