Melanie and Gavin's Travels

Off the beaten track

Looking at the news online I see that Vancouver is in a water crisis. It's funny how at home that would seem like big news, but here it's normal for people to not be able to drink the water. We add chlorine drops to our water and in Kathmandu at the hotel we are lucky that we have access to clean water to a tap (we still add drops). While hiking we often had to use the local water tap in the center of town, or people use big buckets and go to the clean river source and collect their clean water. If only everyone in the water had access to clean and drinkable water.

Last night we went to the largest ghat in Nepal and witnessed some funerals/cremations. By the time we left the Indian Embassy (hurray, we now have our visas!) and took a taxi to the area it was dusk. The benefit is there was at least 4 cremations occuring, but of course they haven't installed street lights yet so we couldn't see too much. The families burn the bodies on large stone pillars. The family members by this point have all shaved their heads, with the exception of a small tuft in the back. They also have to wear all white. Once the body is totally burned the ashes go into the river. The rivers are even dirtier than you might imagine, I saw a dead cow in the river today. The ghat area also had a lot of monkeys climbing all over the place.

Today we wandered down to DURBAR SQUARE, the old palace and main area of town. Some of the buildings are from the 1500's. It was very interesting. The buildings themselves often have intricate woodwork on them and are homes to some of the local God's. The area is not blocked off to locals so it's a real people watching area too. Homeless children playing games, guides trying to get your business and show you the area (but Mister I am cheap for you to hire me!), cows and pigeons hanging out on the street, Sadu's (Indian holy men) trying to get you to take their photo for a fee and ladies selling postcards.

From there we thought we would walk to MONKEY TEMPLE, a very holy temple for Hindu's. It is quite high on a hill and about 3km from where we were, we figured we could find it on our own. We started walking down by the river and soon realized that this was the 'real' Kathmandu. The city of distended bellies, of ladies washing their hair on the street. Of children so eager to see you and happy to give you a wave and not just ask for money. A city by the river full of garbage and dead cows and of other dead people who might not have had enough money for a real cremation. There were dogs fighting, houses full of squalor and a mother washing the bottom of her small child with a plastic bag on the street. Today was special for some reason we could not discern and a lot of animals were slaughtered, so we also saw dead animals drying in the sun. While it was sad and slightly shockening it was also more of an eye opener as to why this is one of the poorest countries in the world. Sometimes you get so much more out of getting off the beaten path while travelling. If doing a trip like this doesn't make someone realize how lucky they are to live in a wonderful country like Canada, then i don't know what does.

After our walk by the river we made it to the Monkey Temple. There was 365 stairs to climb to the top and a great view of the city once we got there. The Temple was packed with people and MONKEYS! Monkeys everywhere, including a few cute baby monkeys.

It looks like we might aim to leave here on Tuesday and get the bus to Chitwan National Park to see more of Nepal. When we have our tickets I will let you know.

We have been reading the local paper nearly daily, as well as talking to quite a few of the locals about what is going on here at the moment. There seem to be so many mixed reviews about the MAOISTS and the government in general. Most people no longer want a King to be governing them. The govt seems to do a lot of bad and underhanded things, which is what caused the Maoists to come into effect. At the same time while hiking we talked to a lot of locals in the hillsides, many had to move from other areas because they would not pay the local Maoist bully a 'tax' and therefore their business was closed down. Quite a few schools in Nepal are run privately or by organizations like the Sir Edmund Hillary fund. Well for whatever reason the Maoists don't like this. They try and charge the teachers and tax them and when they don't pay they close down the school. We met this lovely man in Phortse, and his brother was killed by the Maoists because he was fighting against their beliefs. But in Kathmandu the locals don't always see this. They know it happens but they think it only happens to people who may possibly deserve it, for example greedy landowners. In the meantime the Maoists are trying to set up a local Union so people are more evenly paid, then you see them driving down the street in a massive truck and some have guns. Or you read about how 15 young people have been 'recruited' from their school in the countryside to fight for the maoists. But these boys were not recruited, they were kidnapped! Reading the paper can be confusing because they word things differently, due to their translation of the English language I suppose.

We are currently in a country undergoing massive change. It is a beautiful country with people who are wanting to better themselves and change the way they are governed. They go out on a limb and protest against wrongdoings and at the Universites and the bookstores there is evidence of people who care and want change and are willing to speak out against the government. But at the moment it seems their best hope is an organization the US government terms as 'terrorist' and franly from what i have seen and heard that is correct. These guys are soon going to be sharing power with the government, so I have to wonder: is Nepal heading for a revolution? Or a dangerous path where the Maoists who hold weapons, a rather large army and scary views that resemble previous regimes like Mao in China and Pol Pot in Cambodia wins out? It's a time for change, and Gavin and I are curious to see what will happen.

That's my rant for today.

posted by melaniewilkes @ 1:58 AM