Finally, a break from the city: a lesson in travelling in Nepal

I don't even know where to begin this post....

It started with a wake up call at 6am Saturday morning. Mac (the volunteer coordinator for Umbrella), Amy and Maya (two of the other volunteers), Indu Didi (the didi who stays in the volunteer house and makes sure we don't get into too much trouble), and myself were off to visit Didi's village and family. There was some confusion at the 'bus station' (a little alley with a few buses, mini buses, a bunch of people milling around and some dogs) because we'd been informed that buses left every half-hour to Dhading (the largest town near to Didi's village, and where one of her brothers lives), but on arrival we were told that the next big bus didn't leave for another hour or more. However, there was a minibus going to Dhading. Mac was a little leery at first, minibuses have a notorious reputation for ending up on the side of a cliff. :P We decided to take our chances (it was a 4 hour drive and we wanted to get there as soon as possible, as Didi's village was another 2-3 hours beyond Dhading).   

One of the best sayings I've seen on the back of a bus

 It was a hot cramped ride. I spent the first hour so getting bruises on my leg anytime the driver changed gear. :P (Note, our driver didn't look any older than 17, and probably wasn't. :P) Then a girl was squished into the space between me and the driver and I was spared the formation of any more bruises. I took the time to practice reading and pronouncing Nepali numbers. Didi was seated next to me and as I read out numbers on the license plates of vehicles in front of us she'd tell me if I was right or correct me if I was wrong. I can now recognize most of the numbers between 1 and 9. :)

 

The front of our mini-bus 

 The drive was a lesson in 'close your eyes and pray you're still alive in 10 seconds.' The road is narrow, and in horrible condition, everyone drives like a maniac, the lorries are HUGE, the curves are sharp and the edge is a little too close for comfort. Despite all this, we made it in one piece. Hallelujah!

Dhading is a fairly large town, devoid of tourists. It was great! I didn't see a single sign advertising trekking, rafting, elephant rides in Chitwan, cheap air travel to Lukla, sales on trekking gear or anything else catering to tourists. We visited Didi's brother-in-law first, where we were treated to a glass of orange Fanta. I had to force myself to drink it out of politeness. I can't recall the last time I had a carbonated drink that wasn't Sprite or Ginger Ale. :P The Nepali are incredibly hospitable, and to refuse food or drink is rude. After a short visit we headed to Didi's brother's house. We had to cross a small suspension bridge to get there. :) Didis' brother's family live in a small one-room, two floor house with a packed dirt floor and no windows. It's a simple way of life out here. The view from their porch though was fantastic! It's all about the location. :) We were treated to more Nepali hospitality and fed dal baht, and it was even meat dal baht! (Buffalo meat, tasty, but a little tough). The people may not have much, but what they do have they freely share with guests. The food was delicious, and of course they gave us huge portions, even though we insisted we only wanted 'ali-ali' (little-little).   

A boy from a neighbouring house.  We had fun playing peek-a-boo

 After a short visit and a walk around the town we worked on procuring a ride up into the hills. (and by 'we' I mean Didi and Mac, because Didi speaks Nepali and Mac's the organizer :). In the end we had to wait around for almost 2 hours before the lorry left. Didi had found a huge delivery lorry going in the direction of her village and we were going to catch a ride with it. While we waited for it be be loaded with bags of chilies, propane tanks, boxes of chocolate and salt, bags of potatoes and who knows what else, I made friends with some local kids who were siting on the stoop two shops down. From the sounds of it, they were having a competition to see who could say 'Hello, tourist' loudest and attract me attention. Before long I was sitting next to them and they wanted to know all about my family, how many brothers and sisters, their names and ages. Their English was pretty decent and they were quite a giggly bunch.

 

Dhading

The other highlight of the afternoon was watching a goat get sacrificed!

I could tell something was going on by the small crowd of people gathering around a tied up goat and the fact that a guy was sharpening a foot long knife. After a few minutes of wrestling the goat into position...1, 2, 3, CHOP! I got a great photo of the butcher following through with his swing, one guy holding the cut head and another guy holding the body. The blood was drained into a bucket to save for later, they use it to bless vehicles and houses. Then the body was doused in hot water and the fur was scrapped off with metal cups. They fine tuned the de-furring with razor blades, making sure every piece of hair was removed. Finally, the body was rubbed down with some type of spice that turned the body yellow. It was a fascinating way to pass the time. :)

Goat sacrifice on the sidewalk!

Making friends with some local kids while we wait for the truck to Didi's village

 Finally, we loaded up into the lorry. Didi and the girls sat up front in the cap while Mac and I rode Nepali style, on the back. :) It was SO much fun! There were a few times we were learning so far over I thought something/one would fall off! As we climbed up, up, up, the views of the valley and city were spectacular.

 

A view of Dhading

Riding in the back of the lorry, Nepali style

 From where we were dropped off, it was a 1.5hr walk to Didi's village. We watched the moon (almost full) rise up over the hills. It was so quiet and peaceful, cool and serene. No lorrys or buses barrelling by us, stirring up the dust, no barking dogs chasing us, no potholes in the sidewalk to avoid. :)

That evening we were treated to more Nepali hospitality. When Mac mentioned that pop-corn was his favourite food, someone was sent to tell someone else to make some and bring it to us. We were fed tea, pomegranates, bananas and dal baht, and after the meal we had Roxy, the locally made alcohol. It tasted like watered down vodka.

We eventually begged exhaustion and were shown where we'd be sleeping. Brushing our teeth in the back-yard, spitting into a patch of dirt reserved for washing dishes, teeth and hands, using the Nepali style outhouse and sleeping on a bed that was slightly softer than a rock were definite highlights of the weekend. :P

What a day!  

Good morning!

 6am wake-up call. Tea and biscuits in the small kitchen, watched the buffalo get milked and then set off on a walk around the area. We saw the local water source/spring. The water was cool and refreshing. :) We were told that the foundations have been there for over a hundred years! We walked out to a ridge, from which you could see valley upon valley of green fields, paddies and trees. We were high enough up to be above the clouds!! Unfortunately, because of the clouds, we didn't see any 'real mountains,' the kind with snow on them. It was still a fantastic view. We then hiked to the top of a small kill to get a view of the whole village. :)

 

The village water supply

On our walk around

 On the way back to the house we stopped first at the local private and then the local public school. Although the classrooms of the private school were by far more run down and shabby, the teacher:student ratio was much, much higher. At the public school, all of the students came out to gape at these white foreigners walking by. :P I felt really bad for disrupting their classes.

After our 4.5 hour walk, on just tea and biscuits, it was a relief to get back to the house and eat dal baht!

The private school

All of the students at the public school, gaping at the tourists

Didi's kitchen

The 'backyard' 

Getting out of Didi's village was a little more difficult than getting to the village. There's no reliable way to predict if there will be a truck on the road heading back to Dhading, so it's easier to just take the foot path and walk out. It was a lovely walk down the valley floor, across the stream and up the other side. I noticed as we walked that Didi took ~2 steps for every one of mine. :) She's rather tiny. We stopped to rest on a small rise, under a leafy tree, with a lush breeze blowing though. I could've sat there for ages, reading a book and watching birds glide on the air currents, but we had a bus to catch if we wanted to make it back to Kathmandu that day, so on we pushed.

Finding a bus was a trial. IS there a bus leaving? WHEN does it leave? Is it a big bus? Or a mini-bus? No, we don't want a private taxi. It took the advice/input of 6 or 7 Nepali, with Didi translating, to get it all sorted out.

There are no assigned seats on Nepali buses, and the maximum capacity is 'shove as many people in as possible.' The best part of the trip was when a rather large Nepali woman all but sat in Mac's lap. There was only a small space on the seat next to him, but in Nepali terms, it was enough for her! :)  

If riding the bus during the day was heart-stopping, riding it at night was a full on heart attack! We made it back in one piece though, back to the noise, pollution, traffic and chaos of the city. I can't wait for the next time!!