Nepal review and back to Kathmandu 12/22
Last night was the first time we encountered someone who needed punched in the face. There were several guys staying at The Family House who were drunk. Andy got up to see what was going on since they were arguing w our host Govinder. Luckily he didn't have to intervene. They acted up again early in the am. Not sure how I slept for most of the 12 hours I was in bed.
We had a breakfast, I had a great bowl of muesli w yogurt and bananas, Andy had toast w butter (ghee eww) and jelly and we had boiled eggs and masala tea. These eggs are wonderful, can't get enough. We walk to the bus stop was a freakin commercial. Picture this: two backpackers walking down a country road, the fog in the sky, the sun rising casts a beautiful hue over the fields of mustard. Children yell at us from their houses and we exchange "namaste", "hello", and "goodbye"s. Grandpas riding their bikes down the road greet us w more "namaste "s. A mom w two children on the back of her bike ride down the road and they all smile and wave. The Nepalese people are the absolute nicest, and the children and sweet and adorable and have huge smiles when they see us. Parents put their small children's' hands together and say "namaste" when we walk by. So freakin cute. If I saw this in a commercial my cynical self would be like, that's BS. You see these little kids, less than 2, holding onto their parents' back on motorcycles and bicycles. Kids have amazing survival skills.
This country is a backpackers' dream. Amazing people that are so nice and helpful (where are you going? They ask as we wander around), cheap loding and food, and the food is delicious! I haven't had a bad meal yet. I'm actually so used to not showering, it may be hard to adjust to a daily shower back home (just sayin). The people all want to engage in a conversation, even the waiters hang around us while we are eating to chat. I don't even want a bathroom w a western toilet anymore- they really don't make sense. Andy wants to put in the squat toilets in our home but I don't think that would do anything for the resale value. The people seem very happy here although they have little. The men are probably more happy because they don't do shit. Andy comments on how all the women are doing the dishes (yeah I see but we don't live here so this doesn't help your POV). It's hard to not show PDA here. It's probably not accepted because the women are working all day.
It's hard to see the animals though. There aren't many cats, but the dogs are treated like shit (and the elephants). Some have dogs as pets, but the strays have rocks thrown at them, and need some flea and mange meds. Yeah I get it, when the people don't have much why would the dogs, but it's still sad. Especially when I wanted to take Blackie home.
The pollution and garbage everywhere is hard to take. People go down to the rivers to throw their garbage in. When there are so many countries in this world that don't give a shit about the environment, how can we make a difference? We are so fucked. Really fucked. You can't breathe the air in China anymore. It's not acceptable in Kathmandu either. The smaller towns are better but the burning of trash makes me sick to smell and creates smog. Mother Earth is going to bitch slap us hard. And quit using non reusable plastic! This shit is everywhere. Marina said the Congolese can't even farm because of the layer of plastic in the ground. Why use the thin shitty plastic bags? Even at home we say no to them and the response we get is "why they are free?". Not the point. Bring your own damn reusable bag. This isn't some California hippie shit. Plastic is destroying the environment and animals. We saw a cow eating a plastic bag in the city, he's a goner.
We got stuck in gridlock. Not in the city but on the side of a mountain. A truck broke down and the trucks trying to pass (like they do) fucked it up. Actually I think it was our bus that was the cause. There was a lot of backing up and yelling and honking but we got out of the way and back in the way. Pretty funny. The tourist buses are nicer but slower. I guess they care more about killing a bus of tourists vs locals.
The people are very resourceful. We saw large sturdy baskets made out of grasss, rebar used for bike kickstands, bamboo and old tires to make squat seats (soon to be showcased in our home in Fremont. We shipped $6 seats back home? Yes, yes we did).
After sitting through a traffic accident, the bus climbing 3k on a windy road, we finally made it to Kathmandu 7 hours later. They drop us off somewhere in the city- absolutely no idea where- it's not the normal bus stop depot.
We found Thamel and the old Avalon House we stayed before. Yes $12 might be pricey but they have hot water, towels, wifi, and a nice gate opener (person). We hit up Helenas again for the rooftop bar where we ate amazing paneer pakotas, veg momos, and Andy had fries chicken of course. Tonight we check each others head for bugs- we saw parents doing it to their children on the side of the road. It sounds like a good idea to us.