Morale is high in the Truck today. Already we can feel the differences between India and Nepal. We left late at 8:00 a.m. and set off across the plains to the foot of the Himalayas, which rose silently out of the haze in front of us. We started to climb, then made a chai stop at one of the many little eating huts built up the side of the mountain. Here, as opposed to the all-male environment of India, there are women cooking and serving at these stops, babies and little children crawl around, and there are no people clawing around the Truck or trying to sell us stuff. And…. the mountains; after the parched-plains of India, the “mountains” are a welcome relief to our eyes. Don’t imagine mountains like in Canada, but instead think Africa, with beautiful fertile valleys of green corn leaves, and red sunburst trees. The roads however, although paved are a challenge particularly when one half of an already narrow road is dug up for repair. We have already seen one Truck whose brakes failed coming down crash into the step slope rising up directly from the road opposite a drop of sever hundred meters through dense forest to a river bed below.
Here are some initial “quick facts” on Nepal that I can glean mainly from Lonely Planet. It has a population similar to Canada, about 26 million people, although the people here tell you less. Life expectancy is 61. Literacy rate is 63% for men and 28% for women. 82% of Nepalese live on less than US$2.00 a day. Average age of the population is 20. Nepal has apparently never been conquered or ruled by anyone else, but its political background is totally unstable. It is a democratic republic – some times! The King was stripped of all of his powers in 2006. Currently, there is a political emergency because the Maoist Prime Minister fired the Chief of the Military. The President said he couldn’t do this and re-instated him. So now there is no government but the Maoists seem to be in control. There are numerous parties several of which are communist and the Maoists. There is a democratic alliance, which is struggling to negotiate with the Maoists who are intimidating the rural residents by violence in their struggle to take supreme power. Nothing has happened for the past 8 months in the way of government management. The Prime Minister has been sacked and replaced in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2003, 2004, 2005, and again recently. 25% of the state budget comes from foreign aid, and the people say that only 75% of that actually goes into the country, the rest goes into the pockets of the government. Some people are scared that the King will take over again and that they will lose democracy. There is virtually no infrastructure. The government has invoked 20-hour load shedding (power-cuts) a day because there is no electricity despite Nepal having tons of water available for power.
We arrived at Sauraha at the entrance to the Royal Chitwan National Park and to the Rhino Lodge where we are staying for the next two nights in time for lunch. We immediately walked down to the Rapti River and paddled in its gently flowing waters. Lunch was delicious. We had about an hour’s free time and skipped into the small town to the Internet Café. We are happy and excited. Our trip to Mongolia and Russia is not cancelled. Someone booked a t the zero hour and saved the trip! I can’t quite believe that, and it has been suggested that either our agent or Sundowners were trying to do an “up sale” on us for $2000 each. But then, I can’t believe that either….so who knows!! At 4 p.m. we loaded into our Oxen-drawn carts to take us for a visit through the Tharu Village to the Elephant Breeding and Training Centre. It was a wicked afternoon and evening. The Brahma oxen are the most amazing animals. They are so pretty, and strong, and have such courageous hears. I feel for the way the carts are loaded though. The yoke lies directly on the skin of their necks in front of their hump. However, its not rubbed raw, and the animals seem in good condition. The village provided an insight into the Tharu way of living. They are so clean, and tidy- no garbage or litter anywhere, and their houses are full of character. Unlike India, the people and children are shy – and oh, so cute and pretty. It’s a great feeling when you make eye contact with a little kid whose face just literally beams when they realize you are focusing on them and a small wave solidifies the communication. We walked across a river in water to our knees, taking time to skip a few stones across the water. The elephant center breeds elephants, which they train at the age of about 1 or 2 for use in the National Park for things like trekking to protect the rhinos from poaching and other conservation and safety issues in the park. They use elephants because of their size and strength. We saw elephants of all ages, played – cautiously – with the babies and saw them being fed (100 sachets of rice and grass a day). It takes 3 people to prepare the food for one elephant. When we walked back to our oxen-drawn carts, a herd of oxen and water buffalo were being driven towards the side of the river and we dallied in amongst them talking to them and taking pictures and just thoroughly enjoying the sun-set and the shadows in the river.
Once back at the lodge, we were no sooner in our rooms than we heard quite a commotion in the main street of the town, so of course, we had to go and look and found ourselves in the middle of a Maoist rally. I haven’t mentioned that a couple of days ago there were riots in Kathmandu. The leader of the Maoist party has said that tourists will not be targeted, but they should be careful not to get involved and get caught in between the opposing parties. So once all the torches had been dimmed, and the protestors went home, we went in to dinner. Now, I am lying in bed, secure from mossy bites under my mosquito net. I haven’t slept under a mosquito net since I lived in West Africa in the ‘50s. It brings back a lot of hidden memories from my childhood.
The sad part about this Maoist thing is that one of the people we talked to in the street, said that people in the village feared for their safety, so were supporting the Maoists. I can believe this because even in Canada during the recent municipal elections, I heard this same story from a new candidate who told me that residents had indicated they couldn’t vote for the new candidate otherwise the incumbent could make their life difficult. How to clean up politics to remove the elements of power-over and fear?
Here are some initial “quick facts” on Nepal that I can glean mainly from Lonely Planet. It has a population similar to Canada, about 26 million people, although the people here tell you less. Life expectancy is 61. Literacy rate is 63% for men and 28% for women. 82% of Nepalese live on less than US$2.00 a day. Average age of the population is 20. Nepal has apparently never been conquered or ruled by anyone else, but its political background is totally unstable. It is a democratic republic – some times! The King was stripped of all of his powers in 2006. Currently, there is a political emergency because the Maoist Prime Minister fired the Chief of the Military. The President said he couldn’t do this and re-instated him. So now there is no government but the Maoists seem to be in control. There are numerous parties several of which are communist and the Maoists. There is a democratic alliance, which is struggling to negotiate with the Maoists who are intimidating the rural residents by violence in their struggle to take supreme power. Nothing has happened for the past 8 months in the way of government management. The Prime Minister has been sacked and replaced in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2003, 2004, 2005, and again recently. 25% of the state budget comes from foreign aid, and the people say that only 75% of that actually goes into the country, the rest goes into the pockets of the government. Some people are scared that the King will take over again and that they will lose democracy. There is virtually no infrastructure. The government has invoked 20-hour load shedding (power-cuts) a day because there is no electricity despite Nepal having tons of water available for power.
We arrived at Sauraha at the entrance to the Royal Chitwan National Park and to the Rhino Lodge where we are staying for the next two nights in time for lunch. We immediately walked down to the Rapti River and paddled in its gently flowing waters. Lunch was delicious. We had about an hour’s free time and skipped into the small town to the Internet Café. We are happy and excited. Our trip to Mongolia and Russia is not cancelled. Someone booked a t the zero hour and saved the trip! I can’t quite believe that, and it has been suggested that either our agent or Sundowners were trying to do an “up sale” on us for $2000 each. But then, I can’t believe that either….so who knows!! At 4 p.m. we loaded into our Oxen-drawn carts to take us for a visit through the Tharu Village to the Elephant Breeding and Training Centre. It was a wicked afternoon and evening. The Brahma oxen are the most amazing animals. They are so pretty, and strong, and have such courageous hears. I feel for the way the carts are loaded though. The yoke lies directly on the skin of their necks in front of their hump. However, its not rubbed raw, and the animals seem in good condition. The village provided an insight into the Tharu way of living. They are so clean, and tidy- no garbage or litter anywhere, and their houses are full of character. Unlike India, the people and children are shy – and oh, so cute and pretty. It’s a great feeling when you make eye contact with a little kid whose face just literally beams when they realize you are focusing on them and a small wave solidifies the communication. We walked across a river in water to our knees, taking time to skip a few stones across the water. The elephant center breeds elephants, which they train at the age of about 1 or 2 for use in the National Park for things like trekking to protect the rhinos from poaching and other conservation and safety issues in the park. They use elephants because of their size and strength. We saw elephants of all ages, played – cautiously – with the babies and saw them being fed (100 sachets of rice and grass a day). It takes 3 people to prepare the food for one elephant. When we walked back to our oxen-drawn carts, a herd of oxen and water buffalo were being driven towards the side of the river and we dallied in amongst them talking to them and taking pictures and just thoroughly enjoying the sun-set and the shadows in the river.
Once back at the lodge, we were no sooner in our rooms than we heard quite a commotion in the main street of the town, so of course, we had to go and look and found ourselves in the middle of a Maoist rally. I haven’t mentioned that a couple of days ago there were riots in Kathmandu. The leader of the Maoist party has said that tourists will not be targeted, but they should be careful not to get involved and get caught in between the opposing parties. So once all the torches had been dimmed, and the protestors went home, we went in to dinner. Now, I am lying in bed, secure from mossy bites under my mosquito net. I haven’t slept under a mosquito net since I lived in West Africa in the ‘50s. It brings back a lot of hidden memories from my childhood.
The sad part about this Maoist thing is that one of the people we talked to in the street, said that people in the village feared for their safety, so were supporting the Maoists. I can believe this because even in Canada during the recent municipal elections, I heard this same story from a new candidate who told me that residents had indicated they couldn’t vote for the new candidate otherwise the incumbent could make their life difficult. How to clean up politics to remove the elements of power-over and fear?
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