Namaste!
We have just arrived in Pokhara, Nepal where 200,000 people would probably not exist except for the migration of hippies and vagabonds in the 1970s. Pokhara exists now almost entirely as a doorway to the Himalayas and Annapura Circut treks. A small part of town, aptly named as 'Old Pokhara', still exemplifies what made this place great before the 'tourist invasion'. We ourselves are currently occupying a residence on the north side of the lake, where we are paying the absorbant cost of 100 /rps per night (about $1.50); while a beer costs easily 200 /rps (about $3)...quite an interesting contrast to say the least.
Between Kathmandu and Pokhara we spent two nights at the small village of Bandipir. Our guest house was small and full of character, run by a family with two small children who I helped complete math problems. Their English was superb and most of there science and reading homework looked challenging, even for me! We toured the local school and it was amazing how well behaved the kids were and the level of their studies. I could now get up on my soap box and speak to the travesty that exists as our own public schools are horrible, but I think most of my readership already knows this and has no need to be bored by it...
In India everything was mainly a Hindu influence (obviously the influence of the Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, etc are there as well) but in Nepal it's all about Buddhism. The streets will often open up into an intersection which is more of a small square, or 'chowk' (pronounced 'choke'), which contains a small shrine or temple. I have truly never seen anywhere like the streets here. It's impeccably beautiful and the Buddhist culture here is fascinating. We took a bus to the mountain town of Duhlikel before hiking to Panauti via the "Namobuddha" which is a beautiful monastery high in the hills. Unfortunately, the Himalayas were covered in clouds as normal...hopefully the clouds will part before I leave here...
I graduated with a guy named Subhash from St. Olaf who received a $10,000 grant to build schools in Nepal. Well, as you may have guessed by now I met up with him here and we are going to travel to his home village so I'm pumped about that (no electricity or running water etc.).. He's kind of like the 'Greg Mortonsen of Nepal' if you will. So we'll do that after our time in Pokhara.
Right now I'm traveling with the attitude that my plans are I have a flight home from Delhi on Aug 10 but until then I'm just letting life take me where it goes and am really enjoying myself. At times I wish I was home, and at times I think I could continue traveling for another year...
We will continue back south to India on the fourth or fifth and spend a few days in Varanasi before returning home.
CM
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
no more chai... :-(
I have safely arrived in Kathmandu where we are staying at Hotel Potala; it's a little expensive but clean and we have access to free wi-fi! I miss India a lot, especially Kolkata where I knew so many people and the city itself - not only where to get good food and chai (which, by the way, is none existent so far and I am suffering severe depression) and where to buy water for the cheapest and other goods, but also just to know how much a fair taxi ride should cost. It's no secret that there are "local" prices and "foreign" prices and it's a rare treat to find an honest business man (or anyone selling a service), but such is the way here...
The train ride was exhausting, and the car ride was worse. After crossing the border we ended up taking a small 4WD jeep through the mountains which was a little more expensive but half the time of a bus. Oh, and there were 11 of us...I have pictures to prove it haha. I have no idea how we all fit, except to say as the only white people all the other Indians/Nepalese were quite small.
I think we will try and do some side sightseeing to various temples in the Kathmandu Valley before moving on. Being the big city that it is (relatively small, actually - 1 million here and 13.7 million in Kolkata) we do not want to spend much time here, but the surrounding valley is gorgeous. We are looking forward to the temples, but then we will try to move on quickly. From here I think we head to Chitwan National Park; apparently, it's a great place to see tigers!
CM
The train ride was exhausting, and the car ride was worse. After crossing the border we ended up taking a small 4WD jeep through the mountains which was a little more expensive but half the time of a bus. Oh, and there were 11 of us...I have pictures to prove it haha. I have no idea how we all fit, except to say as the only white people all the other Indians/Nepalese were quite small.
I think we will try and do some side sightseeing to various temples in the Kathmandu Valley before moving on. Being the big city that it is (relatively small, actually - 1 million here and 13.7 million in Kolkata) we do not want to spend much time here, but the surrounding valley is gorgeous. We are looking forward to the temples, but then we will try to move on quickly. From here I think we head to Chitwan National Park; apparently, it's a great place to see tigers!
CM
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tieing loose ends.
On Saturday I'll be heading on to Siliguri, just south of Darjeeling and then traveling west through Nepal. Although I have enjoyed many experiences here, I'm also very excited to get out of Calcutta because it is so loud and obnoxious here, and I am ready to have a more relaxing time I think. I'm excited for what Nepal will bring.
We went with the family who lost their girl yesterday to the police station. They needed a picture of the daughter which luckily we had, but in reality there is probably nothing they can do. The police were largely if not completely unhelpful, but it definitely helped that there was a white person in the room - it always seems to cause government employees to act in a way in which there a supposed to, and respect the rights of citizens (there are police stations and hospitals set up specifically to help the street people).
Also, one of the volunteers I've met here, Christie, is filming a documentary so I've been helping her with that. She is focusing her story on a group of street boys who have been sent here by there families from surrounding villages to find work - most are between 5 and 15 and do odd jobs and are also "errand-boys" or pages for many of the local shop owners. Christie has also been teaching them English and basic math skills in her free time, when we're not treating the street kids and drug addicts for their wounds. Hopefully it will be as compelling a story on video as it has been getting to know these young men in real life.
CM
We went with the family who lost their girl yesterday to the police station. They needed a picture of the daughter which luckily we had, but in reality there is probably nothing they can do. The police were largely if not completely unhelpful, but it definitely helped that there was a white person in the room - it always seems to cause government employees to act in a way in which there a supposed to, and respect the rights of citizens (there are police stations and hospitals set up specifically to help the street people).
Also, one of the volunteers I've met here, Christie, is filming a documentary so I've been helping her with that. She is focusing her story on a group of street boys who have been sent here by there families from surrounding villages to find work - most are between 5 and 15 and do odd jobs and are also "errand-boys" or pages for many of the local shop owners. Christie has also been teaching them English and basic math skills in her free time, when we're not treating the street kids and drug addicts for their wounds. Hopefully it will be as compelling a story on video as it has been getting to know these young men in real life.
CM
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Naivety and Ignorance.
It has become harder and harder to deal with the pressure of the work to the point that I broke and had to take a few days off to just do nothing...absolutely nothing. I was scared to stop giving and volunteering, somehow thinking the patients I worked with needed me to the point that they wouldn't live without me. That somehow, I was a necessity to their well-being. And yet after returning to work, the patients were still there alive and kicking (sans a few perhaps). Despite the fact these patents were alive and well before my time here, I somehow thought I would make their lives immeasurably better. How ignorant of me... Sure, I could give a little love - but if I wasn't there surely other volunteers would have been. There are numerous year around, especially at this time of year given it is summer holiday for so many students.
As soon as I finally got this notion through my thick skull - that I was easily replaceable, that I was not some unique, one-of-a-kind being - an overwhelming humility came over me, almost to the point of feeling utterly insignificant. Such naivety I had to think I was somehow so integral to the good deeds accomplished here. Such naivety I had to think I would be saving the world my coming here...I can't even save one life. In the end, volunteering here often comes down to simply washing dishes, shaving a face, or helping to feed someone. Something that many are able and willing to do.
Before coming here, I thought serving in Calcutta would be the pinnacle of helping humanity and serving others. True, some of the most destitute and impoverished people on the planet live here, but that's not to say this is the almighty of serving. My time here as taught me that it doesn't matter where you are or how you do it, simply the selflessly serving of others - the pure act of this servitude - is what is most important in life (to me). There are so many people in my own country I can help and serve, and staying "home" to help others instead of coming half way around the world to do it in no way diminishes the act. In fact, it perhaps diminishes the act of coming here in the first place. The $1,400 I spent on a flight here could have accomplished infinitely more good had a just sent an organization like "Calcutta Rescue" a check, instead of coming here to serve.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe the act of being here truly is vastly important because now I have seen the worst of the worst with my own eyes and I have experienced it. I have a story to tell and motivation to continue benevolent acts. Had I just wrote a check, perhaps that would have been it...said and done...no more charitable acts and I would have gone on my way. But by coming here and experiencing this, I will never be able to forget the things I've seen and certainly the future good acts that will come from this experience will save more lives than what an original $1,400 could have done. At least, if I tell myself this, I can sleep at night...
CM
As soon as I finally got this notion through my thick skull - that I was easily replaceable, that I was not some unique, one-of-a-kind being - an overwhelming humility came over me, almost to the point of feeling utterly insignificant. Such naivety I had to think I was somehow so integral to the good deeds accomplished here. Such naivety I had to think I would be saving the world my coming here...I can't even save one life. In the end, volunteering here often comes down to simply washing dishes, shaving a face, or helping to feed someone. Something that many are able and willing to do.
Before coming here, I thought serving in Calcutta would be the pinnacle of helping humanity and serving others. True, some of the most destitute and impoverished people on the planet live here, but that's not to say this is the almighty of serving. My time here as taught me that it doesn't matter where you are or how you do it, simply the selflessly serving of others - the pure act of this servitude - is what is most important in life (to me). There are so many people in my own country I can help and serve, and staying "home" to help others instead of coming half way around the world to do it in no way diminishes the act. In fact, it perhaps diminishes the act of coming here in the first place. The $1,400 I spent on a flight here could have accomplished infinitely more good had a just sent an organization like "Calcutta Rescue" a check, instead of coming here to serve.
Then again, maybe not. Maybe the act of being here truly is vastly important because now I have seen the worst of the worst with my own eyes and I have experienced it. I have a story to tell and motivation to continue benevolent acts. Had I just wrote a check, perhaps that would have been it...said and done...no more charitable acts and I would have gone on my way. But by coming here and experiencing this, I will never be able to forget the things I've seen and certainly the future good acts that will come from this experience will save more lives than what an original $1,400 could have done. At least, if I tell myself this, I can sleep at night...
CM
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