Rough roads but a soft landing

The last leg of our tour of Nepal started off great.  We pedaled east along the Terai region (the southern plains known as Nepal's breadbasket) with little drama other than the dust, the diesel fumes, and the gawking eyes and small crowds that instantly gathered as soon as we dismounted the bikes. It can be a bit of an overwhelming sensation but never did we feel in danger.  After days of camping along the river and even in someone's front yard, we decided to try and find a guesthouse for an evening.  We tried a few spots that just had a slightly sketchy feel until we came across the cutest little guesthouse.  The owners were a Nepali husband and a Philippino wife who both spoke wonderful English and were very excited to have us stay. The place was a treat after many dirty, loud days. It was such a pleasure for us as their young son, Krish, hung around and we talked about our travels as well as talking about the places they had lived. Aida, the wife, cooked us some delicious Philippino food and we were happy to meet some of the local kids, of whom stood outside the house and would yell 'Miss Chiara' and 'Mr Bruce' until we came out and gave them a wave. The closest we will ever come to being famous, I am sure. 

  

The owners of our favorite little guesthouse in Nepal, our fanclub that would yell outside until we would come out of our room.

We ended up spending two nights at the guesthouse and headed out feeling rested and relaxed. We spent another night camping along the beautiful lazy rivers that crisscross Nepal before we finally made it to the road that would take us north and back to Kathmandu. This is where things turned a bit pear shaped. As we had mentioned previously the program that we had been using to map or routes, 'Inroutes', doesn't work in certain countries, like Nepal, so we know where roads go and how long they are but we have little knowledge of grades or road conditions. We did the best we could asking whomever could speak to  if the road was traverseable for us on bikes. All the beta we gathered pointed to two options, one being about 2x as long and very indirect and another more direct but with many unknowns.  We finally came to the literal 'fork in the road' and made our decision. We took the shorter more direct route.  The first day and a half of this route were fine. We camped along another bucolic river where we bathed and cooked a simple dinner of noodles. Over night, however, a front passed through bringing with it cold and rain, the two things that made the rest of that day, maybe, the worst day of riding we have experienced in over 7 months and 8000km of touring. The road was of a grade that at times was too steep for us to pedal. Therefore we were pushing, to the cheers and thumbs ups of the passing trucks, up an extremely narrow road in wind and wet.  Things looked bleak until we came across a great little roadside 'chaat' house serving up steaming plates of daal bhat.  This gave us full bellies and warm our spirits.  We continued up to the first saddle where the views were amazing. We descended and crossed a beautiful reservoir thinking things were looking up. The rain had stopped but the road quickly turned to dirt, actually mud and then we started climbing again. The conditions deteriorated further as the light began to fade. Out of food, exhausted and realizing that despite all our efforts we ended up on a road that we just were not equipped, with our little foldies, to ride.  Luckily this road was the choice of routes for trucks heading to Kathmandu. We discovered that we were a mere 30km from the city but in these conditions we could have been 3000km as we would have had to push the bikes for a good portion of it. Finally we came to a consensus that we had fought a good fight but that we must wave down a truck and hitch our way back into the city. It turned out not to take only a few minutes and we were on our way, bouncing and splashing over some of the most rugged roads we had seen outside of the village we had visited. 

   

We came across these beautiful women dancing, Bruce eating our favorite snack in Nepal, donuts and tea.

 Getting into the city after dark posed a new dilemma. Our warmshowers host wasn't expecting us till the next day so we found a little eatery serving one of our favorite treats, MO-MOs, and we called the host hoping they would take pity on these fools. To our delight James and Julia were more than happy to host us immediatley and he even came out to find us and lead us back to his home, one of the cutest little places in a corner of Kathmandu that we had not even imagined existed. We were able to eat, shower (with hot water, a real treat!) and rest in their home. They were great and we shared a liking of Korean food, that we shared on our last night, and prepared to depart for India. 

  

We ran into this man and his elephant on the road, e elephant normally works on the national parks.  He gave us a ride.

How do we sum up our time in Nepal? We came in with so little real knowledge of the people, the lands or the culture. We had an idea for why we headed to this somewhat out-of-the-way, landlocked, and troubled nation but did we get anything out of our time? The short answer is yes, in spades.  When you remove the ever present blaring, bleating horns of the diesel belching trucks and smells resembling a burnt plastic curry, you find a nation of very gentle, happy people that are intrigued by visitors, happy to help, and delighted when they hear a foreigner utter a few simple words of their language. They couldn't be happier when you tell them that you actually like their traditional staple food of daal baht and they all want to stay in touch with you even if you only spend a brief time with them. The uncertain future for Nepal and its people however put a slit asterisk next to it all in your mind as you wonder, 'is this person really happy to meet me or do they hope that a friend from the western world meanshe a ticket out of Nepal?' Sometimes this interactions can be troublingly difficult to separate but I'm the end of the day it is hard to blame the, for looking for a way to better their lives.  We found out that a large portion of Nepali men are economic migrants traveling all over Asia and the Middle East in order to make money to send back to thei families. There were some real shine moments that gave us hope for Nepal. Such as meeting the young engineer/entrepreneur who had designed and built a prototype electric off-road motorcycle that would free up those stagnated by the fuel blockade from India. Or hearing that subsistence farmers are turning to cash crops like coffee (of which Nepali highland coffee is amazing!) which Nepal is well suited for and would bring in more money through less labor. No matter it is obvious that the long traditions that control Nepali culture and community are strong and wonderful to experience despite the problems of rebuilding that are sure to plaque Nepal for quite a time to come. 

Some of the beautiful landscape in the most difficult territory that we tried to ride.  Then came to our senses and hitched to Kathmandu. 

Tough times for Nepal

  

Nepal is a cachopheny of smells, noises and visuals usually all at one time. Once returning from the village to Kathmandu, again via a long, dusty and bumpy bus ride, we spent a few nights packing and planning. One of the biggest challenges we came against in the city were the everyday 'load shedding' power outages that the government had instituted since the Indian border blockade had begun a few months back. Something that we had been ignorant to until right before we arrived in Nepal, sadly, Indian and Nepal have been at odds ever since Nepal had ratified a new constitution that limits the influence of India in Nepali government. In return India decided that the land locked nation to the north would be rewarded by closing the border to fuels of all sorts that are integral to the everyday life of most of Nepali people. Those living in villages, somewhere near 80% of the population, can survive by heating and cooking over wood but those in the cities do not have that luxury and are suffering much more the hardships of this ubiquitous shortage. This on top of trying to rebuild from the devastating earthquake of last year has really made it a challenging time for the people of Nepal. 

  

We saw this hashtag a few places, I'm pretty sure it's descriptive of how a majority of Nepalis feel,

Bruce cycling out of the Kathmandu valley.

Much of the time we spent sorting through and packing gear and unfolding the bikes which had been packed since we flew from Laos. It was like reuniting with an old friend as we reassembled our little mules and prepared them for our tour. Unlike previous countries we were unable to use the mapping program, 'Inroutes', that we have relied upon so heavily for the past 6 months.  The program allows mapping routes and determining  elevation gain and loss which can make or break a good cycle tour. So, as it goes, we had to map our route slightly blind other than from reading blogs of previous tours.  Luckily, or not, Nepal has only a few roads that are even options for those touring as we are, that being on 20-inch wheeled folding bikes.  For us the rugged mountain dirt roads really are not possibilities so our route is somewhat determined for us.  Getting out early as possible in the  cold mornings of Kathmandu we were able to cover, to our surprise, over 100km and we found a picturesque camp along the river.  The next day we had some rolling terrain as we headed toward the tourist destination of Pokhara. We thought we would make it to the town but instead we met a nice group of young guys along the road that were admiring our bikes. In exchange for them test driving our bikes we asked if someone had a place we could put a tent for the night.  To our surprise we got more than we could have ever hoped as 'Dina' (a nickname we found out) took us to his home to meet his mother and brother. They were amazing! We camped in their front yard, thy invited us to share dinner, his brother, Sagar, took us around the small village introducing us to just about everyone, as he put it 'every person knows every other person in these villages, there are no strangers'. A lovely sentiment and one we hope to carry back with us when we return home to our 'little village'. In the morning we watched the women make a traditional 'Nepali carpet', a mat made of interwoven reeds, ate another gut bursting meal of daal bhat and headed out to the city. Pokhara was pleasant and we stayed in a friendly guest house called Peace Eye. Much quieter than we had expected because, as mentioned previous, due to the issues in Nepal tourism is down dramatically, another issue facing this land that relies on tourism dollars to survive. We rested two nights, hiked around the hills, Chiara drank a glass of fruity white 'church wine', something she has been craving for months, and we even met a welcoming local family that insisted that we eat with them at their home.  They were wonderful and we swore to keep in touch. A promise we intend to keep. 

      

Watching Sagar's mom make a rice mat, our tent overlooking the village, some of the beautiful scenery around the town.

We headed south now with unknown destinations in mind. Chiara and I had our first negative experience with something that we read about only up till now.  After leaving a small village and descending a hill a guy came up from behind on a bike appearing out of control. He swerved into Chiara but luckily she had slowed down and the result of which was nothing more than her falling over on top of the guy.  Once untangling themselves the guy got up and then tried to act like he had hurt his leg and that we should give him money. Honestly once I found out that Chiara  was completely unhurt the poetic justice of the whole event made us laugh.  We simply brushed off the dust, laughed in the guy's face and went on our way. Apparently this sort of  maneuver is not uncommon in areas. Something we will be keen to look out for as we move forward. 

A bit later we met another lone cycle tourer who had come through Northern India and was heading opposite us (which it seems everyone always is!?) toward Kathmandu. After a nice exchange of tales and emails we kept on our way and made it to Lumbini, the reported birthplace of the Buddha.  Knowing next to nothing about this place other than some words from the locals telling us we must see this place we cycled the ever busier roads south and west. As we came out of the mountains of the north and into the Terai, the lowland 'breadbasket' of the south we experienced a more hectic route. This area is much closer geographically and culturally to India and where most of the things that do make it across the border move through in order to supply Nepal. The 'gawking' factor increased exponentially the closer we found ourselves to the border. It is a feature of this area as well as India for men to gather in groups around anything not the norm. And a little attention begets A LOT of attention and before you are aware the crowd can be 3 deep on all sides. Pointing and touching they will stand around for what appears to be as long as it takes for something to either happen or you leave. It can be a bit off putting at first but once you understand the innocent nature of these spectacles you learn to mediate them through limiting your stops to only essential times and in places with fewer possible onlookers. 

  

The meditation center of Osho, or Rajaneesh, who has quite a history in Oregon, pilgrims exiting one of the gate of the huge park built around the place that Buddha was born.

We arrived in Lumbini a bit late so we set about finding a spot to camp. We found a mediation retreat that looked promising. Upon talking to the people inside we found out this group were followers of Rajneesh, a guru whom Chiara knew a bit about. He had actually set up a bit of a cult following in the 70s and 80s in our home state of Oregon and his people had had run-ins with local residents and law enforcement over various claims of wrong doing. (Check it out on Wikipedia...quite a crazy story.) No worries about this for us as they welcomed us warmly. We spent the evening chanting and meditating with group and camped on the grounds. 

The next morning was very cold so we got a late start but it warmed up and we slowly picked our way through the streets choked with bikes, pedestrians, goats, buses, tractors, carts pulled by oxen and just about anything else you could imagine on 2 or 4 legs.  Needless to say we didn't make great time and as we approached what would be the only elevation challenge of these lowlands things got a bit weird...

  

Headed down to another nice riverside campsite, our slightly unhinged new friend who let us camp on his roof

A local man came out to the road side calling to us.  Flanked by children he asked if we would come and have a tea at his home. What to lose, right?! Well as things unfolded we found out that this man had been a victim of a motorbike accident in the past which left him with what appeared to be affect and impulse control issues.  Though never in any danger we found ourselves 'convinced' to spend the night at his home.  Needless to say our presence set-up the usually parade of villagers through his yard all of whom were pleasant and welcoming.  We played and danced with the children and Chiara was a hit with the ladies of the house. We spent the night in our tent and in the morning hit the road after a tea and some photos. All-in-all we had a unique experience that we joked 'you would never find laid out in any guide book' and though at times our hosts actions and words made the medical professional in me wonder what exactly he had done to his brain, we had a laugh about it as we sped away in the morning mist with a great story to tell.

Out of the frying pan and into the ice box

Since we last wrote a lot of road has passed under our tires. More figuratively than literally as it turns out but that we will come to.  As for leaving Laos our choice of flying from Vientiane turned out to be a good one.  We had to leave the sweet little Airbnb spot that we had made home for 3 days where we had been cooking foods we had not had in a while like spaghetti and drinking a bottle of completely mediocre red wine (which was delicious).  The early flight made for an easy pedal to the tiny international airport and we flew to Kuala Lampur, Malaysia where we had a 28...yes I said 28 hour layover until moving on to Kathmandu, Nepal.  No worries for these intrepid travelers as this was more of a homecoming similar to returning to Taipei after circumnavigating Taiwan. We contacted those that we had met on our previous visit and were welcomed like old friends.  The night was wonderfully easy eating with our friend Subki and we even were able to get a part that we sorely needed for the bike from Basikal Akmal...thanks mate.  

  

Goodbye beautiful Vientiane, a million young Nepali men with a million flat-screen TV's

The next day we made the easy ride back to the KL airport and flew on one the strangest, unruly, and male dominated flights we may ever see.  On a jumbo Airbus filled to capacity you could count the number of women on two hands!?  The men all were dressed similar and even seemed to know one another. They paid little attention to the directions from th flight crew and one guy even tried to go to the toilets only minutes before landing as we made our final descent. It was like a plane full of Chiara's preschool students. 

No matter everyone made it safely to the ground and we soon found out why we were on the international flight equivalent of a frat house. While freezing our baguettes off for over an hour as one piece of luggage came at a time out into the very old airport arrival lobby the same men were picking up flat screen tv after flat screen tv from the same belt. Apparently it is more cost effective to fly to Malaysia and purchase tv's and bring them back then it is to buy one in Nepal. Foreshadowing of what await in Nepal...we shall see? For now we were exhausted, cold and needed to get to the guesthouse.  Luckily all else went smoothly and we were in bed in short order.  Though the cold we had been looking forward to had come with impunity.  Kathmandu, Nepal is at 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) elevation and we felt every meter climbing stairs and doing basic activities. We only spent two nights before we hopped  the Nepali version of a Guatemala chicken bus to the village that we were going to spend a week volunteering.  

After an epic 8-hour bus journey over some very bumpy roads, we disembarked in the village that we would be spending the next week or so, in Kahare, Nepal. And to say the route we traveled was 'bumpy' may be the understatement of the year. To illustrate the quality of the bone jarring terrain we actually witnessed a side window crack during the journey just from the normal rocking and rolling that the road entails.  Not an uncommon phenomenon by looking at the number of Windows taped over with baggies, cardboard or any other bit of scrap the workers could muster. Initially we planned to spend some time planting the bamboo that mutual travellers that we had met in Japan and discussed in earlier blog posts, Eleanor and David, had planned to use to help the village rebuild their homes and buildings that had been destroyed by the April 2015 earthquake.  Alas, our young local guide, Namaraj, told us that the planting was not going to be possible as the land that the village had planned to use to plant the bamboo belonged to the school and they would not allow it to be used. Therefore with a surprise agenda change we spent our first day in the village getting to know our surroundings, meeting Namaraj's wonderful father and mother, who were a very traditional couple that had been farming the land for their whole life.  They, as with almost everyone in the village, we're living in a temporary house that they had built of wood and tin, as their house had been completely destroyed in the earthquake.  Matter of fact, almost every building had been destroyed; businesses, barns, schools, everything.  We were given the option of having our own quarters above the oxen or staying in with the family, and we choose the space above the oxen mostly because things in the small home were cramped before we arrived.  Namaraj's mother was a terrific cook, and served us gut-busting amounts of the traditional Nepali food called daal bhat.  This staple consists of a never-ending buffet of rice, spiced lentils and varied curried vegetables, served twice daily.  It was chillier in the village than we had been a custom to this last 6 months with temperatures averaging 70-75 F in the day but down to the 40s at night.  We had some nice warm blankets to ward off the cold and we generally turned in very early to snuggle underneath covers and read or do crossword puzzles.  That is of course after we filled our bellies full of daal bhat while we watched the HBO movie of the night (yes, it is true that even in villages served by almost no driveable roads and where homes are shanty at best they have tv with HBO at no cost...seriously!?)

   

The valley that our village was in, Namaraj's ever-smiling mom, Namaraj and his father

  

  

Bruce in our bedroom above the oxen, washing clothes and bodies in the river,

A half-destroyed house and the tin shack that's its owners are now living in, shacks on the way to the school where there were once houses.

Namaraj thought our time in the village would best be served at the school so after a day of rest and oxen/goat grazing, we went to the school to see what we could offer.  The principal welcomed us warmly and we started right off. The school had also been completely destroyed and was also housed in a temporary structure, again built of tin in what once was the courtyard of the school, and it was a very loud, dusty place.  The teachers and principals told us how most of the school's materials were also ruined in the quake, and how lucky it was that there was no school that day 9 months ago (it occurred on a Saturday, the only day of the week they have off of school) as there would have been many more fatalities in the village then there had been. The first day volunteering was a little chaotic as the first classroom we went into the English teacher turned to me and said, 'OK, teach them something'. But the days mellowed out and I ended up spending almost all my time in the nursery/1st grade/2nd grade, as the nursery teacher had recently gotten married and taken leave and the school had combined the classes, so the teacher had around 20 children ages 2 and 1/2 to 8.  There were few materials to use save the small notebooks, they called 'copy' and pencils that the children brought to class the former of whichever usually ended up torn and crumbled on the floor and the latter more than not were sharpened to nubs and then chewed endlessly by the snotty nosed little monsters. I spent most of the day's singing, drawing, and writing, and I think I taught my entire repertoire of pre-k songs.  No one could ever have imagined the sheer pandemonium that could result when a classroom of school children insist on singing B-I-N-G-O.  Bruce spent more time with the older children teaching their English lessons and playing games with them. Hangman, anyone? 

   

  

With the kids in the classroom, the  teachers and kids had a ceremony for us the last day

We spent our last day going among all the different age levels playing some word games and handing out candy that we had brought with us from Kathmandu. Apparently we were quite a hit with teachers and children alike, as we were asked to come back next year.

Bruce also spent a day talking with and visiting the local village doctor and his clinic.  At some point in the future he hopes to help secure some supplies for the clinic through his hospital.  This however will require some logistical maneuvering that is yet to be worked out...to be continued.

We absolutely loved our time spent in the village and with the children specifically. Life in Nepal is particularly challenging at this point all be it with the earthquake and now a border blockade by India preventing fuel and other supplies crossing the border.  Still, thus far our time spent with the people of Nepal has been wonderful and meaningful and we look forward to our upcoming cycle to visit other parts of the country.