Nepal, Devil Dogs, Marching Bands and More…

Nepal, beautiful, lovely, scenic… when we flew into Nepal we were immediately captivated by the Himalayan Mountains. They are something we have all seen in calendars, on postcards, perhaps a movie or TV show but nothing, and I mean nothing, compares to the intensity of seeing them with your very own eyes. When we de-boarded the plane we met a nice British girl named Heather while waiting in line at immigration. Heather had just come from India and had been in Nepal four years ago so she had loads of tips to give us. She told us that instead of staying in Kathmandu we should stay in a town called Bhaktapur so we took her lead, all hopped in a taxi, and headed for a charming little city built in the 11th century about an hour outside of Kathmandu. Once in Bhaktapur heather brought us to a lovely guesthouse called Shiva guesthouse right on Durbar square (durbar means palace). The view from our window was spectacular! Every morning we would wake to the sounds of soft prayer bells coming from those who came to the square to pray. However, there were a few nights in a row that a stray dog would take up residency on top of the temple in the square and bark all night. When we say “all night” we really mean it! He would climb up there around 9 p.m. begin barking and pacing the parameter like a guard, and by 6 or 7 a.m. he would still be barking but his voice would be hoarse. Drew took up a major problem with Devil Dog (that’s what he affectionately named him) and tried shooing him away but swore laser beams from his eyes made it impossible. There were even two nights that a marching band at around 10 p.m. came through the square which were for weddings and the best thing to do was join in the fun! The funny thing is, the electricity in Nepal is pretty sparse. It usually runs for an hour or two during the day and at night it will turn on around 9 p.m. or 10 p.m., they affectionately call these blackouts “power sharing.” So not many people have it so most of the time it’s either pitch black or you’re walking around in candlelight. We happened to enjoy this very much, although it did make it hard to charge our gadgets. So, at night when Devil Dog or the marching band came through the square we couldn’t really even see what was going on. Despite all of this, Bhaktapur is simply fantastic, and complete surpassed expectations.

From Bhaktapur we took several day trips. Our first was to another medieval town called Patan where we spent the day walking around and shopping. Drew also had his first meal of mo-mo’s, which are like pot stickers served with spicy dipping sauce. They only had buffalo, no veggie, but they were fantastic, and coast a whopping 15 cents a plate. The ancient towns all have a Durbar Square since there used to be so many rulers until the country became unified. In Patan’s Durbar Square we picked up a beautiful bust of Buddha that fed-ex tried telling us was an antique and wouldn’t let us ship it out of the country. We refuse to believe it actually is an antique as most durbar squares these days are heavy tourist traps selling loads of crap but just maybe…

The second day trip we took was to Kathmandu to spend another two exhilarating days at the Indian Embassy. This time around though it was much more organized and we got the information we needed in a somewhat timely manner. They told us in order to get back into India we had to have a ticket into India and a ticket out of India. We had waited to purchase these items just because we didn’t know how we wanted our trip planned as far as India went but it wound up being a good thing because it meant we spent the rest of the day getting organized and buying the tickets we needed to buy anyway. The main tourist part of Kathmandu is a neighborhood called Thamel, which could easily be compared to Khao San Rd. in Bangkok. Tourist shops, western food, knock off North face gear, and touts line the streets, while the smog eats away at your insides. It is a must to wear a handkerchief over your mouth and regardless every time you blow your nose black stuff comes out. The only other time we really experienced that was when we were in Beijing, China. In America when a baby girl is small mom’s usually put bows in their hair to make them look pretty, and to show that they are girls. In Nepal they put black eyeliner on the baby because they think accentuating the eyes is pretty and it definitely is on adult ladies but usually the baby cries and smears it all over their face. It’s certainly interesting though! We also saw lots of little kids (ages 5 to 10) smoking cigarettes, which totally caught us off guard. It was usually the kids who were severely poverty stricken with little family interaction who would also always beg for money or sweets. We started carrying around little butterscotch candies in our pockets in the event we came across these kids because that’s always a better alternative than giving them cash. We saw a group of kids huffing on the streets and that was probably the saddest thing we came across in Kathmandu. We bought a few gifts in Nepal and wanted to mail them home but found out it would cost $125 to mail since Nepal is landlocked and isn’t on any direct flight route so now we’re stuck carrying around a box of souvenirs with us that probably cost a total of $50. Hopefully India will be better for this! Regardless of all that though Nepal definitely goes down as one of the best countries we have ever been to.

After our two days in Kathmandu, we got our India visa finally sorted and headed for a town the Lonely Planet swears has the best views of the Himalayans called Nagarkot. What we didn’t realize was the first two days in Nepal the visibility was brilliant but that was a rarity. We went to Nagarkot, walked around, had some drinks on a balcony and had the visibility been great we would’ve seen the mountains perfectly, just like the book mentioned, but not since our second day here in Nepal have we had a clear day. The dust and the smog keep everything pretty darn cloudy making any view less than perfect. We enjoyed Nagarkot nonetheless but left feeling a little defeated.

We decided it was time for us to leave the Kathmandu valley for a town called Pokhara in western Nepal. We took a 7-hour bus ride west and met Damien and Edel, a lovely Irish couple, on the bus. We shared a taxi with them into town and quickly became friends. Pokhara is one of those places you go where you spend most of your time going on treks, whitewater rafting, or some other outdoor activity. The town itself sits in a valley on a major lake. The four of us knew we wanted to do something but weren’t sure what. There’s always power in numbers when traveling because you can usually get a cheaper price if there’s a bigger group so we decided to sign up with a travel company and go on a whitewater-rafting trip in two days time. In the mean time though the four of us had fun palling around Pokhara. One day we decided to climb up to a town called Sarankgot, a mere 5,500 feet high. It took us 3.5 hours and at one point or another one of us thought they were going to die of exhaustion but we finally made it to the tippy top. As far as we’re concerned, it was a great accomplishment! Unfortunately though the visibility at the top sucked and we couldn’t see anything let alone the Annapurna Range like we should’ve been able to see.

Monday arrived and it was time to head out on our whitewater rafting trip down the Seti River. A few other people had signed up for the trip as well so it ended up being the four of us plus two girls from Australia and one girl from Holland. We all got a long great, which was a major relief, and the guides were the best! We had three Nepali guys as our instructors. One sat in the boat with us, one paddled the raft with all of our gear, and then one was the safety kayaker who always followed our raft in case someone fell out. The river was low so the rapids weren’t as big as they could’ve been but the scenery was spectacular and we all had a lot of fun. The guides cooked us lunch and dinner on the first day, which consisted of things like peanut butter and jam sandwiches, coleslaw, baked beans, French fries, steamed veggies, and pasta with cheese sauce and all of it was spectacular! That night we camped on the side of the river and had a bonfire. There was a guy that called himself the “bar man” from the nearest village who came and took our drink orders. He didn’t speak a lick of English besides “beer” and “coca cola” and was super sweet. It was so peaceful and fun a long that sandy shore. I think all of us agreed that it was one of the best things we have done on our trip thus far. The next day they cooked us breakfast, we paddled for another 2.5 hours, and then we were finished but not before they cooked us another delicious lunch. Paddle Nepal was the name of the company that took us whitewater rafting and we would strongly recommend them to anyone. They were clean, professional, funny, and can whip up a mean meal with only a single gas burner. After lunch they put us all on our different buses and we went our separate ways. Damien and Edel are supposed to backpack through America starting at the end of April so we’re excited to see them again and show them around a little bit!

Tomorrow we fly to Bhadrapur, a town on the Nepal/Indian border in the eastern part of the country and from there we walk across the border into India. Our first stop in India will be to Darjeeling and then up to Sikkim and then back down to Calcutta. A fun thing we found out was that one of Drew’s old coworkers, Rikul, will be getting married in Delhi on March 18th and he invited us to the wedding. We can’t wait to get some clothes made for the special occasion!

Usually I feel ready to move on to the next country. We tend to get anxious when we know something different is right in front of us. I know Drew is ready to take on India as am I but I am also left with a feeling of wanting more. I had no expectations of Nepal, didn’t know what it held or what we would do once we arrived and am now totally captivated by how much it has it offer. One could spend months within this tiny country and still not see or do everything. It’s an interesting gathering point in Asia with a mixture of so many different cultures. I would love to come back and trek the Everest Base camp or take a guided tour into Tibet or come in October/November when the whitewater rafting is at its best! The people are beautiful (Nepali women are ridiculous hot!), the food is great, and the weather stays relatively cool. On a bright, sunny day here in Nepal it is impossible not to smile, especially when you look up and see those Himalayas.

See all of our pictures of Nepal!!