A few adventures

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My first week of teaching was cut short due to a random Holy Day (there are SO many Holy Days and all random so I never know when I have school) and rafting. The funniest part about rafting is that Tom and I found out by coincidence when we were going. Communication isn’t a strong point here; on Wednesday afternoon Tom and I were sitting around figuring out plans when a guide walked by and saw a calendar then mentioned we may be rafting the next day (key word maybe). We woke up the next morning and were told to get ready cause the bus was leaving in 30 minutes. Rafting on the Trisuli River was a lot of fun, even with the water low we had a great 2-day trip. The break point for the trip is at the Trisuli Centre so we got to sleep in the tents. It was a nice feeling being on familiar ground, plus the head of Trisuli Centre was my guide so I finally got to meet him (he was in Katmandu the first few days). When we finished rafting, Tom and I helped take down the rafts and clean up then hopped in the trailer to come back to Trisuli Centre. The pictures don’t do justice for the ride, but the back two tires of the tractor were flat so the 15km drive took over an hour (felt much like a horseback ride). That night Iswori, the cook, wanted us to experience tumba. It’s maize and hot water in a pitcher that you drink with a metal straw. It tastes much like mulled wine and I’ve grown accustomed to the taste. The pitcher can be refilled as many times as you like and they say, “First time good, second time better, third time best”.

The two other volunteers met up with us again for a 4-day trek in the Anapurnas. We brought 2 employees from Trisuli which really helped navigate the buses and we got to know them much better. The trek was beautiful and we were lucky to have clear days to see the mountains. While trekking we didn’t have designated camping areas, rather hiked until we found someone’s land large enough to fit a tent and a family kind enough to feed 7 people. The last night we stayed at a small lake resort filled with boats for fishing. A women offered to take us around the lake in her boat for a small fee (what we thought was a pretty good deal). As soon as we finished she took off with 2 other women in boats and our guide informed us they were off to shop-maybe not such a deal. It’s hard to get frustrated thinking I’ve gotten ripped off cause it’s very cheap here. When we finished the trek, Tom and I took a day off to go to Katmandu in attempt to see Everest on the mountain flight. After many delays, our tiny plane took off and we got close enough to see the base but it was foggy so the pilot told us if we turned around we’d get a refund since we couldn’t see the peak. The morning we returned I was running to my room after school to take a quick shower and stopped at the sight of 20 people crowded below it and 6 police with guns. Earlier, on the way to school, Tom and I passed a crazy man waving his knife at his mother. Apparently she called the police and everyone was gathering trying to find the man for punishment. One of the guys thought it’d be funny to mess with me so he told the police I didn’t have a visa and was working illegally…they ignored it but as punishment for the crazy man asked if I wanted to cut his hair (it’s more embarrassing if a foreigner does it). Instead a tailor that lives downstairs got out his shears and started nipping away at the guys head. It was hilarious seeing the crazy man sit in shame while everyone sitting around drinking tea (police included) was watching him get his hair cut.

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