The magic that is Nepal

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Nothing seems strange here, it all feels familiar. It feels so natural being in Nepal. Not like Africa where I felt like a foreigner, here I just feel at home.

I was so happy as I flew over Nepal and saw the Himalaya's for the very first time. I could sense that I was going to absolutely love this place, and I was right. The mountains were so majestic and beautiful and I just looked down from the plane window and wondered what it all held for me.

Arriving here has been a long time coming, I have wanted to get to Nepal for so long. I have always been so fascinated by it. I remember being fascinated with the name "Kathmandu" since I was a small girl. It had not only been a long time coming in terms of my life, but also just in the amount of time it has taken us to get here from Africa. We had a five hour flight to Doha where we would arrive at 9:40 pm. I thought it was bad enough that we had a five hour layover until 2:40 am, but that seemed easy once I saw that our flight was delayed until 5:00 am. It was a long wait at that time of the morning but as I flew into Nepal, every minute waiting was worth it. It was everything I imagined - and more. I am in awe here everyday and I just kind of walk around hypnotized.

There is something so peaceful about the energy of Nepal. With the exception of the odd person trying to sell you something, it really feels like "what you see is what you get", no hidden agendas, just a simple existence that lets you feel who you really are. Somehow it is easier to spot the fake or the one who would intend ill will. It is a strong yet tranquil country.

We would spend the next few days just kind of wandering the streets of Thamel. So much to take in, such a new and different experience from Africa. It was nice to be free of the aggressive touts that hound you at every turn and the men calling "Mama, mama" in the streets. Africa was amazing but hard and now it was time to sit back and replenish in the land of beautiful mountains and people. It has been a long, hard year and I felt like I was finally at a true resting place.

It's funny, as I sit here and try to think of a way to describe Nepal much like I would have described Tanzania or Zanzibar, it occurs to me that what stands out about Nepal is not something easily explainable, it is a feeling, a way of being. I am tempted to describe how the majestic Himalayas beckon to you from off in the distance at every turn and how absolutely breathtaking they are. I am tempted to tell you that of only 14 peaks in the world over 8000 feet, 9 of them are in Nepal. Or the magical feeling of walking through the old cities with Buddhist chants ringing out, but the real magic of Nepal does not lye in any physical beauty. The real magic of Nepal lies in its' people and its' way of life. A way of being that says it's ok to just be, just to be human - no mask. The poverty in some parts strikes me, as does the dirt but it is not the most noticeable thing....... the most noticeable things is that the people feel happy and content. As a matter of fact, it feels like if you exposed them to the world of materialism they may just lose their peaceful ways. It is the lack of competition and materialism that makes Nepal so wonderful to be in. It feels like it is the world as it should be, a simpler time, a simpler place where neighbor helps neighbor without anything in return. I really love it here.

Jordan and I ventured into Thamel to get ourselves some new journals as our Africa journals are almost full. As we walked down the street, the people were so interested in this child by my side. The people of Nepal took to Jordan like a moth to the flame and vice versa. We went into this little shop to pick out a book and the gentleman working there was so amazingly nice. As we shopped around we chatted with this gentleman and eventually he invited us in for traditional Nepal tea. As conversation went on, he told us how the next time we came back to Nepal, my husband (yes, everyone assumes) and I must stay with his family in Patan. This is what I love about Nepal. Could you imagine in Canada, entering a shop to buy a journal and the person behind the counter being so available and kind to you that you end up having tea and being invited to stay with their family? I wish our world was more like this................

So far on this trip I have really been "on the go". I have wanted to make the most of my time travelling and have had a perpetual plan of activities on the make. Not in Nepal. In Nepal I am content just to roam around Kathmandu and visit with the people. To talk to them, to visit, to understand their way of thinking and their beliefs. I am really curious about the people and am content for this to take up the majority of my time. However, I am planning a trek into the Himalyas, it is the one must on my list and I must go soon as it is getting cold in the mountains and I want to be back by Christmas. This is not a problem. I head on into the office at our hotel and within one hour I have all the makings of an 11 day trek into the Himalyas. Unbelievable. What a dream come true, I have to pinch myself. Within two days I will be flying to Pokhara to start the Jomsom trek. It is perfect timing, we leave on the 11th and will be back in Pokhara by the 23rd, just in time for Christmas - could this have gone any better? Only one thing standing in my way now - the small plane over the Himalayas to Pokhara. I can't tell you why, but with every flight I take, flying is getting harder and harder for me. I never used to mind it but now I can barely tolerate it - poor Jordan. Kind of funny, I hate flying yet I'm going around the world.....and I hate heights yet I'm in Nepal trekking through the Himalayas. Reminds me that sometimes you have to confront your worst fears to reap the biggest rewards.

The flight went smoothly. Well, not smoothly, there was alot of turbulence, but I am still here to write this blog so I guess it went well. I was so conflicted between pure fear against the breathtaking beauty of flying through the Himalayas realizing at every moment that I was in the midst of making a very large dream of mine come true. The excitement won out over the fear and soon enough we were at our hotel in Pokhara receiving instructions on how to prepare for our trek..............

So excited......... shopping for our trip is complete, now all I have to do is wait for morning to arrive to fly to Jomsom so I can trek through the remote villages of Nepal. But wait a minute.......my stomach. Something is wrong. All of a sudden I have a headache and there are sharp pains ringing through my gut. Oh no. The trek, it is tomorrow. I will wait a couple of hours and see how I feel...... A few hours go by and I am feeling even worse. It is time to find my mountain guide to tell him I will not be able to start the trek in the morning, I will have to start it on the 13th of December instead. No big deal, what difference could one day make.............?????? Fateful last words.

After staying in bed all day on the 12th, I decided to venture out to get Jordan some dinner at around 5:00pm. I was starting to feel a little better after sleeping all day and I could feel my stomach settling down. Good, it seemed I may have eaten something my stomach didn't agree with but now it was starting to leave my system and I would be ready to go in the morning. Back on track.

After dinner I decided to check my email as I would be gone from civilization for quite a while. I walked into the internet cafe, sat down, opened my Hotmail - this is when everything changed......... There was an email from the girl looking after my cats. She had told me some time ago that she was having difficulties but I had been emailing her for three weeks to see what was going on and she had not answered me. Earlier in the trip when I was having trouble reaching her she had emailed me saying that if there ever came a time I did not hear from her, that she handles things differently and to know that this is a sign that everything is ok (am looking at it right now). I mistakenly took the silence for a sign that things were working out - otherwise she would have answered me, right?

Not right. Not right at all. After ignoring my emails for three weeks, she waited until the 12th of December (one day after she thought I had left on my trek) to tell me that the cats were leaving by end of the week, either way, whatever way she had to do that, basically. In her email she told me that she was phoning the SPCA for advice and that she would cry if she had to take then there, but nonetheless, they were gone by the end of the week (this was on a Tuesday in Canada, a Wednesday for me). She told me that I should just be thankful they were there for me when I needed them most (the fire and homelessness) and that maybe it was time they blessed someone else. All of a sudden I felt very far from home.

My head started spinning and the room got really small. I seriously couldn't believe what I was reading. The only thing of value that I salvaged from the fire were my animals and I was not prepared, in any way, to lose them as well. Every plan that was in place was gone instantly. I walked back to the hotel, approached my guide, told him what just happened, cancelled the trek, and started my preparations for my unexpected trip back home...........

The really terrible thing about all of this was that she "knew" I was gone deep into the Himalyas and waited until she thought I had left to send me this email when I was helpless. Knowing I was gone, she very cruelly told me " I don't know when you'll receive this, and I have no concern". Against the odds of me still being in Pokhara, I received it ten minutes after she sent it.

As for the travellers' stomach.......fate works in mysterious ways. If I had not gotten sick, I would have left for that trek early morning on the 12th of December. I would not have gotten the email from the catsitter and I would have returned two days before Christmas to find that my babies were gone. Fate and food poisoning - seems to be a theme on this trip. For this theme I am thankful.

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Comments

[Heide and Jordan]

Thanks
Hi, Just a quick message to say... great travel blog. I'm saving right now for a world trip and i've been thinking about Africa... and definitely going to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Malysia so i'm looking forward to your future posts. Safe travels... Michelle :)

[Sarah]

Wow, I have just got back from Nepal
And I agree with every pure word you have written about this beautiful place. Here is my first day diary entry if you care to read. I loved reading your journal, your words show you have a pure heart. 21/01/2011 Show Reply ▼Reply Reply all Forward Delete Junk Mark as unread Mark as read Delete all from sender Print message View message source Show message history Hide message history Show details Hide details sarah taylorKathmandu The Himalayas frame everything here. Exhaustion is secondary, the smog a mere irritant, the chaos and dust, the grasping hands and shuffles of touts trying to steal us away, my lost bag in DTo [e-mail] From: sarah taylor ([e-mail]) Sent: 21 January 2011 15:37:06 To: [e-mail] Kathmandu The Himalayas frame everything here. Exhaustion is secondary, the smog a mere irritant, the chaos and dust, the grasping hands and shuffles of touts trying to steal us away, my lost bag in Delhi, my jet lag. Nothing. Nothing at all to me, compared to the sun shimmering from the tops of the mountains, a spectrum of colours reflected off the snow. “Sarah, we need to get to the hotel”, urges Suellen. She’ s right. 22 hours of travel is showing on both our faces, and now bag less, we are in a vulnerable state. I pull myself away from the hypnotic beauty of the mountains and we battle through the touts, demand some ID from a driver and cram into his seatbelt-less cab full of prayer beads and pictures of Lord Shiva. The capital of Nepal, Kathmandu, is an explosion of the senses on all levels, choking with people, with shops, with poverty, stray dogs, with spirit, pulsating with pashmina’s and mandalas, crowded with excited school children crammed four onto the back of a bike a if their lives depended upon it. Colours, luminous, muted, primary, tie-dyed, flash of orange of the sacred Sadhu, my eyes hurting to take all this in. As we struggle through people laden streets to find our way to the Hotel, the pictures in the guide seem to be a lie as all the streets look the same. Every side street littered with the same tangled wires, board upon board grasping for attention screaming about their tours of mountains and safari parks, it could be anywhere in this mayhem. I’m feeling almost naked without the reassurance of my backpack and, containing carefully chosen clothes and diaries, and just want to get to the hotel and feels some walls around me so I can re-gather myself in this foreign land, in which I am now like a baby. With a sigh of sudden amalgamated excitement and weariness, I see the bold scripted letters of the Hotel Fuji, and with a familiar sense of homecoming, open the door, feeling the reassuring realness of the brass topped handle in my hand: “Namaste, can I help you?” A beautiful Nepalese face greets me with curious eyes and a flawless skin as I rush out a battered piece of paper with a hotel reservation on. He takes the paper and stares at it, yet seems bemused and checks his computer: “ We have no record of you booking here”, he says with honest eyes staring back: “ But we can do special room, just for you. Nice, near gardens”. I’m so tired I’d settle for sleeping in a phone box and we gladly follow him up steep stairs to our room. It’s massive, but rudimentary and the bed looks like it can be doubled up as some penitary punshiment for a misbehaving monk, but as he peels back the decaying net curtain, I’m stunned by the iridescent mountains far in the distance, mellowing in a jaw clenchingly sad sunset of purity and eternity. I am here in Nepal, bag or no bag, as raw as the day I was born, this is my destiny.