Kathmandu

I thought I better post an entry before you all thought I had fallen into a black hole. After almost one month, I am still in Kathmandu and life has settled into a routine for me here. But I'll start at the beginning....


I arrived in Kathmandu from my Mustang trek on July 1. I went out for dinner that night with Reiko and we bonded like we never did on the trail...perhaps we can thank the cocktails for that. On our way back to our respective guest houses, we passed a sign at a local sports bar for a Canada Day party. Needless to say, I couldn't pass it up, and Reiko joined me for the first hour or so. The place was all decked out in flags and balloons and I immediately requested some Canadian music. I got Bryan Adams - wouldn't have been my first choice but it was okay. It turns out that the Canadian volunteers working here had organized the party and they all turned up in force about an hour after I arrived. I actually spent most of the evening with an Irishman, a Dane and a Dutch guy but had an absolute blast. I also connected with the volunteers who I still see. It was a really fun evening. My favourite line of the evening was from a European guy who was complaining that the maple leaf wasn't uniquely Canadian enough to be our national symbol. He said we "should have picked something that stops at the border, like sanity". (No offense intended to my American readers.)

A few days later, I had had my laundry done, was clean and well-fed and back into the whole Kathmandu night life scene. Not much had changed since I left except that the tourist faces were different. I tried to register for a tour to Tibet and found that the August 9 tour was cancelled but that the same tour would be departing a month later if I was interested. I was and still am but haven't confirmed anything yet.


Bhola contacted me a few days after I arrived and we went out for lunch together. It was very difficult and he told me, as best he could, the story about his son's death. If I understood it all correctly, his son likely could have been treated successfully in Kathmandu, but he resisted modern medicine in favour of visiting the shaman in Bhola's home town. He died en route.


Bhola invited me to visit his family for lunch one day, which is the kind of invitation that you just can't turn down here. It was the hardest couple of hours I've spent on this trip. The situation would have been difficult under the best of circumstances with the language barrier, the cultural differences and them all going out of their way to please me. But with the recent loss to the family it was even worse. Bhola's wife (who, incidentally, he never introduced me to - gotta love the position of women in this society) collapsed into sobs several times during my visit, but never the dropped the ball on preparing a meal for me. I ate with Bhola and his sons in front of the TV - I don't know if/where she ate. She was sleeping when I left.


Bhola is still hoping to take advantage of this opportunity in Alberta and is putting together the paperwork required by the Canadian government. He doesn't have a copy of his marriage certificate and had to travel to his home town to get a copy. Not only can this not be accomplished over the phone/internet/fax, he and his wife both have to make the trip. He also needs medical tests and a myriad of other things, all of which are costing him money that he doesn't seem to have in abundance these days. Given the care that he has taken to fill me in on his financial situation and the logistical problems he's facing, I'm pretty much convinced that the invitation to his house was to encourage a donation to the cause. I haven't given him anything as of yet, but am considering it. A fairly small amount of money on my part would go a very long way towards getting all this stuff settled for him. There's a part of me that is somewhat incredulous that he would leave his family for two years under the circumstances, but I also understand that it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for them and they just can't afford to pass it up.


Other than the visit with Bhola, my first week or more in Kathmandu was spent wasting time. I couldn't bring myself to make any plans and I was just kind of wandering around at loose ends. I know enough people here that it's really easy to party the nights away and sleep the days away and totally lose track of time. I seemed to have lost all motivation to move on or even make a decision about where I wanted to go next. So I didn't.


Then things started changing for me. On 07-07-07, I met some people from a whole different world than the normal gaggle of backpackers in town and they have had a really positive influence on me. Their names are Rupert and Laxmi: he's a Brit and she's Brazilian and they are both living in India. Once I was on a roll, more wonderful people wandered in and out of my life and I've made some really great connections. I am learning so much about myself, the world and my fellow travelers through these encounters. In some cases the time I get to spend with them is far too short as they are just traveling though town on their way to somewhere else. However, I have come to accept that they are all part of my life for a reason and I just try to find the lesson and move on when they do.


I have decided to stick around in Kathmandu for a while to take advantage of what all these people have to offer. I have made my room feel a little more like home and have bought myself a few pieces of clothing that aren't trekking gear. I have largely given up the night life, and have developed a daily routine that keeps me very busy. I am now in bed by 10:00 so that I can get up early in the morning. I start my day with a run which has to be completed before the traffic and pollution get too heavy by about 8:00 AM. I am using this exercise to explore Kathmandu and try to experiment with different routes. After one wrong turn got me hopelessly lost and took me several hours to find my way home, I now carry a city map and a few rupees in my pocket when I run :-). Other daily events include some meditation, spending time with Laxmi and Rupert and a 2-hour yoga class in the late afternoon. My yoga instructor, Rodrigo, is from Columbia and was in the marines there for years. Like Laxmi and Rupert, he also lives in India where he feels more spiritually connected. They are all here getting their Indian visas renewed and escaping the heat of summer in India.


Lest any of you are starting to panic at this point, I'll put your minds at rest. I have not shaved my head, moved to a monastery or otherwise joined any religious group, organization, cult or sect. I am feeling very much at home here, but have no intention of making this my home on any kind of permanent or semi-permanent basis. I just know with absolute certainty this this is where I need to be right now. In fact, I think I am finding what I was looking for when I left home 10 months ago. I have put all further travel plans on temporary hold, and will just let things play out as they will.

I'll make sure to blog from time to time just to let you know that life is still rolling along here. I don't suppose I'll have too much news for the next few weeks, but I'll try to describe what it's like over here. Here's the first installment of Life in Kathmandu.

Getting Around

Regardless of whether you're traveling by car, motorcycle, rickshaw, bicycle or foot, it's every man for himself. There is technically a right side of the road here (the left) but this is only observed on the major streets. A major street is one that is more than one lane wide and actually has lines painted on it. Even on these streets, some drivers decide that their side of the road doesn't have enough lanes assigned to them, so they veer over into the oncoming traffic and just lean on their horns to announce their presence.

Elsewhere, it's just a free-for-all. A strip of road that is little more than one lane wide has to accommodate two directions of cars, motorbikes, rickshaws, bicycles and pedestrians. People tend to walk two or three abreast and many hold hands (same sex only) so wouldn't dream of dropping back to single file. Given that it's monsoon season, most people are carrying umbrellas so you run the risk of having your eye put out by a spoke. The streets are sort of paved, but are riddled with potholes which everyone swerves around without any warning. There is no such thing as a shoulder check here - if you want to swerve you swerve and whoever is beside you gets taken out in the process. They don't use turn indicators because to do so they'd have to take their hand off the horn which is presumably a fate worse than death. And speaking of horns, they have a whole different purpose here. They use the horn just to let people know they're there. They are sometimes used in frustration, like in a traffic jam, but rarely in anger as we use them at home. Given that the streets are a seething mass of activity, horns are being blasted all the time. There is literally not a moment when you're not in danger of being hit by something, and whatever that something is will be honking a horn or ringing a bell at you. I am particularly amused by this when I see two vehicles heading for each other head-on, both of them honking incessantly. It seems clear that both of them are aware of the other, and both realize that they're on a collision course, so what's the point of honking? Just turn the darn wheel already.

Getting around is generally like a perpetual game of chicken. Everyone chooses their own course and keeps going regardless of what or who gets in the way. I don't really know how this sorts itself out for the Nepalis - I have only seen one very minor collision and nobody seems to get run over. As for me, I am constantly flinging myself into the gutter or worse just to avoid being hit or trampled. I think that perhaps the Nepalis recognize that westerners will be the first to chicken out, so they play a more aggressive game with us. I am starting to get a bit more bold, but facing a car or motorcycle head-on still disturbs me. This is my least favourite thing about Nepal - I would so love to take a walk and just let my mind wander rather than have to assess every step for potential danger.

Street Vendors

You can buy lots of stuff in the street here, from fresh fruit to jewelery. The most popular street product is Tiger Balm and you literally can't take more than a few steps without someone approaching you and offering it to you. They must make a living this way, but I can't figure out who is buying all this Tiger Balm. I guess a lot of trekkers want it at the end of their hike, but still, it seems impossible to keep so many families fed on Tiger Balm.

One is also pestered regularly for taxi or rickshaw rides. Every morning for the last month I have come out of my guest house and crossed the street to the internet cafe to check my e-mail. Every morning the same taxi and rickshaw drivers try to sell me lift. They can't understand why you'd want to walk somewhere when you could ride, and they just don't seem to understand exercise for the sake of exercise. The street vendors all have a style of approaching you like they're your best friend, and hang onto the conversation like pit bulls. I guess they figure that once they've engaged you in conversation, you won't be able to say no to them. When you try to terminate the encounter, their tone implies that you have rudely walked away in the middle of a discussion and this must surely be a mistake on your part. I swear if you stopped to talk to everyone who approached you, you wouldn't make it breakfast before dinnertime.

Some sample exchanges:

Rickshaw Driver: Rickshaw Didi?
Heidi: No thank you.
RD: Where are you going?
H: For a run.
RD: Good. Get in...I'll take you there.
H: No, I'm going for a run (mimes running)
RD: Okay, I'll help you.

RD: Rickshaw Didi?
H: No thank you.
RD: Okay, let's go.
H: No thank you.
RD: Okay, get in.

Shop Owner: Yes Please? (gestures towards shop)
Heidi: No thank you (walks on)
SO: Hello? Hello? Didi?

Street Vendor: Namaste!
Heidi: Namaste
SV: Where are you from?
H: Canada
SV: Capital Ottawa. Beautiful country.
H: Thank you.
SV: Tiger Balm?
H: No thank you. (walks on)
SV: Hello? Hello? Didi?

And so it goes. One would think that after they had seen your face every day for a month and you never bought anything, they would give up.

Street Kids

There are lots of people living on the street here. It's really sad to see the mothers with their small kids sleeping right in the gutter. Unfortunately, there are ton of young boys living in the street in groups. One has to assume that they have families somewhere but they have chosen to leave. All of these people beg and like anywhere else you have to be really careful about who you give your money to. The boys sniff glue constantly and spend their days lolling about stoned. I have learned that they eventually graduate to stronger drugs. I choose to give money only to visibly crippled people (of whom there are a lot). Whenever I have leftovers at a meal, I ask the restaurant to pack it up for me and I give it to someone in the street. The mothers are the most appreciative so they're my first choice. The boys can be a real pain and will block your way for ages trying to get money out of you. If the street is wide enough to get past them, they'll walk beside you with their hand on your thigh for blocks. I'm starting to get used to it but it's still really tough to see.

Okay...gotta run to a party. I'll post the next installment of Life in Kathmandu soon. Please write - I love to get news from home.