The Adventures of Julie and Sam Continue…

So I love kayaking. I hate swimming, but love being on the river. With all the whitewater rafting there is to do in the US (and even in my home state of NC), I’ve never been rafting. So I’ve traveled all the way around the world to go rafting in Nepal. :)

Sam (my trekking buddy) and I went rafting in November, a couple of weeks after we got back from trekking. My Nepali friend Raj said, hey, do you want to go rafting and I gave an immediate yes and thought Sam would like to join as well because he’d never gone rafting before either. So a few days later, we were on the bus to go rafting on the Trisuli river. A couple hours outside of Kathmandu, we got off the bus a few hundred meters from our put in spot. We were going rafting with Adrift Adventures (the owner is of course a friend of Raj’s – the guy knows everyone). While Milan, our rafting guide was getting our rafts and paddles and PFDs (personal flotation devices or… lifejackets) together, Sam, Raj and I were packing up our stuff as our bags were going to be shuttled to our take out.

Sam and I – pre-raft.

Raj getting ready for the trip.

Sharing our raft were two Swiss ladies (neither of which had been paddling before), me, Sam, Raj, Milan, and his guide assistant whose name I don’t remember, but I’m pretty sure he was either high or drunk. Milan gave us the basic spiel about how to paddle and how important it is to listen to him and what to do if we flip or fall out of the boat. While still on the shore, I test the waters and Sam pushes me into the river. Keep in mind that it was November, folks. So the water was quite chilly. So of course I pull Sam into the river as well (you get what you deserve). Meanwhile the Swiss ladies are looking at us like we’re going to be heaps of trouble on the raft. (Aren’t Swiss people supposed to be fun? All the Swiss I’ve met here have been…)

Sam, me and Raj at the put in.

After getting settled in the boat, Sam and I go for a quick swim. Again, the Swiss ladies were silently appalled that we would even venture into the chilly waters, but it is the river after all and you don’t expect to stay dry, right? Did they realize they signed up for a whitewater rafting trip??? They weren’t very strong paddlers and Milan had to ask the one in the front of the boat to move back because we didn’t have enough power at the front of the raft. And she was complaining for the most part about getting wet. Yeah.

me on the raft... you can only take pictures when not in the rapids (obviously). :)

Me and Sam on the raft after some good rapids.

Sam, Raj and I had a great time on the river, though. The rapids weren’t big (probably Class II and III) but they were still fun. Sam was at the front of the raft as well and so he got a lot of the water. On one of the big rapids, Sam almost lost his paddle and just held on to the dry barrel in our raft. I wish I had one photo of Sam clutching the dry barrel and yelling for his mum. :)
We stopped at a small beach for lunch which Milan and his assistant prepared for us. We all soaked up the warm sun and played around on the beach. Raj and I thought it’d be fun to play shotput with the small boulders on the beach. Needless to say, Raj being as fit as he is can throw rocks farther than me. It was a lot of fun just being on a river again. And a clean river at that (hard to find in the Kathmandu valley)! Running around the beach playing was also a good time that the Swiss ladies didn’t take part in. They didn’t seem to enjoy the rafting trip as much as us, but what can you do?

Lunch on the beach.

Hanging out with Raj on the beach at lunch.

Sam and I on the beach.
The river.
The way to our campsite.

We got back on the river for the last couple of hours of rafting. Our rafting trip coincided with the whitewater river festival, so we passed through a kayaking tournament which made me miss kayaking even more (not that I could EVER compete). Our take out spot was a huge beach where all the kayaking and rafting competitors were camped out. We staked out a tent and unloaded our stuff.

That night there was a rave on the beach. Very unexpected for me, but I guess you take a huge open area and throw in a massive amount of westerners who just happen to be hardcore kayakers and you’re bound to have a rave. I skipped out on the rave (sorry, it would’ve made for an interesting post) because I wasn’t feeling well, but Sam and Raj went and said it was a little crazy. I guess some foreigners were caught having sex behind the DJ area. Thanks, guys. All the Nepalis will think that what all foreigners do. Sam came back to our tent a couple of hours later because he was worried about me being alone in a tent while a rave was going on with crazy foreigners not more than 100m away. Despite the craziness and the not feeling well, it was great to be back in a tent and camping out on a beach. It’s definitely made me want to start kayaking again.

The next day we were supposed to go rafting some more, but like I said, I wasn’t feeling well and we heard the upcoming rapids weren’t that great, so we decided to catch a bus back to KTM. The river festival was still going on, so all the now hungover and embarrassed kayakers were trying to get to the competition site with their boats and gear. I’m sure we were a site to see – all these foreigners with bright colored kayaks and dressed out in their paddling gear on the side of the road? If I were Nepali, I’d stop and stare too.

The kayakers were an embarrassment, though. The van Sam, Raj and I caught a ride on, a bunch of the kayakers threw their boats and gear on and climbed up on top. That’s not a problem, I mean you can hitchhike away in Nepal. But when we got to the competition site, they got off and took their stuff and didn’t even pay the driver! Their excuse? “We’re KAYAKING, we don’t have ANY money!” Seriously. WTF. Did they just expect the locals to happily cart them wherever they needed to go? Is it the locals fault that those kayakers missed the official shuttle to the comp site? And again, thanks. The driver kept trying to make the three of us pay upfront because he thought we were going to try to bail without paying as well.
Because I was feeling sick and the van was already crowded (even after the kayakers got off), the three of us decided to ride on top of the van. I thought riding on top of a bus was scary… but the little microbus is scarier. It’s smaller and goes faster, and the roof is not made to be ridden. The three of us laid down on top of the van, though and just slept. It was fun. Scary… but fun. I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.

The rafting trip was awesome, though. Sam and I are trying to figure out what’s next for the adventures of Julie and Sam. He’s already rejected my idea of bungie jumping. Something about “It’s Nepal and I don’t need to jump off something high on gear I don’t trust.” Maybe I’ll go on my own, we’ll see.

I’m so glad that Raj called me up and said let’s go rafting. I would love to go again, but I’m thinking my next trip on a river in Nepal will be kayaking. I like it being just me in a boat and in complete control. I totally love Nepal, though, if I can keep having adventures like this!

More of Sam and Raj and me.

Let the Festival Begin…

This month has two major Nepali holidays (at the beginning and end of October)… which means the office is closed and I get the chance to get out and explore more of Nepal and learn more about the culture. Last week was Dashain – THE holiday for Nepali people. I was told that it’s comparable to Christmas… but I don’t think so. It’s so much more… but maybe because my family’s Christmas is more about staying up after midnight mass and tearing through presents and sleeping at dawn.

Dashain is a 15-day holiday in late September/early October that celebrates the goddess Durga’s victory over a buffalo demon. So what does that translate into celebration-wise? Animal sacrifices and going home and visiting every relative you have to receive their blessings (with a little cash on the side as well). Most offices and businesses close for the last 7 days of the festival… and that meant one whole week off!

So for Dashain I headed to Chitwan region with my friend Raj to see how Nepalis celebrate Dashain in his hometown of Narayangarh. It’s a 4-hour motorbike ride from KTM to Narayangarh on one of the major highways of Nepal. Raj put his wife and baby on the bus and we headed out on the motorbike in what seemed like a mass exodus from KTM as everyone was heading to their village to celebrate Dashain. The highway was full of buses packed with people headed to the terai (the southern flat plains of Nepal) as most people aren’t from KTM, they just live there to make money. Lucky for Raj and I had the motorbike to speed past (safely, of course) all the buses with the puking-out-the-window women and children, peeing-into-water-source pit stops for men, and broken down buses with stranded travelers alongside the road.

Dashain is a big family affair… so we just hung out at Raj’s house for the most part. They slaughtered a goat (not Raj… he has no desire to do it himself) as a sacrifice… and because Dashain is also a holiday of excess, there’s enough meat for every meal for the week. We watched a lot of television and played with a lot of children (as his family has sprouted kids while still in their late twenties/early thirties). Kids love Dashain because you get new clothes, money, and there’s giant bamboo swings set up all over the place to play on. Seriously… giant.



kids at the swing by the Narayani River


Raj enjoying the swing.


The main event of Dashain, though, is the 10th day – Vijaya Dashami – which begins the marathon family visiting rounds. Everyone goes to visit their elders to receive tika on their forehead – a blessing symbolizing the third and all-seeing/all-knowing eye – which is a mixture of red powder, rice, and yogurt (to make it stick of course). When you receive tika, money is also exchanged (which I didn’t really get, but found very interesting). Sometimes you give money to the elder giving you tika, but then a lot of them gave me money and I didn’t even do anything. I felt bad taking their money… I mean, it’s not my religion, culture, or even my holiday! I was told to just take the money or they would take offense. So I got about 400 NRS (around $5). We started at Raj’s parents’ house and then motorbiked all over Narayangarh and the surrounding villages to sit and chat with his relatives and receive tika. Raj was telling me that on tika day it’s customary to visit all your relatives and accumulate tika by midnight, however because he has so many relatives, he gets 4 days to finish the marathon. That’s 4 days of family time, folks. Plus the 3 days before hanging out with the immediate family. It’s exhausting… and it wasn’t even my family! Can you imagine celebrating Dashain in the US?? It already takes like 14 hours from Boston to my hometown in North Carolina! Not to mention all the relatives out in California! No way.

Me getting tika from Raj's dad.


I was really happy that Raj invited me to his family’s home in Narayangahr. It was great to really get to experience Dashain with Nepalis. His family was so nice to me and so welcoming. They seemed happy to share their culture with me. Kind of makes me regret not living with a Nepali family back here in KTM… then I remember the pros and cons of living with a host family in Uzbekistan.

The ride to and from Narayangahr once again made me so happy to be living here. It was so beautiful. The highway travels alongside a river through the hills back to KTM valley. Here’s some pictures that don’t even do this place justice. You really have to see this place to believe it.

Me, Raj, and his little nephew riding around Narayangahr on Raj's bike.


Morning view from the temple on a hill above Narayangahr


The temple with a queue of all the folks who also hiked up... but for obvious better reasons than mine.



Views from the back of the motorbike on the highway.

Bandh - This is when you run the other way.

So today I had my first Nepali lesson. Yes, a lot later than I thought I would start, but I have high hopes with my teacher. He’s pretty good so I should know basic stuff within a few weeks. I’m going to start with 3 hours a week and see whether I should add more or take less.

After my lesson, my friend Raj and I decided to go to Swayambuhnath – which you might hear as the Monkey Temple. Yup, heading back into monkey territory. What it is about temples that monkeys like I have no idea, but as long as the monkeys stay back, I’m okay with them hanging about. Raj and I were on our way on his motorbike when we hit the New Road area (seriously, it is called New Road) and heard a big commotion. Lots of yelling on the big road and a whole bunch of people walking/running towards us. Raj pulled off onto a side road and walked back to see what the big deal was. Sure enough… it was a bandh (or strike)/protest.

Bandhs are pretty commonplace here, but usually people know about them in advance and just stay at home. Raj and I weren’t among the people who knew about this one in advance. There were a lot of people walking very quickly away from the strikers. And I figured maybe we should head away from them, too? So Raj and I got back on the motorbike and found an alternative route to Swayambuhnath. We found out along the way that the bandh was happening because the President has not visited the important temple in Kathmandu Durbar Square. Apparently, the people are quite pissed about this… so much so that New Road (a huge shopping area) and even Thamel was pretty much shut down for most of the day. We saw the protesters again in Thamel… which kind of freaked out all the tourists, but still they just sit and enjoy their coffee. They probably think it’s a parade. Except the people are breaking things and destroying atms and starting fires in the street.

Swayambuhnath was very cool. Another stupa (like the one in Boudha) but this one is crawling with monkeys. The monkeys here, I had heard, are more likely to jump you and grab at you… but they were pretty calm when I was there. Swayambunath is interesting because the hill it sits upon is supposedly “self-risen” from the lake which was supposed to have covered Kathmandu Valley (just letting you know what Lonely Planet says…). There’s a statue in a fountain at the entrance where you’re supposed to toss a coin and depending on where it lands it’s good luck (only if it lands on the platform at the statue’s feet). Neither Raj nor I could make it… but this young girl got it almost every time! She must’ve been standing there tossing coins – at least 50 rupees! – for awhile. Everywhere you look there are prayer flags hanging all over the place. I wish it had been sunny so that the colors were brighter than they were, but I’m sure I’ll make it to the Monkey Temple again. I’ve also found that temples are crawling with young couples… all looking for a quiet place to hold hands and be all lovey-dovey. Really. It seemed like the only people visiting the temple were couples. In every dark corner or semi-secluded area, there’s a young Nepali couple probably forced to meet secretly because they are promised to marry someone else.

It was the same at Balaju Park – where we went after Swayambuhnath and Thamel. The park is just outside of Ring Road (which encircles all of Kathmandu) and is quite small, but nice with small ponds with fish, walking paths up the hill, and a sleeping Vishnu statue. It was nice to hang out with Raj and see stuff around Kathmandu. I haven’t been traveling around much… especially this week since I was sick. Plus, it’s better to see stuff with a local than with other foreigners.