A sad story

On the way to Dharapori from Simikot, there is a large boulder on the edge of the cliff.

Below the cliff is the river. Most Nepalis do not know how to swim, and I wouldn't suggest going in the river as it would be feezing cold.

Alex has been working in the Humla region for about a decade.
During this time there was a Maoist Insurgency, where many people from the local area, who may have been maoist took up weapons and tried destroying government facilities. There were many fatalities on both sides, Government and Maoist.

It is also difficult to clarify the motives for both sides. After living in Nepal for about 5 months, I am still unsure. However there is alot of corruption in the country, with not much accountability, and the Humla region (remote North West of Nepal) is often forgotton, with the people there at a severe disadvantage, with food shortages, and missing basic necessaties.

Back to the story.
During the Maoist insurgency a few years ago, there was a group of police that were travelling along this path. This is the main trail to Tibet, and as people would travel along it to do trading with China, it is used regularly, with many villages along it.

There were 2 boys from the local village who were along this trail when the police were coming, took fright and hid near this boulder. The police found them, thinking they were maoist, then shot them. They then threw the bodies down the cliff into the river.
Alex travelled along this trail the day after this event, and saw the blood stains.

Now I was not there, so I would not be able to say if they were Maoist or not, who the police were, or even if that should matter. However the more I learn about the region, there are many sad stories, and there are often things happening within the local culture that you are never aware that happen.
When doing development work, things like this have a significant influence and as an outsider you are often not aware of events like this. So often decisions or actions that locals make may be completely baffling and illogical to a foreigner. However learning about events like this increase our understanding.

Travelling from Kathmandu to Humla

The area that RIDS-Nepal do their work is in Humla, which is in the remote North West of Nepal, bordering with Tibet. On most occasions I have travelled up to Humla by plane. This can be a challenge as last time I was waiting for 2 weeks for a flight to Simikot in Humla. That delay was mainly due to weather, and the airstrip in Simikot is dirt.

On this occasion, I travelled in Alex's Van from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, took a taxi from Nepalgunj to Surkhet, then an aircraft from Surkhet to Simikot in Humla.

The first photo is of Alex driving through the chaotic traffic of Kathmandu.



















While driving along the main highway, you will often see huts where they sell snacks, and often make the typical sweet tea, called Chhia. I managed to take a photo of a truck next to such a house.






















The next image is of Alex deep in discussion while we were stopped in traffic.





















Now often we would make some stops, to have some Chhia (sweet tea). The next photo is of the shop that made the Chhia where we first stopped.




















The following image is of Bodhraj and Paras, walking around the tea house.



















Now a main reason we stopped there is the view was fantastic, which is not unusual in some parts of Nepal.




















There were also opportunities to stop at other locations, simply for the views, as shown by the next image.






















We stayed overnight where they were testing a smokeless metal stove that RIDS-Nepal had made over 10 years ago. It was cold, scenic, and they were very accommodating. However, some places of Nepal you have to be careful of insects that can greet you with a few bites overnight, which I discovered.

The next photo is of the van getting ready to go the morning after.




















Now the roads in Nepal, often curl around mountains, and are a little dangerous. So the next photo is an attempt to capture that.




















A reason why my blogs have taken a while, is that I have been playing around with Google Maps. So I have captured some of our travels through the mountains on Google Maps. This shows how much the roads twist and turn due to the mountains through the country. Click on the link, then view the Satellite and Terrain options on the map.

Driving through the mountains.


Along these roads, there was often well cultivated land. As you can see with the next photo.


















Overall the trip was quite enjoyable, with Paras and I sitting in the back.


















In Nepal you will find many hazards on the roads. There are no foot paths, so people walk on the roads, cycle carring large loads, or you can have a herd of cattle walk in front of the vehicle. As Hindu is a majority religion in Nepal, the cow is considered sacred. So you want to avoid hitting a cow.




















So after spending a brief night in Nepalgunj, we left Nepalgunj at 5am to get to Surkhet. There is often more success getting flights from Surkhet.

There are also regular helicopter flights for the world food program, and sometimes take passengers.



I also managed to do a map of the approximate flight path.
Approximate Flight Path


We were incredibly lucky on this trip to Humla, as the day after we had snow in Simikot, which stopped flights.

Lumbini

When I was at Butwal for Dashain, I had the opportunity to visit Lumbini, close by to Butwal.
Lumbini is famous for being the birthplace of Gautama Buddha who founded Buddhism.

As there are many traditions, practices and beliefs in Buddhism, there are a variety of temples to see.

There are many ruins in the area, some of them dating from the 2nd Century BC. The main complex is around a marker stone believed to be the exact place where Gautama Buddha was born. There is a building built over the ruins around the marker stone, protected by a glass cabinet.






The sign shows a layout of the area around the world heritage site.






The hall is built over the marker stone, and the ruins around the marker stone. Surrounding the area of the hall, there are ruins of Stupas, meeting halls of various times.













Next to the hall there is the pool and Bodhi tree.
















The ruins inside the hall, leading up to the marker stone.
















The marker stone said to be the exact place where Gautama Buddha was born.
















The various temples and Pagodas are impressive.

This image is of the Burmese Pagoda.
















The next image is of the Vipassana Dhamma centre, which are typically quite plain looking. However the meditation course they teach is quite serious, requiring 10 days of strict meditation in silence.

















Often in the temples there would be amazing statues, such as this one over a pool.

















The following image is of the Royal Thai Temple

















The next image is of the German temple, which had statues showing different stages of Gautama Buddha's life through the gardens.


















The final image is of the World Peace Pagoda, a massive structure over 5 stories tall.

Other aspects of Nepali life

I thought I would include some pictures of other aspects of Nepali life.

During celebrations, when the family is together (such as Dashain) elder people of the family may give blessings to other members of the family, by placing tikka on the forehead.

The photo I think shows this quite well. It is of Bodhraj's Grandmother giving a blessing (placing tikka on the forehead) to Bodhraj's mother.

Another aspect of Nepali life, which took a bit of time for me to get used to, is you will often see Nepali's eat with their hands. Now this is a little harder than I thought, but I think I have a basic grasp of it, as I've been trying to do as the locals do. This photo is of me trying to do this, eating a bit of Dahl Baht (rice with lentil soup)

Fashion of Dashain

One aspect of Dashain, on the tenth day, is everyone dresses up to look their best. So I thought I would include a short blog on some of the fashions of Dashain.

Now I am not a fashion commentator, so I will only give brief information.

The first image is of some of Bodhraj's family, his father, mother and two daughters.

The second image is of a number of female fashions, as they obviously put a little more effort than the men.

The last image is of some of the women relaxing in the early evening.

This blog is not my usual focus, but as a number of friends have asked for this, I thought what people where during Dashain would be a good insight.

The festival Dashain

Well I have just recently returned from being out in the remote North West of Nepal, and now I can catchup with some of the blogs I haven't had a chance to write. I should put a note about Dashain, which was at the end of September, start of October. It's good that I'm up to date.

The major Hindu festival of Nepal is without a doubt, Dasain. It is the equivalent to Christmas in Christianity.
There are 15 days of celebration, in which most people take holidays, and travel to their home village. So there is traffic chaos everywhere.

The best information I have found on the festival is at the following website.

http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/festivals/dashain.html

Some information from the website
"The main celebration glorifies the triumph of good over evil and is symbolized by goddess Durga slaying the terrible demon Mahisasur, who terrorised the earth in the guise of a brutal water buffalo. The first nine days signify the nine days of ferrous battle between goddess Durga and the demon Mahisasur. The tenth day is the day when Mahisasur was slain and the last five days symbolise the celebration of the victory with the blessing of the goddess."

Also look at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasain

On the tenth day, all the relatives travel to recieve tikka (rice mix with yoghurt and vermillion) on their forehead, jamara placed on top of the head, and are also given dakshina ( a gift of money )

The first image is of the front passageway of the home, that is used for the elder to place tikka on the forehead of all the families that will come.

The second image is of the elder of the family, Bodhraj's grandfather, with his great grand daughter, Bodhraj's niece.

The third image is of Bodhraj first recieving tikka on his forehead, the forth image of jamara placed on top of his head.

Next image (fifth image) is of me recieving tikka, then showing the results.

What also suprised me is that the tradition is to give dakshina, cash in an envelope. So sometimes you see the children tallying up the gifts by the end of the day. The seventh image shows the small children recieving dahshina.

As there are several families, who visit different elders, there maybe five or more family groups that visit one home at different times. So there were small periods of rest, then another family group would come. Various people would recieve tikka, there would be a mass of people taking photo's, then another period of rest.

The eighth image is of another family group recieving tikka.

The last image is of everyone resting at the end of the day.

Bus ride to Butwal

It has been a while since my last blog, as I've moved into a 2 bedroom apartment, and finally have internet. It is difficult sometimes due to the power cuts, but people manage.

I will try and get up to date with the blogs, as there are a few pictures to upload.

In Nepal, the Dashain festival is the most important festival of the year, where people often travel home to villages from Kathmandu. The festival is also called Vijayadashami in India.
More information is on Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vijayadashami

It is equivalent to christmas in the Christian calander, and everyone has leave during that time.

One of the staff, Bodhraj invited me to his family home at Butwal, to see Dashain with his family, and to also see Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautama Buddha.

Butwal is approximately 240kms west of Kathmandu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butwal
The roads in Nepal are rarely straight, they often have landslides, and the roads are of varying conditions. Even though it is only 240km in a straight line, the trip took about 8 hours.

Most people in Nepal do not have cars. A large population of people in Kathmandu have motorcycles. So for people to travel back to their home villages, they often take the bus. Note that the population of Nepal is approximately 30 million, living in about the size of Victoria. A significant portion of that population is in Kathmandu. So if lots of people are travelling home for Dashain, it will be traffic chaos. Quite similar to what you would see on the Monash Freeway people leaving during Christmas or Easter. However, the traffic is a little more chaotic in Nepal, with buses frequently passing on the wrong side of the road, on blind corners. The main warning everyone uses in Nepal is the horn. I have been tempted to use ear plugs for this.

The first image is of everyone queuing for bus tickets. If people fail to purchase tickets by phone, or by the network of people they know, they have to queue for the tickets, and it looked like mayhem.
















We went to the bus park, where there were to many buses to count.



There is also a practice of the buses picking up passengers on the side of the road. As the seats are taken, the people sit on the roof, or in the aisle. The passengers pay cash, which the bus conductor takes. So it is often in his best interest to crowd the bus. So it isn't unusual to see people sitting on the roofs. Normally I wouldn't recommend this, but I have had to do it on the return bus trip.



Now with that many people leaving Kathmandu, there was of course traffic jams. You would often see 2 buses trying to drive next to each other on a single lane road, with another bus passing on the opposite side of the road. They would be blasting their horn to stop the oncoming traffic.
You do get used to it.

Back in Kathmandu

I'm now back in Kathmandu, after my adventures in Butwal, near the Indian border, visiting Lumbini, birthplace of Gautama Buddha, and experiencing the cultural celebration of Dashain. I will put up photo's in the near future.

Also check out Lyn's blog, she is the wife of another EWB volunteer currently working in Kathmandu. They previously lived in Nepal for a number of years.

http://lynleane.blogspot.com/

More Scenery

I had to include the pictures on two groups, so the layout was a bit easier.

The first photo is the view from the RIDS Dharapori office.



The next image is me walking out of Dharapori with a few mules in the background.




And some more images.

Along the way, there were several animals used to carry equipment. Goats, horses and cattle. Take note of the last two images. The second last image is looking up a steep incline with a pack horse and two cattle behind them. The last photo is looking down the steep incline. My colleague is setting next to me, straight, so you can see that the camera is pointing down a good angle.

The Scenery in Humla

This blog entry will be a little short, as I'm going to fill it up with images of the hike I did.

The scenery is spectacular, as you'll see.



The first image is of Simikot, and the mountains behind it. This is where the airport is, and where the main RIDS office is for Humla.



The second image is looking up the mountain to leave Simikot to go to Dharapori.







The next two images are of the view out of the window where I was staying in Simikot when we returned from Dharapori.




The next images are of the scenery along the way