Magical Mystery Tour

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2009-05-15T03:40:00.000-07:00

As expected, one of my biggest SNAFUs happened at the Ottawa airport. I won’t go into details as it’s a convoluted story with no entertainment value whatsoever. Suffice it to say that I was virtually the first one off the plane, but the last to leave the airport. All’s well that ends well and I am now safely ensconced in my bachelor pad in Chelsea. I’ve had a good night’s sleep during the right hours of the day, so hopefully this whole wretched journey and the subsequent exhaustion have provided the benefit of staving off jetlag.

Now the process of settling in (again!) and planning next steps (again!) begins in earnest. In the meantime I’m breathing clean, crisp air and looking at colourful tulips surrounded by green grass and trees. It’s lovely.

Heathrow

2009-05-14T00:04:00.002-07:00

I have never managed to fly into or out of Kathmandu without some kind of drama, and this trip was no different. I arrived at the airport yesterday morning and went directly to the Jet Airways counter to check in. I was informed that I would need to pick up my bags in Delhi and then re-register for the remainder of my trip. In addition, because I had two stops in India, and was therefore taking a domestic flight within the country, I needed an Indian visa. Needless to say, it had never occurred to me to get a visa simply to transit through a country, so I didn’t have one. I was going to have to stay in Kathmandu for a couple of days while I navigated the illogical labyrinth of the Indian embassy and changed all my flight arrangements. I almost broke down and wept.

Then a wonderful woman came to my rescue and managed to change my flights so that I flew directly from Delhi to London, bypassing Mumbai altogether. This meant no domestic flight in India and no need for a visa. She was a bit taken aback by my over-exuberant expression of thanks, and kept muttering “don’t cry ma’am, don’t cry ma’am”. Note to self: in the future don’t be above using tears to get your way.

When I arrived in Delhi a couple of hours later, Jet Airways’ computers were all down, so they had no record of me being confirmed on the Delhi-London flight. A Jet representative ran off with my ticket and passport to check things out, immediately triggering a panic attack. I sat in the transit lounge for a tense 90 minutes or so, my stomach churning at the thought of being stuck in India or sent back to Nepal to secure an Indian visa (and all that without any travel documents). Finally my ticket, passport and boarding card arrived, the latter hand-written to compensate for the still malfunctioning computers.

As I settled into my seat on the half-empty plane, I was counting my blessings at having avoided a potentially miserable situation, as well as getting out of India about 12 hours ahead of schedule. Then I did the math. Because I wasn’t flying to Mumbai, or sitting through a lengthy layover at the airport there, I would have 18 hours at Heathrow. Oh well, I thought, at least it’s not India.

When I arrived here, I immediately went to the Air Canada desk to ask if they had an earlier flight to Ottawa than the one I was booked on. Not surprisingly, the last one had left about 15 minutes before I landed. I opted out of clearing customs and going to the ticket counter to see if there was a more circuitous (but earlier) flight to Ottawa. First, I wasn’t sure if they’d let me through customs and second, I really didn’t want to fly all over North America to get home. I figured that with a book and my computer I’d be able to fill the time here no problem.

It turns out there was a problem. You can’t stay in the transit lounge between midnight and 5:00 AM. I was sleeping happily on a bank of chairs oblivious to everything closing down around me, and was then wakened (very gently, I must say) by security who escorted me to customs. They had no problem letting me through but by this time there was nothing to do but sleep in amongst the baggage turnstiles in the arrivals lounge. I was happy to see that there were a half dozen other people in the same situation, so I didn’t feel like quite so much of an idiot. I have to admit, it was a very strange night. In spite of the airport being closed, there was a ton of activity by maintenance and security staff. The noise they created, added to the uncomfortable “bed” I had, meant that I only slept in 15-minute spurts over about three hours. Every time I woke up and looked around me, I felt like a homeless person, and got a bit of a feeling of what it must be like to sleep on the street night after night. By 3:00 AM, my internal clock, set to Kathmandu time, was thinking it was time to get up. Fortunately one coffee shop was open so I had a huge cup of tea and watched a movie on my computer until the airport opened.

I am now back in the transit lounge, breakfast settling in my belly, teeth brushed and fresh makeup applied. I only have about four hours to kill before I board my flight and am waiting in giddy anticipation of my flight appearing on the departures board. I’m guessing it will show up in about 30 minutes or so. I am trying not to let myself get too excited about worst being over – I still have to clear Canadian customs which will likely be more hellish than the rest of the journey combined. But at least everyone will be speaking English and standing nicely in a queue.

On My Way

2009-05-12T03:22:00.000-07:00

I am down to the wire now...will be heading home tomorrow morning. I have had a really good last few days enjoying both the city and the people in it. I saw a well-acted if rather strange interpretation of "Waiting for Godot", celebrated Buddha's birthday with thousands of other people at the Swayambunath temple, had a traditional 7-course Newari dinner at the famous Dwarika's hotel, hosted a cocktail party on my terrace and did some bar-hopping in Thamel.

I went out today to run my last few errands and was hoping to meander around the city a bit to soak up the ambiance. We've had a few storms over the last couple of days, so the air is clearer than it's been in months and has a crispness I haven't felt in ages. Unfortunately the city wasn't at its best today and after struggling with crazy drivers and touts, came home to spend my last afternoon in the solitude of my apartment. I'll finish my book in the next hour or so and pick up a new one to read on my long journey. I'm off for dinner with Jackie at a lovely restaurant in the Garden of Dreams, a restored garden in a former Rana palace. It's a stunning setting.

I’ll check my e-mail in the morning before I head out to the airport but will be out of touch from that point on. My next post will come from Chelsea.

Work

2009-05-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

A few of my friends from the telecom industry have been putting out feelers for work for me. It’s a small industry and word of my return has been spreading. Consequently, I’ve been made aware of a few opportunities that may be suitable for me. I have been reading the e-mails with mixed emotions. Obviously, it’s great that there is work out there, especially in light of everything I’ve heard about the world’s dire economic situation. However I am also reminded of why I left the telecom industry three years ago and how much I wish I didn’t have to return to it. Unfortunately I am now in a position where I need to fill up my feeble bank account and that means taking a contract.

I have travelled around the world looking for something that would give me reason to get up in the morning and perhaps even fulfill me. I have had to let go of that dream, at least temporarily, and have lowered my sights. I don’t expect to wake up each morning eager to get to my workplace. I don’t need to go to bed every night feeling like I did something meaningful with my day. I don’t even need to be happy for those 40 hours each week. I just wish I wasn’t going to be so miserable.

Wednesday Update

2009-05-06T06:06:00.000-07:00

The political situation is still very much up-in-the-air, but right now everything is quiet here. I expect that they're in for a rocky road, and things will likely get nasty before they settle down on a permanent basis. I'm hoping that the calm before the storm that is sitting over Kathmandu today will last until I leave.

I mailed my last boxes home and have pretty much cleaned out my apartment so I really don't have any more obligations before I leave. I'll spend my time saying some goodbyes and just enjoying what I can of the city. I am feeling really good about Nepal at the moment and while that makes leaving a bit bittersweet, I am glad to be leaving on a positive note.

I probably won't be blogging on a daily basis. I'll check in if the political situation changes or if there's something in the media that may prompt reassurances. In the meantime, please assume all is well. Less than a week now...

Tuesday Update

2009-05-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

I really don't have much to report...life is going as usual here. The 22 parties represented in parliament met today about what happens next, but apparently they didn't make any headway. I'm just hoping that this stalemate continues for another week so that I can get out of here before the decision is made. No matter what they decide, someone is bound to be upset enough to cause havoc for a few days.

For now all is well.

Resignation

2009-05-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

This will be fairly short. I was out tonight at Deborah’s for dinner and I’ve had a few drinks. Khem drove me home through quiet and totally normal streets so it would appear that all is well. My grey matter, however, isn’t in such great shape.

The Prime Minister resigned this afternoon and pretty much every political party holding seats in parliament has quit. Once the Maoists joined the ranks of the deserting parties, the rest of them came back. The way things sit right now, nobody knows what’s going on, who’s running the show, or what the future holds. I’m hoping that the confusion will keep the protesters out of the streets.

According to the news on the radio tonight (which Khem translated as he drove me home) they have decided to let the courts decide if the PM has done anything illegal. All the remaining political issues (e.g. who the hell is going to run the country) will be decided in parliament, which will reconvene next Thursday. Khem seems convinced that under the circumstances there is no reason to protest so things will remain quiet. We can only hope that the Nepalese public shares this point of view.

Strangely, I sort of rekindled my relationship with Nepal tonight. I was worried about seeing Khem (my former boss) for the first time since I quit. However, I had a great time with both Deborah and him, and I think the door has been left open for me to work for him again if I ever have the inclination. (I'm not expecting this to happen anytime soon, but one never knows.) Listening to him and Deborah talking about the college gave me a renewed sense of optimism for them and the work they’re doing. It was also lovely to be at Deborah’s house in the suburbs where the air is a bit fresher. I really enjoyed exploring a new part of the city as I found my way up there, and again on the way home. It’s not like I’m going to cancel my flight home or anything, but I did definitely feel better about being here than I have in weeks.

Okay, I’ll sign off for now. I’ll write tomorrow when I’m better rested, a little more sober, and have a better handle on what’s going on. So far so good.

News Update

2009-05-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

The news this morning is that late last night they reversed their decision to fire the head of the military. It would seem that everyone is happy, the crisis has been averted and life on the streets is normal. Let's hope it stays that way.

In other good news for the country (but lousy news for me) the bandh in the Terai has been lifted. The roads were cleared last night and fuel is being shipped into the Kathmandu valley as I type this. I guess that I'll be back to 16 hours per day of load shedding as early as this afternoon. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

9 more sleeps.

Upset in Kathmandu

2009-05-03T07:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, I really have no idea of what is going on here. The Prime Minister fired the head of the military today which seems to have really pissed off a lot of people. Since he was exposed for planning a military coup a week or so ago, I can't say as I blame the PM for sacking him, but I'm guessing there is a lot more going on here than I understand. I think part of the problem is that the PM made a unilateral decision that the other parties in the coalition government didn't get a chance to participate in. The bottom line is that both the political types and civilians feel the need to voice their opinions so things could get a bit rocky over the next little while. (To hell with cricket and football...I think that demonstrations and tire-burning should be named as the national sports of Nepal.)

My friends are all quite concerned about this, but I refuse to get too worried until I am actually given a reason to. I was out and about for most of the day today and didn't see any trouble, although I've seen footage of today's demonstrations on the news. I have to admit that I'm almost disappointed that I never get to witness these supposedly riotous situations first hand. Kathmandu is not a big city - I have to wonder where this stuff happens that I never get to see it. I went out again this evening to pick up a few things, and everything is normal on the streets.

I have no immediate need to go anywhere, so if things escalate I can just stay home. The government is apparently pretty quick to impose what they call curfew, but which is more like a lock-down, if things have the potential to get rough. From what I understand, if this happens we're allowed out of our homes for an hour per day to buy food. My only concern is that I'm not going to be able to leave when I'm supposed to. I was thinking that if the airport closed I could get to Delhi by bus and fly from there, but with the way the things are in the Terai (see yesterday's post) I don't suppose I'd be able to get anywhere near the Indian border on land.

I don't really know where I'm going with this post, and I know I'm kind of rambling (and the grammar is awful!). I guess I just wanted to let you know that even if things look bad on the news, there's no reason to worry about my safety. Worst case is that I'll have some logistical issues getting out of here. I'll keep you posted as things unfold. I'm sure that by tomorrow morning I'll know which way this is going to go.

Chain Chain Chain

2009-05-02T07:18:00.000-07:00

Please try and follow along...

1. The Tharu people in the Terai in southern Nepal are unhappy about their status in the country.
2. They made some demands that the government agreed to meet.
3. They don’t feel that the government is moving fast enough on this, so they instituted a bandh (strike and demonstration).
4. All petrol and diesel comes into Nepal on trucks from India.
5. Because of the bandh in the Terai, the tanker trucks can’t get through.
6. There is a huge shortage of all fuel products in the Kathmandu valley. (No traffic jams for days as there are so few cars on the road.)
7. The Prime Minister cannot be expected to go without electricity in his home at all times.
8. Because of the fuel shortage, he cannot run his generators.
9. The power company has had to turn on his electricity full-time to compensate.
10. I live just down the road from the Prime Minister and am in his load-shedding group.
11. I have had power around the clock for several days.

Let’s all get out there and support the Tharu people in their bandh!!!

Kopan Monastery

2009-05-02T01:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I took advantage of the holiday (no traffic) and the overcast weather (cooler temperatures) to walk up to Kopan monastery, about two hours away. I had to walk through town and then out past the suburbs to the top of one of the hills that surround the city. I had heard from many people that this was a beautiful monastery, but frankly most monasteries in Nepal and Tibet are very similar in architecture, decor and upkeep, so I wasn’t expecting anything too different. One thing that is special about Kopan is that is very much alive and active with a large congregation of monks and also as a teaching monastery.

As I passed through the gates and walked up the drive I was serenaded by the young monks in their classrooms reciting their lessons and by those at play around the living quarters. I continued up towards the gompa to find it chock-full of burgundy-clad monks at prayer. This is one of the two monasteries I’ve been to (and the only one in Nepal) where a microphone is used in the gompa. I can understand how it might be beneficial in such a large room, and likely helps keep little minds from wandering during prayer times, but I found it detracted from the gentle ambiance which normally pulses through a gompa. The din inside the building was almost unpleasant, and I chose to sit outside the doorway on a bench in the garden to enjoy the chanting.

Later, as I explored the sizeable grounds I found all manner of beauty: decorated chortens, statues, fountains, bougainvillea, manicured prayer gardens and wonderful smells wafting from the kitchens. It is unlike any monastery I’ve seen on this side of the world; like visiting the Hilton after a lifetime of youth hostels. I can only assume that this is funded by a steady stream of income from tourists who go there for retreats and courses on Buddhism. I was really sorry that I hadn’t found my way up there sooner, as I would surely have gone on a retreat there myself.

What I found interesting and somewhat disturbing about my visit to the monastery is the degree of detachment I felt there. Truth be told, I could still fit in a retreat if I wanted to, but I just don’t want to. I deliberately stayed outside the gompa while I was there, and only listened to the prayers for a few minutes before moving on. Unlike virtually every other visit to a Buddhist event or site, I felt like a spectator rather than a participant. I don’t think this has anything to do with Buddhism, spirituality or faith. In fact I have also felt this way in a variety of situations around Kathmandu lately. I think that in my heart and soul I have already left Nepal. I kind of miss it.

Girl's Night Out

2009-04-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

I went out last night to celebrate my friend, Jackie’s, birthday. We were a group of nine women: seven Westerners, one Tibetan and one Nepali. I was the only one who wasn’t a long time resident of Nepal. Most of them had heard about my imminent departure and I was asked about my decision several times over the course of the evening.

I tried to explain my decision as tactfully as possible, fully aware that all of these women had chosen years ago to make their lives in this country. (One Finnish woman works for the Foreign Service so moves around as her job requires, but the others are here permanently.) As I told my story, I felt somewhat of a failure for not being able to “make it” in an environment where these other women had clearly thrived. They were very non-judgemental and even sympathetic, commiserating over the trials and tribulations of living and working in these conditions. They all shared my sense of helplessness at work and the feeling that nothing of significance could be accomplished here. I was somewhat surprised that even under these circumstances they all chose to stay. Then I began questioning myself. Am I a dreamer for wanting to find a job and a home that don’t irritate me on a daily basis? Am I incredibly weak for not persevering in a negative environment? I came home feeling like a bit of a loser.

Then I spent the night staring at the ceiling listing to a cacophony of dogs and some other unidentifiable noise. At 4:30 I didn’t hear the pump go on, so I assume there won’t be enough water for a shower today. At 6:30 the police ran by doing their morning exercises, heavy boots pounding on the pavement outside my window. I finally managed to doze between 7 and 9 but still don’t feel rested. I need to get to the post office but there is a bandha today, so I likely won’t be able to make my way across town. (A bandha is a strike, usually accompanied by demonstrations in the streets and massive traffic jams, in support of any cause that ticks enough people off.) Tomorrow is yet another festival of some sort and Saturday the post office is closed. (Is it a coincidence that the bandha was planned on the day before a “long weekend”? I think not.)

In two weeks I’ll be on my way back to Canada and I’m not going to feel guilty, weak or sorry for my decision.

Thangka Shopping

2009-04-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Iona, has asked me to shop for a Tibetan thangka for her before I return to Canada. (A thangka is a traditional Buddhist painting used in religious ceremonies and to decorate monasteries. There are some modern variations, but there are half a dozen or so traditional themes.) She gave me a short list of specifications which my mind immediately moulded into a rock-solid visual image of the painting that I will take home. The obvious problem is that I will never find an exact match for the image in my head.

This morning I went on my second foray into the thangka shops of Kathmandu. This exercise has led me to a few observations. First, it’s really hard to buy art to someone else’s specifications. It’s one thing if it’s a gift when the recipient really has no grounds for complaint. It’s quite another when you’re spending someone else’s money. Lest anyone misunderstand, I’d like to emphasize that I’m actually really enjoying the challenge and am determined to find the perfect thangka. It has also reminded me (not that I’d really forgotten) exactly why it is that I want to leave this country. The following is a fabricated scenario that pretty much captures the gist of the conversations I had today...

Salesguy: Yes please?
Heidi: I’m looking for a small Wheel of Life, about this big (shows size with her hands)
S: Please sit (throws cushion on floor for me)
H: I’m looking for colours like these (points to thangka on wall in appropriate colours)
S: Mandala?
H: No, Wheel of Life
S: How about a mandala?
H: No, I need a Wheel of Life
S: This one is very lovely (he unrolls one in garish primary colours)
H: No, that’s too bright. I’d like some dark red in it.
S: This one is very beautiful (unrolls one in light blue and peach colours)
H: No, I’d like darker colours and no blue
S: This is very good quality. (Unrolls one, slowly and carefully as if it’s a Dead Sea Scroll, in various shades of blue)
H: (Pointing to blue) I don’t want any blue. No blue
S: (Unrolls one in black with gold accents)
H: That’s too dark. I’d like colours like this (points again to the one on the wall in appropriate colours)
S: (Brings back the first one I saw in garish primary colours)
H: That’s too bright
S: How about this one? (Unrolls one primarily in blue)
H: I don’t want blue
S: (Unrolls one twice the size of what I need, but the colours aren’t bad)
H: No that’s too big
S: I think this is a perfect size
H: No, it’s too big
S: It’s a good size. I have packaging so you can get it home
H: No, it’s too big. It won’t fit on the wall
S: I’ll give you a very good price
H: No, it’s too big
S: How about a mandala?

You get the idea. I’d like to chalk it up to language issues, but they all spoke pretty good English. It’s just more of the old banging your head against a wall. Unfortunately it is impossible to avoid these encounters. The small shops have their walls covered with samples of their thangkas, but the bulk of them are rolled up in boxes behind the sales counter. The only way to see them all is to sit there and have them displayed for you. As might be expected, they are stored in absolutely no logical order whatsoever, so you have to wait while they sift through hundreds of canvasses to find the ones that may match your requirements.

The good news is that it’s giving me something to do when the power is off. I guess I’ll be heading back out there tomorrow...

Kathmandu News

2009-04-27T02:29:00.000-07:00

I have never been one to read the papers on a regular basis, and it has been no different here. At least at home I can be reasonably sure that the news will somehow trickle into my consciousness through radio and TV broadcasts, or seeing headlines in the grocery store line. In Kathmandu, I can go weeks without knowing what's going on in my own back yard much less the rest of the world.

On Saturday evenings I often go to a cafe down the road that shows a movie and provides some good company. This past Saturday, I sat in on a conversation about all the weeks' best headlines. It would appear that as I went merrily along in my insular news-free bubble, I missed a military coup here that was aborted minutes before it was to proceed. It seems the #1 guy got cold feet at the last minute and decided this was not the way to go about changing the government of the country. So we're still being run by the Maoists, but I guess it's safe to assume that there is some dissension in the ranks. I did hear some rather sharp bangs in the night last week, but so far I haven't heard of any executions, so I assume the Maoists are taking a softer hand with their critics than they used to.

The other big news, and this one fills me national pride, is that there is a drunken French-Canadian running around butchering the stray dogs in town with a machete. It doesn’t sound like he’s very good at finishing the job, so the poor things are left in a sorry state in ditches around the city. I have to admit that I’m not particularly fond of the curs myself, and they seem to be exponentially more vocal since my return from the Khumbu, but I can’t see this as the solution.

And speaking of noisy dogs, I’m not getting much sleep lately. They are really annoying, as are the mosquitoes which slip in through the cracks around my windows and torture me all night. The advantage of unemployment is that I get to nap a bit in the afternoon to catch up. Now if only I could take a shower, I’d feel great. I’m down to my last bucket of water and am saving it for cooking and drinking. Today and tomorrow are bad electricity days, so I’m guessing that we won’t get any more water pumped until Wednesday. Unlike the majority of my Nepalese and expat neighbours, I still haven’t really adjusted to the idea of going out in public smelling like I just ran a marathon and with my hair hanging down in strings, so I think I’ll be staying close to home for the next few days.

I am really getting ready for all this to stop. 17 more sleeps.

Flight

2009-04-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

I have just booked my flight home and will be arriving in Ottawa on the afternoon of Thursday May 14.

I can believe that I have not one, but two stops in India (Delhi and Mumbai). I know it's tempting fate but it's substantially cheaper to fly through India (my personal Bermuda Triangle). If I get stuck in either city for more than 24 hours, expect to hear news of a blonde body found in a bathtub in a seedy hotel, drained of all its blood. Said blood will have an alcohol level seven times the legal driving limit.

The good/bad news is that I have really long layovers in all three transit cities (those mentioned above as well as London), so hopefully if anything goes wrong on any flight I'll have time to catch up. It also means that it's taking me the better part of two days to get home and I'll be smelly and exhausted when I get there.

Looking forward to seeing you all.

Passing Time

2009-04-23T04:45:00.000-07:00

Now that I've made the decision to come home, I'm ready to leave NOW. I don't really have much to do here, but since I have to pay May's rent anyway and it's cheaper to be here than in Canada, I figure I might as well stick around for a few weeks. The good news is that the power is on a lot more than before, so I am able to use my computer and TV a bit more. The water situation has also improved so I can take daily showers and flush the toilet.

If anyone wants anything from Nepal, this would be a good time to get your orders in. I'm happy to do some shopping and send stuff home, as I have to ship a couple of boxes anyway. Pashminas, Tibetan trinkets and hiking/camping gear are the best buys here.

Nothing else to report except boredom.

Revelations and Decisions

2009-04-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I went to the mountains to both escape the city and to try to find some insight into what the future holds for me. I had ample time to think and was able to focus on what is important to me. Throughout this crazy journey of almost three years, the two constants have been utter honesty with myself and the pursuit of happiness. I am determined not to waver in this regard.

I really don’t know how to write this post. Over the past three weeks I mulled over at least a dozen different issues, all of which will impact my future in Nepal. While distinct, they all intertwine and impact each other, and it is their combined effect which will ultimately guide me towards my future. My “tidy mind” wants to write this post like a management report, complete with table of contents and flow charts. I will resist that urge and try to humanise it a bit more, but I worry that the thoughts will meander and trip over themselves. My hope is that you, my family and friends, will read it and understand my issues. Even more, I hope that in committing it to paper, I can find clarity and comfort in my decision.

As I’ve made clear in previous posts, I am re-evaluating my “career path” in Nepal. I was incredibly frustrated working at the college and really felt like I could work there forever and never affect any change at all. The management team appears on the surface to be receptive to suggestions for procedural improvements but they don’t seem to want to actually do anything, especially if it requires work. They may see the benefit in doing something a different way, but if it’s not the Nepali way, they aren’t interested in making the change. I truly felt like I was spending my days banging my head against a wall.

There is a similar situation among the students although it stems from a different foundation. Some of the students seem genuinely motivated to change but they are simply not equipped to initiate that change. School children here are taught entirely by rote and never, over the course of their academic careers, learn to think creatively or problem-solve. As a consequence, we have twenty-year-old students at the college who are less capable than eight-year-olds in Canada. Trying to teach them very basic things at this age is virtually useless: the habits are so ingrained that they are almost impossible to reverse. This is perhaps best exemplified by my former boss, Khem, the CEO of the college. Born, raised and educated in Nepal, he went to college in Switzerland and subsequently worked in Canada, Dubai and Japan. He was out of Nepal working and studying in developed countries for 10 years, but once back in his home country he has reverted back to his Nepalese ways. It’s like the intervening 10 years had no impact whatsoever.

Seeing this in Khem has raised concerns for me about bringing these students to Canada for their internships, which is a large part of my job requirement. When I first met them, I was impressed by their eagerness to work abroad and excited about helping them to develop their skills in the international arena. However, after spending some time with them, I truly wonder what positive traits they will bring with them. They are tardy, unfocussed and less than committed. Cheating on tests is the norm, and they were dismayed to learn that they had to pass all their courses to earn their diploma. They inevitably look for the easy way out and need to be supervised continually if their work is to be completed effectively. As a Canadian, I am not convinced that I want them in my country, especially with the likelihood that they will apply for permanent residency status. Even if they did return to Nepal following their internship, I’m not sure that a one-year work term abroad will provide any advantage for their careers. Can a strong work ethic and good work habits be established at this point in their lives? From what I’ve witnessed with Khem, I’m really not convinced.

When I first arrived here, Deborah shared with me her attitude towards aid workers in the Nepal. She was repelled by their “us versus them” attitude, and after meeting several of them I felt much the same way. But as my work environment became more and more frustrating for me, I found myself, unconsciously at first, adopting the same attitude. I was using the word “them” more and more often and in more and more disparaging tones. Once this found its way into my consciousness, I was forced to rethink my initial position on the aid workers. They have spent their entire careers working under these conditions and I could only imagine the frustrations they had experienced. The truth of the matter is that cultural differences exist and there is a very wide gulf between the working habits in the developed and developing countries. In spite of that, it was still very disheartening for me to find myself a card-carrying member of the “us versus them” team. Even more heartbreaking is the realisation that all my work, and that of aid community, may well be in vain. Several years ago I applied to do a masters degree in International Development, thinking that it would be a career that I would enjoy and which would fulfill me. I am now exceedingly relieved that I was never accepted to pursue those studies, and that I didn’t invest vast amounts of time, money and energy into another career that would leave me frustrated and unhappy.

I have a theory that too much foreign aid is flowing into this country. Time and again I have encountered situations where capable Nepalis have rejected work in favour of allowing a Westerner to step in and do it for them. I believe that such a beautiful and vibrant society could not have survived for hundreds of years without industriousness, creativity and intelligence. In recent years, these seem to have been replaced with laziness, corruption and a dismaying unwillingness to change and grow. One has to wonder if this society, over several generations of receiving handout after handout, has had the initiative driven out of it. Why would someone till the soil, plant the seeds and tend the fields when a Westerner is just going to drop in and hand them a bag of rice? One notable exception to this trend lies with the porters and guides who work like slaves to support the climbing and trekking communities in the mountains. Because my initial encounters with the Nepalese work force were largely experienced in this area, I made the erroneous assumption that it was indicative of the Nepalese people as a whole.

How do we correct this destructive system? Without aid they will certainly continue to flounder and die as a society. With aid, they stop helping themselves. It is my belief that the education system and the corruption in government are the two major culprits for this plight and that reform in these areas is the only solution. I believe that the entire education system needs to be redesigned so that young minds are exercised and encouraged to blossom. To the best of my knowledge, nothing like this has been attempted, and I’m not sure how it could be, as it would involve the government as well as each school and educator. I am certainly aware of foreign teachers making sizeable contributions in schools and of some institutions promoting creativity in the classroom, but these represent very small pockets of the education system. As long as the standardised SLC exams are the tests by which all students are measured and as long as these exams test nothing but the memorised facts, true change cannot be achieved in this area.

Likewise, government corruption is endemic and devastating. Virtually no business gets conducted without a government kickback. Not only has this corruption stunted so much growth in this country, it also fosters the attitude among citizens that this is the only way to get things done. Cheating in the classrooms is rampant and people assume that anything can be bought regardless of legalities or technicalities. In the case of my own work visa, my lawyer was advising me on how to skirt the law to make it happen. It is justified with the mantra “everyone does it”. All of these behaviours are learned from the government role models and now are as much a part of Nepalese life as dal bhat. Each new government, elected or otherwise, believes it is their right to get rich off baksheesh (bribes) while in office.

I indulge in these digressions only to exemplify my sense of helplessness here. I came to this country with great hopes to affect some kind of change, even on a very small scale. I have come to realise that I have no more influence on the management of the college as I do on corruption in government or the education that the students receive here.

When I went up to the mountains, I did so in an effort to leave politics, education systems, pollution, work and all other stressors behind me. I wanted to be among the majesty of the mountains, and more importantly among the warmth of the Sherpas. As soon as I stepped off the plane in Lukla, it felt wonderful to be in the fresh air. It was a perfect day and just being dwarfed by the snow-capped mountains was exhilarating. It only took me a day or two to realise that the Nepal I loved was in the mountains and that living in Kathmandu could never bring me the happiness that I felt out there.

Unfortunately, over the next three weeks, the Khumbu showed a side of itself I had never seen before. It would appear that the nastier side of tourism is taking its toll, even in this remote part of the world. The fact that I was travelling alone made me a pariah in the eyes of the locals. While I paid full price for a room, I was only buying one meal and was therefore a liability to them. I was frequently denied rooms in the lodges and if I was offered a room at all, it was the worst room available with no view or amenities. Whenever I ordered food I had to go chase down the lodge owner and practically beg to place an order. I was lucky to get my food after everyone else was served, if at all. I received similarly shoddy treatment by the airline when it came time for me to leave the area. Commercialism and the quest for the almighty rupee have undeniably replaced hospitality in the Khumbu.

All of this has been heartbreaking and I am feeling like I’m in a country I don’t recognize. Out in the mountains I have always found compassion, generosity and warmth. On this trip, from beginning to end, I was ostracised by the Sherpas. Only the monks showed me the acceptance that I have always associated with this part of the world.

One of the main things that drew me back to Nepal is the spirituality I’ve always felt here. In the Buddhist regions of the mountains, there is a special energy and a wonderful sense of serenity and peace. I believed that if I lived here I would be permanently immersed in the feeling of well-being I experienced in that environment. Unfortunately, Kathmandu is primarily Hindu and it takes considerable effort to find the pockets in the city where the Buddhist presence is strong enough to be palpable. I certainly felt some of the old magic in the monasteries and remote areas of the Khumbu, but it is not possible for me to make a life for myself up there.

I guess by now it’s no surprise to any of you that I have decided to come back to Canada. Nepal has not given me what I want or what I expected from it when I came here. I guess it’s true that living and working in a place is different than visiting as a tourist, but my experiences in the mountains tells me that Nepal has changed too. I guess we’re just not the perfect match that I once thought we were.

I figure that if I’m going to be frustrated at work and live a spiritually bankrupt life, I might as well come back to Canada where I can take regular hot showers, turn on a light at any hour of the day and earn a decent wage. I have to admit to some disappointment that I am staring down my 47th birthday with absolutely no sense of where my life is heading. I find some small consolation in knowing that I am taking an active role in the search, and that the last few years have helped me eliminate some unsuitable options. I have to believe that each false start teaches me something about myself and will ultimately lead in the right direction. I guess I’ll just keep looking.

I expect to be home in mid-May.

Back in the "Kat"

2009-04-17T01:48:00.000-07:00

I finally made it back to Kathmandu after waiting out some bad weather in the mountains. Despite clear weather today, the flight was the most turbulent I've ever experienced and the poor Sherpa woman behind me spent the flight with her head in her lap and her arms around the seat, hands digging into my belly. After I recovered from the initial shock of being molested from the seat behind, I tried to comfort her by stroking her hands but truthfully there were moments when I was a bit nervous myself. Anyway, all ended well and I'm at home enjoying some unscheduled electricity, due, I think, to new year's celebrations. April 14 marked the first day of 2066 here in Nepal.

I am going to relax, get myself a decent meal (I'm thinking paneer korma or perhaps paneer butter masala - anything but fried rice or potatoes)and just unwind with a cocktail or two in Thamel. I'll get down to some writing tomorrow and post a blog in the next couple of days about my experiences in the mountains. I also have about 25 emails to respond to, so I'll try to get to them in the next few days too. Hopefully the bonus electricity will hold out for another day or so.

Rested

2009-04-12T01:41:00.000-07:00

I almost feel human again - I've had a shower and a great sleep and am not freezing. My time out here has been great - I've met some wonderful people and spent some quality time alone. I even had an impromptu visit with some young monks on a hillside above Thangboche monastery that I won't forget for a long time. On the way up from Thangboche, I spent two nights in Dingboche, and did a day hike out to Chukkung on the way to Island Peak. I had never been out that way before and really enjoyed it.

The weather has been much colder than normal for this time of year. We had fresh snow for about 5 days running, which made everything very pretty but didn't help the footing on the trails. I was planning to spend a few more days up at Gorek Shep (the closest spot to Everest Base Camp) but ended up coming down for several reasons. First I have a couple of friends who are climbing this year and I wanted to visit them at base camp. Unfortunately, they had permit problems and had to come down to Kathmandu to sort them out, so I missed them at base camp. We're staying in touch and trying to meet up either back up here on the trail or down in the city depending on how things go with their climbing permit. Second, it was really cold when I was there, and the weather wasn't that clear in the morning. There's no point being up there if you can't see your surroundings. Finally, I found the climb much more difficult this year than I have in the past. I typically get sleep apnea at high altitudes, but didn't feel it this year until my night at Gorek Shep, which was a nightmare. Every time I fell asleep I would stop breathing and then wake up with the feeling that I was suffocating. It got to the point where I would start having panic attacks every time I felt myself drifting off. There isn't any physical danger from this - your body will automatically start breathing again - but it's emotionally draining. Anyway, when I realised that Manny and Andre had left base camp, I didn't feel the need to stay up there any longer. I could potentially have climbed Kalipathar, a nearby hill that offers some of the best views in the world. However, the weather wasn't great during the morning I would have gone and I had done it before and it almost killed me the last time, so I thought I would just live with the memories and photos from last time.

In spite of the cold and my breathing difficulties, my hike into base camp was really good. I hiked with a British woman I met on the trail, so I had some company. The weather held for us all afternoon, which was unexpected and a nice surprise. Typically our mornings were clear and then clouds came in in the afternoon, but the reverse was true up at base camp. The ice and snow on the mountains, especially Nuptse, were spectacular - all kinds of hanging drifts and ice chunks the colour of the shallow sea on a Carribean beach. On the way out it was like walking through a thunderstorm with avalanches booming on all sides every few minutes. They're so cool to watch from a safe distance.

After I left Gorek Shep I spent a couple of nights in a valley that I really love and enjoyed my time there immensely. It was still really cold there and so I decided to come down farther. The day that I left Pheriche to come down, the weather turned. I hiked down in much warmer weather which I assume exteneded right up to base camp. I'm now enjoying balmy weather (t-shirts in the sunshine)in Namche.

As for the crowds, it was the weirdest thing. I guess that they have been having trouble landing flights at Lukla, so they have gone days on end without bringing trekkers and climbers in. This isn't unusual as the Lukla airstrip needs clear sight to land and this often doesn't happen in the mountains. The day that I flew in was the first in several that flights could land so I started my trek with tons of people who had been waiting for days to get here. Because I stayed a few days in Thangboche, they all got ahead of me and I was realitively alone for the next little while. On my way down yesterday, we obviously got another wave of flights after a few days without them. I could hardly get down the trail for the people going up - so many huge groups. I really don't know where they are all going to sleep when they get up to the tiny settlements like Lobuche and Gorek Shep. I'm really glad I got out of there before the flood of people arrived.

I have asked to get my flight out changed to Thursday, April 16. I'll find out this afternoon if they are able to accommodate it or not. If that works out, I'll stay in Namche tonight and tomorrow and then walk out to Lukla over the next couple of days. I'll keep you posted.

Back in Namche

2009-04-11T04:03:00.000-07:00

This will be short as I'm exhausted. I just wanted to touch base and let you know that I'm back in Namche Bazaar (about 2 days walk from the airport). I'm not sure how long I'll stay here - likely a few days. But internet access is decent and not astronomical so I'll write a couple of decent blogs and/or emails if I stay up here. It was really cold and much more rustic farther up and I just got a bit tired of it. The absolutely stellar views are wonderful but sadly are no longer a trade-off for hanging your bare butt over a squat toilet while trying not to slip on the ice all over the floor. I'm back in the land of western toilets and much warmer weather. The views are still pretty but not quite the same. I walked for about 8 hours today, and even though much of it was downhill, it was still very tiring. I had hoped to spend the night farther up but couldn't get a room so had to keep going to Namche. Am very glad to be out of my boots.

Okay...I'll fill you in on details tomorrow.

Oh...by the way...I just heard a rumour that it's Easter. That came right out of the blue for me. I hope you're all enjoying your festivities. I'll probably be having fried rice or potatoes.

Dingboche

2009-04-06T01:57:00.000-07:00

Another very quick and expensive post to let you know that all is well. I'm really enjoying my time here - there's something really special about doing it alone. I can go at my own pace (slow!) and take lots of rest days. This allows me to do some day hikes on the side trails and explore places I haven't seen before. This morning I hiked up to Chukkhung on the way to Island Peak base camp. It was a lovely morning and got some fabulous views.

I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of email when I logged on today. If anyone feels compelled to write, please do. I likely won't have internet for a little while now as I'm heading north and I don't think there's connectivity up there. I'll check again on the way down.

My father stopped acknowledging birthdays several years ago, but I think it should be noted that on April 10 he will become an octogenarian. He'll kill me if anyone makes a fuss but I'm sure a call or card would be welcome. Happy birthday Dad!

Thangboche (3840 Metres ASL)

2009-04-04T01:02:00.000-07:00

This is a very brief note just to touch base. Internet is 20 Nrs (about 35 cents) per minute.

Everything is great and I'm having a blast, although it's colder than I expected. I'm on my third day at the monastery and will leave to head up the valley tomorrow. Am not sure how fast I'll go - I have lots of time and am sort of just ambling along. It's really wonderful. Lots of trekkers on the trail, but tons of climbing expeditions. The latter are typically a bit of a snooty bunch (we're climbers you're just trekkers mentality) but I don't have to spend much time with them so that's okay. By the looks of things, Base Camp is going to be a zoo this year. I should get there sometime in the next 4-5 days depending on what I decide to do along the way.

All is right in the world, so don't worry about me. My biggest concern is running out of reading material but hopefully will be able to swap books with someone when the time comes. Will write again when technical and financial resources are in place.

Change of Plans

2009-03-31T18:42:00.000-07:00

I have decided to leave Namche a day earlier than planned. My next stop is Thangboche monastery which involves a fairly grueling climb. A British couple that I have been spending some time with have found a nice teahouse part way into the trek to Thangboche. It's a pleasant two hour walk from here and means that we'll be starting the climb to Thangboche fresh the next day. I've decided to join them. It will be nice to be in a quieter place tonight, although being part of the bustle of Namche is fun too. I'm sure I'll stop in again on the way down and enjoy a drink or two when altitude isn't an issue.

I'm not sure if there will be internet in Thangboche, although I suspect that it has found its way there by now. I'll probably spend a few days there as there's a beautiful monastery there and I can sit in on the afternoon chants with the monks, which is really soothing. It's one of the reasons I came up here.

The next town, Dingboche, has internet for sure, so the worst case is that I'll be out of touch for 4 days or so. All is well, so no need to worry.

Everest View Hotel

2009-03-31T03:07:00.000-07:00

This will be a very short post as I'm almost out of time.

I had a great sleep last night and stayed in bed until a luxurious 7:00 AM. I spent the morning just ambling around the countryside above Namche Bazaar. There was fresh snow on the ground but it melted by mid-day. I stopped for a pot of hot chocolate at the Everest View Hotel, which, not surprisingly, offers great views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. It is a very expensive hotel in the middle of nowhere. Most guests get choppered in and don't venture out beyond the beautiful balcony.

I am absolutely in my element here. I'm having a blast and feeling great. I'll spend another day at Namche and then head up to Thangboche monastery for a couple of days of spiritual work with the monks (and the bakery!).

Namche Bazaar (3440 metres ASL)

2009-03-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

I flew into Lukla yesterday morning and after a couple of hours of trekking stayed in the village of Phakding. I trekked in beautiful sunny weather but the clouds came in shortly after I arrived at my teahouse and the rain poured steadily all afternoon. After six months without a drop of rain in Kathmandu, this was actually welcome. I spent the afternoon reading and writing, although I did't have much solitude as a group of about eight fairly loud young men were sharing the dining room with me.

Today was a different story. After an awesome sleep, I got my stuff together, had some breakfast and set out. My original plan was to stop in Monjo but I arrived there at about 10:00 AM and wasn't ready to stop moving. I decided to push on to Namche Bazaar, which was a mistake and a huge lesson learned. Monjo is almost exactly half way between Phakding and Namche, but the second half took well over twice the time of the first half. Even with someone reminding me about this stretch of trail at breakfast this morning, I still couldn't remember it being that hard and didn't forsee a problem. I guess my subconscious was suppressing the memory or something. I gained too much altitude today: rule of thumb is 400 metres and I covered almost 700. Many others were doing the same thing and because I've never really had trouble with altitude I didn't really think much of it. I'm sure I've done more in the past, but typically descend again rather quickly (i.e. going over a high pass) so it hasn't affected me. Anyway, I arrived here at about 1:30 quite tired and feeling the need to stop to catch my breath every 10 steps or so. I didn't have a headache, but my stomach was a bit off. I also experienced a bit of tingling in my fingertips, which is a totally new thing for me. I checked into a teahouse, changed into dry clothes and had a bowl of soup. I then went and lay down for a short nap and now feel good as new. This is a good lesson learned for me, and I won't push my boundaries anymore. Also, a person's susceptibility to altidude can vary from time to time, so it's best not to make assumptions. I have all the time I could possibly need up here - there's no need to hurry.

Lest any of you are worrying about me doing this alone, let me put your minds at rest. The first half of the trek today was something like taking a stroll down the 401 - there are tons of people on the trails. Too many for my liking. I'm hoping this will spread out over the next leg of the journey, but there is absolutely no way I can become lost or experience some trauma without being found within seconds. I have heard that there are even signposts now at any questionable intersections on the trail, so getting lost will not be an option. The climbing expeditions are all trekking up to base camp at the moment as well as the regular trekkers like me. There are just tons of people around.

As for my general mood, it's great. It is just so wonderful to be out here and away from the city. I really think that my love of Nepal is restricted to visiting the mountainous regions. I'm not sure where this is going to take me in the long run - much meditation to be done on this subject in the next few weeks - but I really can't see staying in Kathmandu. Seeing it all from this distance makes me understand that living in the city isn't the right path for me.

I'm finding things more expensive than I expected up here and am worried about the amount of money I brought along. I can probably get more cash here at Namche (at an astronomical rate) but don't want to spend all my money on the internet. I expect to stay in Namche for at least two and possibly three nights. My recent scare with the too-quick ascent has taught me a lesson and I think I'll hang out here for a little while to let my body aclimatise well. The town is rockin' (a bit weird really - it used to be such a quiet little town) so I'm sure I'll have plenty of company over the next few days. I'll check internet at least daily here, so feel free to write. I understand that internet is now available in a couple of villages even farther north of here and a couple of cell towers are going in (although I didn't bring my phone). I'll therefore be able to touch base regularly.

After seeing the number of trekkers on the trail I was kind of kicking myself for packing so much stuff. I didn't want to take any chances so have stuff available for all contingencies. Most other trekkers hire porters, but a couple are doing it on their own and their bags are much smaller than mine. However, I was so happy today when I could take off my sweat-soaked clothes and put on dry clothes before I got chilled. It's also great to have some comfy shoes for day hikes and warm fuzzy gear to sleep in. All is well with the world at the moment and I'm so happy to be out here.

Preparations

2009-03-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

My cold has been incredibly tenacious and even though I feel fine, I am still coughing a lot and trying to rid myself of the congestion in my chest and sinuses. I have been getting myself ready for my trek. I had a few things to pick up and headed into Thamel to shop. After having spent as much time as I have in Kathmandu, my visits to Thamel have become a fate worse than death for me. I venture in from time to time to enjoy the nightlife, but I avoid daytime visits like the plague. At this time of year, when tourists are abundant, it’s particularly bad. I imagine that when the local touts look at me, they just see a giant wallet.

I guess the shopping gods were smiling on me yesterday as I had a very successful day, finished what I had to do in record time, and didn’t even get fleeced along the way. I am particularly proud of a windproof jacket that I found after much searching. It’s a great colour and is even made for women, which is difficult to find here. I’m very excited about it.

I have a colleague from Vancouver arriving in town today, which I’m looking forward to. I have had great success with my Canadian company of late, and expect that Brad’s visit will continue the trend. He’ll be around through the weekend, so I’ll be seeing him right up until I leave for my trek.

I will leaving for the Khumbu on Sunday morning and have booked my return flight for April 23. I can change the return date if I want to, so I’ll just see how things go up there and come back when I’m ready. When I’m in cushy surroundings it’s easy to think of the wonderful aspects of being in the mountains, and forget about the hardships of living in rustic conditions. (Yes, I realise that I just referred to life in Kathmandu as cushy - bit paradoxical given the lack of electricity and water here.)

I will be largely incommunicado while away, but will have internet access in one of the villages about four days in. I expect that there will be lots of other trekkers in the area, and it’s also climbing season, so I’m not worried about being out there alone. There will be lots of company on the trails, so there’s no need to worry about me.

I’ll try to post from Namche Bazaar in about a week or so. After that, I’ll be out of touch for awhile.

On the Mend

2009-03-20T06:37:00.000-07:00

After my third day in bed I am starting to feel better. I am however, going absolutely stir crazy. I don’t care how I feel tomorrow – I’m going out.

We have had a couple of storms over the last few days. They have been very short-lived and have only yielded a few drops of rain, but it has been heavenly. We’re a long way from monsoon season, but even this little bit of moisture is a breath of fresh air – literally. It smells soooo good on my terrace.

A Day in Bed

2009-03-18T04:09:00.000-07:00

I didn’t stay long at the St. Patrick’s Day party as my head was pounding and my cold was getting worse. I had a horrible night and was afraid that I was dealing with a sinus infection and/or tonsillitis. I have slept most of the day and the pain seems to be subsiding a bit – I think I’m just really congested and am hoping to avoid antibiotics. It seems to be going around. My climbing friend has postponed his departure to the Khumbu as he's struggling with it as well. They're leaving tomorrow and I'm supposed to see them tonight, but I'm not sure I'll have the strength to drag myself out.

I am being bombarded by messages for Earth Hour. Given that I will actually have electricity for a few hours on Saturday night, I hope I don’t upset anyone by leaving it turned on and getting some stuff done. Perhaps I can substitute one of the 16 off-hours I have during the day.

Top of the Mornin' to Ya

2009-03-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

I met with Bharat yesterday, and as expected, he had yet another visa scheme for me. It was very similar to an earlier iteration, and one that I’m not entirely comfortable with. It is somewhat legal, as far as that goes in Nepal, but is also suspect. There is one set of documents that the government sees, and another that we sign between us which covers our respective asses if anything goes wrong. The problem is that the latter papers also prove that my visa was obtained under false pretences, so if I were to produce them to settle a dispute with my employers, the government either throws me out of the country or into jail. I know I’m looking at the worst possible scenario but you kind of have to, don’t you? I’m sure there are tons of people who are here on much shadier arrangements, and it is just the norm in Nepal to skirt the law or bribe your way through red tape. It’s just not sitting well with me.

There are some other issues that are making me less than enthusiastic about staying on. I won’t go into details – just stuff like salary, vacation etc. The biggest stumbling block for me is the whole cultural issue. I wrote about it in previous blogs, so I won’t go into any more detail. I’m just wondering if I have the flexibility to be able to work in this environment. I love the country to visit and could be quite happy living here if I was independently wealthy and could go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted. But working here is an entirely different challenge, and one that I just don’t think I’m up to.

I met with Khem to explain all this to him this morning and he was pretty understanding, although he did his usual long-winded sales pitch to me. I have officially resigned and will be heading up into the mountains to recharge my batteries. They are going to continue working on my visa in my absence, so if I change my mind somewhere along the way, I can return and pick up where I left off. I think the chances of this happening are slim-to-none, but I’m willing to leave the door open for now. I could return refreshed and ready to try again.

I’m not sure when I’ll be leaving but it likely won’t be for a little while. I have a work acquaintance from Vancouver arriving in Nepal tomorrow and making his way to Kathmandu in a little over a week. I will stay in the city long enough to show him around before flying off to Lukla. I don’t want to plan my “trek” too much – will go where the wind blows me and not feel like I have to put in too many miles each day. I haven’t been running since about Christmas so my fitness levels are ridiculous and I expect to be trekking at a snail’s pace once I get up to altitude. I was all keen to start running again now that I’m not working but am battling a cold so will give it a couple of days. One of the reasons I stopped running over the winter was because I couldn’t be guaranteed of a warm shower when I was done. That situation still exists but it’s warm enough now that I can take a cold sponge bath if necessary and not freeze to death. (I keep a spare bucket of water in the bathroom for times when there’s nothing coming out of the tap.)

So that’s it for now. I’m on my way to celebrate St. Patrick ’s Day at a restaurant called “Celtic Manang” where a friend will be playing Irish folk music on guitar. I’m not sure how long I’ll last with the decongestants doing their thing, but I’ll see how I do.

More Confusion

2009-03-14T21:43:00.000-07:00

Things continued to deteriorate for me last week. There was a major holiday here on Tuesday called Holi. I’m not even sure what this represents from a religious point of view (nor does anyone else around here, so I’m not feeling too guilty about it). Regardless of its roots, it has become somewhat like Halloween, but without the treats. Kids go out in the street and throw water, powdered dyes and in particularly nasty situations, used motor oil, at anyone crazy enough to be out and about. The youngsters love it, the adults stay in. Everything is closed, public transit doesn’t run and if you can find a taxi actually working, you’ll easily pay double the normal fare. It is a day for staying locked up in your home. After several discussions with Khem about this holiday he insisted that it was a regular work day, even though the students wouldn’t be on campus. All my friends were horrified that I had to work on Holi as it’s the one day in Nepal when absolutely nobody works. I dressed in my worst clothes and found a cabbie who was willing to take me to work. When I arrived, I was the only one there until Khem and the visiting Swiss consultant arrived and were able to let me into my office. Khem insisted that the other staff members would show up at 3:00 for the management meeting we had scheduled. At about 2:00, he pulled out his laptop, checked the list of staff holidays (which I didn’t even know existed) and said “oh, I guess it’s a holiday today”. At this time of day it was impossible for me to go home as the streets were crazy with the festival. I finally managed to convince him to drive me home. It never occurred to him to apologise for having me work on a holiday or to offer me compensation.

This was pretty much the last straw for me. The next day I asked him when I could expect to receive the money he owed me and he expressed disbelief that there was anything outstanding. He chased down the accountant and I finally received my February wages by the end of the day. Late in the afternoon the following day I got the remainder of my January wages. I decided to cut my losses and handed in my resignation at the end of the day. (Since I’m here on a tourist visa, I’m not legally employed so this was really just a formality that my work ethic compelled me to do.) Needless to say, he didn’t take it lying down and went into his usual long-winded explanations (read excuses) for everything that had happened. He did take some responsibility but for the most part it was the usual Nepali finger-pointing (e.g. the fact that my visa isn’t moving forward is his brother’s fault, the fact that I didn’t get paid is the accountant’s fault etc.).

He has since sent me a long email explaining how things are going to change and that I should give him another chance. He suggested that I meet with Bharat to discuss my visa on Monday. He makes some valid points and I am certainly giving them some consideration. But ultimately the problem is with his attitude and work ethic, both of which are very hard to define. I can give specific examples and he can promise that that particular thing won’t happen again, but I know that the underlying root of the problem will manifest itself in different ways down the road.

I also understand that I was having a particularly lousy week and am feeling a bit better now. I’m trying to sift through my feelings to determine if work was the main problem or if there are other contributing factors. When I was thinking about quitting I planned to take off into the mountains after I settled everything and try to reconnect with the Nepal I love before I have to leave the country. I am realising now that this is really crucial for me and that I have to get out of Kathmandu for a while. I can’t plan to take any holidays, even within the country, on the salary that I’m earning, which has been a concern for me. I have decided that if I am going to give the job another chance I will need a raise and an immediate vacation so I can escape to the mountains.

I’m not sure why, but the Khumbu has been calling me. I find it a bit strange given that it isn’t my favourite mountain retreat. Perhaps it’s the strong Sherpa presence and the monasteries which are beckoning. I just feel like I have to go there now in order to restore my balance and sanity. I know that I will find the answers I’m looking for there.

In other news, I’m having a very social weekend. A guy from Montreal that I met here a couple of years ago is back to climb Everest for the second time. He had just summitted for the first time when I met him in the spring of 2007. I have been spending a bit of time with him and his climbing partner, and have really been enjoying their company. If I head up into the mountains, I’ll visit them at Everest Base Camp as they prepare for their climb. Also a friend of a friend has just arrived in Nepal to volunteer at a school in the south. I spent the day with her on Friday and had a blast. We have so much in common and it was just great to have some real girl talk with someone I could relate to so well. I think I totally talked her ear off, but she’s willing to come back for another visit this afternoon so it can’t have been that bad. Hopefully we’ll meet up with the guys later today as well as they all leave Kathmandu tomorrow for their various destinations. I am concerned that I will revert back into last week’s funk once all this great Canadian company leaves. I guess my reaction will help to guide me in my decisions.

My immediate plan is to meet with Bharat tomorrow. If my work visa is not forthcoming, this all becomes a moot point as I’ll have to leave Nepal by the end of May and I won’t spend that time working. I’m still waiting for Khem to get in touch with contact details for Bharat and/or an appointment time. I’ll blog again when I have a better handle on what I’m doing, or to report that I’m still bumbling along in a state of confusion.

The Blues

2009-03-07T22:11:00.001-08:00

It has been a rough week. We had some visiting dignitaries from Sri Lanka here at the beginning of the week and they turned the power on almost round the clock to impress them. I guess I’m in the same load shedding group as the Sri Lankan ambassador’s place so I got to enjoy the benefits of hot showers, TV and lights for almost three days. Sadly their visit was cut short due to the terror attack on their cricket team in Pakistan.

Things are getting increasingly frustrating at work. Due to my productivity levels, which are high by Canadian standards and astronomical here, the workload of the entire college seems to be migrating over to my desk. I have to admit that I have been responsible for some of this; I get so frustrated waiting for people to do things that I tend to just do them myself. It is now out of hand with some of the lazier staff doing absolutely nothing and dropping all of their work on my desk. Unfortunately, paycheques aren’t as easy to come by as work. At the last management meeting, virtually every task that came up was assigned to me, even though I am by far the least qualified person on the staff to do the bulk of them. I’m getting tired of being expected to do everything while the others sit around being useless. I think this is another function of the aid situation I mentioned in a previous post. I’m beginning to wonder if the Western world isn’t doing more harm than good with all their handouts in this country. The Nepali people seem totally unwilling to help themselves and are always waiting for the next handout.

My visa situation is a black hole and to the best of my knowledge, work hasn’t been started on it yet. The story keeps changing (as they tend to do here) and I really don’t know where things stand. The last option to be presented to me this week is light years away from the offer made to me back in December and is far from satisfactory to me. The lawyer was supposed to meet with me this week but didn’t show up. I’m not sure how this is going to play out.

You may remember that I previously referred to Khem as a “silver-tongued devil”. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that this can be much less charming and much more disturbing than I originally understood. He is the king of spin and it’s really difficult to trust most of what he says. I don’t think he’s deliberately malicious or a liar, but he never tells the same story twice and I feel like I’m on shifting ground with him all the time.

The latest issue was a faculty workshop that started yesterday and continues next weekend. I didn’t want to go partly because I didn’t want to give up 2 weekends, but mostly because I’m not faculty and it’s totally irrelevant to my work. After several discussions with Khem, he put his foot down and insisted that I attend. When I showed up yesterday morning, he was surprised to see me, and didn’t know why I was there. He claimed that he never said I had to attend. Needless to say, after having cancelled some fun weekend events in order to be there, I was less than pleased.

As a result of all this, I’m not sure what the future holds for me here. Worse, I’m not sure what I want the future to hold for me here. I’m becoming more and more disenchanted with the life I’m leading here. I can easily be this unhappy at home where at least I can take a hot shower and read by electric light in the evenings. The only good news is that I’m really enjoying the work itself and think I may have learned something about what kind of job may actually make me happy.

I have to post this quickly as the power will be going off in seconds. No time to proof-read. Sorry for bad grammar, typos etc.

All Over the Map

2009-03-02T01:20:00.000-08:00

I apologise for delay in posts. I hate to keep blaming everything on load shedding, but the fact of the matter is that it pretty much manages my life these days. It is so difficult to fit everything into a few precious hours of electricity each day, especially when those hours happen at inconvenient times. What is perhaps even more disconcerting is that I have become a slave to those hours. When the power comes on I feel obliged to be ultra-productive, regardless of the circumstances or time of day. There are times when the power is on from 8PM – midnight, and I’d rather just lay back and watch a movie, go out for dinner or call someone at home for a chat, but I have to heat water, iron clothes, do dishes, catch up on personal correspondence and finish up the day’s work. There are other times when it’s on from midnight – 4AM and I feel the need get up and do stuff. My sleep patterns are really not patterns at all, but random naps.

I moved into my new apartment over the weekend. It wasn’t a terribly difficult move apart from the fact that I had to do it by taxi. I had a couple of friends help me out which made it quite painless. We’d both take a load out to the cab, then my friend would stay and make sure that the taxi didn’t drive away with my stuff while I went back for another load. I don’t exactly live like royalty here, so it only took four trips. I sold my fridge to my new didi who bought it for her mother. She came to pick it up on Saturday morning and I was surprised that she arrived alone and without a vehicle. When I asked how she was planning to get the fridge home, she said she’d take a taxi. I thought she was out of her mind – taxis are tiny little hatchbacks that can hardly accommodate three Western passengers simultaneously. But sure enough, within in minutes she talked a cabbie into it. He came in with her, helped carry it out and load it in his car. He even got the hatch shut over it.

I was really excited to get to my new place. As I’ve mentioned, it has a beautiful sunny terrace that I’ve really been looking forward to. In addition, it offers quiet nights and a steady water supply. After I took the last load over yesterday morning, I had to go get my visa renewed across town. On the way back, I stopped at an internet cafe and started to blog about how happy I was to be in my new place. Alas, their generator had a hiccup of some kind, all the computers went dark and I lost my post.

When I got home my landlord came up to tell me about the new water situation. There is a huge water shortage in the Kathmandu valley (no news there) and the government is now only turning on the water supply to our neighbourhood between 3-4 AM. If we don’t have electricity during that time, we can’t pump water into the cistern, which means we go without water for the day. This means that I’m actually in a worse situation for water than I was before. If we do get water, it means running the pump in the middle of the night, which in turn means no sleep.

On top of this, the load shedding schedule changed again at some point over the weekend. Rumour has it that we are now up to 20 hours per day without electricity, but nobody knows for sure because they haven’t published a new schedule (likely because they’re afraid of the backlash). We just sit and wait for the power to come on and off and then scramble to get things done. It is impossible to plan anything and really, what is there to plan with only four hours of power a day?

The icing on the cake was a noisy night of dogs barking last night, something that apparently never happens in my new neighbourhood. So much for my quiet nights – let’s hope it was an anomaly and not the beginning of a trend. Today I woke up to cloudy skies; almost the first since I’ve been here and no doubt a precursor to monsoon season. No sitting on my sunny terrace today.

So after a great day yesterday, I’m having a seriously lousy one today. I really don’t know if I have it in me to live under these conditions. It’s one thing to go on a trek and live without your creature comforts, but to try to live a Western-style life without electricity and water is somewhat overwhelming. It’s not what I was expecting when I moved here. I was prepared for the pollution, dirt, crazy driving, hassles in the street, different culture, different work ethic, whole different way of doing things etc. All these are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things. But now the annoyances seem to be outweighing any good I’m getting from this place. It’s very disheartening.

I’m not really sure what happens next. I could wake up tomorrow feeling great again, or things could continue to get worse. Maybe we’ll get our new load shedding schedule and it will actually be logical and make life easier. There are even rumours that there has been a deal struck with India to import some electricity. But if I continue to have to go days on end without being able to wash or flush my toilet and if I can’t call home or catch up on my work, I might feel the need to jump ship. God knows what I’d do...I’m sure that I wouldn’t be able to find work in Canada in this economy and there’s not exactly a mint-load of money in my bank account right now. Even if I could find a contract, I shudder to go back to the same work that made me so miserable before. I guess I’ll just have to spin some prayer wheels and see what the universe tells me.

Making the Effort

2009-02-17T08:57:00.000-08:00

Aid Work

On Saturday I went to a small rural village in the hills outside of Kathmandu with some students from the college to volunteer at a health clinic. I was basically useless because I couldn’t speak the language, but the students were really great manning the registration table. The guy running the clinic is a Nepali working for an Austrian NGO, and the clinic was in his home village. He found himself with an extra 1000 euros in his budget so he went and bought medicine, corralled his wife and some colleagues (all doctors) and set up this clinic for a day in his home town. About 200 people visited over the course of the day with ailments from burns to emphysema.

I had to put my Western sensibilities on hold as I watched them all crowding into the examining rooms to watch each other’s visits with doctors. At one point there were a half dozen women in the room, a young girl skipping rope and a teenage boy’s head sticking in the window while an older woman described her symptoms of menopause to the doctor. Nobody, the patient included, seemed to mind a bit. Nepalese people are incredibly nosy by nature, so privacy takes on a whole new meaning here.

Virtually everyone left with some “prescription” even if it was just vitamins for the youngsters. They seemed more impressed by the packaging and just having received something for free, than the potential beneficial effects of the medicines.

Sadly, I found out towards the end of the day that many of the patients had complained about the quality and quantity of the medicines at the clinic. I guess they figured it was somebody’s left-overs or something. The guy running the clinic was really disappointed after all the work he had done, especially given this was his home town. I have to wonder if there isn’t too much aid coming into this country: the Nepalese people seem to be expecting handouts all the time.

Street Cleaning

Deborah started a project at the school which has the kids going out for an hour before lunch every Tuesday and cleaning up the streets around the college. We pick up garbage, sweep the streets and have garbage bins hung on lampposts along the streets for use between our forays. We are going farther and farther afield, incorporating the whole community in our project.

The reaction has been mixed with some shop owners ignoring us and others putting out garbage bins of their own. We have solicited the support of the local municipal government (we’re outside the jurisdiction of Kathmandu) and the police. We were disappointed to hear rumours in the neighbourhood that because Deborah and I were out with the students, it was assumed that we were from an NGO and injecting all kinds of money into the school and this project. Another side effect of all the aid coming into the country, I guess. We wrote a letter to the community explaining that this was just a bunch of kids who wanted to make a difference in their community and their country. Before we had a chance to go door-to-door with our letter, Tamang Losar fell on a Tuesday and the college was closed. (I think I’ve mentioned holidays before: every day is somebody’s festival here so we choose our “official” holidays at the school based on importance to the students.) Because we weren’t cleaning the streets that day, the locals all had an impromptu meeting with the local government and police, voicing their fears that we had stopped the project due to lack of support from our neighbours. Despite their misinterpretation of the facts, it was nice validation for our work.

The following week the students went door-to-door with our letter and appealed to all our neighbours to support the project. Again there were mixed responses. Some were really supportive and agreed to help in any way they could. Others complained that they paid taxes to have their streets cleaned by the government, who clearly weren’t doing their job. Because we were keeping the streets so clean, they had no leg to stand on in complaining that their tax dollars weren’t being spent properly. They asked us to cease and desist.

The students really struggle in this environment, but so far they’re still cleaning the streets and taking pride in it.

We had a guest speaker at the college last week. He is half Sherpa and half Belgian, and is 24 years old. He has done an incredible amount of stuff in his short life including climbing Lhotse, Cho Oyo and Everest twice. His last Everest expedition included the introduction of alternate fuels and a large-scale clean-up of base camp. He has all kinds of projects on the go to help fight the environmental effects of global warming here, and to promote sustainable work among the Sherpas in the Khumbu.

The students really took to him and he was wonderful with them. He encouraged them in their street cleaning as well as a dozen other things they could do to improve life here. He also strongly urged them to stay in Nepal, or at least come back if they do their internships abroad. As he says: Nepal needs them and the West doesn’t. Let’s hope that this next generation is filled with people like them.

(Dawa Steven Sherpa www.ideas-action.org)

New Apartment

2009-02-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

I started writing this post a week ago. It’s just so hard to get anything done here with the power off so much of the time. I am very busy at work as I am being asked to coach everyone else on campus (which typically translates into me doing their jobs for them). I often spend the electricity-filled hours on my off-days doing work as well. I had hoped to write a bunch of stuff before posting, but have decided to break it down into a few shorter posts in the hopes of getting things out there on a more regular basis.

My most recent news is that I’ve got a new apartment and will be moving on March 1. Deborah is moving to a house and I’m going to take over her apartment. It’s in a great neighbourhood where most of the embassies are located. It’s on the third floor of a house and while it’s a bit smaller than my current apartment, it is much better outfitted. It has a lovely sunny terrace which I’m so looking forward to hanging out on. It is also right next to the only park left in Kathmandu. I haven't checked it out yet but it's a wooded area that I'm hoping will be suitable for running through. Best of all it’s really quiet and I should get both sleep and privacy. I am also going to take “custody” of Deborah’s “didi” (literally "big sister" but in this case maid). Deborah can’t take her with her and so I thought I’d give it a go. I really struggle with the whole concept of having help, but I’m probably the only foreigner here not to have one, and it gives a Nepali a job. The apartment is cheaper than my current one, so even with Anju's salary, I’m still coming out even. In addition, I expect that I’ll save money as I’ll come home to a home-cooked meal every night and will be less inclined to eat out. Also, she’ll do my laundry which I’m also currently paying for. It will be a challenge for me to have someone around, but as Deborah says, it’s probably time I learned how to share my space. Still, I expect that I will be giving her lots of days off when I’m planning to be home all day.

Okay...onto the post I started last week.

Sorry I haven’t posted for so long, but nothing of consequence is really happening. My life has settled into a fairly boring routine of work, evenings out with women friends and weekend visits to the stupa at Bouddhanath in the heart of the Tibetan community. So instead of writing about what I’m doing, I’ll write about some impressions I have of living and working here.

Education System

In a word, it sucks. Teaching is all done by rote here and there is no creativity whatsoever in the classroom. Sadly, students are taught to memorise, but not to think. As a result, we have college students who need to be taught lessons that we teach to first graders at home. Although we are a college, it feels more like an elementary school from point of view of discipline and student conduct. Students cannot be left to their own devices and we have to take attendance and monitor them every step of the way. Deborah teaches a study skills class that endeavours to teach the students such basic things as initiative, planning and how to behave in a classroom. The worst is that they talk constantly throughout class. It just doesn’t occur to them that they might benefit from listening, and it certainly hasn’t been enforced as a behavioural practice. Never mind trying to tell them that it’s a matter of respect to listen when someone is speaking to you.

Cheating runs rampant here and is likely a result of the corrupt society that they live in. Each teacher has to write several sets of questions for each test and stagger them throughout the room. Fortunately, we have one administrative assistant here who can spot cheating a mile away, so she sits in on as many exams as can fit her schedule. Students also use their laptops and cell phones in class, both of which will be outlawed by yours truly at the next management meeting. I’m guessing that I’m not going to be the most popular person on campus in the coming weeks, but the students have approached me eagerly looking for orientation to living and working in Canada, so they’re going to have to bite the bullet.

Dining Etiquette

Nepalese people live on a staple diet of dal bhat, a lentil soup poured over rice. This can be accompanied by curried vegetables or pickle depending on what they can afford and what is available in the markets. They typically eat twice per day and utensils aren’t used in the home. There is a bit of an art to eating dal bhat. You continually play with your food, trying to roll it into bit-sized balls - a difficult feat given that it isn’t sticky rice so there’s not much to hold it all together. Nepalese are good enough at it that only their right hands end up dirty (you never eat with your left hand), but when I do it I need to follow dinner with a shower.

We are trying to teach the students at the college table etiquette which they are grasping at a very slow rate. We have them using utensils but we can’t break them of the habit of playing with their food. Their hands are constantly busy mixing the dal with the rice, making little piles, making new little piles and moving things around. It doesn’t bother me that much but Deborah goes out of her mind in the dining room at school listening to the constant tapping of spoons on plates.

I’m going to stop here or I’ll never get anything posted. More impressions of Nepal in the coming days...

The Twilight Zone

2009-02-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

As I alluded to in my last post, I have been working on new living arrangements. My friend Deborah is moving to a new house and I am hoping to take over her apartment. It is in a great neighbourhood and a very quiet area. The space is a little smaller than what I have now, but much better outfitted (and cheaper!). The best news is that it is on the third floor of the house and has a lovely terrace that gets sunshine pretty much all day. My current apartment is on the ground floor with a communal fountain and lots of pedestrian traffic right outside my window, so I have to keep my curtains closed most of the time. I feel like I'm living in a cave and there's nowhere for me to sit outside.

Most of Deborah's arrangements have been made, but she has yet to sign a lease on the new house. Until she does that, she doesn't want to speak to her current landlord about leaving and having me move it. I also don't want to talk to my current landlord until everything is settled. Deborah is leaving for vacation on the 21st of February and will move her stuff to an outbuilding at the new house then. I expect that her apartment will be ready for me to move in by March 1. As time goes on, I get more and more concerned about the short notice that I will be giving my landlord about leaving.

The last few nights have been horrible at home. One wall of my apartment is actually on the "property line" (as if such a thing exists here!) so the neighbour's dogs are kenneled against the wall of my house under my window. There is the aforementioned public fountain about 10 feet away from my bedroom window with a public path between. The nights have been filled with dogs barking, the neighbour's baby screaming, metal buckets banging against each other and the stone wall at the fountain and motorcycles revving in the path. Sunday night was particularly bad and I got very little sleep. Monday night was worse. The neighbours have a generator which they felt the need to turn on at 4:00 AM as the power was off again. It's like have a jackhammer in my room. When I finally dragged myself out of bed at 7:00 yesterday morning, the power was still off and there was no water. I had heated water the night before for my morning shower, but I guess I was heating an empty tank. There wasn't even any cold water to splash on my face. At this point, I pretty much snapped. As I left for work I stopped and told my landlord that I would be finding a new place to live. I decided that if the arrangements with Deborah don't work out, I'll go someplace else - a hotel if I have to.

Last night I went to bed exhausted at about 9:30. When I woke up, it was dark out, deathly quiet and the power was on. I assumed it must have been before midnight as my power was supposed to be off from midnight-8 and it's usually quiet at that time of night. I checked my clock and it said 6:00 AM!!!! I couldn't believe it, so I turned on the light and looked again. Sure enough, I had slept right through - no generator, nobody at the fountain, no dogs barking, no baby screaming. And the power was on when it wasn't supposed to be. I was honestly so confused that it took me several minutes to get my head around it - thought I had wakened up in the Twilight Zone.

Just as I was leaving for work my landlord arrived to make an empassioned plea for me not to leave. He wants to put a bed in one of the other rooms to help me sleep; he seems to think that moving three feet across the apartment will somehow make a difference. Also he has been round to the neighbours asking them to keep quiet during the night. I feel really sorry for him, but I can't change my mind. I'm sure last night was an anomaly and there's no way that everyone in the neighbourhood are going to change their habits permanently to accommodate me. The fact that we had a few bonus hours of electricity certainly worked in their favour and they did admit that they wouldn't stop running their generator when the power was off. And even if the noise diminishes, it still doesn't solve the problem of being on the first floor and needing to keep my curtains closed against prying eyes. I am hoping I get some kind of resolution with Deborah's place soon.

I am working on another post. I should have it ready soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a photo of a little mishap beside the college this morning.

Garbage

2009-01-26T07:54:00.000-08:00

It turns out that I was wrong about the garbage situation: the garbage collectors were not protesting the load shedding. According to the Himalayan Times, there were a bunch of people striking in an effort to get some Maoists brought to justice following the murder of a journalist. (Such things are quite common in a country where you elect a bunch of terrorists to run the country.) The picket line was cutting off access to the landfill site where Kathmandu’s garbage goes. They obviously had to stop collecting the garbage as there was nowhere to take it. Kathmandu produces 10 tons of garbage a day so things were getting pretty rank after 25 days of this. The good news is that garbage collection has resumed and they are gradually working their way through the city cleaning things up. Garbage collection here is done with shovels and pickup trucks – it’s got to be the most horrible job in the world especially 25 days into the composting process. Of course it’s a long process and there are still some nasty messes, but it’s getting better. Strangely (or not), the reason for resumption of the service stated in the Himalayan Times had nothing to do with a strike or access to the landfill. Frankly, I have no idea what the heck was going on so I’ll just stop trying to explain it. (The English language newspapers here are so poorly written and riddled with undecipherable acronyms that they often leave you less informed than you were before you read them.)

In other good news, I think that I may have new living arrangements in a month or so. Nothing has been confirmed yet so I won’t go into detail but I’m really hoping it works out. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Warming Up

2009-01-24T04:18:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been a bit warmer and it feels like the edge has gone off winter. I’m not sure if we’re having a “January thaw” or if it we have truly turned a corner. Whatever is going on, it’s nice that it’s a bit warmer, especially since we don’t have much artificial heat.

The load-shedding schedule has changed again and we are getting 12 more hours of electricity per week. This is coming in three four-hour blocks, one of which is from midnight to 4:00 AM on Wednesdays and doesn’t really do me much good. One of the blocks, however, is from noon – 4:00 on Saturdays, which is an absolute joy: I am at home and can actually get stuff done during that time slot.

The highlight of my week was the “unofficial inaugural ball” on Tuesday. It was a lovely affair and we had a live feed from Washington on two big screens in the ballroom. I fall more in love with Obama every time I see him. The crowd at the ball reacted to him like he was a rock star - they burst into cheers every time he appeared on the screen (and booed every time Bush did). I have yet to hear anyone speak a negative word about Obama; he seems to have cast a spell over the entire world.

I continue to struggle with upsetting news from home and am frustrated that I am helpless to do anything but sit and wait for each new email. It is difficult to be so far from home at times like these.

That’s it for this week. Sorry it’s not more exciting, but life has become fairly routine for me.

Darkness and Light

2009-01-17T21:19:00.000-08:00

It has been a strange week. The load shedding schedule changed as expected and we're now up to 16 hours without electricity per day. The power is on for two four-hour blocks, one of which is usually in the middle of the night. It is increasingly difficult to get hot water for a shower and to warm up the apartment by a few degrees. There are protests about the power situation all the time; the streets are constantly congested and it's generally really hard to get around. On top of that, the garbage collectors aren't picking up the trash. I'm not sure what the deal is on that (I'm horrible about reading the papers) but I think they're also protesting the lack of electricity. Given that garbage just gets thrown onto the street daily without the benefit of bags, it's getting pretty nasty around here. Ah, the joys of Kathmandu.

I received some upsetting news from home this week, which has added to my frustrations. As the week progressed, the news got a bit better, but I'm still feeling quite uninformed and am struggling with being so far away. With the power outages as they are, it's difficult to communicate by email or Skype. I am hopefull that I'll have a good conversation with my mother later today and that it will ease my mind a bit. (I am writing this from an internet cafe as my power is off from 8AM - 4PM today. It's quite maddening to be paying for internet service at home and then having to go to an internet cafe and pay to use the internet there.)

Lest this all sound too depressing, let me reassure you that it's not all doom and gloom. I have made the acquaintance of a Scottish woman named Jackie who has been living here for some time. She has taken me under her wing and is getting me out and about in Kathmandu. I am meeting a lot of new people and attending some nice events. It's really good to have my social life pick up a bit, especially since there is so little to do on my own these days other than curl up under the covers with my headlamp and a book. I am spending a ridiculous amount of time in bed trying to stay warm. On Tuesday night we are attending the "Unofficial Inaugural Ball" in honour of Obama's swearing in. I am looking forward to it and hope to connect with more of the expat community. Last night we went to see "Slumdog Millionaire" - I recommend it for the not-too-faint-hearted among you.

Last Thursday and Friday, something went terribly wrong at the power company and I got an extra 3 hours of electricity both days. (It could be that they were making up for depriving me of three precious hours last Friday, but I can't imagine they're that organised.) I was at work on Thursday so it didn't affect me too much but I was home on Friday and had power from 9AM until 4PM. It was a miracle. I didn't get off my butt for 7 hours and had my heater, TV and the computer turned on the whole time. I refuse to apologize for this. At 4 I went and ran some errands and then had a couple of drinks in Thamel, barhopping so that I could visit Nepalese friends who work in various establishments. I'm not sure if the extended electricity boosted my mood or if there was some other factor at play, but I was just in a fabuous mood and I had a great time. I decided to walk home, which I don't normally do late at night. I put on my MP3 player and sang and danced my way home. Sadly, I learned that dancing your way home late at night in Kathmandu tends to attract unwanted attention (as it likely would anywhere), so in future I'll try to contain my nocturnal expressions of joy. I always feel safe here, but there's no sense tempting fate. I had to peel one amorous little man off me several times, and turned down an offer of $200 for sex from another guy on a motorcycle. The offer was presented in a particularly coarse way and my refusal was equally harsh. The guy was so surprised that I was rejecting him that I have to assume that his approach has been successful in the past. I guess $200 can be pretty tempting here - probably more than two month's rent to the average Nepali. Nothing like this has ever happened to me here before and I have to attribute it to my overt displays of happiness. Perhaps I looked stoned and like an easy mark?

Things have also sorted themselves out at work. I am now comfortable with what is expected of me and feel that I can make a useful contribution. Some issues turned out differently than expected, and while disappointed at first, I am now seeing that everything is happening for the best. I have asked not to be put in a teaching role anymore as being in the classroom was just a fate worse than death for me. I will still do some one-on-one tutoring, which I enjoy, but they'll have to find someone else to fill in when teachers call in sick. That has been a huge weight off my shoulders, and I wonder why it's so hard to admit that I am so uncomfortable teaching. It just seems so unacceptable, kind of like not wanting children.

We have put together a schedule for running the generator at the college, and I have worked my schedule around it. For the time being I will have power for about 6-7 hours of my work day, which means I can be really productive. While I don't want to do personal business at work, I can at least check emails and feel a bit more connected to home.

Aaaaaaaargh!

2009-01-09T04:34:00.000-08:00

It's Friday so I'm not at the college today. The power was off from 8AM - 2PM and again from 8PM - 2AM so I thought I'd run some errands in the morning and spend the afternoon working on personal and business stuff. I made it to the post office and got my second box of clothes and shoes. It also had some surprise chocolate and well-intentioned but somewhat late Christmas decorations. It was great to get it all, and the process went much smoother this time than the last. It was also cheaper to pick up this box than the last - no idea why.

I went out again around lunchtime to drop off my laundry and have a salad for lunch. (I'm too lazy to treat my raw veggies here, so once a week or so I go out to a reputable restaurant for a salad that I know someone else has taken the time to treat.) On my way back I stopped in for a pedicure. I'll spare you the details, but suffice it to say that the Kathmandu roads and my lack of closed shoes have taken their toll; the pedicure was a necessity not a luxury. I got home at about 3:20 expecting to have almost 5 hours of computer time. I didn't even have time to boot my laptop when the power went out again and I have no idea when it might come back on. The bottom line is that I had a total of about 1.5 hours of electricity today, and I wasn't home for any of it. I am posting this from an internet cafe which is powered by a generator.

I'm not sure what is going on, but I have to assume that the load-shedding schedule has been changed again. We are likely up to 16 hours per day without power now but I have no way of knowing. The power company typically makes these changes late on a Friday so that they can go away and not deal with the fallout for a couple of days. They generally post the new schedule a few days after the change has been made. It's really very frustrating, and I have to tell you I was almost in tears when the power went off this afternoon. It's getting pretty disheartening. I also just got my "letter of appointment" at work (sort of like a SOW for those of you in the consulting industry)and it looks like I'm expected to be superman on campus. I just don't know how I can possibly achieve even 10% of what they're expecting with no access to my computer or the internet.

On top of that, I have a bunch of emails from friends and family sitting in my inbox. I was planning to spend this afternoon responding to them, as I have so little time to do personal business during the work week. Needless to say, they are all still sitting there unanswered. If any of you are reading this, please know that I value your mail so much and I'm not deliberately ignoring you. As soon as I have time I'll reply to your letters.

Okay, I have to run and get some other stuff done while I have internet access.

Happy New Year

2009-01-06T20:54:00.000-08:00

I know it’s been ages since I wrote. So many times I’ve thought “I’ve got to put this in my blog” but it never seems to happen. The truth is that with the power off for 12 hours per day, when I do finally get to sit down at my computer there is so much to do that blogging gets put on the back burner. Right now the power is off so I can’t really do anything else, and I have a bit of battery time left on my laptop so I thought I’d write a bit and post it when the power comes back on.

New Year’s Eve was a bizarre day for me. I wasn’t at my best physically and I was in a total funk emotionally. On top of a bunch of little irritants, I was convinced that I had had yet another cell phone stolen, and this time on campus. I started questioning everything I was doing here and wondering why I would stay in a country where I was trying to help and was rewarded in this way. The good news is that by the en d of the day I was proven wrong (my phone had fallen behind a bookshelf) which helped my mood considerably. Of course I felt guilty for suspecting the students but fortunately I hadn’t made it public so no harm was done. I wasn’t sure if I felt like celebrating the new year or not, but since the power was off at home, I decided I should at least go somewhere where the lights were on. (I often take myself out for dinner when the power’s off at home – it just gets so dismal sitting and eating in the dark night after night.) When I finally found my phone, there were a few texts from the young girls I had spent Christmas Eve with, so I decided to join them in Thamel. It was a fun night of pub crawling and I’m glad that I made the decision to go out. Still, it didn’t totally lift my spirits and I am only now returning back to the land of the light-hearted.

I am not oblivious to the fact that we create our own moods, so I knew I couldn’t totally attribute my blues to the season, the darkness, the cold and the power cuts. I made some resolutions to look after my emotional health and have started to put them into practice. Last Saturday I went out to Bouddhanath, the temple in the Tibetan refugee part of town. Once you pass the gates onto the grounds of this temple, you truly feel like you’re in Tibet. The stupa is frequented mostly by Tibetans, and all the shops in the vicinity sell Tibetan goods. There is a wonderful vibe there and it’s nice to escape into the Buddhist world. I plan to visit as regularly as possible.

Later that night, I went out for dinner to find some light and warmth. I’m getting to know the local restaurants and often don’t venture as far as Thamel if I just want to escape the darkness. There’s a great pizza place around the corner that has gas heaters and a very cozy atmosphere (and also a decent house wine!). I enjoyed a really nice meal and could feel my spirits lift as I sat there. I’m not sure what element of the day held the magic: the visit to Bouddhanath, the two glasses of wine, the beginning of a new year, the 10 extra minutes of power we had that evening or the leather loafers and socks I was wearing. Whatever the reason, it was great to feel happy again.

A note about the loafers. I had a friend at home box up some of my winter clothes and shoes and send them to me. They sat in Canadian customs for ages before finally being sent here, and for some reason the two boxes arrived about a week apart. Only one of them has made its way to the post office, and I spent about 2 hours in yet another Nepalese ritual of insanity trying to pick it up. I can’t tell you how wonderful it feels to have warm clothes that fit and aren’t trekking gear. I wore the loafers out with my regular jeans and felt like a princess simply because I wasn’t in flip-flops or ratty old running shoes. I’m now wearing pumps and pantyhose to work, which has similarly boosted my sense of self-esteem. I’ll pick up the other box on Friday – can’t wait to find what’s in it.

As for work, it is definitely proving interesting and challenging. There is just so much that we take for granted that cannot be taken for granted here. The culture and education systems are entirely different and I often feel like I’m banging my head against a brick wall. Obviously there are some big issues, but I’m talking mostly about little things, like when you create a calendar you arrange it in 7-day weeks, preferably starting on a Sunday. The class schedule for this semester was arranged starting on Thursday, January 1 and running 11 days across. (And yes, they do operate on 7-day weeks here just like we do.) Anyway, you can imagine some of the obstacles I’m facing, given that my main role at the college is to organise everyone and keep them in line. As one friend at home said, it’s like pushing a rope uphill. On the plus side, I am getting to know the students better and am helping to implement processes and activities that are definitely having a positive effect.

Okay, the power is back on so I have to do some work. I’ll try to be more diligent in my blogging, but if you don’t hear from me it’s likely just due to the constraints of load-shedding.

Christmas in Kathmandu

2008-12-26T06:43:00.000-08:00

I have to admit that I was a bit concerned about Christmas. I had an emotional week leading up to it and I’m entirely sure why. I tend to think it had something to do with the short days, lack of electricity and being virtually alone at Christmas. I was starting to feel a bit homesick. I went into Thamel, the touristy part of town on Christmas Eve and ended up partying until the wee hours of the morning with three very young girls (one Canadian and two Aussies) who are volunteering at an orphanage on the other side of town. We had a great time together and once they went home I continued on with some Nepali friends. I haven’t been drinking much of late and it somehow didn’t register I’m sorely out of practice. Fortunately a Nepali friend made sure I made it home safely sometime around 3:00 AM.

I spent Christmas day with Deborah at her place. We sat out on her terrace in beautiful sunshine, had a great lunch and drank a few glasses of wine. At about 4:00 we headed over to another friend of hers, and spent the remainder of the evening in the company of three other American women. They all had great stories and were in Nepal for various reasons. It is very hard to meet women here, as it would be improper for Nepali women to be out and about after dinner. I can’t tell you what a joy it was to spend Christmas in the company of these four Western women, talking about everything imaginable and just being girls. It was a fabulous day.

In visiting these two apartments, I came to the realisation that I am living in a dive. Deborah has a lovely apartment, similar to mine in size but much nicer. It is on the third storey of a building, has lots of sunshine and a beautiful terrace. She pays less rent than me. Heather pays the same as I do, but her apartment is fit for an ambassador. It’s absolutely stunning and also well situated. In addition, both of these apartments are located on a part of the power grid that isn’t affected by load sharing, likely because some government official lives in their neighbourhood. I can’t tell you how envious I am of them not so much for their fabulous places but for the fact that their power is always on. The only consolation is that they have both been here for several years, and lived in places like mine when they first got here too. I guess it takes awhile to get to know the ins and outs of a new city. It’s good to know that these great places do exist here, and when my commitment to this place ends in March I will try to find something better.

Tree at GATE

2008-12-22T00:12:00.000-08:00

I brought in a few decorations and got some students to help me decorate a small cedar on campus. It was their first time and I offered no assistance whatsoever. It took them about 2 minutes. Here are the results.

Electricity

2008-12-20T21:24:00.000-08:00

I think I am finally starting to understand the electricity issues here. Nepal has more water than every country on earth save one. All of that water is running fairly quickly out of the mountains so you would think that providing hydro electricity would be a no-brainer. I can only assume that money is the culprit for this not being the case.

We are now in the middle of the dry season and the water levels in the few dams are dropping rapidly. The government has just released a new load-shedding schedule a mere two weeks after the last increase. This one brings us to 63 hours per week up from 45 hours at the beginning of December. For six days of the week the power is off for 10 hours, typically six hours in the morning and four in the evening. One day a week is the luxury day when there is only one three-hour outage. I’m sure you can imagine the frustration of not only trying to fit a shower in around this but actually getting some work done. Never mind trying to catch your favourite TV show.

We were all ecstatic a couple of weeks ago when the Finance Minister announced that he had a solution to the problem and that load-shedding would be cut in half within two months. He is pretty much the only Member of Parliament here that anyone respects and he seems like a smart guy. He has a PhD in Rural Planning (or something similar) from an American university, and is known to keep his promises. People trust this guy so when he said he had a solution, everyone bought in.

When we passed the new dam and power plant in Beshisahar on the field trip, we assumed that this was part of the solution. I don’t understand much about the technical side of this, but it appeared that the new plant has a considerable output of electricity.

Unfortunately, the dream has turned to dust. Apparently the Finance Minister recently visited Doha, Qatar and toured their power-generating plants which are all fuelled by diesel. He came home all excited about this and announced to the country that a solution was well in hand. Then he sat down and did the math. It turns out that diesel costs somewhat more in Nepal than in Qatar (gee, do you think?) and to use it here would increase electricity costs by 400%. So now we’re back to square one and I imagine that the one MP who had any credibility at all has lost it. I’m actually looking forward to the monsoon when the dams will fill up again.

A couple of positive notes: 1) my electricity bill is well under $10 per month (and likely dropping) 2) the college has just put in a generator so I can at least get work done there.

On another note, the college has a small building that they have staged like a hotel. There is a lobby and front desk downstairs as well as a couple of “hotel rooms”. There is also a suite on the second story with a living room, two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. There is balcony offering lovely views of the mountains when the air is clear. They use this building to train front-desk students as well as housekeeping students. They have offered the apartment to me free of charge. It is on the generator, so I would have power 24/7 (assuming they can find diesel to keep it running which is difficult at times). This is a good news, bad news situation. The good news is that I would have a gaggle of wanna-be maids coming in every day to clean my place for me. The bad news is that I would have a gaggle of wanna-be maids coming in every day to clean my place for me. I just don’t know if I could handle the lack of privacy. What if I want to lounge around in my pyjamas all day or what if the gods actually smile on me for once in this decade and send me an overnight guest? I just think that it would be difficult having the students know every detail of my private life, which they invariably would. I’ll have to give it some more thought.

Field Trip

2008-12-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

Despite my best efforts to extract information about this trip from anyone I could find on campus, I left home knowing only that we would be visiting Chitwan and a beer factory and that we were staying in different places every night. I had no way of knowing what to pack or what to expect. Needless to say, this pretty much killed me. I’m really trying to be more flexible but I’m a planner at heart and I couldn’t get my head around this one. It was especially difficult because it was being organised by students who had never done anything like this before and I felt like I needed to be prepared for every contingency in case of mishaps. I did my best with my packing, choosing my day pack rather than my small carry-on wheeled luggage which was a bit bigger. I thought I had done pretty well, but most of the students showed up with bags smaller than my purse. I can still forget from time to time how spoiled we are in the west and how much stuff we have.

I started off the trip by getting up at 4:30 and showering by candlelight (not so romantic when you’re doing it alone and it’s about 5° C in the bathroom) so that I could get to the college by 6:00 AM, our scheduled departure time. I arrived a few minutes early and the campus was deserted. The security guard thought I was off my nut for expecting to find anyone there at that hour. Shortly after 6:00 I texted Khem to see if I got the instructions wrong, when finally the first student showed up. I should have realised we were dealing with Nepalese time, not Swiss time like in my parents’ house. I waited on the bus for the others to arrive and sometime around 7:15 we finally pulled out of the college. We had a few more students to pick up around the city and by the time we finally left Kathmandu it was after 8:00 and we had 45 people on a 27-seat bus. This was the first, but certainly not only time on the trip I was grateful to be a staff member: I actually got a seat and didn’t have to sit on another person, the floor or the roof as many of the students did.

A couple of hours out of Kathmandu we stopped for breakfast and I had my first of many Nepalese meals. Our drive to Chitwan took most of the day and it was really interesting to drive through the countryside, especially as it was wedding season. Unlike in Kathmandu, the guests all followed the bridal car in a bus rather than on foot, with the dowry packed on the roof Clampett-style. Fortunately there never seemed to be any livestock involved, but there were literally whole households up there. People were hanging out of the windows and doors of the bus yelling and waving in celebration. It was very cool.

At one point I was in a rather intense conversation with Khem so was facing inwards for about 5-10 minutes. When I turned to look out the window again, it was like we had left Nepal altogether. The most startling change was that the ground was pancake-flat. For a few miles we drove through a forest with tall trees and little undergrowth. In the middle of the dry season this felt very much like the national park around Brian’s place near Melbourne, Australia. We soon left the forest and were surrounded by fields of various crops. Not only was the terrain very un-Nepalese to me, but the whole ambiance seemed different. It was also much warmer there than in Kathmandu. It felt more like India than Nepal, and you all know how much I love India.

We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon and both Khem and I were pleasantly surprised by the lovely grounds and clean rooms. We were brought back to reality when we realised that there were exactly eight rooms booked for us. Is anyone doing the math yet? Yes, that’s an average of 5.6 people per room, each of which had a single and double bed. Again, as a staff member I got my own single bed, but the students were sleeping in heaps on the beds. We had a great lunch at the hotel and then sat around looking at each other. Apparently there were no plans to actually do anything in Chitwan. Khem stepped in at this point and arranged for us to go to an elephant breeding camp nearby. This was followed by a visit to a riverside restaurant that offered fabulous views of the sunset however we arrived there about 20 minutes after the sun had slid below the horizon. We walked back to the hotel in the dark stopping to browse at the handful of souvenir shops along the way.

Back at the hotel we were treated to a cultural show by a local dance troupe. It was different than the other Nepalese dancing I’d seen and was actually a really good show. By the end of it we were all up dancing with them and the students really seemed to be enjoying themselves. This was followed by dinner and then the kids found a sound-system which they set up on the lawn for more dancing. They lit a bonfire and the party began. Meanwhile, back in the dining room, Khem, Jiten and I were finishing our dinners. Jiten is the chef and head cooking teacher at the college and looks far more like a short, round Mexican than he does a Nepali. He wanted to buy Khem and I a beer after dinner which we both declined due to the strict no-drinking policy we had implemented on the trip and also because neither of us really wanted one. But Jiten wasn’t going to be denied and went ahead with his order. Khem and I hid our glasses under the table in case any students came by and tried to rid ourselves of the illicit stuff as quickly as possible. We both had a good laugh the next morning when one of the students reminded Khem that he had to pay for his beer when checking out. So much for discretion.

I had a headache after dinner so went right to bed. Khem and Jiten joined the students for their bonfire party and finally shut things down at about 10:30. One of my roommates came home at about this time, but went to bed with the light on and the door open so the others could get it. (There’s no way to close the door without bolting it, so we had to leave it ajar.) After virtually no sleep, I finally got up at about 4:00 and turned off the light, only to have the other girls arrive home five minutes later and turn it back on. They were in and out of the bathroom doing their ablutions and then finally climbed into bed and turned the light off. I thought I might actually grab a bit of sleep, but they then started sending text messages, with every keystroke beeping from the next bed. I was a tad cranky the next day.

After breakfast we climbed back on the bus for an hour or so drive to the brewery that we were supposed to be touring. (A wedding is passing by my window as I’m typing this and the band is surprisingly good – I think they’re all playing the same song for once.) We arrived and found that the brewery was currently closed for a break due to lack of demand for their product. Khem, the silver-tongued devil that he is, managed to convince them to let us tour the facility anyway. We also toured the noodle factory and chocolate factory on the same premises. It was quite interesting but I’m glad that packaged noodles are not a staple of my diet as they are for many people around here. After watching the students poking the dough passing us by on conveyer belts, I had to wonder how many other dirty hands, stray dogs and other contaminants find their way into the factory and then into the average package of YY noodles. Ditto for the chocolate wafer cookies they were making. It didn’t exactly meet Western standards for hygiene. I was happy to see that broken bits of noodles were collected and sold to workers and local villagers in 20 kg bags at very cheap prices.

After spending about double the amount of time we needed to there (herding Nepalese college students is somewhat akin to herding cats) we climbed back on the bus and headed towards Beshisahar. It wasn’t until much later that evening that I realised this name was familiar to me because it was the trailhead for the first trek I did in Nepal in 2002. We drove all day and well into the evening to get there, stopping only for lunch in the city of Chitwan, a filthy, flat, industrial town that really belongs in India rather than Nepal. By the time we stopped that night we were back into the Nepal I love, in the foothills of the Himalayas. A few kilometres before Beshisahar we passed a brand new hydro plant that was officially opened that day. I remembered having seen them working on this dam when I passed by in 2002. (More about electricity in my next blog.)

Our hotel here wasn’t quite as nice as the one in Chitwan but I got my own room and I think all of the students got their own beds this time around. The hotel was run by one of our students’ brother which meant a lot to the kids who are all aspiring hoteliers. Santos, the student in question, snapped into shape from this point on and really impressed me with the way he managed the group. He had been less than impressive earlier in the day on the factory tour, so it was really great to see him pull up his socks without any prompting from college staff. We had a late dinner and then went right to bed.

We got up early the next morning and watched the sunrise from the roof of the hotel and then went down for breakfast. At this point I discovered that we were hiking up to a Gurung village called Ghalegaun in the mountains above Beshisahar. I had been told the night before that we would be driving up, but now I was facing a six-hour trek uphill. You all know how much I love trekking, but a little advanced warning would have gone a long way for this one. I did the trek in jeans and running shoes, as did many of the students, although some only had flip-flops. I reckon that trekking in jeans is just slightly more comfortable than trekking in chain mail. I chose, as I always do when trekking, to walk at the back of the pack. This allows me to go at my own pace and experience the space and freedom of being in the mountains. I also really hate the feeling of having someone walking on my heels. In this case I also thought it prudent that someone with a shred of common sense should bring up the rear and make sure that nobody got lost or left behind. Of course the students all thought I was dying and kept offering to carry my pack or otherwise help me up the mountain. They kept telling me how difficult it was for people such as me doing this kind of thing for the first time. It was all quite cute considering my considerable trekking experience and the fact that the majority of these kids had never been out of the Kathmandu valley. (It should be noted that at this point I was congratulating myself on my choice of daypack over wheeled luggage.)

We stopped for lunch half way up at a tiny restaurant in a lovely little village. They managed to accommodate all of us in shifts. When we finally arrived at Ghalegaun I was stopped at the ACAP office at the entry to the village. This was no surprise to me: the night before in Bessisahar I had seen a pamphlet indicating that Ghalegaun lay within the Annapurna Conservation Area and that all foreigners needed a permit. I’ve been through this many times before and I know the rules, so I had questioned Khem about it. He assured me that since I was a teacher on a Nepalese school trip I would be exempt from the permit. Of course when we encountered the ACAP warden, no such exemption was forthcoming. Worse, if you buy your permit inside the ACAP area, rather than in the city before you leave, the fee doubles. This meant I owed about $60 rather than $30. When we arrived at the ACAP office, we had just climbed a wickedly steep stretch of trail and I was dripping with sweat. Almost immediately, some clouds rolled in around and the temperature dropped markedly. I had to sit there becoming more and more hypothermic while Khem argued with the warden to no avail. They finally agreed to pick up the discussion in the morning – it wasn’t like we were going to sneak out of the village in the middle of the night and we had to walk past the ACAP office on the way out the next day.

We continued on and were greeted by the villagers a hundred metres or so up the path. The welcoming committee had malas for us (the Himalayan version of the Hawaiian lei, made with marigolds) as well as tikkas for our foreheads. The tikkas were a mixture of rice and curd (yogurt) that they sprinkled in our hair and plastered all over our foreheads. I’m keen to participate in most rituals and ceremonies, but I have to say that having food stuck on my face isn’t my favourite thing, and the smell of curd started to nauseate me very quickly. We then joined the rest of the students in a stone courtyard where we were served tea and a very rich, oily pastry. (The Nepalese use mustard oil for much of their cooking which is very heavy and cholesterol-laden. Their food tends to be very oily, which is hard for us Westerners to handle in large quantities. Eating only Nepalese fare over the four days of this trip was difficult for me, even thought it all tasted great. I actually lost a bit of weight in spite of the the grease, simply because I could only handle small quantities.)

There are no hotels or lodges in Ghalegaun so accommodation is provided through homestays. As everyone was assigned their home and left with their hostess, I was somewhat concerned that Khem and I were being billeted together. I was sure that everything would be above-board but I wondered what kind of message we were sending the students is this very modest country. We arrived at our home and it turned out that I had a fabulous little room above the woodshed with two single beds in it. The woman of the house initially assumed that we would share the room but Khem had her take him to a vacant room in the main house. (This conversation occurred in Nepalese so I didn’t know it had taken place until later that day. She brought it up again over dinner and it took considerable effort on Khem’s part to convince her that we wouldn’t be sleeping together. Apparently this was a first for her – no previous guests had managed to last the night in separate rooms.) I was able to take a moderately hot solar-heated shower in a stone hut and get into dry, warm clothes. I then went and found a stone bench in a quiet spot on the edge of town and did a short meditation. When darkness fell I joined Khem in the kitchen for dinner. (I should come clean and admit that I got lost finding my way back to the house at dusk. Some villagers found me and offered to help, but I didn’t know where I was going or the name of my hostess so it was a bit of a mess. Fortunately it all ended well but not without a bit of embarrassment on my part.)

The main house had two rooms. Khem was in one, so I didn’t see the inside of it. The other was a simple room, about 6’ X 10’ with a fire at one end and a bed at the other. The ceiling was about 5 feet high and blackened with soot so we had to stoop to move around. Khem and I sat on a woollen blanket on the floor and our hostess sat on a straw mat as she effortless prepared our dinner. She was able to swivel on her mat and reach every utensil, pot, spice and food item that she needed. She kept the fire burning at an even heat, chopped, poured, kneaded, stirred and served like a well-oiled machine. All the while she kept up a steady conversation with Khem and produced a beautiful meal. It was a joy to watch, although my knees were aching out of sympathy for her maintaining a squatting position for hours on end. She offered Khem and me some rakshi, the local homemade whisky of the Himalayas. It is made with whatever grain is grown at that particular altitude (in this case millet) and distilled in large clay pots on the fire. It is served in water tumblers and goes down much like paint thinner. Khem and I decided that nobody would know if we indulged in a drink in our snug little kitchen so we accepted. Three times. I had a pretty good glow going by the time we ate our meal.

After dinner we found our way through the labyrinthine pathways to the community centre where we were being treated to a cultural show. Once there we realised that we weren’t the only ones to be offered rakshi at dinner – the students were all pretty tipsy. In true Nepalese form the show started about an hour and a half late and had an endless gap in the middle. During the break Jitan and one of the students took over the show, dancing and frolicking on the stage. The audience ate it up. We eventually made it home under a stunning starlit sky and retired to our respective rooms. I bundled up in all my clothes and climbed into bed under the piles of blankets left in the room.

I woke early and looked out my window at the stunning mountain view taking shape in the dawn. I walked to the top of a nearby hill to watch the sunrise with a bunch of students. I could see the same mountains as I could on my sunrise hike with Judy a few weeks ago, but this time from the other side of the range. After breakfast we congregated again for our farewell ritual. I tried to dodge the tikka this time, but failed miserably and left the village with a meal’s worth of rice and curd hardening into a crust on my forehead. We stopped in at the ACAP office to revisit the issue of my permit but didn’t make much headway. The silver-tongued devil did all he could with Santos and his brother throwing in their support for good measure, all to no avail. They finally reached an agreement whereby I would buy my permit when I got back to Kathmandu in order to avoid the penalty. (The college ended up covering the cost.)

We left the village about one hour later than planned (surprise!) so were a bit worried about time. We descended at a fairly rapid rate considering the terrain and I was concerned for my knees. My worries were all for naught and we made really good time. About 2/3 of the way down the hill the path crossed the road and Khem wanted to hop on a passing jeep and catch a lift to town. I would have preferred to walk and extend my time in the mountains, but I agreed to jump in with him. It was quite possibly the roughest ride I’ve ever had and we both regretted the decision moments after it was made. We were in town by about 2:00 PM as were the majority of the students. Of course we needed another meal and we ate lunch shortly after 3:00. Unfortunately there were some stragglers who didn’t get down until after 4:00 so we didn’t get on the road until after 5:00. It was a long drive back to town (with one more stop for food) and I didn’t get home until just after midnight. I was very happy to climb into my bed.

First Week at Work

2008-12-12T05:09:00.000-08:00

Well I survived week one at the college. I am spending about half my time on college work and half my time on GEN work. I expect that this will vary from week to week depending on demand. I spent some time this week re-writing the GEN website and will finish that up next week. I have also been going through the files that were left for me as well as the cabinets lining my office walls. I have the entire school library in my office, a collection of about 20 or 30 books and another 30 or so DVDs. I also have the stationary, office supplies and textbooks. Needless to say, I am totally reorganising everything so that it makes some kind of sense to me. I understand that I’m incredibly anal about these things, but even if I let my mind float free, I can’t imagine why anyone would put little piles of the same textbooks in four or five different cupboards. I now have a pretty good grasp of what’s there and what to do when people come looking for things.

I have been somewhat technically challenged this week. The power outages continue to vex me but so far I have made it to work every day showered and made up. My hair is a different story but I can live with that. My biggest challenge is finding things to do with my time at work on the days when we have extended outages during business hours. Most of my work is done on my computer and the internet, so I’m somewhat at a loss as to how to fill my time without them. I am trying to book meetings and other non-computer related activities during these times, but as a rookie, I don’t really have much established yet. On top of the power outages, I made a stupid computer error at home yesterday and have messed up my internet access. (For the technically inclined among you, I went into my router settings looking for a specific piece of information, but as soon as I opened the web page, everything reverted back to the manufacturer default. I don’t know what the correct settings are as the guy from the phone company came to set things up for me so I can't put it right.) Today is yet another stat holiday in Nepal (as is practically every other day) so I can’t get the phone guy to come back today. (And yes, this time I’ll record the settings somewhere so I’m prepared in case it happens again.) The good news is there is still an internet cafe on every corner so I can just run down the street to check my email.

My other big news is that I’m leaving tomorrow morning on a field trip with the college. Some of the students wanted to see Chitwan, a national park in the south of the country so they have arranged this trip. Deborah has bowed out but I’ll be going with Khem and perhaps one or two other teachers as “chaperones”. I use the term loosely because I’m not sure if I’ll actually have any responsibility on the trip other than I have to behave myself and maintain some level of respectability in front of the students. They are at the college level, but still are immature enough that I think they can’t totally be left to their own devices. Kkem and I have decided to pack lots of extra money as we don’t have 100% confidence in the student organisers. It’s costing each of us 3000 rupees (about $45 Cdn) which includes all meals, transportation, lodging and entrance fees for 3 nights and 4 days. Even by Nepalese standards, this is a very small amount of money and it’s scaring the crap out of us. We envision sleeping in gutters and eating one bowl of dahl a day. We figure we may have to bail and get a room at the local Hilton.

Nobody has been able to give me an itinerary so I really don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing. The Chitwan National Park is famous for wildlife but I don’t think we’ll be going on safari or tiger hunting based on the timeframes. I do know we’re visiting a brewery along the way to see how beer is made. I’m guessing that they somehow had to incorporate the hospitality industry into the trip in order to legitimise it and this was the most appealing way. Other than that, the trip a mystery to me.

I’m expecting to be back on Tuesday and will be in touch then. Until then, I’ll be incommunicado. I’d love to tell you not to worry because I’m in totally competent and capable hands, but I’m not sure that’s the case :-). I’m sure, however, that I’ll return in one (potentially ragged) piece.

A few hours later....

I think my landlord, Kiran, is a little upset that my internet isn’t working. I let him use it from time to time and I’m sure it’s a big deal for him to be able to sit and play on it without having to watch the clock our count the rupees. (I have to admit that there have been times when I wish he was watching a clock as I have to stay up until he’s finished. It also means that I can’t get any work done and there have been times when he’s stayed in excess of 3 hours. Now that we hardly ever have power, I’m getting a little stingy with my computer time – I may have to shut him down from time to time.) Anyway, with me going away for a few days without my computer, I’m sure he was expecting to move in and live on the internet. When we couldn’t get the telecom guy to come today, he insisted on having a friend over who is computer literate and could surely help me out. I was leery, but didn’t know how to say no. And I also thought he may be legitimate and actually fix it for me.

Turns out that he was somewhat legitimate, but networking certainly isn’t his strong suit. I sat there looking over his shoulder as he seemingly randomly clicked all over the place. He did the same thing over and over and over again expecting a different result. It was very frustrating for me because I knew what the problem was and he was a) not acknowledging me at all and b) trying everything in the world except what needed to be done. As I watched him systematically go through every menu of every application I have, I became more and more concerned that I was going to have to rebuild from the ground up. There are about 20 horror stories I could tell, but I’ll spare you the details. Suffice it to say that he had absolutely no idea how to fix the problem and wanted to save face by making it look like he knew what he was doing. I asked him very politely a couple of times to cease and desist but I finally had to physically grab the mouse out of his hand in order to make him stop. I’m sure I came off as rude but I was starting to panic that he was going to do some damage that I wouldn’t know how to reverse.

Anyway, I’m kind of relieved to know that my computer will be turned off and locked away during my absence. Hopefully I can get the internet sorted out with a phone call to the phone company when I’m back.

My Weekend

2008-12-07T06:01:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning I went to a Christmas bazaar on the grounds of the Hyatt Hotel. It was like other Christmas bazaars in many ways: Christmas carols playing through the loudspeakers, games for the kids and lots of wonderful arts and crafts to buy. It was unlike other Christmas bazaars in that it was held outside, I wore flip flops and there were Buddhist artefacts for sale. I came within inches of buying a beautifully carved rocking elephant but couldn’t really justify it at the moment, especially with no toddlers around to ride it. I did however pick up a few Christmas gifts for myself and got business cards for some artisans that I will definitely visit again.

In the afternoon I attended an awards ceremony with my boss. I think that they were hosted by the Nepal Tourism Board, but I can’t be sure. There were 15 people from various industries being honoured for their participation in building “the new Nepal”. Khem was the only one of the award recipients asked to give a speech and his words were the only ones spoken in English at the event. We arrived at the hall and took seats in the front row. We were joined by Bharat, Khem’s brother, as well as a couple of people from the college and a handful of students. Deborah was also with us, grumbling throughout. Saturdays are the only true weekend day here, and she considers them sacred. Having to be at a business-related function was a fate worse than death for her and she had tried valiantly but unsuccessfully to weasel out of it. When the event finally started a half hour later than planned, she was unexpectedly called up to the stage to sit with the rest of the VIPs on couches arranged in a straight line stretching from one side of the stage to the other. I almost split my gut laughing at her sitting up there rolling her eyes. As each award was announced, the recipient went up on stage to receive a kata (prayer scarf), marigold lei and a plaque, before sitting behind the couches on rows of cheap plastic chairs. All of the VIPs and award recipients wore these bright purple and orange bread plate-sized doilies pinned loosely to their jackets with safety pins. They sort of resembled the rosettes used at 4th of July celebrations, but were made of plastic and looked like they were assembled by pre-schoolers. Everyone wore them with honour as if they were the mayor’s chain of office or something. Several of the dignitaries made speeches and I found out after the fact that in true Nepali form they were all political in nature and had nothing to do with awards being presented. Throughout the event, kids were running up and down the aisles, people were talking (yelling) on their cell phones and there was general pandemonium in the hall. Even the VIPs sitting on the stage were answering phone calls throughout the ceremony and talking loud enough to disrupt the MC. On top of that, the college students sitting with me were being typical teenage boys. I’m not sure exactly what was going on but I think it may have been a fart game of some sort. Whatever it was, they were stifling laughter to the point of asphyxiation through much of the event. I haven’t had that much fun in ages – it was a total zoo.

After the ceremony Khem, Deborah, Suresh (from the college) and I went for a coffee. Deborah has decided that Khem needs a makeover, so after dinner we took him across the street to a new shopping mall and had him try on about 50 different outfits. We did convince him to pick up a couple of trendy things that change his image dramatically and drop about 20 years off his look. Nothing like adding “stylist” to my list of duties before I’ve even had my first day at work.

I’m happy to report that today, Sunday, was a little less eventful. I was wakened at 5:30 by the previously-mentioned, high-volume honks and squeaks of a wedding procession. 5:30!!!! Who gets married at 5:30 in the morning?!? I did get down to one of the shops that I discovered at the bazaar and ordered myself a winter jacket. It should be ready shortly before Christmas so I just have to hold out that long and then I’ll be warm. After having hired various tailors around town to make me clothes, I have decided that I really want to do some sewing for myself. I went looking for a sewing machine this afternoon and after much to-ing and fro-ing , finally found the back alley where sewing machines live in Kathmandu. There was tons of choice and dozens to choose from. The problem is that you have to buy the machine, then the table top that it sits on, and then the cast-iron legs, treadle, and wheel assembly. That’s right, they do not have any electric sewing machines here, which is probably just as well given that the power is off more than it is on. Given that I don’t have a car and I live several kilometres away from “sewing machine alley”, I’m not sure how I can get all this paraphernalia home with me. I’ll have to muse on this one for a while, and perhaps enlist the help of someone with a car and/or a decent grasp of the Nepali language.

So that was my weekend. I am having a quiet night in in anticipation of my first full day at work tomorrow. The power will be off tomorrow morning from 6-10 which means I can’t heat the water for a shower before work, unless I wake up at 5:00 which I’m hoping not to do. I’m going to try heating it tonight before bed and seeing if there’s any residual heat in the morning. If that doesn’t work, I guess it will be a sponge bath with water heated on the gas ring. Wish me luck.

Work

2008-12-05T00:12:00.000-08:00

Nepal has worked its magic for me once again - I never cease to be amazed at how the universe looks after me here. I am starting a new job on Monday and am very excited about it. It has morphed a bit over the last week or so since it was first offered to me, but I think that we have finally settled on a shape and form that suits us all. I have no doubt that it will continue to evolve over time.

As you know, I have been helping out the students at a local college with their resumés. The college, Global Academy of Tourism and Hospitality Education (GATE), is affiliated with a college in Switzerland where Khem, the founder and CEO was educated. Khem and his brother Bharat also own another business, Global Education Network (GEN), which serves as a placement agency to find temporary work for Nepalis abroad. This is a fledgling company and to date they have placed workers in the US and several Middle Eastern countries. They are hoping to turn their attention to Canada, where there is a liberal attitude towards international internships and where foreigners are welcome. Khem lived in Montreal for three years and so is familiar with the life of an immigrant in Canada. Even though he is a well-educated and very polished man, he frequently runs into stumbling blocks in this business simply because he is Nepalese. In addition, he still has significant hoops to jump through in order to get visas to travel abroad, which limits how he can conduct his business. (Most Nepalis are not granted visas to Western countries as they are considered too much of a risk. My friend Bhola was denied a temporary working visa to Canada in spite of having Canadian sponsors and no end of Canadian character references. The problem was that he didn’t have enough money in a Nepalese bank account and the Canadian government didn’t believe that having a wife and three sons in Nepal was enough of an incentive for him to return home after his visit. Apparently they believe that money is more important to Nepalis than their family is.) Anyway, Khem and Bharat need a Westerner to run this business for them, and they offered the job to me. The fact that I’m Canadian is a bonus.

The work will involve everything from finding employers abroad, arranging the temporary work visas, and dealing with whatever government, legal and professional bodies might be involved in the process. As mentioned, I’ll be focussing on Canada for now but I’ll also be dealing with placements in the US, Dubai and Bahrain among others. Khem hasn’t previously placed any Nepalis in Canada so I’ll be learning the process pretty much from the ground up. They have offered to secure my Nepali work visa as an employee of GEN, and are footing the $2000 bill. Bharat is a lawyer and has started the ball rolling on that process. The job will also allow me to travel home from time to time on the company dime, and will also likely see me traveling elsewhere.

Given Khem’s background in the hospitality industry, we will likely be focussing on placements in that area. The Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website has listed this industry as an area that is under-staffed and would welcome foreign workers. Obviously we will give priority to the students from GATE for their internships abroad, but we are open to providing services to any Nepalis looking to work outside the country. We are all dreaming big at the moment and envision this project growing to include workers from many different industries as well as students wanting to study abroad and business immigrants (who essentially buy their way into a country).

It will take some time for my visa to be ready, and in the meantime I will be doing my research into how the placement process will work. In addition, I am going to spend some time rewriting the GEN website, which has a great layout but not such great use of the English language. I expect that in the beginning, I’ll have time on my hands, which is where jobs number two and three come in. On Monday, I will be starting to work four days a week at GATE. My duties there essentially fall into two categories. The first is administrative. I’m sure they’re going to try to give it some fancy title to make me feel important, but the fact of the matter is that I’ll really be maintaining the student files and keeping stats on the school’s track record to be used for recruiting and finding placements. In addition, I’ll be sitting in on management meetings and keeping them all on track. It is my experience so far that the people running the college, Khem included, are wonderful visionaries but they couldn’t schedule a meeting if their lives depended on it. Given that I’m pretty much the complete opposite, I think we’ll complement each other nicely. I’ll set agendas for their meetings, take minutes and follow up on action items. Apparently these functions have been sorely lacking to date.

My other function at GATE will be something we’re tentatively titling “Education Resource Manager”. This involves a whole myriad of tasks, from helping the teachers with finding educational tools, to planning learning activities for the students such as movie nights and field trips. In addition, I’ll be doing some peripheral English language work with the students. I’ll be going through their work to isolate chronic problems and then designing seminars to work on these problems. I’ll also offer one-on-one sessions with the students to help them edit their written work and also work on conversation.

For the immediate future, I’ll be spending most of my time at the college, however I expect that over time my efforts will begin shifting more towards the placement business. As the business grows, I believe it will consume more and more of my time. It’s been difficult enough just figuring things out this far so I don’t want to get too caught up in trying to anticipate what’s coming down the road.

I’m incredibly excited about these opportunities, especially the one at GEN. This is the first time that I can remember ever being excited about work and looking at it as something other than a way to pay the bills. Even though I have no background in this kind of thing, I’m confident that I’ll do a great job. It’s all about process and details, which are my strengths. It also feels really worthwhile and I’m sure it will give me the sense of satisfaction that I’ve been looking for. Add in the opportunity to come home from time to time, and it all seems perfect.

Wedding Season

2008-12-04T17:48:00.001-08:00

Last weekend marked the beginning of wedding season in Nepal. At first I thought that getting married in December here was kind of like being a June bride at home: desirable but not mandatory. I have since determined that it’s more like deer hunting season at home: it’s not impossible to do it at any other time but most people choose to follow the rules. I must have seen or heard about two dozen weddings over the weekend, although to be fair they can be heard from miles away. The wedding car is draped with so many garlands and flower sprays it’s a wonder the driver can see. The car follows a marching band through the streets, and is in turn followed by the family and friends of the happy couple on foot. The musicians are about as talented as pre-schoolers, but that doesn’t stop them from belting out their squeaks and honks with the enthusiasm of a New Orleans jazz band. The banquet halls on every street corner which have always sat empty during my visits are brimming with vibrant sari-clad women and groaning tables of food. It’s virtually impossible to navigate the streets at dinnertime, as the wedding parties create traffic jams all over the city. The good news is that the festivities typically wind down by about 8:00 so the nights are quiet. I’m not sure if this is going to continue at such a fever pitch throughout the month, but I’m anticipating that Christmas will be out-festivaled by weddings.

First Impressions of the College

2008-11-26T06:55:00.000-08:00

I’ve just finished my fourth day at the college. The routine at the moment is for me to see my first student at 12:45, have lunch and then see another one or two after lunch. Given that this is a college that teaches the hospitality industry, lunch is no small affair. It is generally a three-course meal prepared by the students under the guidance of the school’s chef. We sit at tables draped in linen and are served by the students. It has the air of a school cafeteria combined with a 4-star restaurant, if you can imagine that. I typically eat with the CEO, Khem, who is a lovely man and very entertaining. He studied the hospitality industry in Switzerland and lived in Montreal for a few years before returning to Nepal to open the college. He frequently has other lunch guests who add to the experience. My biggest challenge is dragging myself away from the table to get back to work with the students before their classes start again at 2:20.

I have had my successes and failures with the students. I am doing my best to elicit as much information about them as I can, but this isn’t always easy. Some are very shy, a situation which I’m sure is exacerbated by the fact that I’m a Westerner and a stranger to them. When I ask them what skills or characteristics make them a good candidate for a job, I am greeted by a blank stare. I’m not sure how the logistics came about, but I came to realize that I saw the most “difficult” students right at the beginning. By difficult, I mean that they are somewhat more introverted and more prone to shyness. To their credit, these students recognize that they are better suited to work behind the scenes and most aspire to be chefs.

The first student who ran counter to this trend kind of surprised me, but I have since discovered that the shyer students are in the minority. In fact some of them are confident to the point that they’ll grab my computer as I’m typing and spin it around so they can see what I’m writing. They’ll then rattle off a list of their selling points so quickly and efficiently that I’m hard-pressed to keep up. It has become a real treat for me to meet each student and learn about their background and aspirations. Interestingly, most of them hope to do their internships abroad, and then bring their knowledge back to Nepal. They recognize how much this country is lacking in so many ways and they all seem genuinely driven to try to change that. It’s really quite moving.

I met with one young man today who was particularly impressive. Not only did his resume indicate that he is self-motivated and willing to work his tail off, but he spoke with an earnestness that I hadn’t yet encountered. After we were fairly certain that I had captured all the salient details of his experience, skill set and goals, he asked me to stop typing and listen to him without taking notes. (I took this opportunity to teach him the term “off the record”.) He looked straight into my eyes as he told me about the hunger he has in his belly to succeed in this industry. He told me how much he wants to raise the standards in Nepal and how and he’ll do anything to make his dreams come true. He left me with no doubt that he will succeed. (This same guy also told me a story about how he trained himself to be fit to serve in the British army. He passed all the necessary tests and was accepted by the British. This is no small feat and something that is enormously respected here. Unfortunately, the Nepali in charge of organising his departure for the UK demanded a bribe that he was unable to pay, so he couldn’t go. There is just no end to the corruption here.)

As I left the college a couple of days ago, I stopped to look at the view before heading to the bus stop. The college is situated in a large old house on the northern edge of town. I’m guessing that 20 years ago it was sitting in farm land, but the city is spreading like wildfire and it is now very much in suburbia and surrounded by apartment blocks. On the next hill to the north, a Buddhist monastery sits in relative isolation, immune to the urban sprawl. As I looked at the prayer flags flapping in the afternoon breeze, I was reminded of why I love this place. I think that visiting a place and living in it are two different things, and I had lost site of the Nepal that I lovde as a tourist. So when I got home, I changed into more comfortable clothes, and became a tourist in Kathmandu. I had a lovely time exploring spots that I pass by regularly but had stopped seeing. In keeping with my tourist status, I stayed out a bit later than I would normally on a “school night” but I had a great time and rekindled my love affair with Nepal.

More and more students are recognising me and as I walk through the campus I’m greet by choruses of “Good Afternoon Ma’am”. I am started to get used to the very frequent “ma’am”s (which are used at the end of every sentence uttered to me) but the students’ politeness and formality is a bit disarming. It should be noted that some of my greatest perceived assets to the students are my table manners. Given that they all likely grew up without utensils in their homes, this is a difficult lesson for them to learn. Apparently I’m setting a good example - thanks Mom and Dad.

As I left the school today, I stopped once again to look over at the monastery bathed in afternoon sunshine on the next hilltop. I realised how good I felt to be there, not just in Nepal, but at the college. I felt like I was doing something worthwhile for the first time in I don’t know how many years. I know it’s a small project, but I actually felt like I was making a positive contribution to someone’s life. These amazing young people all have so much hope that it’s impossible not to be swept up in their enthusiasm.

If anyone's interested, the college's website is www.gate.edu.np

Dipping My Toe in the Pool

2008-11-22T00:08:00.000-08:00

I’m not sure if I have previously mentioned a woman named Deborah. She is American and I was introduced to her virtually via a contact at home. We have met several times and I enjoy her company enormously. She is working on building a business here, and in her spare time she teaches at a small college in the outskirts of the city. It specialises in hospitality services and the students are learning all aspects of the business in the hopes of finding work either in Nepal or abroad. Deborah has been really persuasive in getting me involved in the college. I had my first meeting there this week and am now working on a small project helping the students with their resumés. I have done my preliminary editing work on them and will begin one-on-one meetings with the students tomorrow, to elicit further information which can be used to help them sell themselves to potential employers.

I have asked not to be paid for this project as it is very short term and I’m not doing anything else anyway. Frankly, I wasn’t sure what I could contribute to the project and I felt guilty taking money for inferior work. I mean, what could a telecommunications consultant possibly offer students in the hospitality industry? After my initial meeting with the college administrator and having read the resumés as they exist today, my confidence is definitely building. I had heard horror stories from volunteers about how poorly run organisations in Nepal are, but it was an eye-opener to see it first hand. To their credit, they are just doing what they know and their culture is enormously different than what I’m accustomed to. I think that it will take a huge dose of patience to work within this environment, but my first contact with it has demonstrated how much I do have to offer. I am not someone who believes in forcing outside views, religion or culture on any society, but in this case, it really is a case of teaching skills and practices that will help them function more productively. In addition, these students are hoping to work abroad and if they’re going to be successful, they need to learn how to function in more productive environments. (Deborah taught a class in taking initiative the other day. I don’t think it was on the school’s curriculum but I’m sure it was one of the most valuable lessons they’ll learn all year.)

I have no idea if this project will lead to further work at the college, but Deborah would like to see me there full-time, and the college is in need of professional resources. There is also an affiliated program that uses the college’s facilities which is looking for an English teacher. The thought of teaching still scares the crap out of me, but at least these students are young adults and not children. Deborah has asked me to dress as formally as possible for my meetings with the students in an effort to introduce an intimidation factor and prepare them for interviews down the road. Little do they know that I’m far more intimidated by them than they are by me.

So tomorrow is my big day. I’ll be meeting with the students during their lunch breaks all week, and will see as many as I can fit into each day. Wish me luck!

Trek With Judy and Her Family

2008-11-17T04:26:00.000-08:00

We started out on Sunday morning with a 20-minute flight to Pokhara, situated on a beautiful lake in the foothills of the Himalayas. My friend and our guide for the trek, Bhola, had travelled overnight by bus (about 6-8 hours depending on many factors) and met us at the airport with a van ready to take us to the trailhead. Judy, a very independent traveller, was a bit concerned about having a guide along, but within hours we were all wondering what we would have done without him. He is a fabulous guide and also happens to be wonderful company.

The weather was perfect as we set out, and we had great views of a few peaks hanging over the valley trails. Our hike was mostly uphill the first day and we stayed fairly close together as a group. We spent the night in a village called Tikenhungga. We were all surprised by the number of trekkers on the trails and in the guesthouses, especially this late in the season. It would appear that tourism is really making a comeback here after this spring’s election brought an end to the Maoist threat in the mountains. The second day was the toughest and started with a three-hour climb up a hillside on stone steps. You may remember me whining about this same portion of the trek when I went to Mustang last summer. We had beautiful weather again, and the views got better the higher we climbed. Campbell (15) showed his true colours and was well out ahead of us for most of this day and the ones that would follow. Kelly (14) maintained a sprint-and-rest style of trekking and ultimately chose to stay back with her father, Dean, who moved a bit slower than the rest of us. Judy, Campbell and I enjoyed a juice box and the views down the valley while we waited for Kelly and Dean to arrive at the top of the stairs in the safe care of Bhola. We had a fairly long lunch an hour up the trail and continued our uphill climb through forests to the hilltop town of Ghorepani. It was a long day of about eight hours on the trail and we were all happy to get our boots off at the end of the day. Judy and Dean splurged on rooms (about $5 each) with ensuite bathrooms and Western toilets, much to Kelly’s delight. I stayed with my $1.50 single room with shared toilet across the hall, but I have to admit I snuck into Judy and Dean’s bathroom for a quick rinse under their shower head. The views from our rooms were phenomenal with Annupurna South right outside our windows and much of the Annapurna and Dhulagiri ranges visible from our beds. It was a clear night and a near-full moon providing a beautiful backdrop for our night’s sleep.

Judy, Campbell, Bhola and I set out at about 5:00 AM the next morning to climb Poon Hill to watch the sunrise. As with my first visit there in 2002, I was awestruck by the sun’s rays hitting the peaks before the sun itself appeared above the horizon. The light moved across the mountain range like the sparks on a fuse, until all the peaks were ablaze. It’s still one of my favourite views in the world and it was hard to pull myself away. We returned to Ghorepani for breakfast and to pick up the others. We climbed out of town and enjoyed similar views of the mountains from the ridge above Ghorepani. The rest of the day was spent hiking through the rhododendron forests on our way to Tadapani. We had several discussions regarding our final destination for the day and finally agreed that we’d see how we felt in Tadapani and decide there if we could push on to Ghandruk for the night.

Unfortunately, while Judy, Campbell, Kelly and I were enjoying the views from a picnic table in Tadapani and waiting for Dean and Bhola to catch up, they passed through the village without seeing us. Assuming that we had gone on to Ghandruk, they forged ahead. Worried when they didn’t show up, we went back down the trail looking for them behind us and came up empty. When we finally realised what had happened, it was too late for us to get to Ghandruk before dark so we bedded down in Tadapani. Meanwhile, Bhola and Dean arrived in Ghandruk and knocked on every door in town looking for us. Having no idea where we were, they spent a sleepless night worrying that we had taken a wrong turn and were sleeping huddled together somewhere on the mountainside. We woke up early in the morning in order to get moving as soon as it was light, and met Bhola about 10 minutes down the trail. He had left Ghandruk well before sunrise to come looking for us, as I had suspected he would. Despite our guilt over this added work load for him, we were all relieved that Dean had talked him out of coming to look for us the night before, especially as a thick fog had rolled in. After our reunion on the path, we continued as quickly as we could to Ghandruk, and based on the difficulty of the trail, were glad that we hadn’t made the attempt in the dark during the previous evening. We joined a very relieved Dean for a hot chocolate in Ghandruk and discussed our plans.

That day’s trek was a difficult one and we already had a couple of hours behind us. Judy and I both remember this stretch of trail more than any other in our trekking histories. She did it 25 years ago with her brother and I did it six years ago with Bhola. Ghandruk and Landruk sit across a gorge from each other, so close that you can practically reach out and touch the buildings in one from a patio chair in the other. However, to get from one to the other, you have to climb down to floor of the gorge, cross the river on a footbridge and then climb back up the other side. Dean firmly refused to do this, and ultimately the kids decided to forgo the experience with him. They walked the direct route out to civilisation directly from Ghandruk that day. Judy and I set out with Bhola and navigated the gorge on our own. We had lunch in Landruk and then settled into Tolka an hour or so down the trail. Without the others in tow, we made good time and arrived mid-afternoon. We were delighted to find a hot shower facility at our guest house. Clean and cozy in our down booties we sat in the sunshine, drank a couple of beers and engaged in hours of girl talk as the afternoon turned to evening. It was a wonderful day.

I was convinced that the final day would be downhill all the way, since we were closing the circle and the first two days had been entirely uphill. I was therefore rather dismayed to find we had a 400 meter climb an hour or so into the trek, but we managed it without killing ourselves (and likely without displaying any dignity whatsoever). We finished our trek in the early afternoon and Bhola found us a cab back to Pokhara where we joined the others. We spent the next 48 hours or so in Pokhara, just taking things easy and wandering around town. It’s much more quiet and scenic than Kathmandu and is a place that I could see myself living. I visited the Peace Pagoda on the hill overlooking the lake, which is something I’ve wanted to do for years. The views of the lake and mountains from up there were spectacular and the pagoda itself is a beautiful Buddhist monument.

On Saturday we flew back to Kathmandu and spent the afternoon at my place. Judy wanted to see my apartment and they all made use of my internet connection and laptop to get caught up with banking and emails and to burn some photos to DVDs.

I put them into a cab to the airport yesterday afternoon and suspect that they’re on their way from Bahrain to Jordan as I write this. I have to admit that I’m suffering a bit from the post-visit blues today, and haven’t helped the cause by staying home and accomplishing very little of anything. I’ll be sure to turn over a new leaf tomorrow and try to implement a new routine to keep me busy. I have some connections to make and of course I need to forge ahead with the job hunt. It’s getting cooler now and the days are noticeably shorter, although it’s still a lot more comfortable than home at this time of year. As long as the sun is shining, skirts and short sleeves are okay during the day but a jacket is a must in the evenings.

I should get photos posted shortly at www.flickr.com/photos/feelitturn.

Out of Touch

2008-11-08T07:48:00.000-08:00

A very quick post to let you all know that Judy and her family arrived last night and have been keeping me busy ever since. We leave early tomorrow morning for our trek in the Annapurna region. I should be back in touch either Sunday or Monday (16th or 17th November) once they've gone and I have time to write. In the meantime, I'll be enjoying great company in the beautiful Himalayas.

November 4/5 2008

2008-11-05T23:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I fell in love. His name is Obama and he is carrying the hope of the world on his shoulders. I spent yesterday morning glued to the TV watching the numbers tick away at the bottom of CNN’s screen. I’m still not sure how they made the leap from 207 electoral college votes to “Obama elected president” in several seconds, but it wasn’t an error and the decision stuck. No recounts, no hanging chads. I let out a cheer, no doubt startling whoever was doing dishes or laundry at the communal fountain outside my bedroom window. The speeches came shortly afterwards, and I was touched by McCain’s concession. It seems to me that he has more integrity in his little finger than the current president has in his entire administration.

Then Barack Obama took the stage. His face is defined by a gentleness and an almost child-like quality. He spoke beautifully and eloquently about an America that everyone wants to see. He instilled a fresh hope in the people of his country and around the world. Listening to him I could believe that we have seen the last of a government motivated by greed, and are welcoming a new one motivated by love, compassion and a sense of duty towards humanity and our environment. I heard the speech several times yesterday, and was repeatedly struck not only by the content but by the delivery. This man is a true orator.

I understand that Obama’s race is of huge significance. But for me, the fact that he is African-American is of no consequence. He is a good man and I believe he will be a good president. I look forward to a day when attributes such as gender and colour do not factor into a campaign.

My greatest surprise was the shift in my attitude towards America and its citizens. I have many friends and extended family members in the US and I love them all. Virtually all of the Americans I have met travelling have been Democrats and we shared a common disgust with their government. (The sole exception was a young Korean-American man I shared an airport shuttle with in Bangkok. The son of immigrant parents, he startled me by introducing himself with a thick Texan drawl.) As much as I love the Americans I know individually, I had developed a lack of respect for the American population as a whole. This isn’t something I’m proud of – I try my best to eschew prejudices of all kinds. But I just couldn’t understand or support an entire society that would re-elect George W. Bush. Yesterday America chose a government they can be proud of, and in so doing showed the world that its population is worthy of our respect.

Last night I attended an Obama victory party hosted by the Nepal chapter of Democrats Abroad. I received the invitation several days prior to the election, so I assumed that there was considerable optimism within that camp. In speaking with party-goers, I found that this wasn’t necessarily the case – many of them had been sitting on pins and needles that morning. While I’m not one to plaster my luggage with Canadian flags, I have typically tried to ensure that my fellow travellers are aware of my nationality. I didn’t want to be perceived to be associated with the government of the US in any way. But last night at the party I gladly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the American community in Nepal as some high school students sang the “Star-Spangled Banner” in beautiful harmony. I was proud of them and for them. I only confessed to being a Canadian because I felt it unfair to accept congratulations for a victory to which I did not contribute.

Living abroad for much of the last two years has made me understand how far-reaching the consequences of this election are. This wasn’t just about America, but will affect lives around the world. I feel a renewed hope for America and for the world in general. Based on the reactions I witnessed in the media yesterday, I can only assume that I’m not alone in this. I know that I join people all over the world in placing far too heavy a load on the shoulders of one man. I am worried that the rigors and reality of life in Washington will erode the ideology and spirit of the US president-elect. I fear that some rogue racist will succeed in cutting short the life of this pioneer as they have done for so many pioneers before him. But for now, I’m in love and I’m going to enjoy the honeymoon.

Photos

2008-11-01T23:00:00.001-07:00

Study

Kitchen

Bedroom / Living Room

Connected

2008-11-01T22:51:00.000-07:00

I never received a repeat invitation to celebrate Tihar with Bhola’s family, so I didn’t get the inside experience. I did go into Thamel (the touristy part of town and home to much of the city’s commerce) during the evening to see what was going on. I didn’t expect much but was surprised to find Tihar celebrations in full swing. Most of the shops were closed, but there were decorations everywhere, huge “murals” in the street that are like temporary shrines, roving bands of singers of all ages, and lights everywhere. The firecrackers were out of hand and unfortunately almost ruined the whole experience for me. They were being thrown everywhere and they were louder than any that the average kid has access to at home. They were being lobbed off rooftops so that they blew up in mid air in front of you, or tossed at your feet out of doorways. I don’t suppose they could have caused too much damage, but it was really unnerving.

On Friday I attended a lecture delivered to the Cultural Studies Group of Nepal. This a group of expats who convene once a month for lectures and once a month for studio tours of the local artisans. I am looking forward to other events with this group, although I won’t join until the new year. The speaker in this case was a Canadian woman who has been living here for 30 years. We had been introduced via the internet when I was still at home and have been trying to connect here to no avail. She lived with the Sherpas in the Khumbu (Everest) region for years and was speaking about their culture. She is an amazing photographer and her slideshow had me aching to get back into the mountains. We are both going away next week, but I hope to spend some time with her when we’re back in the city. I didn’t have time to connect with her after the lecture as I was making another attempt at getting internet at my apartment.

For the more technical among you, here’s the story. My landlord, Kiran, arranged to have DSL added to my phone line and I chose the higher speed option (256 Kbps). He relayed a message to me from the Telecom Nepal guys that I had to buy a router, which I did. (I splurged and got a wireless one – good choice.) While doing the router setup, I got a wizard that required about 12 settings, all of which needed to be provided by the ISP. I tried to explain to Kiran that I needed more info from the telco which he just wasn’t understanding. He thought the guy who sold me the router should be doing the work. I finally convinced him that I needed to talk to the telco so off we went to visit them, armed with a list of the required information from the setup wizard. Their office is only a couple of blocks away, and much to my delight, we immediately returned home with a tech in tow who sat down and completed the wizard and got things going. He was great although had very limited English. He left me with his name and number in case of any problems down the road. I was very impressed – things like this don’t usually happen here.

The bottom line is that I’m now connected at home and can move around the apartment with my computer. Because the router requires power, I can’t use the internet during the load shedding, but that’s okay, I can live with that. I certainly enjoy the freedom of being able to check e-mails more regularly, and being able to do so in my jammies. I have become so dependent on the internet – it’s amazing how often I refer to it for all kinds of information. I hate to admit this, but this added connectivity has made me feel much more comfortable and at home here.

I am now just working on getting a new cable supplier. The one I have sucks – they don’t have many channels and regularly go down 15 minutes before the end of a movie. Kiran, the little trooper, has started the arrangements to get a new supplier in. We’ll get that wrapped up today.

The most exciting news of all is that Judy and her family arrive on Friday. I can’t wait to see them, and of course get out into the mountains for our little trek. Five more sleeps!

I have uploaded a bunch of photos of Tihar and my apartment to flicker. I’m going to try to paste the link here. If that doesn’t work, you can go to www.flickr.com/photos/feelitturn. I’ll try to add a few into the body of my blog as well.

Oh What a Beautiful Morning

2008-10-29T03:51:00.000-07:00

Despite all the Tihar activities going on last night, I stayed in and turned off my lights at about 9:30 and didn’t wake until 6:15 this morning. I can only assume that people don’t need water at 4:00 AM when it’s Tihar, and that’s just fine by me. I woke up rested for the first time in a long time and my tummy was feeling better after yesterday’s problems. I went for a run and the streets were virtually empty due to the holiday, so I was able to navigate at a relatively consistent pace without getting run down. Strangely, the street sweepers and garbage collectors were working, so the streets were even relatively clean. It was awesome! If only all my mornings could be like this I’d be a happy camper. My day has already been more productive by 11:00 AM than it is most days by dinner time. There hasn’t even been any load shedding activities (power cuts) of late. I guess that the new Maoist government, as non-religious as they are, realize that they better keep the power on after the citizens have spent days stringing lights up all over town.

Lest you all think that Tihar is paradise, I will share a few drawbacks. The children wander house-to-house singing, much like Christmas carollers, and collect rupees as they go. (Traditionally they collected food, but now only money will do.) You’d think this would be lovely, but it’s really not. It appears that they sing the same one line over and over, and it’s not exactly Silent Night. It sounds more like someone’s killing a cat repeatedly in your yard. In addition, fireworks are all the rage during Tihar. I think there are some real ones every now and then that actually light up the sky and look pretty. But for the most part, they’re just the ones that go bang. In a country that isn’t totally politically stable, these blasts tend to send me through the roof, especially if they go off right beside me in the street. I’m happy to report that the bulk of this riotous noise happens at reasonable hours and doesn’t disturb sleep, although I was almost certain there was someone shooting a gun in my bedroom this morning when I was brushing my teeth.

I put some candles out last night, to add to the decorations that my landlords had provided to attract Laxmi to our home. They invited me over to celebrate with them as well, but as with Bhola’s family I felt I should decline with my bad tummy. I couldn’t really face any food yesterday so didn’t want to get too adventuresome with Nepali festival fare. Hopefully I’ll get to do my festivaling today.

P.S. I met a cow in my laneway this morning (yes, that is odd) and she was sporting a bright red tikka just like the dogs do.

Tihar

2008-10-28T04:01:00.000-07:00

All of Nepal is currently in festival mode. For the last few days people have been preparing and today is the first official day of the festival called Tihar. During this festival, Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, visits the homes of the Nepalis and blesses them with prosperity. The houses are decorated with marigold garlands and lights to help Laxmi find her way. It looks somewhat like Christmas at home: the houses are strung with coloured lights and the businesses are virtually draped with them. In addition, the walkways and paths to people's homes are lined with small clay oil lamps. It's really quite beautiful. My landlord strung up some marigolds over my doorway, and I'm going to pick up some clay lamps to light tonight. (Hey, we can all use some prosperity, can't we?)

I'm not sure why, but animals are celebrated at this time too. Dogs, crows and cows have particular significance for their duties as guardians, messengers, and just being holy respectively. I haven't checked out the cows next door, but all the dogs in the neighbourhood have tikkas on the their foreheads and are wearing marigold garlands as collars. I've been taking photos and will post them when I have better internet access.

I was invited to go celebrate the puja tonight with the family of my friend and former trekking guide, Bhola. I felt I had to decline as I ate or drank something bad yesterday and spent the night with my head in the toilet. Not knowing what the plumbing arrangements are at their house and knowing that I would be expected to join them in their meal I thought it best to take a raincheck until I'm feeling a bit more robust. I'm going tomorrow night instead and hope that I'm feeling well enough to enjoy it (and also that I didn't mess up their plans too much - I think today is the big day). (Nepalis aren't big planners; when they decide to do something, you get about 30 seconds warning and you better be ready to go. I got a call this afternoon from Bhola's son who didn't introduce himself but just told me he'd pick me up at 7:00.) This family is being so kind and welcoming to me, but I find it a bit awkward with Bhola away trekking. His wife speaks no English and his sons are pretty fluent but I find myself running out of things to talk to them about (they are 15 and 18). Having said that, I'm honoured by their invitation and I think it will be interesting to join the puja (I guess this translate as mass, service or ritual). I'm sure I'll come home decorated with a bright tikka on my forehead.

I am still waiting for internet at home. I have my router all hooked up but don't know how to set all the internet settings. I need a guy from the phone company to come, and of course they're off for the next few days for Tihar. I am also going to change my cable supplier as I'm not happy with my current one. This will also have to wait a few days.

No news on the job front, mostly because I haven't been doing anything. I've been spending my time trying to get myself set up at the apartment. I was going to spend today working on my resume but my digestive system had other plans for me. I met a woman the other day who is doing exactly the kind of work that I want to do here. Unfortunately, I got sidetracked by some other people and left the restaurant without exchanging contact info. We have some mutual friends so hopefully I'll be able to track her down as I think she'll be a good resource for me.

That's it for now. Hopefully the next post will be from home. Happy Tihar!

Miscellany

2008-10-25T03:02:00.000-07:00

Just some stuff that may interest you.

The Water Situation: While I have running water all the time, the majority my neighbours don’t. (When I describe my apartment to Nepalis as a “Nepali flat” their first question is always whether or not I have running water. From what I understand, running water is the sign of a high-end apartment.) One of my bedroom windows looks out on the communal fountain, so there is pretty much always someone there doing laundry or washing their dishes. It’s quite charming most of the time but...

The Sleeping Situation: The nights are quiet, which is great, but I have at least one neighbour who apparently needs water at 4:30 every morning. I’m just not sure how I’m going to handle this in the long run. At the moment I can nap later in the day if I have to, but that won’t be possible if I’m working. I can’t bring myself to go to sleep at 8:00 every night, nor do I think I’m ever going to be able to sleep through the bucket banging in the morning. It usually signals the beginning of the community wake-up, so once it starts, I also get dogs barking, cows mooing and kids yelling. There’s no going back at that point.

The Social Situation: I continue to meet new people. I know it will take a while to form any friendships but that is something I look forward to with great anticipation. In the meantime it’s nice to have some company. Last night I went to “Jazzmandu”, an annual Jazz festival in celebration of peace and unity. It changes venue every night and last night it was held at a former hunting lodge outside of town which is now a Marriott hotel and golf course. It was absolutely stunning (and home to the only indoor pool in Nepal - not that I got to see it). The stage was set up in a courtyard decorated with white Christmas lights. There were little fires burning in metal pots around the yard to provide warmth. I’m not a big jazz fan, but there were a few acts that were absolutely fabulous. The bands come from all over the world, and I could tell that even the ones that I didn’t like were of high calibre. It was a great evening. Tomorrow I’m having breakfast with a woman named Deborah that I was introduced to by someone at home. She doesn’t work within the aid/development community and has a different perspective on things here. I’m really looking forward to meeting her.

The Work Situation: I haven’t really done too much on this front as I’ve been busy getting settled in. The network here has been working under its own steam and I have received several spontaneous introductions via e-mail. As much as I appreciate all of the effort that these people are expending on my behalf, nothing of any interest has really developed. There are, naturally, a ton of opportunities for volunteer work here. I’m not opposed to starting out that way in the hopes that it will lead to a paid placement. However, virtually all of these offers are for work in orphanages and primary schools. It’s so hard to tell people that I am really uncomfortable around young children – it makes me feel like such a monster, not to mention ungrateful for the offer. There is so much need here on so many levels that it’s becoming a bit frustrating to me that I never seem to get offers to go help someone plant a rice paddy or build a school. I am hoping to spend some time next week revising my resume to make it look a little more relevant to what I’m looking for and then getting it out to some NGOs.

The School Situation: I only have two more modules to complete for my on-line TEFL course. I am sort of stalled at the moment as the next assignment is quite labour intensive. I’ll really try to get it finished in the next few days.

Photos: I just tried to post some photos of my apartment but was unsuccessful. I'll try again when I have internet at home - hopefully that will work.

Night Time

2008-10-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

I have come to the realisation that I am afraid of the dark. Not in the sense that there’s a bogeyman under my bed, or that someone is going to jump out from a dark alley and stab me. In fact there are times when I love the dark, like when I’m staring up at the Milky Way in a place far away from city lights. But the night brings with it a very deep and subtle anxiety for me; something I’ve tried to ignore for years but seems to be getting stronger. When I travel I always try to arrive in a new place during the daylight hours, and when that isn’t possible I struggle with a fear that threatens to overtake me until I’ve found a well-lit place where I can sleep behind a locked door.

This condition has become a regular visitor of late. On the first day in my new apartment the power was off from 4-6 PM – a blessedly early time so that darkness only crept in during the last half hour or so. I had candles lit and was working on my laptop, hoping the batteries would hold out until the power came back on. I was nervous, afraid in this new place with no light. When the power came on I felt I had been rescued from the jaws of some gentle yet horrible beast. Once I turned on some lights I immediately felt at home, comfortable, happy to be here.

As I walk the streets of Kathmandu at night, I am frequently enveloped by darkness due to a power outage or just simple neglect of streetlights. At these times, knowing full well that there is no danger, my pace quickens and my heart thumps. When I reach my destination and step into the light, I feel relieved and stupid for my previous state of anxiety.

Lately I’ve been waking every morning in fairly high spirits looking forward to the day. I have been busy settling in and picking up things that I need. This has been fun and has filled me with a sense of purpose. I repeatedly run into people I know in the streets and am being invited to events within the expat community. I am meeting new people all the time, and life is generally good. And then the night falls and that fear grows in my belly like a tumour. The apartment symbolises a sense of permanence here; as if there’s no going home. What if I don’t find work? What if I do? What if I’m lonely? What if I run out of money? What if I can’t find a job that makes me happy? Am I going to be floating directionless for the rest of my life? The night is cruel.

I’m not sure where this fear comes from. I don’t remember any particularly bad experiences that may have instilled it in me. Perhaps it is the collective unconscious; a remainder from our distant past when the night represented considerable danger. When I lived in Val-des-Monts, people frequently asked me if I was afraid there. I could not think of a single threat in and around my home, other than perhaps had I tormented a mother bear, and I felt safer there than practically anywhere else in the world. I am now starting to understand it; these people had a fear of isolation that is likely similar to this fear I have of the dark. It is not rational, but its grip cannot be loosened.

New Home

2008-10-23T04:17:00.000-07:00

I spent my first night at my new place. I am starting to get settled and spent much of yesterday shopping. All of the dishes here are metal, which is fine if you’re camping, but not exactly appealing on a daily basis. I picked up some dishes and sheets and a pretty bedspread. Bedding is funny here – they don’t sleep between two sheets and fitted sheets are unheard of. They put a flat sheet on the bottom and a blanket (or comforter if you’re rich) on top. As a result all sheet sets consist of a flat sheet and two pillow cases.

The most excitement involved my fridge and TV. I bought them in the morning and had them delivered in the afternoon. As I was showing the delivery men in, my landlord, Kiran, spotted us and came to supervise. By the time everything made its way into the apartment I had a crew of seven working on the job. Kiran’s mother was practically swooning over the fridge – I didn’t think I was going to get her out of my kitchen. I have all manner of tables, bookshelves and assorted furniture in the apartment, but Kiran had to send his brother, Romus, to find a more suitable table for the TV. I am still not 100% sure that this wasn’t pilfered from their own living room, but they refused to hear of any alternative or allow me to replace it. As I type this, another crew of three are drilling a hole through a window frame to accommodate the cable, which is supposed to arrive later today. I was just about to jump in the shower so am looking a bit shoddy, but figure I’ll wait for them to leave to perform my ablutions.

I’m looking forward to my first shower here with some trepidation. The water heater has to be turned on prior to my shower in order to have hot water. I have heard differing reports of how long it takes the water to heat, but the consensus seems to be between 15 and 30 minutes. The water heater has a caution scrawled across it big black letters that say that it will explode if left on for more than one hour. I’m actually considering getting an alarm clock to set every time I turn it on in case I get wrapped up in something else and forget. Apparently the water stays hot for 12 hours after heating, so I’m assuming it will be fine once the guys leave and I’m free to use it. I mean, how long can it take three Nepalis to drill a hole?

My first night wasn’t bad, but not the best sleep I’ve ever had. The bed is hard, but not as uncomfortable as I was expecting, so my hips didn’t give me too much grief. I heard a few sounds in the night, like dogs barking in the distance and some parents comforting a child a few houses away. I don’t think any of these actually woke me, as my sleep was disturbed by my own brain. First night jitters, I guess. Strangely, I was able to catch up in the early hours of the morning when the city was coming to life and it was much noisier than it was all night. Kiran has just informed me that there is an alternate-day policy for water here, so there were lots of buckets being banged around this morning as people filled reservoirs. Tomorrow morning should be quieter. My only real concern at the moment is that I like to run in the morning before the streets get too busy. I didn’t want to get up and run at 4:30 when I was wide awake, and then I finally fell asleep through prime running hours this morning. I’m hoping I’ll get into a more useful routine in a while.

As for the water situation, I have it all the time. I’ll have to determine if Kiran and his family have to fill a reservoir every second day. He certainly made it clear that there was a water shortage so I am making every effort not to use too much. It amazes me that Nepal has more water than every other country in the world except one, and still can’t seem to keep its capital city in water or electricity.

I just went to check on the hole. It’s ready, but the cable guy basically just delivered the cable and took off, so Kiran and Romus are trying to put the connector on the coax. Needless to say, I can’t offer my services, although I could probably do it in two minutes with my eyes closed. It’s rather painful to watch.

Several hours later…

Cable is up and running and I have sorted out the internet connection. It will probably take a week or so to get installed so I’m back at the internet café. Will post this now and write more later – lots of email to deal with while I’m here.

Making Progress

2008-10-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went on a hike to Shivapuri. I’m not sure if that’s the name of the hill or a nearby village – I think it’s the former. We were a group of 14 but spread out a lot on the trail so I didn’t spend too much time with any one of the others, but little bits of time with several of them. lt was nice to meet such an interesting bunch of people. They pretty much all work in aid or development and they are all so committed to their work. Still, it sounds like it can be a frustrating industry and I heard some of their insights and gripes. Knowing what I do about working for the government, I can certainly see how they have to navigate themselves through miles of red tape and other minefields, a process which can be compounded by the different (and often backwards) governments and organisations they have to deal with. Fortunately, this hasn’t deterred me from wanting in - the joy of being naive and keen I guess.

The trek itself was quite difficult. It was about 4 ½ hours practically straight up and another 3 or so back down. I much prefer going up when the only problems are sweat and shortness of breath - nothing that a quick rest can’t solve. Coming down, on the other hand, is really tough on the joints and my knees complained in an increasingly loud voice all the way down. I was so happy to be down that I didn’t remember to stretch so I’m a bit stiff today. I guess it was good training for my upcoming trek with Judy and her family. We gained about 1100 metres which certainly will help with the acclimatisation process.

Today I rented myself a little apartment. As previously mentioned, apartments aren’t easy to find here. I got a little freaked out yesterday when I found out that all of my fellow trekkers were paying well in excess of $1000 US in rent per month. I can only assume that apartments that most Westerners find acceptable are of such a relatively high standard here it would be equivalent to us renting the penthouse at the Hilton at home. I was thinking I might as well just stay at the guest house for half the price but that means tons of noise early in the mornings and no kitchen facilities. Eating out is really inexpensive and way better than suffering through my own cooking but it would be nice to at least have a fridge. I answered an ad this morning and didn’t even bother to shop around.

The apartment is much more Nepali than Western. This means cement floors with a few carpets, a Nepali bathroom (no tub or shower stall - just one big open space) and a pretty rudimentary kitchen. The ad said that it was furnished, which it is, but with no appliances other than a gas cooker. I’ll have to buy myself a small fridge and TV as well as some dishes and other household stuff. It’s on the ground floor and my bedroom window looks out on a pretty garden. It’s fairly centrally located and far enough off a main road to be really quiet. I have been assured that there are no chickens nearby so hopefully I won’t get a rooster wake-up call every morning. Kathmandu’s biggest department store is about two blocks away, so I can get everything I need there. I have five rooms: kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and two offices. I’m guessing it was set up this way because that’s what furniture was available. If I decide to stay there for a while and can figure out where to get furniture, I’ll turn the second office into a living area, bedroom or something else more useful to me. My biggest concern is the mattress which is, I think, a futon. I’m guessing that this will be really hard on my hip. A new mattress might be on my list as well, if such a thing exists here.

The second-best part is that the rent is 15,000 rupees ($240 Cdn) per month. This means that even if I’m not earning I can easily afford to live here. Ultimately, if I can’t find a paid position, I could volunteer or take a Nepali salary and still be fine.

The best part is that my landlord is a lovely young man who lives with his family upstairs. I met his mother this morning, and I’m not sure who else is up there. He speaks great English, loves Canadians (his last tenant was Canadian as well) and is infinitely helpful. I’m sure he’ll be a great help getting me set up with all the comforts I want – probably even more so if I want to buy furniture that I’ll ultimately leave behind.

I’ll have a landline there and will be getting internet. It will likely be cheaper and easier to make and receive calls from the landline than my cell phone, so I’ll pass that number along when I get it. I’ll be moving in on Wednesday...wish me luck.

Optimism

2008-10-17T01:05:00.000-07:00

Last night I met with Michelle, a Dutch woman who I met through a series of connections. We had a lovely time and she is so far proving to be a great help. She has provided me with lots of tips for job hunting as well as apartment hunting. Today she followed up on all her promises and introduced me, via email, to two other resources to help me out. One is here in Nepal and also looking for accommodation and the other has recently left here and is now in New York. The latter had some useful advice regarding jobs here. She did a lot of business writing for NGOs here, which is work that I would be really well suited for and would love to do.

Tomorrow I will be joining Michelle and a handful of her friends to do a day hike. I am looking forward to getting out the city for a day, breaking in my new hiking boots and meeting some other expats. If I have it right, we’ll be on the edge of the Kathmandu valley, so should get some good views of the mountains. One of the other trekkers is Leila, the woman who is apartment hunting. She promised to talk to me tomorrow and fill me in on the housing scene. Unfortunately people don’t place classifieds for this kind of thing here – you have to go with notice boards, signs on buildings and word-of-mouth. It makes it somewhat difficult.

I am feeling very optimistic at the moment. I expect that neither a job or apartment is going to fall into my lap, but I am encouraged that both are within reach if I apply myself. The good news is that I’m feeling more motivated than I was when I first arrived. I am really ready to start doing something, even if it means an alarm clock 5 days a week. It’s time to be productive.

Wish me luck.

P.S. I have bought myself a phone. If anyone wants the number, just let me know via email and I’ll send it to you. The telephone network here is about as reliable as everything else in Nepal – meaning not at all. You may have to retry several times to get through, but don’t give up.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-10-11T23:08:00.000-07:00

I haven’t been doing too much except wandering around town, which has been really lovely with the festival on and the streets rather quiet. My room overlooks the beautiful back garden at the guesthouse and I gaze down longingly each morning as groups of trekkers gather for their final briefings before they set off for the mountains. I would love to be joining them.

The weather is as close to perfect as I can imagine. It is sunny and clear, with daytime highs in the mid to high twenties. The evenings are cool enough for a jacket and perfect for sleeping. The air is surprisingly clear and much less polluted than I remember. I wonder if this is because the city is quiet at the moment or if the cooler temperatures give the illusion of crisper air. There is a wonderful, familiar smell to this city; not the stench you’d expect given the dirt and lacklustre garbage management efforts, but a mingling of the incense and flowers being offered in temples with the fresh food on offer in the markets. It’s such a delightful contrast to the often gut-turning stink of Bangkok.

I have been pleasantly surprised by my reception at the guest house. The staff all remember me and have been greeting me like a long-lost family member. It has really been quite flattering.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian readers.

Nepal (sigh)

2008-10-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

Well I’m here. I have to say that my arrival was a bit different than I expected. I thought I’d be exhilarated, excited and childlike. Instead, I just felt normal. Everything is the same and it honestly feels like I haven’t left. It also feels like the best day that I could ever imagine in Kathmandu. The skies are clear and the temperature was about 26 at midday. I just wandered around for a few hours this afternoon, checking things out and taking things in. I smiled non-stop all afternoon – everything just felt so good, and nothing annoyed me. I can’t really explain all this: normally you can’t just amble around Kathmandu, nor can you retain your composure doing so for an entire afternoon. There are lots of tourists in town at the moment as it is peak trekking season, and there are relatively few Nepalis in town as they are visiting their home villages for a festival. I’m guessing that there are so many tourists to go around that it takes the pressure off each individual. (Last time I was here it was the off-season and I was one of very few targets for the very hungry vendors.) I also have to wonder if my obvious joy was rubbing off on the locals, who all greeted me with big smiles and what appeared to be genuine affection rather than the standard sales tactics. Whatever the reason, it felt great and I’m thrilled to be back. If only this feeling could be bottled.

Of course it wouldn’t be life if it was perfect and there is flip side to the coin. I am painfully aware of the fact that I came here for a reason, and now that I’m here I have to put my nose to the grindstone. Of course this is something I want, but after two years of drifting rather aimlessly (and loving it) I’m somewhat nervous about being a responsible adult again. I’m anxious about both looking for work which I know will be a challenge, and even more so, finding it.

I will start the process first thing next week; I have a dinner tentatively scheduled with a woman that I met through a series of other people (both known and unknown to me) and we have been corresponding over the last few weeks. I am hoping that she may help me get my foot in the door of the expat community here, which I figure is where I need to be both professionally and socially. I also have a list of other expats to get in touch with. In the meantime, I’m going to spend the weekend reacquainting myself with the city and my Nepali friends.

Leaving Southeast Asia

2008-10-10T06:13:00.000-07:00

I can’t say that I was very productive during my last days in Cambodia and Thailand. After I voted I sat and had lunch on a floating deck/restaurant by the lake in Phnom Penh. It’s not much of a lake but seems important to a large population of people who live on its banks and fish its waters. Islands of vegetation float around, propelled by the wind and boats. The government plans to fill it in next year and build high rises on it, regardless of the impact on the people who will be displaced. As I had my lunch the skies opened up with a rain the likes of which I hadn’t seen since Thailand 2006. I had a fabulous vantage point to watch the water boil under the deluge and the lightening rip the sky.

The following day I flew back to Bangkok where I didn’t do much of anything. I was feeling a bit off and suspect that my lunch by the lake may have been a bit dodgy. It wasn’t too bad, it just affected my appetite and made me somewhat uncomfortable. The following day I managed to get over to a Mexican restaurant on the other side of town that Warren had recommended. Nepal doesn’t offer a lot in the way of nachos and salsa, so I thought I’d get my fill while I could. The nachos were fabulous, the environment not so much. I was in Patpong, the infamous sex-trade part of town which can be both fascinating and gut-wrenching. The more I see of it, the more it leans towards the latter. The restaurant itself was upscale and very Western, with the waitresses decked out in denim and cowboy hats. The prices were similar to those at home (i.e. astronomical by Thai standards) so the clientele was made up of expats and Western vacationers. I didn’t stay long – the Aussie expat chatting me up was particularly irritating and I didn’t relish an entire evening of listening to him singing his own praises.

I had an uneventful trip to Kathamandu. (I’m hoping this is a new trend – if you need reminding, check my blogs describing me getting to and from Kathmandu in 2007 – it wasn’t pretty.) I ended up having to pay a fee for my overweight luggage, but a quick calculation revealed that the fee was less than the cost of one of the dozen or so books I was carrying from home, so I figured it was a worthwhile expense. I also had some extra baht I had to get rid of so it actually worked out pretty well.

I had lots of time to spare at the airport and after browsing the duty free shops came to the realisation that a pair of sunglasses had been stolen from me along with my credit card, cash and battery charger during my first transit through Bangkok. There’s no problem getting a battery charger in Nepal, but decent sunglasses just aren’t to be had. Virtually everything for sale in that country that isn’t manufactured there is fake. That’s okay when it comes to CDs, fleece jackets and designer t-shirts, but not so good when it comes to decent eyewear. I decided to bite the bullet and get some good polarised sunglasses at the airport while I could. It was a nice little treat.

Voting in Cambodia

2008-10-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I voted. At least I think I did.

I have missed other elections when travelling and never thought too much of it. There were even times when I was living in Val-des-Monts when I seriously considered giving the whole thing a miss, when the 60 km round-trip to the poll just didn’t seem worth the effort. But this time I did make the effort.

I’m not sure what it was that lit the fire in my belly for this election. Maybe it was e-mails from friends in my riding lamenting the need to “vote strategically” in order to block the Bloc. How they wish they could just vote for the party that they believed should win. Maybe this reignited my anger that a party who is motivated to secede is even allowed a place in the House of Commons. More likely it is because I am haunted by a beautiful e-mail that I received from a Nepali friend who is 26 years old and was participating in a democratic process for the first time this spring. Included in his e-mail were the words “That was my first vote in my life. So nice.”

So this time I downloaded the form from the Elections Canada website, filled it in and had my driver’s license photocopied. I found a shop on a small Thai island that would send an international fax and sent it off. My friend Warren in Cambodia was kind enough to let me use his work address to receive my ballot as private homes don’t have addresses or receive post here. It was a write-in ballot so I logged back onto the Elections Canada website to find the appropriate candidate, sealed my ballot in three separate envelopes and found my way to the DHL depot. By yesterday there wasn’t enough time left to get my ballot to Ottawa by mail, so I couriered it for an astronomical fee. As I’m typing this it has made its way to Hong Kong via Bangkok. It has five business days to make it to Ottawa in time to be counted – fingers crossed.

Yes, it was a lot of time, bother and money but I don’t regret it for a moment. And I didn’t vote strategically.

Phnom Penh

2008-10-05T04:05:00.000-07:00

I had an uneventful trip from Bangkok to Phnom Penh and am safely ensconced in my friend Warren’s beautiful apartment. On Friday night he took me to a birthday party for a colleague of his and I had a great time at a very “Western” party. There were lots of Canadians as well as teachers from Britain, Australia and New Zealand. On Saturday we had a bit of a slow start but then hit some of the local markets and shops. I was able to buy a pair of leather sandals to replace the pair that got eaten by a dog on Koh Phangan (leaving me with nothing but flip-flops, hiking boots and running shoes). We then had fabulous massages and came home to regroup before heading out for dinner and a movie night at a friend’s place. We all sang along to the Abba classics as Mamma Mia was screened.

Today we both did some work on our respective courses (Warren is working on a Masters) and then hired a couple of motorcycles (with drivers) to tour us around on the other side of the river. We saw some really interesting neighbourhoods and lifestyles over there. It’s strange to see how the poor and rich people intermingle here – the rich don’t have any issue erecting a mansion in the middle of a slum. It’s very strange and somewhat disturbing, considering their wealth was likely gathered through corruption at the expense of the poor people around them.

Phnom Penh is much the way I remember it. It certainly is easier to get around with an escort, especially one who has lived here for so many years. It is still an incredibly poor, filthy and largely ugly city. And it still has the ambiance of devastation, pain and suffering pulsing through the air. Still, like all places in Asia, I can’t help but love the sensory assault. It just makes you so aware on so many levels.

Warren works tomorrow, so I’ll try to get out and explore a bit on foot. I’m guessing that after a day of touring on my own I’ll be ready to hunker down inside and not go out again. I will certainly be more of a target without Warren to hide behind.

The Big Stink

2008-10-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

I said all my goodbyes on Koh Phangan, had a last lunch on the beach and then hopped a ferry for the mainland. After four hours at sea and nine on a bus I arrived in Bangkok at 4:00 this morning. The streets in my neighbourhood were pretty quiet at that time, but I couldn’t believe the number of bars still open catering to the last drunken backpackers being hit on by Thai hookers. There was garbage in the streets and it smelled like India (meaning urine). Welcome back to Bangkok. With every visit I am becoming more and more disenchanted by this place. If it wasn’t such a great hub for the rest of Asia I don’t think I’d ever be tempted to come back. The only good thing about it is the prevalence of used bookstores which are popping up like weeds on the streets in my neighbourhood. I think books will ultimately lead to my financial downfall – I don’t know how many I went through on Koh Phangan where there wasn’t much else in the way of entertainment. I try to put blinders on when walking around Khaosan Road, but I can resist just about everything for sale here except the books. And if there’s a Booker or Giller prize winner in the stack, I snap it up with barely a glace at the back cover; at least I know that the writing will be decent. With a suitcase-load of books back in my room, I am typing this fresh from a lost battle against a Booker nominee, which virtually assaulted me from a wire rack by the side of the road. I guess there are worse addictions.

Fortunately, it’s a bit cooler here than it was on the island, and we even had a short thunderstorm this afternoon. I ran a few errands today, but mostly I’m just waiting to leave. I’ll catch my flight to Phnom Penh tomorrow afternoon. I’ll write again from Cambodia.

Goodbye to Yoga

2008-09-28T03:52:00.000-07:00

I figured it was time I checked in again. The last couple of weeks have been hot and sunny, so I’ve spent all my spare time at the beach. After my morning class, I’ll hop on Margarita and hit one of the closer beaches, usually Haad Yao about 5 kms away. I’ll have lunch and a swim, and then head back in time for the afternoon class. The sun is brutally hot, so I’ll bob around in the sea for ages trying to stay cool. I’ve put a few photos up on Flickr and will try to add one or two here so you can get a feel for the beaches.

I had my last yoga class yesterday and can’t say that I’m sorry it’s over. The staff are really inspirational – they’re all so healthy and happy and clearly walking a beautiful spiritual path. But despite its obvious benefits, I have come to realise that it’s not my path. Having said that, I have learned a lot here and there are some great lessons that I’ll be taking away with me.

I have made some great friends here, particularly a couple of women who have been fabulous company. I can’t believe that I’ll be leaving them in a couple of days and will be on my own again. It has really become comfortable here, with everyone popping in on each other and having meals together. I can’t go anywhere without bumping into someone I know. I guess that’s what happens when you stay in the same place long enough, and I have to keep reminding myself that I’ll be building a whole new network of friends in Nepal. I have been in touch with a couple of women in Nepal who I was introduced to via a woman at home. I look forward to meeting them in person when I get to Kathmandu and hope that they will help me out with both professional and personal relationships there.

It was my intention to spend my last couple of days on the island enjoying the beaches, but the weather changed coincident with my last yoga class. It has been overcast and today is much cooler. I’m not overly disappointed – despite the “unbeachability” of it, the drop in temperature is a blessing. I started running in the mornings before class, and it has been about 27 degrees at 6:30 AM, which is pretty tough. Today the high was only about 28 – it was really nice. I’m happy to do some more exploring (although I’ve covered pretty much every inch of the island) or just read to fill the time.

Today I signed up for an on-line TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. As much as I really don’t think teaching is my thing, it would pretty much guarantee me work in Nepal. One of my contacts in Nepal is connected with a college there, and she suggested that this might be an option for me. I think I could handle it if I were to teach adults or young adults – obviously putting me in a room full of children would spell disaster for everyone involved. I also like the idea of teaching business English to adults in the business community. Anyway, I’ll take the course even if I don’t end up using it; no learning is wasted as far as I’m concerned.

So that’s pretty much it for now. I’ll be in Cambodia by the end of the week, which I’m really looking forward to. My ballot is waiting for me there so assuming I can get it back to Ottawa in time, I’ll be able to vote in the upcoming election (for all the good it will do). I trust you all will do the same.

Full Moon

2008-09-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

Things continue to roll along nicely. The yoga course that I’m taking is a one-month intensive introductory course. I arrived exactly half way through a session, so took the last two weeks of a session followed by the first two weeks of the next session. On Saturday night they held the “graduation” ceremony for the people who had completed the first session. It was a pleasant evening of ritual, talent shows and socialising.

On Sunday the full moon came and went and I was able to resist the virtually non-existent temptation to attend the party at Haad Rin. That day was the first sunny day we’ve had in a while, and I caught an hour or so by the pool in the morning. I then went to a party up the beach at the house of one of the yoga instructors. I have been keeping largely to myself since I got here and I felt it was time that I became a little more social. It was a nice afternoon on the beach, with an amazing spread of fabulous organic, macrobiotic food. It was incredibly hot under the sun and I opted to come home early and get into the pool. (As I’ve mentioned previously, the sea is so shallow here, it is unswimmable. It’s also hot to the touch so there wouldn’t be any relief from the heat there anyway.) Later that evening when the younger crowd were heading out to the big party, I attended a group meditation at the yoga centre. I’m not sure what I got out of it, but it was an interesting experience and far more healthy than the wildness at Haad Rin.

There are a few new faces around now that the new session has started. I’m becoming a bit more sociable and making some new friends. The students are a bit older this time around, which makes it that much more enjoyable for me.

My only other mildly interesting news is that I had an urgent e-mail from Pat telling me that a bank was desperately trying to get in touch with me. After some investigation and a couple of phone calls home, I determined that my back-up credit card had been stolen out of my luggage in my hotel room in Bangkok. There’s no real harm to me and the thief didn’t get a whole lot out of the deal either, but it really ticks me off. I have been using this hotel in Bangkok a lot and have come to trust it. The card had to have been taken by staff as the hotel room doors have key-card access. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my laptop and camera survived the ordeal. I still have a bag in storage at the hotel and am not sure what to do for my next couple of stops in Bangkok. I will certainly tell the hotel about it, but I’m not sure if I want to go through the hassle of finding another hotel for the sake of a night or two of transit through the city. And there’s no guarantee that the next hotel will be any safer.

I was just getting this problem sorted out when I had another urgent e-mail from Pat that another bank was trying desperately to get in touch with me. Turns out that they were concerned about a couple of purchases I made on-line for flights with my credit card. All this calling home and talking to banks has been a bit of a pain in the backside, but I have to say that I’m impressed with their diligence and security practices. I probably never would have discovered that my credit card had been stolen, as I carry it for emergency purposes only and keep it hidden in my luggage. I certainly don’t check on it on a regular basis.

I have decided to pop over to Phnom Penh in Cambodia for a couple of days after I finish at the yoga school. I have a friend there that I met through some other travellers during my last trip. He’s from New Zealand and teaches in PP. He’s a great guy and it seemed silly not to visit since I’m so close. I’m really looking forward to a couple of days of his company...not to mention a gin and tonic or two on his fabulous balcony. I haven’t had any alcohol since I’ve been here – not because it’s a rule or anything, just because it seems a bit incongruent here and I really haven’t had any urge for it. I’m sure once I’m away from the school I’ll be gasping for a drink :-).

In case anyone is watching a calendar, I’ll leave Koh Phangan on October 1, arrive in Bangkok early in the morning on the 2nd and fly to Cambodia on the 3rd. I’ll fly back to Bangkok on October 7 and then to Kathmandu on October 10 (yeah!).

A Few Photos

2008-09-11T22:49:00.000-07:00

Not much to report. Just wanted to tell you that I posted a few photos up on Flickr. They are just around the resort and the "beach" across the road. It is actually more like a sandbar - way to shallow to swim. One morning at low tide I walked out as far as I could. I was stopped by seaweed, not depth. You'll notice one photo looking back at land and you won't believe that I'm standing ankle-deep in water.

The set is called "Koh Phangan" and can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/feelitturn. Sorry - I can't seem to get the link to work, you'll have to type the URL into your browser.

Cooling Off

2008-09-09T00:06:00.000-07:00

Things continue to go well. It has been overcast for several days in a row and the temperature is dropping a bit. It’s a welcome relief. It has also been pretty windy at times, which is great. I’m down to two showers a day, one following each yoga session.

We had Sunday off from yoga, and my plan was to spend it exploring the island with Margarita. I woke to torrential rains, so had a nice lie-in with a newly purchased Ian McEwan (On Chesil Beach). It was an extravagance, but well worth it. What a treat – he is so good. The weather had cleared by noon so I managed to get some touring in. I went down to the southernmost tip of the island to a town called Haad Rin. It is host to the monthly full moon party, which is famous among backpackers all over the world. During every full moon, thousands of backpackers arrive on the island to intoxicate themselves into a frenzy on the beach at Haad Rin. I have deliberately avoided this party to date, but felt that I should at least see the venue since I was so close. The town is a replica of Khaosan Road in Bangkok (see previous post). I’m glad to have seen it and even more so that it wasn’t during a full moon. I have to admit to a morbid curiosity to see the party in full swing; kind of like the pull to watch a car wreck.

The drive down was pleasant for the most part, however the last three kilometres before the town are an strip of insanely steep hills, the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever seen. They certainly couldn’t exist on a road in Canada and would be totally impassable in winter. I found out after the fact that it is recommended to take a taxi rather than a scooter when travelling to the peninsula. I managed to get there and back in one piece, but not without chanting mantras to myself to keep the panic at bay. Seriously, this was a terrifying drive. Again, it was a blessing that it was at the half moon and there was virtually no other traffic on the road.

After that I explored the interior of the island a bit. It’s interesting to note that the roads are in much better shape where tourism is at a minimum. I would like to think that the Thai government is consciously spending its money on its citizens rather than on tourists, but I’m guessing it’s more a testament to the income bracket of the tourists on this particular island. Backpackers, especially in Thailand, are notorious skinflints, and given that they’re not contributing a whole lot to the economy, the Thais aren’t particularly interested in spending any money on them. This is all guesswork on my part, but if there’s any truth to it, I say “hooray!”.

I don’t have much else to report that isn’t yoga news, so I’ll let it go at that.

P.S. For those of you with any concerns about the state of emergency in Bangkok, I didn’t even know it was going on until I got to the island and someone asked me about it. I haven’t really checked out the news, but I think the demonstrations are very localised. This is all very reminiscent of that last time I left home and flew into a military coup in Bangkok. I couldn’t find any evidence of that either. I think the media tends to exaggerate a bit.

Same Old

2008-09-04T00:59:00.000-07:00

I am now the proud temporary owner of a scooter. I am calling her Margarita, as she is the colour of shiny limes. I’m doing okay on her for now…am sure by the time I leave I will be famous all over the island as the crazy farang who won’t drive over 30. If that’s my fate, I’m okay with it.

I’m happy to report that if I leave my fan on high it drowns out the roosters in the morning, so I don’t have to abandon my Buddhist inclinations and start killing them off.

I really don’t have much to report and will stop blogging on a daily basis. I can’t imagine that my sleep and showering patterns are really of that much interest to anyone, nor is how long I’m able to hold a lotus position in yoga class. (For those who do care, I can actually hear my joints laughing at me if I even think of the lotus position.) While my time here is meaningful to me, it is incredibly repetitive and likely exceedingly boring to anyone looking in from the outside.

I’ll blog sporadically just to check in and will let you all know if anything exciting happens in my world. I’ll be on the internet daily, and am happy to chat one-on-one via e-mail, so be sure to write if you’re thinking about me.

Shopping

2008-09-03T01:08:00.000-07:00

After my morning yoga class yesterday, I rented a bicycle and rode into town. I figured that a bike would be safer, more environmentally friendly and better exercise than a scooter, so this was to be a trial run. Sadly, it wasn't exactly a resounding success. When standing beside the bike, the seat came to a few inches below mid-thigh. Once on it, I found that virtually every part of it was bent in an uncomfortable direction so not only were my knees up around my ears, I had to fight to stay on the seat and keep my feet on the pedals, all of which were twisted in a way that seemed designed to throw me off. The brakes were virtually non-existent and there were no gears. I still made it town in about 20 minutes but not without walking up a few hills. I ended up with chafing on the inside of my thigh from the crooked seat, and by the time I arrived I was literally drenched in sweat. I guess I’ll have to bite the bullet and learn to ride a scooter.

The shopping trip, on the other hand, was indeed a resounding success. I have found myself woefully unprepared for the weather and my activities here. I don’t know what I was thinking bringing yoga pants with me, but I can’t even look at them in this heat, much less put them on. (The good news is that I should be able to cosy up in them on cold winter nights in Nepal.) I also didn’t realise that standing or sitting still in various poses could produce this much sweat – I took 5 showers yesterday and went through 3 changes of clothes. While in town I bought 4 pairs of shorts, 2 t-shirts and a couple of skirts for wearing in between classes. I was thrilled to find clothes to fit me, and the skirts are long enough that I’ll be able to wear them in Nepal. I expect my biggest expense from now on will be laundry, which is thankfully pretty cheap. However, once the rains come, it will probably take days to dry – not sure what will happen then.

I managed to make it through my classes without falling asleep last night, but it was real struggle not to nod off during the lecture. It ended up starting a bit late and ran until 8:00, after which they were showing a movie. I opted out of the movie – just couldn’t stay awake any longer – and went to grab a bite to eat. I’m still not sure when meals are supposed to fit into the daily schedule. The kitchen opens at 8:00 AM and the first class is at 8:30, so there really isn’t time for anything other than juice or a fruit shake in the morning. The afternoon class starts at 4:00 and runs until 6:00, followed by a lecture that is supposed to finish at 7:30. This is followed by an evening activity (like the movie last night). So other than lunch, there really isn’t much time to eat. Fortunately, in this heat, your appetite diminishes a lot, but it’s still a long haul from lunch to lunch with only a banana shake in the middle.

I was happy to make it to 9:00 last night before going to bed, but the roosters had me up at 5:00 again this morning. I’m guessing that this will become my routine. I really wish that I could sleep past 5:00, and stay up a bit later at night, but I haven’t found the “off” button for the roosters. Perhaps my next shopping list will include a shotgun and roasting pot.

Koh Phangan

2008-09-01T22:10:00.000-07:00

I made it to Koh Phangan safe and sound. I continue to be surprised by how easy it has become to travel in Asia. Thailand, with its abundance of tourists, has gone the extra mile. I was picked up at my hotel in Bangkok by a fairly large guy on a fairly small motorbike. He took my suitcase between his legs and I climbed on the back with my daypack. Even though my case was fairly small, it was still a hard-sided piece of luggage, and didn’t exactly mould into the bike. Given my fear of 2-wheeled vehicles, I found this a less-than-desirable situation, however my driver assured me that I was allowed to hold onto him “free of charge”. He scooted me a couple of blocks to where a gaggle of about 30 other travellers were waiting for the bus to the islands. I presented my receipt and was provided with a ticket for the ferry to Koh Phangan. The bus was fairly comfortable and air conditioned, and we were even “treated” to an airing of Borat on the TV. (I have already seen it a few times and have a wide range of reactions to it with each viewing. I didn’t feel the need or desire to see it again.)

We arrived in Surat Thani at about 6:00 AM and were ushered into a tiny restaurant where we were all assigned colourful stickers which identified our final destination. Over the next hour and a half, we all caught various busses which would take us to towns on the mainland, or ferry ports for the various islands we were visiting. At each junction, smaller groups split off and travellers arriving from other destinations joined the appropriate groups to reach their final destination. It was all orchestrated like an elaborate dance and it appeared to unfold seamlessly. After a couple of short bus rides and two hours on the ferry, I stepped onto the pier at Koh Phangan at noon and was assaulted by a seemingly endless string of taxi drivers eager to take me to my hotel on the island. I ended up on the back of another motorcycle, this time with a young woman who drove very carefully and eased my anxiety. (I travelled by motorcycle as I was the only one going to my particular side of the island, and they didn’t want to send a larger taxi unless I paid an exorbitant price. In this case I was happy to do it, not so much to save the money, but because I wanted to promote their efforts to conserve petrol.)

I settled into my room at Ananda Resort, home to the Agama yoga centre. It is very spare and reminiscent of how I used to travel 15 years ago. I have a decent sized room with a double bed and limited bedding, a few shelves, a fan, a fully-functional bathroom and a porch with a hammock slung across it. I keep reminding myself that I would have considered it luxurious in 1994 :-). The resort has a small pool which I expect I will be using a lot, despite the fact that the water is only a degree or two cooler than the air. I found out yesterday that while it doesn’t really cool you off, at least you stop sweating when immersed in it. The ocean is right across the road, but isn’t home to one of Thailand’s best beaches. I expect that even 200 metres out you’d still only be knee-deep in water. The sea seems to actually be warmer than the air, so the lack of decent beach is no great loss.

We are located on a road that is lined by small resorts similar to Ananda, and not much else. I walked about 20 minutes north yesterday and found a small village with a couple of ATMs, a general store, a few bars and restaurants and the ever-present 7-11. (The prevalence of 7-11s in Thailand makes Tim Horton’s in Canada look like a rarity.) The main town on the island is about 5 kms south of Ananda, so I am relatively close to civilisation should I feel the need to visit it. Ananda rents out scooters, so I’ll have to see if I can muster up the courage to go for a few exploratory tours of the island. I tend to think that taxis are the way to go for me, but am not sure how to find one out here. I guess this will all sort itself out in time.

I am really struggling with jetlag this time around, which is unusual for me. I can’t seem to get past 5:00PM without a nap, which is becoming problematic. I’m falling asleep in the most inopportune places and am afraid that I’ll decide to nap mid-stride and fall into the street :-). The overnight bus ride to the islands didn’t help, and I fell asleep pool-side yesterday, as well as in my hammock a few minutes after I awoke and dragged myself home from the pool. This is why I didn’t blog yesterday – I simply couldn’t pry my eyes open. I slept for 10 straight hours last night, so am hoping that I’ll be able to stay awake this afternoon. I have yoga classes and lectures from 4:00 to 7:30, and I think it will be incredibly embarrassing if I snore through the meditation portion of the session. Even though I slept so well, I was still up at about 5:00 AM, so could be starting to slow down at that time. I’ll try and catch a nap poolside after lunch to hold me over.

The resort has a fabulous menu of vegetarian dishes to cater to the yoga crowd. I’m sure that I’ll want to get out and try a few other establishments on the island, but am sure that I’ll be taking most of my meals here. The days are fairly short and I don’t think I’m going to want to venture too far afield on foot after dark.

OK – it’s now 6:00 AM and I’m going to see if I can fall asleep again before morning yoga. More later...

11:00 AM

I just finished my first yoga class. The teacher, Jason, was perhaps the most physically beautiful man I’ve ever met. Needless to say, I did my best to do every asana wrong so he’d have to come over to correct me :-). Actually it went quite well, although there are certainly some poses that I can’t do with my flexibility and weight issues. Hopefully that will correct itself with practice. There were about 16 people in the class, the vast majority of whom are substantially younger and harder-bodied than me. I was glad to see that this didn’t necessarily make them better at adopting and holding the asanas, so I didn’t feel like too much of a misfit.

It just started raining...clever me has left my Gortex jacket in storage in Bangkok so I guess I won’t be venturing too far until it stops. Good thing there’s really no need to go farther than between buildings at Ananda. I recently realised that I was totally confused on the whole monsoon season here. In fact we’re just heading into the monsoon, not coming out of it as I thought. I guess I was confusing it with Nepal which gets its rain in the summer. I’ll have to add an umbrella and cheap plastic poncho to my shopping list for my next foray into town.

The Rise and Fall of Khaosan Road

2008-08-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

When I first arrived in Bangkok in 1994, I followed the Lonely Planet guidebook’s advice and headed for Khaosan Road which was reportedly the place for backpackers in Bangkok. It is a short street about the length of about two city blocks at home, and was a hub of activity. The street was lined with restaurants, each totally open to the street and with a staircase leading to seedy rooms above. The rooms were tiny homes to bare beds and if you were lucky, a window and/or a ceiling fan. The bathrooms were shared, often with sinks in hallways, filthy squat toilets in tiny cubicles and showers that begged you to wear your sandals while performing your ablutions. Rooms went for about $2 a night. The restaurants were furnished with sturdy wooden tables and offered a wide variety of Thai delicacies, each one tastier than the last.

In front of the restaurants, stalls lined the sidewalks and spilled into the street offering such wares as bootleg cassette tapes, funky clothing and beaded jewellery. The deals were fantastic and it was impossible not to shop. Parties on Khaosan Road ran late into the night, backpackers drank endless bottles of beer as a mini UN met in each establishment. By 6:00 AM the street started to come alive again as vendors laid out the goods that had been packed up only a few hours earlier. I loved the vibe on the street.

When I returned to Bangkok in 2006, I made my first visit to Khaosan Road in the middle of an evening. The street was closed off to vehicles at this time of day but it was still almost impossible to weave my way through the mass of human traffic in the street. Neon lights glowed along the length of the street and music pumped out of the entrances of several bars whose depths were hidden behind black velvet curtains. A couple of the old restaurants were still there with their wooden tables and chairs, but I couldn’t find one set of stairs to rooms above. The guesthouses were all moved in behind the street, and I assume now offered clean rooms with windows and toilets. Settling onto one of the original, uncomfortable, wooden seats, I couldn’t find a green curry, but the menu offered hamburgers, souvlaki and every kind of pizza imaginable. Worse, a giant plastic Ronald MacDonald stood with his hands clasped in a prayer position in front of his restaurant mid-way down the street. Vendors sold bootleg CDs and DVDs, funky clothing and beaded jewellery as well as every trinket and souvenir imaginable. Backpackers sat patiently on plastic seats in the street as fake braids or dreadlocks were woven into their hair or henna tattoos applied to various body parts. The street didn’t wake up until mid-morning when the vendors and the backpackers had recovered from the previous night’s adventures. This new Khaosan Road was, as they say in Thailand, “same same but different”. I still enjoyed my short visits to the road whenever I passed through Bangkok, and sometimes I even sat on a hard wooden chair drinking a beer and watching the craziness on the street. But I never stayed long enough for a meal, preferring the real Thai fare in a nearby neighbourhood.

A short 18 months after my last visit to Bangkok, I arrived a couple of days ago to yet another Khaosan Road. This time, the music pumped out of not only the few darkened bars on the street, but also from every vendor’s stall and restaurant, each boom box trying to outdo the next. Touts walk through the throng of backpackers waving signs advertising “very strong” buckets of cocktails and handing out business cards for the various night clubs. I wandered the street last night, looking for a spot where I could indulge my pastime of people-watching from a sidewalk vantage point. After about ten minutes I left the street defeated. The head-pounding hip-hop and overwhelming crowds chased me into quieter venues. I don’t know which of us has changed the most, but I do know I have outgrown Khaosan Road.

Bangkok Blahs

2008-08-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

I have spent a bit of time ambling around Bangkok and am somewhat underwhelmed. Perhaps it is my enthusiasm about starting my intensive self-help program, and even more so about getting to Nepal, but I really have no desire to spend any more time here. In previous visits I could have stayed in Bangkok for ages exploring the different parts of the city, but I was already bored of it after a couple of hours today. (I’m also still a bit tired/jetlagged, which may be part of the problem.) I have just booked a bus and boat to the island of Koh Phangan for tomorrow evening. It’s an overnight bus and there are certainly easier and more comfortable ways to travel, but I need to watch my pennies this time around. (12-hour bus and 3-hour boat cost a grand total of about $18.) I should arrive on Koh Phangan by about 10:00on Monday morning and will then find my way to the yoga centre.

I’ll spend a bit of time tomorrow reorganising my luggage. I can leave all my cold-weather clothes and miscellaneous other stuff here, so I can just take one small bag to Koh Phangan. It’s quite hot here, and very humid, but so far there hasn’t been any rain. It seems to alternate between partly sunny skies and threatening black clouds. If it keeps up like this I might get to spend some time at the beach down on the island. It sure beats the full-on monsoon I dealt with at this time of year in 2006. If the monsoon isn’t too bad, and ends early, I may take some time to explore a couple of other islands after the yoga session ends and before I fly to Kathmandu. I’ll play that by ear – no telling what my state of mind will be by then.

A Bit of Background

2008-08-30T05:53:00.000-07:00

In the last post from my previous trip (December 18, 2007) I made mention of having difficulties settling into life in Canada. In fact, the subsequent couple of months got progressively worse and I struggled daily with living in the West. After so much time in Asia, I felt like I had one foot in each world and I couldn’t reconcile the two. As you may imagine, I changed enormously during my travels. This was partly due to the passive absorption of other cultures into my life and my way of thinking. But even more profound were the changes that I made on a conscious level and the work I did to overcome some issues that I had struggled with for years. The results were dramatic for me and I loved the person I became while I was away.

Once I arrived in Instanbul and started my reintegration with Western culture, I could feel these changes start to erode. But because I was still traveling and totally enthralled by the wonderful places I visited in the Middle East, I really didn’t pay much attention. After Turkey, my other destinations in that part of the world were much less Westernized and the process seemed to slow down significantly.

When I arrived home a couple of months later I was slapped in the face by my former life. I have heard other travellers comment that their greatest culture shock was encountered when coming home and I found myself suffering the same fate. As I started to adjust to life at home, I became more and more troubled by my regression towards the former me. There were days when I was dismayed by Canadian culture and other days when I was almost crippled by the despair I felt as I watched the person I had become slipping away from me. I tried to recapture my Asian life through various triggers such as music, incense, relaxation exercises and prayer, none of which proved effective. Finally, I could think of no other solution than to leave the West and return to Asia in the hopes that I could recreate the better me in the environment where she was initially born. I believe that I will ultimately find a way to live in Canada and still live the rich and rewarding life that so far has eluded me there. But before that can happen I need to build a more solid foundation and I believe that that can only happen in Asia.

Since the bulk of my personal progress was made in Nepal, and because that country feels more like home to me than anywhere else in the world, that is where I feel compelled to go. I also believe that the Himalayas provide a unique environment where I feel at peace and can grow spiritually. I am hoping to find some kind of work there that will allow me to stay in the country for a while and contribute to the wonderful society that brings me so much joy. In addition, I truly hope to find a new career path, the one thing that I didn’t manage to accomplish the last time I was away. I am still pretty much in the dark as to what direction this may take, but am optimistic that the right opportunity will present itself when I’m ready to receive it. I am leaving myself open to every possibility and will pursue all leads and contacts that come my way.

In the meantime, the month that I’m spending in Thailand at the Agama yoga centre is designed to give me a bit of a jump-start on the healing and growth process. It is not the perfect situation, but I have every reason to believe that it will allow me to focus 100% of my time on my own well-being both when I’m in classes and when I have downtime. I am convinced that it will provide a healthy and nurturing atmosphere where I can do this work without distraction.

I am so looking forward to starting the process.

Safe in Bangkok

2008-08-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

If all of my travels could be so effortless, I’d never have any anxiety on the road. All three of my flights took off and landed exactly on time, with just the right amount of time to transit in the various airports. The 13 hour flight from Vancouver to Hong Kong was only about half full so I got to stretch out, watch some movies and have the flight attendant (who I nicknamed Paulo the cabana boy) wait on my and and foot. It was almost like being in a resort, except for the occasional baby crying. I flew into Hong Kong just before sunset, and was treated to breathtaking views of the city and the surrounding islands. It is such a beautiful city and was made even more so by the changing light of the setting sun filtered through the smog. I do have to admit that landing at the new airport was somewhat less exciting than the highrise-dodging old days of approaching the runway in the harbour, which still sits there unused.

I haven’t seen much of Bangkok yet as I arrived late last night and was exhausted after my travels. I did notice that my immediate neighbourhood has changed substantially. Some establishments have closed and new ones have opened in their place as can be expected anywhere in the world. But the previously quiet side streets are now lined with small outdoor restaurants giving a much more cluttered and busy feel. I use the term restaurant generously: they are no more than street vendors with a few plastic tables set up around them. I guess that this neighbourhood is going the way of the rest of the city, which is a bit of a disappointment. I loved staying here for its charm and for the relative calm in the storm that is Bangkok.

I’ll leave you there for now...just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely. I’ll grab a meal, get my bearings and then sit down a write a real post. I'll also start answering all the e-mails that everyone has been sending over the last few days.

Snowy Canada

2007-12-18T16:11:00.000-08:00

I've been home for five days and I don't feel much closer to settling in. I have managed to retrieve a few necessities and my clothing from storage, the latter being painfully inadequate for the season. At least I have some warm coats and boots to get me through the winter - now if I could just find some pants and skirts!

My landlords (and wonderful friends) have been very hospitable and I am enjoying the comfort of my own space complete with satellite TV and every other imaginable convenience, including homemade meals next door every evening. I finally got some groceries today so I should be able to take the pressure off the pantry across the driveway.

The weather has been very typical Canadian winter fare, which has actually been a lot of fun. I guess some part of me really missed the snow, so I've enjoyed the recent storm and flurries. I'm sure the novelty will wear off before too long, but I'll revel in it for as long as I can. It feels really good to be breathing clean, crisp air, and I'm sure my lungs have already started to recover from the smog and smoke of the last year.

I have managed to visit a few friends and family members since I've been home, which has been lovely, and I look forward to more socializing over the holidays. In the meantime, I still feel like I have so much to do, and it's all made a bit more difficult without a vehicle. I have to focus on buying a car but am finding myself procrastinating since I consider that particular chore to be a fate worse than death. I'll have to bite the bullet soon, so I can stop begging for lifts.

On top of all the logistical issues I'm facing, I have to actually start some kind of normal life again. I have a meeting tomorrow with a potential client and will likely take a short-term contract in the telecom industry (assuming it's on offer). I would really rather not take that route, but it will bring in some much-needed income, and hopefully still allow time for me to pursue other projects. I really hope that I'll be able to leave the telecom industry behind me permanently in the not-to-distant future. In the meantime, I'll use it to pay the bills.

All in all, I'm glad to be home and am looking forward to starting this next chapter of my life. I likely won't be blogging again as I'm back in town and easy to find. I am still available on my travel e-mail address, so please feel free to stay in touch that way.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season and hope to see you all soon.

Surprise!

2007-12-12T06:11:00.000-08:00

I spent my last day in Cairo wandering around to all the sights that I missed. I walked down to the citadel, built by Saladin, and walked all the way around its walls. I didn't go in as I was sort of burnt out and the guidebook said there's really not much to see there anyway. I made my way back up to the bazaar area, via a different and very scenic route. I have to say that my final experiences of Cairo have been largely pleasant, with the ever-present men offering advice that was actually helpful. My walk went past some lovely mosques, one of which was another "Blue Mosque" (the Ottomans put their trademark blue tiles on the walls) and was undergoing renovations. A gentleman walked me through and essentially gave me a guided tour, and also took me up one of the minarets to get a great view of the city. Naturally he wanted baksheesh, which I was more than happy to give him in payment for his efforts. I then passed through a lovely gate, one of the best remaining ones in the city walls, and on to the bazaar. Another helpful man took me on a tour through some of the workers' shops and I watched them making silk, cotton and wool yarns as well as backgammon boards inlaid with mother-of-pearl, camel bones and ebony. He was ready to continue his tour to other "factories" but once I realized he was hoping I'd buy something so he'd get a commission, I called a halt to it. Still, it was interesting while it lasted.

On the way back to my hotel I was able to pick up some reading glasses to replace the ones I lost in Wadi Rum. I had found some replacements in Aqaba, but they weren't the right strength so I was happy to find these at a street stall. I was attended to by several young men and the flirtations got quite ardent, but it was, for once, all in good fun and they knew where to draw the line.

I am now tuckered out and will spend the next few hours in my hotel room resting, packing, and showering before I spend the night at the Cairo airport. My flight leaves at 3:45 AM and I should be in Dorval by about noon. I have left myself several hours there to clear customs which will likely be a rather trying experience, and hope to be in Ottawa around dinner time.

I decided to come home shortly after my trip to Tibet. I wanted to keep it to myself for as long as I could as I knew that you'd all want to know what prompted the decision and I wanted to stay in "travel mode" as long as I could. Suffice it to say, I feel very ready to come home and am thrilled that I achieved everything that I dreamed I would on this trip. Much of it was very personal, and I didn't feel comfortable blogging about it but it's no great secret and I look forward to telling you all about it.

I hope to see you all over the holidays and am looking forward to being home. Having said that, I am questioning my timing based on what I've been hearing about the weather there :-).

I'll be staying with friends in the Chelsea area until I get myself sorted out. You can continue to use my travel e-mail address to find me until I get a phone number to give you.

Walking in Memphis (and Saqqara and Alexandria and Cairo)

2007-12-11T06:21:00.000-08:00

We had a nice visit to Memphis and Saqqara. There's not much left of Memphis, even though it was the capital of ancient Egypt for so long. It is now a small, poor, rural town but has a small open-air museum with some interesting statuary including a huge statue of Ramses II (the egomaniac pharoah :-)). They are gradually buying-out the villagers in order to excavate under the village and are due to start their work shortly. Radar would indicate somewhere in the neighbourhood of 28 temples in the area.

Saqqara is interesting in that it is home to the oldest pyramid in Egypt (and the world). It is called the step pyramid, as it doesn't have smooth sides like the others. It belonged to Cheops' grandfather (Cheops being the owner of the biggest pyramid in Giza), and you can see Cheops' father's pyramid in the distance from the step pyramid. The father's pyramid is referred to as the "bent pyramid" because he experimented with a new angle which proved ineffective and changed the angle of the walls half way up. It looks quite funny on the horizon. I had another off-putting experience at the step pyramid with an over-zealous staff member who refused to leave me alone. It's such a drag when these things negatively affect your opinion and memories of an otherwise lovely travel experience.

I spent the evening alone in my hotel room, which was absolutely heavenly after almost six weeks of sharing quarters. Even though I had to get up very early the next morning, I had a great sleep. My hotel, which doesn't look like much from the outside, is a turn-of-the-century colonial hotel. It's beauty has certainly faded, but it still has a lovely charm and a wonderfully hospitable staff. I'm really enjoying it there.

The next day I walked the 45 minutes to the hotel where my ex-tour-mates were staying. Given the early hour, I didn't have much traffic to contend with, but I did have a problem of another sort to deal with. Egyptians don't use any of the lights on their cars, either headlights or turn indicators. Drivers in lots of other countries don't use turn indicators, so I have become somewhat accustomed to it. The headlamps are another story. Egyptians don't use them because they don't want to burn out the car battery. Apparently they do understand the concept of alternators, but that doesn't seem to factor into the argument. They are also preserving the bulbs in their headlights. Needless to say, this makes crossing the streets at night a bit hair-raising. It should be noted that crossing streets in the daylight isn't much easier as traffic lights are totally ignored. I'm not sure why they even hang them. The major intersections have traffic cops who help things a bit for the motorists, but pedestrians are always on their own.

After arriving at their hotel, I joined the others for the three hour bus ride to Alexandria. We had a guide there who walked us through the National Museum, catacombs and mis-named Pompeii's column (which was actually built by Diocletian). The museum, as might be expected, has a lot of stuff about Alexander in it, but also houses some interesting older artifacts as well. The catacombs were really neat and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit there. We had very limited free time after lunch and most of us opted to check out the library. Unfortunately, I virtually ran through it and saw very little. The library itself is huge and a spectacular work of architecture. It currently houses about 550,000 books but has room for eight million. There are a couple of museums housed in the library as well as some wonderful art collections. I could easily have spent hours there.

When we returned to Cairo, I took a cab back to my hotel and settled in for my first night in six weeks without a wake up call waiting at the end of it. This morning I lounged around in bed and finished the book I had been reading - another wonderful luxury. I spent a few hours wandering around the Islamic part of the city which is home to a myriad of mosques as well as the bazaars. I am actually warming up to Cairo a little bit, but don't think it's a place I could ever fall in love with. Like Delhi, the size of Cairo allows a certain amount of anonymity. Unlike Delhi, it doesn't smell of urine and cow dung.

Later this afternoon I found my way over to the American University book store. It was like taking a long cold drink on a hot day. After 15 months of reading whatever I could get my hands on, it was wonderful to have stacks and stacks of English books to choose from. I limited myself to three quite small, but not inexpensive, treats. It was very hard to drag myself out of there.

I am now headed back to my hotel where I will take a bath (my first since Australia)with one of my new books and glass of wine. I am so looking forward to it.

Impressions of Egypt

2007-12-09T01:07:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Cairo early this morning and I went out for a walk to orient myself. I'll be staying in a different hotel here for the next few nights but didn't check in there yet. It is in the downtown core, so is well situated, but doesn't look that great from the outside.

Cairo is a decidedly ugly city, but is somewhat prettier than Amman in that it actually has some green space and of course has the Nile running through the middle of it. Still, it looks to be consisted mostly of greys, and is really filthy. A thick layer of smog lies over the city.

I enjoyed a fairly hassle-free walk early this morning so am hoping Cairo will be easy for me. I had a couple of unfortunate interactions with Egyptian men/teenagers in Aswan when I was walking alone there. They are also very persistent in their sales efforts and it all makes for a very exhausting experience. It certainly has made me realize that taking a tour was the right decision for me in this part of the world. Being in the company of other travellers, especially men, really makes things easier.

I am off this afternoon to visit Memphis, the former capital, as well as Saqqara where there is a large necropolis of tombs and pyramids. I'll spend tomorrow in Alexandria with a handful of my tour-mates and will blog again the following day.

Cruisin' the Nile (The Sequel)

2007-12-08T04:15:00.000-08:00

Again, this will have to be brief...

When I last left off, we had arrived in Luxor and visited Karnak. The following day we got up fairly early and took a ferry across the Nile. We rode donkeys into the Valley of the Kings, which took about an hour. This was actually a lot of fun and the donkeys were very small and well-behaved so it was quite relaxing. We rode through the Egyptian countryside and got some good views of rural scenes. We visited three tombs as part of our tour and I opted to take in another two: those of King Tutankhamon and Ramses V/VI. King Tut's tomb is really rather unremarkable and it's hard to believe that all that incredible treasure was housed in such a small space. The third sarcophagus as well as his mummy are on display in his tomb which was pretty neat. The tomb of Ramses V and VI was spectacular - it's amazing how all the artwork on the wall has survived thousands of years.

After the Valley of the Kings we went to the Valley of the Workers, which is where all the artists and tomb-builders lived. There are some ruins from their town as well as their tombs, which are much less spectacular but no less interesting than those of the pharaohs. We donkeyed back to the Nile passing the Colossi of Memnon and ferried back to our boat for lunch and an afternoon cruise up the Nile to Edfu. I found the imposed relaxation of our sailing times to be quite lovely. There was nothing better to do than lounge on the sundeck with my nose in a book and a cocktail by my side while the shores of the Nile slid past. It was a nice respite from the rather frenzied pace of this tour. Sometime in the middle of the night we made our way through the locks and woke to find ourselves docked in Edfu.

After a fairly late breakfast (8:30!) we set out for the temple of Edfu. This temple is dedicated to Horus (he has a falcon's head)and is very well preserved. There are some beautiful statues as well as wonderful reliefs. In some places the colour is even still visible on the reliefs. Then it was back to the boat and a short cruise to Kom Ombo where we visited another temple in the afternoon. This is another magnificent temple in a similar design to Edfu. This one is dedicated to both Horus and Sobek (he has a crocodile's head) and the temple is virtually split down the middle with each of the gods represented on one side. As with many of the temples, this one has been badly defaced by the Coptic Christians, who used it as a refuge during the 600s or there abouts. It's heartbreaking to see the damage done to the temples and statuary by the Christians, as well as the graffiti chiseled into them by European explorers in the 1800s. While it still seems inexcusable to me, at least there was some (misplaced) rationale for the Christians' handiwork. Not so with the explorers'.

The next morning we got to lounge around in the sun while we sailed south to Aswan. We had some free time in the late morning, during which I chose to visit the Nubian museum. It was very well presented but unfortunately I really didn't give it the time it deserved. We spent the afternoon on a felucca ride (traditional Egyptian sailboat)and I got to swim in the Nile and later climb a dune/hill on the shore to enjoy the views. It was back to the boat for dinner and then off to see the sound and light show at Philae, yet another magnificent temple. It was really beautiful and made me wish I had had time to visit it during the daylight hours. This morning we got up at 3:30 and climbed aboard a bus convey down to Abu Simbel, our final temple on this tour. It was well worth the long drive and is a stunning temple built by Ramses II. There is a smaller temple nearby which he built for his favourite of 52 wives, Nefertari (although he figures more prominently in it than she does).

Interestingly, both Philae and Abu Simbel, along with about 40 (?) other temples have actually been relocated from their original sites. Much of the Nubian countryside was flooded out when they dammed the Nile, and they were able to move the temples to higher ground while they were building the dam. This was a multi-national initiative with UNESCO lending a strong hand. It's amazing how you would never know that these massive structures had been cut up into pieces and reassembled at new locations.

I am now enjoying a free afternoon in Aswan and we will take the overnight train back to Cairo tonight. I'll definitely miss the boat - I really liked this cruising thing. Some of the other boats on the river are really spectacular - we look a little bit like the poor cousin in comparison, but it was certainly adequate for me.

Even though my tour officially ends tomorrow, some of the others are continuing onto Jordan, essentially doing my last tour in reverse. They have a couple of free days and have planned some activities, so I'll join them. Tomorrow afternoon we'll visit Sakara (Saqquara ?) outside of Cairo and then on Monday do a day trip to Alexandria which I'm really looking forward to. After that I'll be on my own and looking forward to some downtime.

Cruisin' the Nile

2007-12-04T10:18:00.000-08:00

I'm glad I don't have much time to write, because I really don't know what to say. Yesterday we visited the Pyramids (and actually went inside one of them), saw the Sphinx, toured the Egyptian museum (including King Tut's treasure and a dozen or so mummies)and then took an overnight sleeper train to Luxor (Thebes). This morning we checked onto our cruise boat and then went by horse carriage to see the Karnak temple. In the afternoon a few of us opted to cross the Nile and visit a couple of temples that won't be included in our tour of the Valley of the Kings tomorrow. We had dinner on the boat, which is lovely and has a small pool, bar, dance floor, dining room and private bathrooms - far more luxury than I imagined. The staff is also wonderful.

I have become painfully aware of how ignorant I am about ancient Egypt and all the information and sites from the last couple of days are swirling around in my head. It is really spectacular and I'm sucking it all up like a sponge although things are starting to spill over. It really defies description and even though I've read about much of it, it's really special to see it all with my own eyes.

Tomorrow we take in the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Workers and then board the boat to spend the rest of the day cruising south on the Nile.

I have to run as I have to grab a shower and we have a very early start in the morning. I'm not sure when I'll get a chance to post again.

Sets of Three

2007-12-02T08:32:00.000-08:00

Once again, this will have to be quick. My tours are moving very quickly now, and even though internet is generally available, there just isn't time to write.

We left Aqaba by ferry the day before yesterday. We could see Jordan, Israel and Egypt by simply turning our heads a few degrees, and once we got moving, we could also see Saudi Arabia. It was a very quick and uneventful crossing and clearing customs in Egypt was a cake-walk. We drove to the town of Dahab, which is a diving centre for tourists on the Red Sea. It is very small but really lovely, with a string of beautifully lit little restaurants and bars lining the shoreline. We had a great dinner, during which my headache came back. After dinner a few of us lounged in our hotel's restaurant on the beach and had a drink and some great conversation.

Yesterday we had a quick drive north of town to the Blue Hole, a beautiful reef and dive spot. Actually, there's not much to look at on shore, but the snorkeling was great. The reef is really beautiful and the fish plentiful and colourful. Unfortunately, many of the tourists are total idiots and spend their time walking across the top of the reef, which of course kills it. I expect the reef only has another five or so good years before it's all but dead.

We returned to Dahab and spent a few hours shopping and hanging out around the cute seaside town. We then hopped a bus and rode for a couple of hours to St. Katharine's where we had dinner in our hotel. There's really nothing there except a few hotels - no town to speak of. Our hotel was by far the nicest of the trip and we all pretended that we were travelling in style. We were wakened at 2:30 AM and bundled onto the bus which dropped us at St. Katherine's monastery. We climbed to the top of Mt. Sinai and were huddled at the top for the sunrise. It was a beautiful night for a walk - the sky was clear and the stars were out in full-force. It was quite cold, especially at the summit where the wind was quite strong. There were a couple of tea-houses along the seven kilometre route so we could warm up along the way. Camel blankets were also available for rent at the top, which we all took advantage of. The sunrise was really beautiful and well worth the climb. We descended by the steeper route which is a series of stairs, rather that the gentle camel track that we took up. We were unable to visit the monastery as it was closed to the public, but I understand that the burning bush has been extinguished anyway, so I guess we didn't miss much. Actually, there is still a bush growing on the grounds which is supposed to be a descendant of the original. There is apparently quite a spectacular library there, which would have been nice to see, but after a book was borrowed and subsequently sold, nobody is allowed in anymore.

After breakfast and a very welcome hot shower, we boarded the bus for Cairo. It was a rather drab drive, but it was very cool to take a tunnel under the Suez canal. Once in Cairo I left my tour group and went to join my new group for my tour of the Nile. Speaking of which, I have a meeting with them in 10 minutes so must sign off. I will continue to be very busy over the next week so posts may be sporadic.

Summary: In the last month I swam in the Med, Dead and Red seas, and stayed in Europe, Asia and Africa. How's that for globetrotting?

By the way...am feeling much better but am a little bit sniffly.

Busy at the Red Sea

2007-12-01T06:51:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been in touch and I don't have time to write now. I'm just leaving Dahab after a day of snorkling in the Red Sea and will be climbing Mt. Sinai in about 9 hours. No internet at St. Katherine's so will have to wait until Cairo to blog (possibly late tomorrow or the day after).

All is well and am having a blast. Weather is finally warm.

Petra and Camels

2007-11-29T06:42:00.000-08:00

I woke yesterday with my headache intact and a bit of a scratchy throat. I determined that my headache was likely due to sinuses rather than migraine, given that several people on our tour, including my roommate, have colds. I took a painkiller/decongestant and felt much better for the day, although I was still a bit weak and off my game.

We had an early start to Petra but by the time we arrived shortly after 7:30 there were already a dozen or so tour buses in the parking lot. We started down the path with our guide pointing out every little tomb and carving along the way. It was interesting but I was so anxious to get to the "Treasury" that I was hardly paying attention. We finally reached the canyon proper which was really magnificent. It is quite narrow in most spots and the original water troughs run along both sides. Finally the moment arrived and we walked out of the canyon to face the "Treasury", which is actually a large tomb that everyone thought must have been a treasury at one time. Despite having seen tons of photographs of it, it didn't fail to awe. It's really beautiful and absolutely huge.

We spent the rest of the day exploring Petra. The tour took us through most of the morning then we hiked up to the monastery which offered great views of the surrounding area as well as a sighting of Aaron's tomb on a nearby mountain top. We had lunch on the site and then had a couple of hours free to explore on our own. While the ruins are perhaps not as perfect or exciting as the ones at Ephesus or Palmyra, they were especially beautiful to me, I think because of the setting. The rocky hills are very rugged and colourful, much like Mustang is. The fact that the ruins are all carved into the rock rather than built from it also makes them very impressive.

We were pretty exhausted by the end of the day and at about 3:00 we climbed aboard the bus for a short journey to Wadi Rum. We stayed out on the edge of the desert in the tourist version of a Bedouin camp. Even though we were sleeping in tents, it was very comfortable with real beds,cement floors and fully functional bathrooms. We had a lovely dinner which we watched them take out of a pit in the sand. Later we sat around a campfire chatting a drinking a few cocktails. Some locals serenaded us with traditional music and we all danced together. I didn't stay up late as I was beat from the day and whatever bug it is that I'm trying to fight off. The good news is that there was no mosque for miles around which meant I slept past 4:00 AM for the first time in weeks.

We got up early this morning for a post-sunrise camel ride. Riding a camel is only slightly more comfortable than riding and elephant, but I did okay even though my hips were sore from a night on a very hard bed. The scenery was absolutely stunning - miles of desert surrounded by huge cliffs of beautifully coloured rock. This is Lawrence of Arabia territory, if that helps give you a mental picture. Even though we could see a highway in the distance, it was too early for traffic so it was absolutely silent and so peaceful. I could have used another day or two out there to enjoy a respite from the city.

We are now in Aqaba on the coast of the Red Sea. There's not much to do here, and I've wandered around as much as I want to so will take a couple of hours before dinner to lie down with a book. I don't know what is wrong with me as it is unlike anything I've experienced before. I feel like I'm on the cusp of a cold but given it's been three days, I'm wondering when it's going to hit full-on. I'd really like to drain my sinuses and get this pressure out of my head, even if it means sniffling, sneezing and having a red nose for a few days.

Tomorrow we ferry across the Red Sea to Egypt and spend the following day at the beach. Very much looking forward to it.

Scrolls and Buoyancy

2007-11-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

Sorry folks but this will be very brief.

Yesterday we did a walking tour of Amman. We saw the citadel and a museum which is on the site. There were two-headed statues from something crazy like 6000 BCE and also some of the copper Dead Sea Scrolls. Pretty amazing.

After a quick lunch and some e-mails we drove up to Mount Nebo where Moses looked out over the promised land and then expired. While it was a clear day (e.g. no clouds) it was very hazy so the views weren't great. We were a stone's throw from the Dead Sea, Jericho and Jerusalem. At a nearby church we saw the oldest known map of the Middle East in the form of a mosaic on the floor. This was followed by a great Jordanian meal at a lovely restaurant. (I have to admit to getting a little tired of kebabs, felafels and hummus, but am still hanging in.)

Today we drove to the Dead Sea and had a dip. We were guests at a very high end resort and used their beach and pools. Swimming in the Dead Sea is surreal - you just bob up and down, mostly out of the water. Feels like I would imagine zero gravity to be. After our swim and mud bath, which left our skin feeling like silk, we lounged by the pool in the sunshine and played on the water slides. It was nice to be in a warm environment again. At this resort we were about two kilometers from Jesus's baptism site but didn't go as it's so close to the Palestine border that it's heavily guarded and would have taken too much time. Again we had haze, otherwise we would have been able to see Jerusalem from the beach.

We are now in Wadi Musa and will see Petra tomorrow. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with a headache the likes of which I couldn't have previously imagined. I think that perhaps after a decade of symptoms of migraine, I am actually experiencing my first migraine headache. It went away briefly while poolside but is back with a vengeance. I will do Petra tomorrow even if I have to crawl through on my hands and knees, but am hoping it will be better by then.

I'm off to a very early night in the hopes of healing by morning. I won't have internet for the next day or two as we head to Wadi Rum tomorrow for a nightof camping in the desert and a camel ride with the Bedouins. Will write again when I get back to civilization.

First Impressions of Jordan

2007-11-25T07:10:00.000-08:00

Not much to report today...we just took the bus from Damascus to Amman, stopping at the border for the legal stuff along the way. We got through the border okay, but there were some issues that had to be dealt with. They gave me a bit of a hard time about my temporary passport but once I found an official who spoke English and was able to explain the situation, they let me in. They were very friendly throughout and I am finding the Jordanians to be as hospitable as the Syrians.

I haven't seen much of Amman other than the downtown core. It is perhaps the ugliest city on earth and there's really nothing to see or do here. We have a walking tour in the morning but I can't imagine what we might be seeing other than a citadel. Two more sleeps until Petra!

Damascus

2007-11-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

I had another great day today. We had a superb tour guide who gave us a 45 minute talk on the history of the area before leading us to the museum. Once there, we only visited a few rooms, but the education continued throughout. This guy was amazing and made me realize how much I don't know - he really piqued my interest to learn more.

The highlight of the museum visit was a room that was essentially a reconstructed synagogue from the third century CE. It came from a town on the Euphrates who's name I can't remember (sorry will have to research this later), and which had both a Christian church and a synagogue sitting on each side of the city gate. When these were excavated, the American team took the Christian church back to the US and it is currently housed at Yale university. The European team (can't remember which country - information overload today) brought the synagogue to Damascus where it was reassembled. What makes it unique is not only its age, but the fact that it is covered in murals of old testament stories. The Jews typically don't depict their stories in pictures and this is the only one of its kind. It brought the goose bumps up on my arms. (Mom and Dad - you may want to consider a field trip to Yale in Connecticut to see the Christian church if you haven't already done that. We're talking the 3rd century here, so it predates Constantine - pretty impressive for a Christian church.)

We then went to the Umayyad Mosque which is a beautiful big building in the centre of the old city. Saladin's tomb is there, which was pretty special. We got there just in time for the call to prayer, which was truly beautiful. I've heard dozens of them since I've been in this part of the world, and frankly they don't do a lot for me (especially the 4 AM ones). At this mosque, however, they use several voices, so it's more like a chorus than just a single voice. It was really something and it was the first time that a Muslim ritual really moved me. Of course I was standing beside Saladin's tomb at the time, which may also have had some influence.

Our final stop on the tour was a more modern building called the Azam palace, named for the man who lived there. It is really just a mansion that a rich person would occupy, but it also allowed us to see what daily life looked like a few generations ago. It was a lovely place.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around the old city checking out other mosques and interesting sights, and dodging the crowds in the souqs. I can't say enough good things about Syria and am sad to be leaving it. I hope I can come back some day. It's off to Jordan tomorrow...Petra is only a couple of days away!!!

Palmyra

2007-11-23T07:22:00.000-08:00

We took the bus from Hama to Palmyra on a partially sunny day and arrived around noon. After a lunch in the sunshine we had a free afternoon and chose to explore the museum and ruins (circa 1st-3rd century CE). The museum has a lot of artifacts from the city as well as a small collection of mummies which was the highlight for most of us. We then ambled up "main street" and scrambled around the various temples and columns. The ruins are incredibly impressive - the main street is lined with mammoth columns and there is just so much to see. Much of it is restored but you can tell what was left standing and what has been reconstructed by the colour of the stones (the lighter ones were buried in the sand so they didn't discolour in the elements). They estimate that it will be another 10 years before they have everything put back together the way it originally was. Later on we had a great meal together and had a fairly early evening.

We began the next day with a guided tour of the ruins. We started in the valley of tombs which lies adjacent to the ancient city. There are three types of tombs: towers, underground and house style. The towers are just as they sound: four-storey towers lined with shelves for bodies (like an ancient morgue). Each shelf was sealed up and the richer clients had busts of themselves mounted at the end of their shelf tomb. The underground ones are similarly designed with shelves for the bodies but are on one level under the desert.

On the way to the valley of the tombs we stopped by an underground tomb that they are in the process of excavating. There are two sarcophagi at the museum that were removed from this tomb just two weeks ago. It's pretty neat to be so close to these new finds.

We started our tour of the city with the huge Temple of Bel at the end of Main Street. It is really impressive and has some wonderful carvings. The guide was very thorough in describing the various aspects of the temple including the altar, the entrance for animals and the gutters which collected the blood from the offerings. Some of the walls were reconstructed but the main entrance, some columns and walls were still standing as they had been built.

We continued down the street and were able to imagine the camel caravans from the silk road arriving to much fanfare in the city. The street was lined with shops and the cross-roads marked with taller pillars. The centre square has a fabulous set of columns which were once adorned with statues. The theatre is a really beautiful building which is very well restored. You can easily imagine the fights which were carried out there.

We spent another half hour or so wandering around and then went back to town for lunch. A few of us ate in a Bedouin tent-style restaurant and were treated to chocolate crepes for dessert on the house. It was very yummy.

In the late afternoon we climbed to a castle which sits on the hill above the ancient city. The castle was built by Saladin to defend against the crusaders, however they never arrived here and it was never used for this purpose. We climbed around the castle and sat out on the ramparts to watch the sunset over the ancient city. The sky had cleared and it was a beautiful sunset, however they have a communications tower on an adjacent hilltop which cut the sunset in half and totally ruined any photo opportunities. I can't imagine what they were thinking putting the tower there - they could have chosen any other hill in the barren surroundings but they chose the most intrusive spot they could find. It was, nonetheless, a beautiful evening and we enjoyed the views. We walked back down the hill and into the ruins on our way back to town. Some of them are really nicely lit up so we were able to take some night photos. Another lovely dinner then to bed early.

This morning we hopped a bus to Damascus. It was an uneventful drive - no epiphanies or conversions on the bus. We did however take photos of the roadsigns to prove we were on the road to Damascus. We came to several intersections with arrows to both Damascus and Baghdad which was interesting. Fortunately our driver took the right turn and we ended up in Damascus.

Since it's Friday, most things are closed today and Damascus is very quiet. Three of us opted to visit the Islamic Cultural centre which made for an an interesting afternoon. We chatted with some young women from various countries who had converted to Islam and decided to make their life in Syria. They were very candid and allowed us to ask pretty much anything of them that we wanted. It was very educational and it put a different spin on a few elements of the religion and culture for me.

I wandered around town for a while and saw St. Paul's church on the spot where he was lowered out of the building in a basket to escape the Jews. I will take a tour of the major sites of Damascus tomorrow morning and will spend the remainder of the day exploring the souqs and other sites in the old city. The following day we cross over into Jordan so will be sadly saying goodbye to Syria.

Crac des Chevaliers

2007-11-20T08:50:00.000-08:00

We had miserable weather today...very much like a cold, rainy November day at home. Nonetheless we "attacked" the Crac des Chevaliers, a fabulous castle near Hama. The first fortress at this location was built in 1031 but the castle we visited was built and expanded by the Crusaders in the middle of the 12th century.

It is really lovely and very much intact, so it was lots of fun to ramble around. Unfortunately, our guide seemed to be trying to set a land speed record for tours, so we really raced through it. We had a bit of free time at the end, but nobody wanted to take advantage of it as they were all cold and wet, so I felt somewhat pressured to make my visit quick. Still, it was a really great day and I enjoyed myself. Everything in this castle is huge, from the rooms to the kitchens to the latrines. It has high vaulted ceilings and is laid out in a very convoluted pattern of rooms and passageways. It is exactly what you'd expect from a Crusader castle - just like in the movies.

We followed our visit with yet another fabulous lunch, this time a set meal with dozens of appetizers followed by roast chicken. Our waiter was an absolute queen, and he kept us all enormously amused throughout our meal. He was something right out of "La Cage aux Folles".

We then rode back to the town of Hama for the night, and unfortunately arrived here after dark. This town is famous for its huge waterwheels or norias, and fortunately a few are lit up so we were able to see them.

We now have free time until dinner, although I'm not sure I'll be able to eat again as I'm still full from lunch. Apparently our guide will pay for our meal if we tell our most embarrassing story over dinner. I've been wandering around town trying to come up with mine - perhaps I'll go with the one about catching my skirt in my backpack in Cambodia and walking around the ferry dock with my backside exposed.

By the way...I forget to mention olives when I wrote about our breakfasts. Olives are included in all breakfasts, as well as pretty much every other meal. They absolutely live on them over here and they are unavoidable. I don't like them at the best of times and can't imagine them being a great breakfast food.

We're off early tomorrow for Palmyra but won't actually visit the ruins until the following day. All is going well and I'm still loving Syria.

St. Simeon and Souqs

2007-11-19T08:11:00.000-08:00

Breakfast in Syria differs slightly from breakfast in Turkey which consists of tomatoes, cucumbers, french bread and salty cheese. In Syria we get pita and some jam as well as the ubiquitous cold hard-boiled eggs which are also often served in Turkey. Both are okay but not exactly stick-to-the-ribs fare and I find I'm always starving by lunch time.

We went out on a small tour this morning with the most wonderful guide ever. He is an elderly gentleman with impeccable English and a flair for story-telling. He was absolutely lovely and regaled us with humourous tales all morning. There seems to be quite a rivalry between Aleppo and Damascus. Both claim to be the oldest continually-inhabited city in the world (I think Damascus actually wins this one) and Allepo boasts the longest souq in Syria. He added with a twinkle in his eye that Damascus's souq may be wider and taller but not as long. There also seems to be quite a rivalry between Syria and Turkey, and we have heard that Turkish delight, Turkish baths, baklava and any number of other "Turkish" things actually originated here.

We started our tour with a trip to St. Simeon's basilica, a 45-minute drive outside town. St. Simeon (born circa late 4th century) spent 40 years of his life sitting on top of a column. The column grew in height over the years reaching a total of 15 metres. After his death they built a basilica on the site which they subsequently expanded to become a citadel. It is an absolutely beautiful ruin and must have been an amazing building. There are four sections laid out in a cross shape, the three at the top meeting around an octagonal room where the remains of the column sit.

We came back to town and toured the citadel (1214) and the great mosque (715 and rebuilt in 1260), both of which were beautiful and magnificent buildings. The citadel has never been breached even during the crusades. The mosque houses the shroud of St. Zacharias, father of John the Baptist. Pregnant women go there to pray that their babies will be male, and our guide insisted on giving us a biology lesson to prove that at this point it was already too late to have St. Zacharias intervene on the sex of the baby, since this was determined at conception.

We had a free afternoon which I spent exploring the beautiful Christian quarter of the city as well as the souqs. I did a bit of shopping and generally enjoyed the company of the salespeople. I have to reiterate that Syrians are the most friendly and hospitable people I have met on this trip. Talk about having stereotypes turned on their ear.

Walking to Syria

2007-11-18T10:29:00.000-08:00

I can't tell you much about yesterday because I have no idea where we were. We drove for a few hours from the town in Cappadocia where were had spent the last few days and ended up in an industrial city on the Mediterranean coast. It wasn't on our itinerary and I never caught the name of the city - I rather enjoyed not knowing where I was. The city was choked under a blanket of smog and despite its beautiful surroundings, it was really quite ugly. They tried to beautify the shoreline with a lovely walkway, parks and tea houses but they were lost in the pollution. It was a perfectly cloudless day but the sky and the sea were both gun-metal grey due to the smog. We didn't do much here and despite its claims of fabulous cuisine, the city didn't even offer us a decent meal.

This morning we visited a great museum in a nearby town called Harbiye. It had a lot of beautiful mosaics dating from the 1st to 6th century as well as some statues from a few hundred BCE. The mosaics were absolutely huge and very intricate. There were also some Hittite pottery pieces and other artifacts that went back to the 14-16th century BCE. It just boggles the mind.

We arrived at the Turkish border just before noon and bid farewell to our Turkish guide and driver. We passed through Turkish passport control and then walked the 2.5 kilometers to the Syrian border through "no man's land". There was an option to take the bus but most of us chose to walk as it was just such a cool thing to do - it felt very Middle Eastern to be walking between countries in a very barren landscape. We were met on the Syrian side by a very friendly soldier who scooted down the hill, rifle at the ready to meet us. A couple of hundred feet later we came upon a tent housing three military looking gentlemen who introduced themselves and offered us some tea in the shade of their awning. A few feet further on we finally arrived at the customs building and all passed through with little difficulty (except for the one American in our midst who was questioned quite thoroughly before getting her passport stamped).

A few hundred more meters down the road we met up with our Syrian guide who we all immediately took a great liking to. We had about an hour's drive to Aleppo, got checked into our hotel and were taken to a bank and then a cheap lunch. We had the best felafel wrap that I ever could dream of tasting and a coke for under a dollar. It's so nice to be back in a country that is affordable after the wallet-drain of Turkey. We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring this very cool city, and especially its souq which seems to go on forever. At first glance, Syria is a paradise. It is inexpensive, the food is great, there is so much to see here, and best of all the people are absolutely wonderful. I am very much looking forward to the next week.

Gypsies and UFOs

2007-11-16T08:09:00.000-08:00

Last night four of our group went to a supper club for dinner and dancing. We had a lovely meal of traditional Turkish food while we watched performances by a troupe of gypsy dancers and a belly dancer. All in all it was a lot of fun. Andy and I took advantage of the all-you-can-drink arrangement and then found another bar back in our town after we got home. Needless to say, my head was a little thick this morning. We had a free day today, and despite my fuzziness I didn't want to waste it. I accompanied the other three Canadians over to the town of Goreme where we visited another open-air museum (circa 6th century CE). This one contained many Christian churches, all of which were carved out of the hillsides. The frescoes in some of these churches were very well preserved and beautiful.

We then went down the road to the UFO museum. I wasn't holding out much hope for it, but it was actually very interesting. It's one of only five UFO museums in the world. It had tons of information on everything from Roswell to crop circles to ancient civilisations to biblical references. I have to admit it was all pretty convincing.

We leave Cappadocia tomorrow morning and only have one more night in Turkey before we cross over to Syria. I'm really looking forward to it, but will definitely miss Turkey - it's been a wonderful experience and a really fabulous country. It's certainly some place that I hope to come back to.

Cappadocia

2007-11-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

The overnight bus trip wasn't as bad as expected and we arrived here at about 3:00 AM. After a decent sleep we headed out for a very late breakfast at a patisserie in town. The food is really good here and much less expensive than in other parts of Turkey, which is a real relief. A few of the group headed off for a Turkish bath and the rest of us just wandered around town. In the afternoon we went to visit Kaymakle which is home to an underground city. It is an amazing maze of tunnels and rooms dug into the soft "tufe" or lava rock that forms much of the landscape around here. The city is actually about eight storeys deep but we were only able to visit five of them. It was plenty deep for me. This city wasn't lived in all the time but was used when there was some threat to the population. They even took their animals into the caves with them and there are stables as well as bedrooms, churches, kitchens and most importantly, wineries. It was originally built by the Hittites but was also used by the Christians hiding from the Arabs between the sixth and tenth century CE.

After a lovely dinner and the best apple tea I've had yet, we went to see the Whirling Dervishes. This is a sect of Sufi Muslims who date back to the 13th century Ottoman empire. They have a really neat religion which is actually very similar to Buddhism and other eastern religions. The whirling ritual was performed for us in a cave theatre which was quite dark and full of atmosphere. They are accompanied by four musicians playing bamboo flute, guitar, bongos and vocals. The music was really lovely (and I typically don't like the music from this region). The dance itself was very different than I expected, and was very slow-paced and constant. The five dancers basically just whirled around in circles which very slowly moving around the round stage. Some had their eyes closed and some seemed almost in a trance. They twirl for about 45 minutes and don't get dizzy - it was mind-boggling. The ritual was really something very special to witness, and had a mesmerizing effect on us all. It was definitely a highlight of the trip. We weren't allowed to take photographs during the ritual but they came out and twirled for a few minutes after it was over so we could take photos. Much to my dismay, I managed to totally botch this up and all my photos are blurred. My travelling companions have promised to share theirs with me.

Today was a full day of exploring the area. We started the morning with a beautiful one and a half hour hike through the countryside. The rock formations are really lovely and it was great to really get out into nature, but I must say that it paled in comparison to the majestic landscape I've seen in Tibet and Nepal in the last few months.

Following this, we visited a pottery factory and got a demonstration from the master potter. Their store was absolutely breathtaking - the workmanship, colours and patterns are so beautiful. They generally tend to stick to original Ottoman designs, and in this region Hittite designs, but they also do various other themes. I could have shopped till I dropped there.

Our next stop was the fairy chimneys, which are large pinnacles of tufe with granite caps. The tufe erodes at a faster rate than the granite, so the pillars are quite thin with big "hats" on top of them. They are really beautiful and interesting. We then visited an open-air museum near the town of Zelve, which is actually a collection of three valleys which make up a community carved into the hillsides. There are dwellings, churches, mosques, mills and other components of a village, however they are all in caves lining these three valleys. It was fun and interesting to scramble through the hillsides inspecting all the caves.

We grabbed another wonderful and inexpensive bite of lunch and then went to visit the castle in Goreme. This is another dwelling built into a hill but on a much grander scale that what we had previously seen. The whole hill appears to be hollowed out and riddled with caves. I believe that an entire city lived within this hill in times of threat. We climbed to the top of it (we really didn't see much of the inside) and had wonderful views of the surrounding area from the top.

Despite my best efforts to the contrary, I have broken down and done a bit of shopping here. There is just so much beautiful artwork, jewelery, pottery and other trinkets to buy, I just couldn't resist. I have kept the price tags low (still no carpets in my luggage) but of course everything I've bought is highly breakable and difficult to pack. I guess I'll have to jettison some clothes from my luggage to make room for it all.

Sunshine and St. Nick

2007-11-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was just one of those great travelling days. We awoke to glorious sunshine and once again set off in a southerly direction. Most of our drive was right along the coast of the Mediterranean and offered stunning views of the coastline. We stopped briefly in the town of Demre to visit St. Nicholas's church and statue. The story goes that he was very generous and saved a poor man from having to prostitute his daughters. The good saint tossed a bag of gold coins into the man's house through the window, and he was able to use the money as a dowry for one of his daughters. When St. Nick went back to leave more money for the other two daughters' dowries, the windows were all closed so he climbed to the roof and threw the money down the chimney. I can't quite understand why someone would want to move from the sunny Mediterranean coast to the North Pole, but there you have it.

We continued on to Olympos which isn't really a town at all, at least not in the modern sense. The only accommodation is in "tree houses" or rather bungalows along a dirt road through the forest. A few kilometers from our bungalow was the entrance into the ruins of Olympos (circa 100 BCE to 600 CE). We spent a couple of hours wandering through the ruins, none of which has been restored and are very broken down. I think the tomb of Marcus Aurelius is here - there is a memorial tomb for him as well as what I believe was his real tomb but am not 100% certain. Pretty cool either way. The forest has all grown up around these ruins so it's somewhat of an Indiana Jones adventure to visit them.

At the far end of the ruins, we came out at a beautiful beach where we relaxed in the late afternoon sunshine and had a swim in the sea. It was a much more enjoyable swim in the Mediterranean than I had experienced a couple of days ago. Once the sun left we beach, we ambled back through the ruins to the gate and I left the others to explore some more ruins on the other side of the site. I'm glad I did as I saw a cool necropolis, theatre (totally broken down) and the Roman baths which were really lovely.

Once back at the tree house, we settled in around a bonfire and had a few drinks before dinner. We played some campfire games and generally had a pleasant evening. I'm really lucky to have a such a great entourage this time. They're all so young but wonderfully intelligent and well-educated - I'm learning so much from them. Kyle, the Canadian martial arts instructor, gave some self-defense lessons to our guide which kept us amused for a half-hour or so.

After dinner we climbed back in the bus and headed for a place called Chimaera which is famous for its burning rocks. These aren't actually burning rocks but gases which leak out of the rocks and are perpetually on fire. We climbed up the hillside and finally came to the area which is covered with these little fires. We sat by the fires and looked up at the sky which was wonderfully clear and absolutely loaded with stars. It was one of the most beautiful evenings of my trip.

We got to sleep in this morning and woke to rain. After a very late breakfast we set off for Anatolya which is a fairly large city about an hour south of Olympos. We spent the afternoon here and I chose to be alone, wandering around the city and exploring the shops and sites. Being a major centre, we were back into the hassles and touts which I found particularly irritating, probably because I was getting used to the quiet of the smaller towns. Many of the touts were addressing me in German so I assume there is a large German population here or at least a lot of German tourists.

We're leaving here at 7:00 this evening for an overnight bus ride to Cappadocia which none of us is looking forward to. Hopefully we'll be able to get some sleep. Cappadocia should be good as we have lots of activities lined up there.

Kas

2007-11-11T07:42:00.000-08:00

We woke to a beautiful sunny day and set out down the Turquoise Coast of Turkey. After an hour or so of driving we stopped at a seaside town called Fethiye and spent about an hour there wandering around town. We hopped back on board the bus and after another hour or so arrived in the town of Kas. It is a beautiful seaside town with a very rugged shoreline and lots of fishing boats moored in the harbour. It was very windy so the sea was really rough and there wasn't much in the way of a beach so we weren't able to swim. However, we finally got to see the Mediterranean in all its glory under sunny skies. It's absolutely beautiful here and must be a wonderful spot in the summer. There is a square in the middle of town which is surrounded by cafes and restaurants - a pretty and active gathering spot by the edge of the sea.

A very short walk outside of town there is a Greek theatre which at a capacity of 4,000 is fairly small. It is distinct in that it is the only theatre in Asia Minor which faces the sea. There are a couple of other little gems around town, like a Lycean sarcophagus, but not too much of note. It was just really nice to spend the day wandering around the quiet town enjoying the sunshine and beautiful views. It's also nice to be away from the cities and the hassles that go with them. Here we can wander through the shops at our leisure and not be shadowed by shopkeepers constantly selling to us. It's a real relief.

Mud Baths and Rain

2007-11-10T08:23:00.000-08:00

It was a bit gray when we woke up this morning but we decided to take our chances on the typical Turkish seaside excursion. We started with a boat ride up the Dalyan river to mud baths. It was quite cool so a few of the faint-hearted decided to sit on the sidelines, but the hearty Canadians and a very brave Brit took the plunge. We donned our bathing suits and waded into the mud pool. It wasn't long before a slinging match began and we were soon all covered in mud. It started to rain while we were mud bathing so we didn't get the opportunity to let the mud dry on our bodies as is the proper protocol. We took a shower of fire-hose proportions and then jumped in the hot sulfur pool where we stayed for quite a while enjoying the heat.

Once dressed, we dashed to the boat for the next leg of our journey. It was raining but the boat is covered so we were able to stay a bit dry. We cruised down to the other end of the river and docked at Turkey's nicest beach on the Mediterranean. This beach is notable for it's loggerhead turtle breeding grounds which are protected during their laying and hatching periods. There are no turtles around at this time of year. Given that I don't know when I'll get back to the Mediterranean, I decided that I needed to swim. The water was actually quite lovely but getting out wasn't exactly a treat. Everyone else was waiting for me dressed in fleeces and rain gear and most of them were wearing hats and gloves. I got dressed and we headed back to the boat where a lovely barbeque lunch was being prepared. By this time the weather had turned into a full-on storm with very strong winds and torrential rains. Despite the flimsy roof on the boat, the rain was coming at us sideways and we all got soaked while we ate. Not exactly my idea of picnic by the Mediterranean. As soon as we finished eating we motored back to the hotel.

I immediately jumped into a hot shower and then spent the rest of the afternoon in bed with a book and napping. It is now actually quite mild outside but when the wind blows and the rains come it's very chilling. Hopefully things will clear up for us in Cappadocia.