Visitors!

My parents came to visit on July 14th, staying through the 25th. We met them at their hotel, and I thought they would be too exhausted to do anything, but they were geared up for activity. Shehrish and I decided to plunge right in, and took them to Thamel for lunch. I could tell that both were shocked walking through the chaotic streets. I think I forgot that begging children, drug slinging and traffic coming from every direction is not the norm for Winston-Salem. We had lunch at OR2K, and my dad found sitting indian style on the floor to be too much. After lunch, we went to Durbar Square, and both described the walk as 'sensory overload', as they were seeing and hearing many new things while walking the backroads to the temples. I remember being shocked by things upon arrival, but nothing surprises me anymore. We were immediately interrogated by a guard and asked to pay the obscene price for white people, and promptly left. I usually get by without paying, but I guess three white folks with backpacks and bright T-shirts threw up a flag. We took a cab to Shehrish's house, and some street kid was harassing my mom for money while we were stopped at a light. I usually just ignore them, but this dude was persistent, and I shooed him away with a pushing motion as he was hanging on the window. He proceeded to slap me in the back of the head, and everyone had a good laugh at my expense. Later that day, we had dinner at Handlebar, met Shehrish's family and called it a night.

The next day, we went to Swayambhunath, or 'monkey temple', in KTM. I had never been, and was expecting another run of the mill temple with a few monkeys around, but couldn't have been more wrong. Swayambhunath is an AMAZING Buddhist temple originally founded as a religious site in the 5th century with amazing statues and a massive stupa at the top. The walk up to the top is quite steep, and monkeys run all around, playing and eating. At the top, monkeys run around everywhere and the area is loaded with goregous statues, prayer wheels and wooden carving. A basic knowledge of Buddhism or having simply read Siddhartha will leave one drooling over the massive amounts of Buddhist symbolism and mythology. I was angry with Shehrish for never having taken me before, as the temple is easily the coolest thing I have seen in KTM to date.

Bhaktapur and Nagarkot were the next day's activities, and both were nice. We had an informative tour guide for Bhatkapur, which would have been great if his English had been decipherable. The city itself is amazing, ancient temple upon ancient temple and amazing artwork everywhere. One such temple is dedicated to eroticism, and depicted numerous positions that would make the Kama Sutra blush. The tour would have been more enjoyable had it not been rainy and muggy, but was nonetheless quite nice. We then got in the car and drove to Nagarkot, a high city that boasts amazing views of the valley. Unfortunately, monsoon season weather obstructed everything, but it was still neat to feel as if you were above the world and on top of the clouds. We had lunch there, and then headed back to KTM. That evening, we had dinner in Thamel amid a wicked rainstorm. While walking back to get a cab, a drug dealer offered my mother hash and opium, which she politely declined. Other than seeing some guy arrested and whacked with a baton, the night was pretty low key, and we went to bed early to rest up for Pokhara.

Shehrish and I woke up around six and were at my parents’ hotel by seven to head to Pokhara. Nisha was picked up on the way. We had planned to raft for a stretch of the trip on the Trishuli River, and saw that it was rushing and muddy from all of the rainfall, great conditions for whitewater rafting. Shehrish and Nisha were apprehensive, having never rafted before, but both loved it. The rapids were surprisingly good; we were told to expect class 3 rapids, but there were many class 4's as well and the river was ridiculously turbulent. At one point, I jumped out of the raft and floated onward for a stretch with no rapids, which turned out to be a really bad decision. The cheap SPF 20 sunscreen I had liberally applied must not have been waterproof, as I subsequently battled the worst sunburn of my life, to be continued. We got to Pokhara that evening and dropped my parents off at Fishtail Lodge (nice) and went out to find a cheap hotel for ourselves (terrible). After beer and pizza at Moondance, we called it a night.

Early next morning we got up and drove about an hour away to start trekking. The weather was cloudy and muggy, less than ideal conditions for trekking. The first couple of hours we basically walked straight up, which was quite difficult until I got used to it. The four-ish hour walk was nice, and we got to our camp in late afternoon. I was fortunate to find an aloe plant growing nearby to slather all over my sun-baked knees, which were beginning to blister. Everything was cool and misty, as we were literally in the clouds at high elevation. After dinner and having some ‘rahksi’, potent local alcohol, with our guide, we called it a night. I awoke the next morning to find blood all over my ankles and bed sheets, a Silence of the Lambs-like moth on my pillow and a blister the size of a golf ball on my right knee. I had brought in leeches with me to bed, squashed the deaths-head moth presumably with my face and nearly collapsed upon standing with my severely burned legs. Undeterred, I ate breakfast, lanced my blister and we were on our way. Everyone covered their shoes and legs with salt to discourage leeches. The hike that day was beautiful despite the cloudy conditions. Being monsoon season, everything was a vibrant green, and trekking through the Annapurna range reminded me of scenes from Jurassic Park. We went slow as everything was slippery and wet, but made it to our next camp late that afternoon. Our camp was gorgeous and we had spectacular views all around us. I showered for the first time since leaving Pokhara, and discovered a trio of leeches feasting on the back of my left knee. The next day we awoke to an absolute deluge. The rain was heavy, and onward we went. Highlights of the day included a landslide five feet in front of us, a leech the size of a cigar stuck to my mothers leg, crossing a slick, thin log bridge, where falling (which easily could have happened) probably meant death either by drowning or getting mangled on rocks, and having one of the most satisfying meals of my life after trekking 6-7 hours. It was only ‘dal bhat’, which I eat almost every day, but I have never enjoyed food more. Upon getting back, the girls and I hit up a bar to celebrate the end of our adventure, and the next morning we headed back to KTM.

The last days in Kathmandu were spent shopping for gifts for my parents to take back and having dinner at Bhumi, the Newari restaurant where I ate lungs and tongue on my second night in Nepal. My parents were somewhat reluctant to try things, but both ended up enjoying all of the food, including the lung. The next morning they came to check out the school before leaving. I think they’re laid over in Korea now, and I hope they enjoyed everything!

Chester's demise, raging flames, parties and traveling

In a tragic turn of events, my favorite pigeon, Chester, was found deceased with two crows battling over his corpse. When we came up to the terrace, the crows flew away and we identified Chester through a marking on his stomach. Chester was always around for the first month or so of my visit, as he was nursing a broken leg and would always sit in the same spot. The cause of death was hard to determine, as we found the crows pulling out his intestines as if they were spaghetti noodles. Rest in peace, Chester.

There was a huge fire in Thamel last night that quickly went from contained to out of control. We were waiting in line to get falafel wraps and noticed a small fire in the corner of the street. People were frantically trying to put it out by pouring massive amounts of water on the flames, but nothing worked. I wanted to get far away, but Shehrish was intrigued and wanted to watch. The fire kept growing, and a large crowd had gathered. All of a sudden, the fire got massive and the whole street was engulfed in flames. The hair on my left arm was partially singed off. There was gasoline all over the road as well. The crowd started running at me and away from the fire, and I felt like I would be trampled. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and we took a roundabout way to get out of Thamel and avoid incineration.

How is it that a third installment of Transformers was deemed necessary? We went to the movies this week to see it, and it went on about two hours too long. I have only walked out of one movie in my entire life (the abysmal Alexander with Colin Farrell), and would have made it two had Shehrish’s family not been present. The final battle scene lasted over an hour with the robots battling throughout Chicago, and it put me to sleep. Shia LeBeouf is just terrible, and his new love interest couldn’t have been more vapid. Save your money.

Friday was Sherry’s dads birthday, and about twenty people came over to celebrate. There was a smorgasbord of Indian/Nepali food, and I found a new great food, ‘dhaibada’, essentially lentil balls in a yogurt sauce. A lot of Indian food has yogurt used in different ways, and I have liked all of it. The celebration was rambunctious and lasted until two in the morning. Happy birthday Rabi!

My parents come on Thursday to visit and I look forward to their arrival. It will be fun to see what shocks and startles them, as I feel completely adjusted to my surroundings and haven’t been rattled by anything for a while, except for the raging fire described above. We are traveling all over Nepal, and I am going to do the second biggest bungee jump in the world. Safe travels!

Monsoon Blues, Pizza Parties and Piracy

Monsoon season is underway, and I haven't seen or felt real sunlight in over a week. The sky becomes a bright greyish white when the sun is out, and it usually proceeds to rain all afternoon, with a break around dinnertime, and then all throughout the night. I can now empathize with individuals who justify tanning and looking orange in the winter by claiming seasonal depression; I no longer think that they're simply vain and trashy. It's hard to feel upbeat and energetic when its gloomy 24/7. Perpetual rain makes running challenging, as I have to be ready to go whenever there's a pause in the late afternoon. One plus is I get agility training by default, as the poorly paved roads provide a minefield of muddy puddles to dodge along with motorbikes and the occasional wandering bovine. I have developed muscle in my legs that I didn't know existed.

I committed an egregious tourist sin by submitting to my desire for familiar food and went for a snack with Shehrish at Pizza Hut, conveniently located next to a KFC to accommodate Nepal's ever growing demographic of white trash tourists. I don't even like Pizza Hut, and haven't eaten it since the cafeteria at DePauw had pan pizzas in stock, but the familiar signage was too much to resist. We entered, and unlike the tacky, antiquated decor of American Huts, this particular Hut was decorated in a fancy and luxurious manner, and I felt underdressed in jeans and a collared shirt. The menu was expansive and actually made the food look good. All of the Huts I have ever been to are filled with downtrodden families in faded NASCAR shirts, guzzling pitchers of beer and cleaning out the buffet of dessert pizza and the grayish-brown pudding, with at least one neglected infant in a high chair screaming its head off; in Nepal, we were surrounded by young families, and all the kids looked thrilled shoving breadsticks and pizza in their faces. I went conservative and ordered a personal cheese pizza. It came out piping hot, and the first bite may have been the best thing I have eaten in months. I have been good about trying anything and have enjoyed all of the food, but was sick of Indian food and wanting something familiar. It was greasy from top to bottom, plastered with salty cheese and liberally sauced. So thank you, Pizza Hut. It was everything I could have possibly wanted, and a reminder why Americans struggle with obesity and heart disease.

We hit up the Chinese market today to load up on pirated DVD’s and support organized crime. The area was really muddy, and at one point I was literally up to my ankles in wet mud. Another drawback to monsoon season is the mud, as it gets on your pants as well as all over your shoes, and cars/bikes driving by soak you by going through puddles. I usually try to buy copywrited media, as it looks and sounds better, but in Nepal I don’t have a choice. Getting an entire series of a TV show for Rs. 900 (about $13) is pretty sweet, and individual movies are about 3 for $1 USD. Unfortunately, season six of my bootlegged Sopranos series is a blank disc, but I do have the option of having two different forms of Chinese subtitles and previews of Hindi cartoons.

The men’s Wimbledon final is about to be underway, and I find myself watching tennis for the first time in several years. Afternoon/evening is pretty thin these days, as my other current options include Die Hard 4, India’s Most Desirable and Jersey Shore, which would tempt me if I hadn’t already seen it. Tennis it is, go Djokovic.