Nepal

नमस्ते!

The day we arrived in Kathmandu, 5 taxi drivers were killed, and the strikes and critical fuel shortage were causing the whole country to be at a virtual standstill. The security situation outside of the capitol was also virtually non-existant, and there was a particular danger to tourists driving on the roads outside the city, as they are likely to be held up by armed people who would rob them or kill them! We suddenly felt quite wise having decided to take the plane from Delhi rather than driving here, and also very glad of our local friends who we were staying with. That said, we had a fantastic time in Nepal, we received unrivalled hospitality from David and Deepa Silwals' two sons Karan and Kumar who live in their family home whilst they are away.

We were shown around everything there is to see in the Kathmandu valley, and had beautiful Nepalese food cooked for us continually. Unfortunately Rhona's "pregnancy sick" seems to be heightened at the mere smell (not to mention taste) of spicy food...not too ideal here, oh, and were spending the next month in India!! They would keep cooking up an 'alternative' that Rhona would be able to eat, but 'not-spicy' to us means 'only little bit spicy' to them, which means 'quite spicy' to us! So Rhona has been an embarassing fuss pot lately, but we survived! Culturaly we found it strange that they would spend a long time cooking wonderful food for us, then wouldn't eat with us; they would leave us to it then gobble some up later in their room। I think they wanted it to seem like they were waitering us hand and foot!

Due to the security situation, we were not able to go outside of the Kathmandu valley, and many places were closed due to strikes, so we were restricted to the sights in the city which were actually very interesting. There is a lot of Hindu and Budhist architecture which is very intricate and ornate. Quite stunning carved wooden and stone doorways, pillars, cornices and overhangs adorn the old palaces and temples with monkeys swinging from the banisters. There are so many temples around the city, some as small as a telephone box, and some huge complexes. Invariably they would contain a scary looking carved god that people would go to worship, and the atmosphere was very dark and heavy inside. We also went to a gallery of old Hindu art, all of which were again very intricate, but mostly rather graphic depictions of sex and violence.

On one of our walks around the city, we turned up outside the Kings Palace where there were huge crowds and a very large military presence. It seemed like a bit of a demonstration about something, and we were just starting to think that this was the kind of situation that all the advice tells you to avoid, as it can potentially turn violent. We walked away and headed for home. It turned out that it was the ceremony when the new government was taking the Kings' flag down, and turning his palace into a national museum. Essentially it was the king getting booted out of power, and a symbol of the countries new start as a republic. Quite a momentous time, and it was apparently on the world news?

David and Deepa also run a church in Kathmandu which their son Karan is leading in their absence. It was the part of coming to Nepal that we were most looking forward to, and were very excited to get a chance to go there. It was quite an amazing experience, the church members are from the poorest of the poor in Kathmandu, most of them living in the slum areas, and the rest maybe just surviving in makeshift tents next to the horribly polluted river. The men would often have to work up to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week even just to support this life as the pay is so low. The church building itself was a brick shell with a leaking tarpauline roof accessed by walking down a muddy overgrown path. Despite this, it was filled with people that were incredibly friendly, gracious, and seemed to be smiling all the time. The whole morning was such a joyful time, with much clapping and singing. The whole service was in Nepalese, but occaisionally Karan would translate what was going on for our benefit. At one point he invited us up to share something about us and sing a song, but kept on asking us to sing more songs as soon as we had finished one! After the preach, every week they have a time when they pray for sick people who need healing. Most of the church seemed to come forward, and most of them were healed. There is a 93 year old lady in the church who lives in the slums, who when she first came to the church could not walk. Now she seems very spritely for a 93 year old even by UK standards!

On the Monday, Karan took Simon on the back of his motorbike to visit the slums where some of the members of the church live. He goes at least once a week to chat and pray with them, and he wanted to show me some of the living conditions that people live in. I didn't think it was too bad at first, but I was amazed that every house we went into, the owner would run down to the kiosk and buy us some sodas to welcome us. I thought I would burst if this went on, but luckily it was only the first few houses! The homes varied a lot, but were all only one small room the size of a western standard single, for 5 or 6 people to sleep, cook, eat, wash and in some cases work in. Some were quite clean with stone walls, whilst others were very dark, dirty and smelly, walls made of corrugated iron and cardboard with a mud floor. There is no running water or sanitation so you can imagine the smells. One lady had a skin condition which meant she couldn't go out into the sunlight, and was litterally a prisoner in her room. It was very interesting to see though, and definately puts things in perspective.

So after a long weekend we are sad to be leaving Nepal, half due to the fact that we were in Nepal but didn't get to go to the mountains or go white water rafting or anything! We will have to go back and do it properly next time, although we seem to say that about everywhere we go. We are looking forward to getting back to the comfort of Steve and Lori's in Delhi though, and are keen to get back in the van as it has been nearly 2 weeks since we were last driving it.

Max temp: 30 degrees C - lovely!!