Another Break from KTM - Visiting Hetauda

So a few weekends ago, I went to Hetauda – and seriously, I really like the place. I’ve been before, but this time I did a lot more and hung out with great friends instead of attending focus group discussions. My housemate, Isabelle and I had been trying to make it to HTD for awhile (she’d never been) to visit with Sam and Nat (our Australian friends). It was a great chance for me to also meet up with my friend Jiwan (he does M&E for Equal Access out in the field). It was a great weekend… I definitely needed a break from KTM. Sometimes I forget how exhausting it is to live in KTM and then I go somewhere else and realize how nice it is outside of the valley.

our jeep before it broke. (photo by Isa)

Isa and I left on Saturday morning and had a pretty uneventful trip… except for our jeep breaking an hour and half outside of Hetauda. I had never actually seen a wheel break off of an axle until that day. I felt bad for the driver, because he was being SO careful the whole trip. Usually drivers around here are speeding around corners, honking way in advance to let everyone within range know to clear the way. Also they tend to look suspiciously young (like 12… but all Nepalis look really young, I guess). But our driver was nice to Isa and me, seemed a normal driving age and drove at an appropriate speed. And then there was a horrible noise and it was like one corner of the jeep just fell. So there we were, stopped in the middle of the road (keep in mind, it’s what we in the states would deem a one way road), with the driver jacking up the car under the running board. Makes no sense at all… but maybe he knows something I don’t. Like he’d listen to a girl tell him how to change a tire… or just how to jack a car. (I'm missing some photos... but there is one where you can totally see the bigriyo jeep!)

Luckily, jeeps were aplenty on Saturday heading towards HTD, so Isa and I had no trouble hopping into another one and finishing out our curvy, uphill/downhill, bumpy 4-5 hour journey to Hetauda. Once we finally made it into town, Nat and Jiwan came to meet us at the Motel Avocado, where Isa and I were staying – Lonely Planet says that the Motel Avocado is a quirky resort, but then again they also say there’s no reason to stop in Hetauda except to change buses. (Sam was out riding around on a 200 cc Pulsar motorbike for his friend’s birthday.) It was SOOO nice to see everyone. We walked a bit around HTD (there’s not a whole lot of town compared to KTM of course) and then went over to Nat’s house to make a Nepali dinner of daal bhat, tarkari, saag, etc. Nat and Sam are great cooks and together they would make a really good Nepali girl ;) Jiwan is also a great cook… and he surprised me by actually knowing how to cook! The food was great and it was just a lot of fun to hang out.

Cooking Nepali food at Nat and Sam's - Nat's manning the daal and Jiwan's got the saag covered... me, I'm not sure. (photo by Isa)

A typical Nepali meal (cooked with only 2 Nepalis present). (Photo by Isa)

Nat says (and like I said, Lonely Planet agrees) there’s not much to do in HTD, but there’s at least enough to get us through a weekend in town. Sunday morning, after a late(ish) breakfast at the Avocado (yum, banana porridge!), Nat, Sam, Isa, Jiwan and I went for a short hike up to Manakamana temple. All steps. Seriously, you all know how I feel about steps. It wasn’t that bad, though. And the view of Hetauda from the temple was nice… except for the foggy haze covering most of town. I’m not really much for temples (being a non-Hindu and pretty much just not being religious), but I do like a good hike. Jiwan never admits that he’s tired or needs water. The rest of us were happy to reach the top and sit for a bit. :) I like that I’ve been getting some chances to walk and hike the past few weekends. Gives me the chance to think and just not do work and enjoy Nepal more. And get ready for my upcoming trek with Sam!

Manakaman Temple - it was closed, but its not like we could go in anyway (well, I guess Jiwan could)

After the hike up, Sam and Jiwan resting for some minutes.

Enjoying snacks at the temple. (Photo by Sam)

Back in town... Isa and Nat taking a rickshaw to the hotel.

Me and a bangle cart... seriously, it's like a sickness for me. (Photo by Isa)

After getting back into town, we went around HTD again to see the market and get some snacks for lunch. Then I headed over to Jiwan’s house for tea and to meet his family. I really like meeting Nepali people and the families of my Nepali friends. I just wish I could do more talking with them. I should really practice my Nepali more, I know… It’s just so hard for me to formulate what I want to say quickly. Besides, my Nepali is bad and I hate to disappoint people that think I’m Nepali anyway. Jiwan’s family was super nice and I got see all of his photos. He’s been ALL over Nepal, so seeing his photos only made me want to stay in Nepal longer to explore all the districts. We talked a lot about Nepal and about Equal Access and SSMK. So I actually got some work done while hanging out which looks like the trip was actually thesis-related. Yay!

After a couple of cups of tea (Jiwan drinks a lot of tea… he is Nepali after all ;) ), he took me for a motorbike tour of Hetauda. He’d been telling me about all the cool things to see in Hetauda and Makawanpur district, so it was nice to get the Jiwan tour. Even though it was getting dark, he drove me up to the Martyr Memorial Park just outside of town. I just read about the park in the English social studies textbooks I’m freelance editing here, so it was cool to get to see the park. The funny thing about parks here, and also in Uzbekistan, is that they tend to be THE place to go for boys and girls to hang out alone. The park was pretty clean, though (as Martyr’s Day was coming up) and cute. At the park there’s a big rock inscribed with the faces of 12 martyrs from the conflict time. The park also a has a zoo, where Jiwan and I went back and forth on one animal that looked very much like a guinea pig to me, but which they just call a bigger rodent. I think they were guinea pigs which I LOVE, but even now, people in my office don’t know what they are called in Nepali.

It was nice to ride around with Jiwan on his fancy new bike – a 150 cc Pulsar. Nat has named it Prerana which means inspire. She’s named her bike, too – Sriste which means universe in Nepali. Gotta say, I wasn’t into motorcycles before (since Jen’s friend Carl had his accident in the states awhile ago), but seeing as it’s the fastest mode of transport around here… I’ve grown to like them. I feel a hell of a lot safer on a motorbike than I do in any car, taxi or bus I’ve ridden in here. And it is WAY safer than riding on top of a bus or microbus, for sure. Besides, I check with anyone that offers me a lift to see if they’ve had any accidents. If I was staying around Nepal longer than my 7 months, I’d probably take up learning how to drive a motorbike. For now, though, it’s just fun to ride on the back of them and see cool things.

The bikes - Sriste in front and Prerana in the back. (Photo by Isa)

And Jiwan is a great tour guide in Hetauda. Having grown up there, he knows everything about the place and he’s seen a lot of change happen. I asked him about the conflict time and what it was like. He opened up a little bit about it. I don’t really expect many people to just start talking about that part of Nepali history, but I am incredibly curious about it. I just can’t imagine what it must’ve been like to grow up in such a crazy time – bomb blasts, abductions, and curfews. As an American, we have no idea what it’s like to constantly worry about what’s going to happen next. From what I’ve heard from Jiwan and from others it sounds terribly scary. Coming out of those dark times, it’s no wonder that Nepalis have such great hope resting on this new government (even though it’s the Maoists in control).

While I was excited to spend some time with Jiwan and to get his thoughts about life in Nepal, it was also super awesome to hang out with Nat and Sam. They spent the holidays with me in KTM and I’ve missed them a lot since they went back to HTD. Nat and Sam are so much fun to hang out with. Monday was Australia Day (think July 4th for the US, but with Australian football and less of the sparklers), so we spent the morning before Isa and I had to leave eating vegemite on toast (it makes you as bright as bright can be!) and playing Australian football. It was fun to just play… made me miss playing catch at home or throwing the football (the American one). The vegemite I could do without… but I’m not Australian, so it’s not like I’ll ever really have it. :), It’s sad to think that Sam and Nat will be leaving Nepal soon. Nat’s been here living here for the past year for research for her PhD in anthropology and Sam came for the last 5 months to provide moral support. I’ll be sad to see them leave as they are SO my favorite Australians. Both are them are super sweet and just so fun to be around. I don’t think I would have gone on as many adventures as I have here if it hadn’t been for Sam.

Vegemite... yum. I think they use the stuff to brainwash Australians. ;) (Photo by Isa)

All of us after some Australian football. (Photo by Sam)

Nat and Isa on Sriste. (Photo by Sam)

Our trip to Hetauda was just a nice time to get out of the city and relax for a bit. I’ve been feeling a bit stressed lately about the thesis. I just can’t seem to concentrate enough to sit down and write the damn thing. And things at Equal Access have been hectic as well. It’s been months full of proposal writing for me, which isn’t really what I was hoping to get out of my time here, but I’ll take it. It’s definitely a good skill to have and one that all NGOs and development orgs need, so maybe someone will give me a job.

Jiwan and me waiting for the jeep to KTM to leave. (Photo by Isa)

Sushil Villa girls before Isa and I leave HTD! All that's missing is Sam (our Sushil Villa guy!). (Photo by Jiwan)

Out of the Valley

So a few weeks ago (I know… I haven’t posted in a long time) I had my first real chance to get out of Kathmandu Valley and see the real Nepal. I don’t consider Kathmandu to be “real” Nepal because as it’s the capital it’s already different from the rest of the country and it’s crazy. And you don’t really have to speak Nepali here because most everyone knows enough English to get by. So my first real chance to see Nepal was this trip to Hetauda. I spent a week in Hetauda (Makwanpur district) attending focus groups and meeting up with local producers and listeners of SSMK and Naya Nepal (another EA Nepal radio program that focuses on the political situation of Nepal and how youth can get involved).

First of all… I loved Hetauda. Since it is out of the valley, it already wins major points with me, but there’s just something about the small town feel to it that I really liked. I liked how everything was centralized and easily findable. There was one or two major crossroads… and all shops, markets, internet cafes, and restaurants were along those main roads. In the Lonely Planet guide for Nepal it says that there’s not much to see in Hetauda (true) and that most people only stop there to change buses (also true). But that can be said for any small town in the states. There’s not a lot of foreigners in Hetauda… you could probably count the number on one hand. And I think that’s another reason why I liked it so much there.

Hetauda was just Nepalis living their lives and going about their daily routine. There’s not a pack of tourists roaming the streets looking for western food. Kathmandu is full of places trying to accommodate the westerners because every tourist comes through. Hetauda’s not looking to impress the tourists because there aren’t really any.

The trip really drove home the fact that everyone thinks I’m Nepali. Every local I met in Hetauda automatically assumed I was Nepali… and would speak to me instead of to the other girls with me (an Australian who lives in Hetauda and my French roommate… both of whom speak Nepali well). So I spent a lot of the time having other people or myself explaining that I’m not Nepali (Ma Nepali hoina.). It’s kind of cool, though, you know? I don’t really get harassed as much as I did in Uzbekistan. A few Uzbeks mistook me for Uzbek… but my American clothes definitely gave me away. Here, I’ve started a small collection of kurtas (long, light, dress-like shirts) so what gives me away is my lack of Nepali skills… or at least my embarrassment of how little Nepali I know after 1 month or so of living here.

The best part about the trip? The drive to and from Hetauda. From Kathmandu, it is a 4-hour jeep ride driving on curvy, curvy bumpy roads up and down hills. But it’s all through beautiful hills (what we would call mountains… but since they’ve got the Himalayas which they call mountains, you can see why you’d call these mini-mountains hills!). If I was into the whole religion and god thing I would say that this place is God’s country. I mean everywhere you look is just so beautiful and amazing. Unfortunately… I didn’t take many pictures (or any really at all). I went back to Kathmandu alone… in a jeep full of Nepali men. After living in Uzbekistan and suffering through some roadtrips with sketchy Uzbek men, I’m wary of traveling with all men and drawing more attention to myself by breaking out my camera and acting like a tourist. So I didn’t take out my camera (sorry… but I’m already planning another trip to Hetauda anyway, so I’ll get pictures from that trip).

The trip to Hetauda was just what I needed. After a month of settling in to my new life here and getting over jet lag, sickness (stomach and flu/cold), and just getting used to Kathmandu, a trip out of the valley completely rejuvenated me. I’m much happier (which my roommates have noticed) and am finally ready to enjoy my time here. I’ve been promised at work that I’ll have more field visits… if it’s anything like this trip to Hetauda, I already love my job and my life here. :)