Days 22-23

Days 22-23 (March 22-23)

Waking up to another smog filled morning – what would be a nice morning haze at home is smog here. The hardest part for us in Nepal is to constantly breathe polluted air. The air at times is just toxic. We have met some doctors and nurses here and lung problems are chronic in Nepal at all ages. It is so sad to see such a beautiful place and wonderful people robbed of their paradise. As we said earlier, most of the trucks we see on the road are made in India and there appear to be no pollution controls on any of these vehicles.

This is the morning smog view - thick air!!

We had breakfast, checked out of the hotel, and got on the road at 8:10 AM. Aparna and Suresh knew about another road we could take to Kathmandu that would avoid the two lane construction area but it was 40 km longer. Suresh decided to take that road. Everything seemed fine at the start. We were on a flat paved road and Suresh was actually able to drive at about 40 mph. This lulled us into a false sense of security until we arrived at the mountains and started climbing endlessly along a one and half lane road with continuous switch backs. While this route was longer, we thought with less traffic it would take less than 4 hours. However, when we finally reached the top of the mountain, it was noon and we were only half way. Aparna and Suresh went to eat something while Conrad and I stretched our legs and watched the local villagers observe a holiday they call Holi. This a day when people buy multi-colored powders (all chemical based) and then throw the powders (sometimes mixed with water and placed in balloons) at each other. In some rare cases, they gently put the powder in another’s face by hand but this is generally the elderly. So there we were on the side of the road watching groups of colorful, mostly young people walk past us. I was able to get some to pose for a picture. As the day grew longer, the Holi Day got a bit out of hand as alcohol use is integral to the celebration. This year the government put out some stronger restrictions because, in the past, it became a habit to throw little plastic bags filled with water (often dirty, contaminated water) and powder at people, which Aparna said hurt badly when hit. Unfortunately, the villagers we passed had not heard of (or were ignoring) the government’s edicts.

Shamans practicing

As soon as we left the top of the mountain, we became stuck in an unforeseen traffic jam. Busses, trucks, cars, and motorcycles were parked on the side of this narrow road and people en masse were walking to a temple site the people flocked to for the Holi Day. This created another single lane road where cars going opposite directions had to alternate passage. This created the same gridlock we experienced on the other road coming out. Once we passed the temple with its pilgrims, we then began encountering children who were establishing make shift roadblocks by pulling ropes across the road. Once you stopped, they wanted money before they would allow the car to pass. A few times Aparna was able to scare them away by pretending to call the police but at some of these stations young adults were in charge and they were not as easily persuaded. They blocked the road with their bodies and were playing hand drums. When you stopped, they demanded to be paid for the entertainment. We paid a few times rather than create a scene. They were only asking for 5 or 10 cents so it was more an annoyance than extortion. Once I asked Conrad to get out of the car when it was just a few small children. When he did, it was hilarious. Because of his height (6 foot 4), all he had to do was get out of the car. The kids ran away screaming because they were not used to a tall white guy coming at them.

Even though it was hot, we had to keep our car windows closed because the kids who lined the street at each village occasionally threw water at the car (again, dirty, contaminated water). One time, Aparna was sitting in the back reading on her iPad with her window not closed. A young girl threw a bowl full of that filthy water at our car which came through the window and soaked Aparna and her iPad. Needless to say, Aparna was very upset. Suresh stopped the car and Aparna jumped out and scolded the girl, telling her how unsafe it was to do what she did.

When we finally arrived in Kathmandu, the Holi crowd was even more massive. Big groups of youth covered the streets. Because Holi Day is also a drinking day, we saw 2 motorcycle accidents on our way through town. This is the first time we have actually seen any accidents. Our driver said that this is a bad day to drive because many people get drunk and drive. There was much police presence but not enough to catch every one. We finally arrived home at about 5:15 - nine hours to drive a total of 150 km (90 miles)!!

Day 23 – the Holi Fest is over, and life is returning to normal. Aparna was supposed to meet a Dutch couple at the Hyatt and asked us to join her. When we got to the reception, all she had was a first name and the room number. Because the first name did not match the room number, they would not allow us to contact the room. We were there so we decided to go to the café for the breakfast buffet. We all agreed that eating outside was better than inside because of the noise level inside. So we walked outside on the terrace and found a free table at the end of the terrace. Another couple had just taken the table in front of us. Ute had a feeling this couple might be the people we were looking for so she walked up to them and asked if they were Dutch. They said yes and then turned out to be the very people we had come to the Hyatt to meet. The man’s name was actually Robert and not Tony and the wife’s name was Pauline. I love it when things like this happen. Obviously, divine coordination was at work. We had a lovely time talking with them and then they invited us to breakfast. We began talking about travels, cultures, and some spiritual stuff. At one point, Aparna’s brother (actually distant cousin but here everyone is called brother and sister) joined us. He is an engineer employed by the Nepalese government. Aparna asked him to come because she wanted to ask him about the brick making machine. He said he had seen it working in Thailand after the tsunami and thought it could work in Nepal. Aparna started talking about healing energy and energy work and before we knew it we were doing the Healing Prayer with her brother and the Dutch couple, right there on the terrace of the Hyatt. At 1 pm Aparna had to leave to meet someone at her house but we stayed another two hours talking with our new friends from the Netherlands.