Guess Who Went Bungee Jumping Yesterday?

Answer: Five Canadians.

Also, me.

Question: Guess who went twice???

Answer: Two brave Canadians.

Also, me.

!!!!

The option of bungee jumping has been brought before me several times since I arrived in Nepal.  Each time I’ve brushed it off as something that is “not my thing.”  Eventually, I started asking myself why in the world it’s “not my thing.” Do I have any other reason besides that I’m scared? 

So when my travel plans for Saturday-Sunday were postponed, I decided to join my Canadian friends on their day-long excursion to Bhote Kosi, one of the top 5 best places to bungee jump in the world. It’s located about 12 km from the Tibetan border in a beautiful river gorge. The bungee jumping and all activities in the area are run by Last Resort, a beautiful resort and spa with hot springs, canyoning, and so much more.  It’s absolutely gorgeous.

The bridge with the bungee jumping is 160 m in the air, which is about 550 feet from the river bed.  The bridge actually freaks me out considerably because it’s a suspension bridge and moves really easily.  We were initially divided into two groups based on weight.  My group was scheduled to jump before lunch, and the other would jump after.  It was a large crowd of jumpers – at least 40, I would say.  I was one of the first people to jump based on weight, and managed to make quite a graceful dive off of the platform. I actually got a number of compliments from strangers who described the dive as swanlike and very graceful. So, thanks Dad, for the two years of diving lessons. They clearly paid off, in a very weird way.

The dive itself is both exhilarating and terrifying.  There’s nothing in the world like it.  I kept my eyes open the entire time and loved the feeling of the wind rushing around me and the river rushing below me. It’s indescribable.

Four others in our group dove after me (the rest of the Canada group went canyoning), then we hiked back up the hills in the pouring rain over waterfalls while following a steep, poorly marked path filled with plenty of leeches eager to suck my blood.

Motivated by our bungee jump, two of the girls and I decided to go ahead and try the “swing.” While you dive headfirst for bungee jumping, with the swing you jump feet first. Instead of being attached at the ankles and hips, you’re attached at the waist and chest.  It’s the largest swing in the world –you fall for 7 or 8 seconds then swing across the river gorge.

So after lunch, three of us signed up to jump again with the afternoon bungee group.  Both bungee and swing jump from the same place, but unlike with the bungee, you can do the swing in any order regardless of weight.  Of course, I volunteered to go first out of the entire second group (I KNOW! I have no idea where this courage came from.)  Unlike my bungee dive, however, I was considerably less graceful on this jump (flailing arms and legs = not so graceful). Also, I had an awkward scream.  The swing is so cool, however, because you fall much closer to the river and then swing back and forth across the river valley. It’s an amazing view.

Anyway, I survived to tell you about it. I can’t imagine this bravery will last through my return to the U.S., so don’t start making any plans to take me sky diving or anything when I return.  There will be a video of my dive, but I can’t pick it up for a few days. So here’s a photo of the valley to tide you over.

In other news, I spent Wednesday through Friday in Bhaktapur at a camp for 31 students from 10 schools in the Kathmandu Valley, and will be returning tomorrow to teach a session at a camp for ECCA counselors.  Next weekend I’m heading to Pohkara for a few days, and then I have just one month left in Nepal! So crazy how time has flown by, and how much I still have left to do.  The monsoon rains have also started here, which has cooled off the city considerably.  It’s a nice change, but we’ll see if I’m still happy about it after days and days of rain.

I miss you all!

Love,

Lisa, bungee ballerina 

A view of the river from the top. 160 meters, my friends. That's over 550 feet. 

The bridge itself. 

New Post 3 of 3- Occasionally I Get Ambitious

Note 1: I have two other posts below this that are new, too. Impressive! Sometimes, I’m totally an overachiever.

Note 2: The internet won't post my photos of elephants for one of my posts below (insert joke about the size of elephant photos), but it would let me post two photos for this blog post. Go figure. Anyway, I'll post more photos for the post on Chitwan later. Sorry. 

I cannot believe how out of control my schedule has become.  I was in workshops and meetings through Thursday last week and in Chitwan from Friday to Sunday. Yesterday and today have flown by, and I’m going to be out in Bhaktapur for camp tomorrow through Friday, visiting a private school on Saturday and Sunday, and back in Bhaktapur for another camp on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  I then leave next Friday for Pohkara.  No time for clean clothes. 

I spent yesterday visiting an orphanage, a day care center, and two schools affiliated with the orphanage.  As you all know (mainly because I talk about it constantly), my real interest in traveling the world stems from my experience in an orphanage in Mexico. It’s still my driving force and my biggest interest. I’m hoping to have more time in several orphanages soon, but it was definitely an amazing experience.  I also went to visit the only children’s hospital in Nepal – one of the ECCA staff members was building a new house and his 8 year old daughter was severely electrocuted in the process. She had to have her arm amputated, and may be in the hospital for at least 6 months. The hospital was heartbreaking – parents sitting in hallways or sleeping on the floor clutching children with wounds or injuries.  The emergency room was the hardest to see – I glanced in on my way out.  It’s enough to reaffirm how broken and terrible this world can be.

I don’t yet have photos of the orphanage kids, but here’s two of the kids at the day care center. Most of these children are from poor families who parents are manual workers and cannot afford to watch them.  ECCA provides the funding for the food for the children.

Also, really sorry I’m not responding to emails. I hope to do soon, assuming I ever have free time again. 

Okay, now read the other two posts. I’ll be back at the computer on Monday my time, Sunday evening your time.

Love, Lisa

Children hanging out at the front door of the day care.  They were all over the place, and seemed quite happy with their situation. 

Children learning to potty training.  I'm completely aware that this is a weird picture to post, but is it not also fascinating? It's like an assembly line!

Chasing Rhinos in Chitwan

Note: I have been trying for the last hour to post photos on this and the internet is so slow that I could walk back to the U.S. to show you the photos myself faster than this page will load. So, I will post them when I return on Sunday, including one of me demonstrating my new elephant climbing skills. Impressive, no?

Second Note: I am attempting to post three times today to make up for my complete inability to keep in touch while I’m in Nepal.  So scroll down for the final one. There are photos for that one because I saved them there last week. Whatevs. 

I spent the past Friday through Sunday exploring Chitwan National Park with six girls from Canada who are in Nepal as part of a summer volunteer program.  Though my decision to go with them was a bit spur of the moment (2 pm on Thursday for a 6:30 am Friday departure), I’m glad I went.  It was a fantastic experience and one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been.

Chitwan is located in the Terai region of Nepal, which covers the entire length of the southern part of Nepal and is known for its farming capabilities and its position as a Maoist stronghold.  Because of where we were, we saw little Maoist influence anywhere, but it’s definitely still active here. Nepal is divided, more or less, into three geographic zones: the mountains (including Everest) to the North, the plains and hills (including Kathmandu) in the middle, and the Terai in the south.  The Terai is much like the Caribbean – very green, lush, and humid.

The Park itself is huge.  It is one of the last refuges of the one horned Indian rhino, and has a considerable number of tigers, leopards, Gangetic dolphins, spotted and barking deer, and wild pigs. It was heavily deforested until the government stepped in a few years ago and created buffer zones around the park where residents could use forest resources while learning how to protect the environment.

The Tharu ethnic group was the first to settle in this region after being forced to flee another part of the country. Chitwan was, at the time, marshes, grasslands, and swamps. The Tharu people cleared the land and developed an immunity to malaria (based on their diet).  Though the area has changed a lot since they first settled here, they’re still the major ethnic group in this region.

The trip was scheduled for us by a tour guide, and since we were the only people staying at the Lodge (only crazy people come to Nepal during summer months because it’s so ridiculously hot and rainy), we were very well cared for:

Day 1: arrival (6 hour bus ride), lunch, rest, walking tour of local villages outside park, watching sun set over Rapti river, dinner, attending local dance performance

Day 2: breakfast, canoe trip down the Rapti river, hike through the jungle, visit the elephant breeding center, help bathe an elephant, lunch, rest, 3-hour elephant ride through the jungle, dinner

Day 3: bird watching, breakfast, departure

I had to skip the bird watching and breakfast on Day 3 because my stomach and I got into a fight and I lost. However, I participated in all the other activities.

Bathing an elephant was, in my opinion, the best part of the trip.  They are so happy when they’re in the water, and it’s so much fun.  You climb up on the elephant from the side or from the trunk then hold on for dear life while it settles into the water, sprays itself, and rolls around. I was able to ride on an elephant twice during the bath.  Apparently, I have mad elephant riding skills, because I was complimented on my ability to get on and stay on the elephants.

Lisa Bower, Elephant Rider. 

Perhaps the most disgusting part of the trip was watching 9 and 10-year old boys flinging elephant poop at one another as they played in the water by the elephants. 

Another fantastic part of the trip was the cultural dance performance that we attended on Friday night. The performance consisted of 5 or 6 dances performed by maybe 15 guys.  All 7 of us fell in love with the same dancer because he had so much energy onstage, and also because he dances with fire and who doesn’t love a guy that dances with fire?

Anyway, during the last song, they invited audience members onstage to join in the dancing.  Four of us (myself included) went onstage and busted out some Tharu dance moves.   We didn’t attend the show our second night in Chitwan, but our lodge was located right next door to the performance hall, so we sat outside listening to the beat of the drums and talking about the show with our travel guide.  When one of the girls in my group, Janna, told our travel guide about our favorite dancer, he promptly walked next door and pulled the guy OFF STAGE DURING THE PERFORMANCE to come talk to us. Not only did he then invite us backstage to watch his fire performance again, but 5 of us (myself included, again) slipped onstage during the final dance to bust some Tharu dance moves for a second night in a row.

Lisa Bower, Tharu Cultural Dancer.

I have so many hidden talents!!!

One of the other girls has photos, so I’ll post them when I get them.

Excluding my time with former roommate Lilian, this trip to Chitwan was the only interaction I have had with Western females since I arrived in Nepal. It’s incredibly strange to go from spending the majority of your day with Nepali men to hanging out with a bunch of women as pale and energetic as you are.  It was like entering a parallel universe.

This trip was also my experience with air conditioning since I’ve arrived in Nepal. I know you all think the Southern U.S. is hot, but I can definitely say that Nepal is by far hotter.  So hot and humid that I swear I’ll never complain about heat in the U.S. again. While in Chitwan, the temperature was, on average, 45 degrees.  Plus humidity.  I sweated through every clothing item that I brought with me within 5 to 10 minutes from leaving my room. While the AC was so nice to have, the load shedding schedule often left us sweltering in our rooms without any relief.  I wasn’t feeling so great this trip, and the temperature certainly didn’t help.  They said the average temperature in the afternoon while we were there was 45 Celsius.  That's 113 Fahrenheit. Plus humidity. I'm lucky I didn't melt. 

Thinking that it would be very hot (correct), I packed a couple of tank tops and then several light colored, light weight short-sleeved shirts for this trip.  Unfortunately, however, my shirts of choice were white and yellow. Which, as it turns out, are colors that make rhinos angry, and thus, should not be worn while walking or “elephanting” through the jungle.  Fantastic.

We did not see any rhinos during our walk, but did hear a barking deer (it’s exactly like it sounds) slowly meet it’s demise, and then saw 4 rhinos hanging out in three separate areas during the elephant jungle walk.  

Though I did enjoy it overall, the elephant walk was not my favorite..  First, because it was incredibly uncomfortable to sit for three hours smooshed into a tiny wooden “crate” with three other people.  Second, because elephant drivers are not always nice to their elephants, and it makes me angry.  Our elephant got a little feisty a couple of times, and was made to suffer for it by our driver.   At one point, the elephant drivers started provoking the elephants to throw sticks at the rhino.  Seems like a fantastic idea, right?

On our canoe trip, we saw both types of crocodiles in the park: the fish-eating crocodile, and the “man-eating” crocodile who, according to our guide, only likes to eat white people.  Fantastic.  All odds were against me on this trip. 

Anyway, sorry for no photos. I'll post them soon. Or not, depending on the attitude of the internet and when I'm back in the office again. 

Celebrating One Month of Chaos and Dal Bhat

Last Wednesday was my 1-month anniversary of my arrival in Nepal. Can you tell I’m a bit behind these days?

I think one of the hardest things about doing a trip like this is that every day is a challenge.  Things I’ve always taken for granted in the U.S. – buying groceries, for example, or riding the bus – is so much harder in a foreign country. It’s a great learning experience, but seriously exhausting some days.

So, let’s reflect on some things that have changed in the past month. 

1. As chaotic as Kathmandu is, it no longer overwhelms me.  Yes, it’s dirty. And polluted.  And in desperate need of zoning.  But there’s also a rhythm to life here.  People work all the time, it seems, but they take their time doing the work and they usually enjoy doing it.  There’s no separation between work and life like there is the in United States.  Family is incredibly important, as is culture and heritage.  People truly enjoy being together.  The longer I’m here, the more I see beyond the chaos. I really like it here, more than I ever expected that I would. But no worries, I’m not staying. I’ve killed enough cockroaches here to make me seriously look forward to a happy return to the U.S.

2. Nepal is, by far, more respectful to foreigners than any other place I’ve visited.  Though people stare (and stop what they’re doing in order to stare), few make obvious comments or approach you.  The U.S. presence is limited here – Europe has a far bigger influence.   For the most part, the stares no longer bother me.  It’s really only irritating when you do something stupid (trip, get on the wrong bus, etc) and you realize that EVERYONE was watching.  There’s nothing to do but laugh at yourself at that point, since everyone else already is.

3. The food here, assuming you like rice and spicy things, is really good.  The only thing I outright refuse is the curd (aka, plain, chunky yogurt).  Though I occasionally have to detox on rice, I love the tea, the dhal curry (some type of vegetable and curry), the fruits (lychees, mangos), the cheese, and the lentils.  Newari food is equally good, though they place a heavier emphasis on meats.  The ice cream is also really good – I had it four times last week. They have this flavor called 21 Love that I was totally intrigued by until I realized that it was just chocolate chips and vanilla. Letdown, but still delicious.  The milk (from goats? Water buffalo? I have no idea), because it is unpasteurized, is serve hot. No thank you.

4. Strikes (bandh) have worsened in the last two weeks, which has been an interesting experience to observe.  Several Maoist parties left the government, and though there’s a new prime minister, a new coalition government still has not been formed. A few days ago several youth Maoist parties started fighting, and at least one youth was killed. During the strikes, no vehicles are allowed in the streets except for police and military vehicles and the U.N. (which is the only international agency I’ve seen here).  Anyone riding a bicycle or motorbike is able to ride down certain streets, but will, at some point, be forced off the bike by groups of men who patrol certain checkpoints along the streets.  There are also parades of people marching with Maoist signs, and plenty of others watching from the sidewalks.  It’s incredibly orderly, at least as far as I’ve seen. And yes, I’m always careful.  Little but might, I tell you.

5. I’ve spent about 90% of the last month barefoot.  In Nepali culture, you remove your shoes before entering work or homes or many restaurants.  Our office has a little shoe shelf where you can leave your shoes and pick up some house sandals.  I actually enjoy it.  I’m also a fan of sitting on the floor for meetings and gatherings.  Though many families own couches and dining room tables, it’s not the norm by any means, and sitting on little cushions on the floor is often more comfortable. That being said, if upon arrival back into the U.S. I kick off my shoes and make myself at home on the floor – don’t be alarmed.   

Random things you might find interesting, though maybe not:

•     I went to kill two cockroaches in my kitchen last night and realized they were hanging out with a lizard that had made his home by my sink.  Fantastic.
  
•     I participated in a nature club workshop last week where I presented a session every day on capacity building and motivation. In English. To 90 9-to-14 year olds Who knew I had a future as a motivational speaker? 
•     My Nepali is still terrible because everyone at ECCA speaks English. It’s embarrassing, really.
  
•     I am officially a Nepali television star.  I attended two different ECCA programs for World Environment Day two weeks, and ended up in the video for the event that was broadcast on Nepali tv twice.  Granted, it was for 2 seconds out of a 30-minute video, but I’ll take the fame.
  
•     Load shedding has increased because the valley is desperately in need of rain and there’s little electricity.  My backup power has stopped working, so I’ve taken to sitting by candlelight and watching the sun set through my kitchen window.  My return to the U.S. will be a rude awakening. 
  

Since photos are fun, here are a couple from my last few weeks.  I’m not in any of them, because all of those pictures have ended up on someone else’s cameras.  Maybe soon I’ll create a post dedicated to photos of me.  Because this blog where I talk about myself incessantly isn’t enough, right?  Look, I’m just trying to prove that I’m really here and not hiding out somewhere in DC (thanks Lisa and Dina for suggesting as such).

With some of the members of Prachet's family (my contact).  We may have made our own dance party one evening. 

Sushila testing the quality of water in one of the schools. There are only two full-time ECCA staff that are females: the cook and receptionist.  Sushila is a part-time staff member. 

Little girl playing with vegetables at this huge wholesale vegetable market I visited two weeks ago. 

Men resting by a temple in Patan.  I cannot for the life of me keep the gods straight in this city.  I'm lucky I know where I am half the time. 

One of my favorite photos of the trip.  Children at one of the schools in Patan.

Your average classroom for students. This could be for any grade.  There are no books or games, and very little on the walls. 

The Chariot-pull for the  Rato Machhendranath Festival for Hindus and Buddhists in Patan. The chariot is pulled through the street by men.  In this photo, it is crashing into yet another building. The energy is intense here.  

The view of the crowd at the festival.  Packed and so much fun. 

Students at the Namina Machhindra school on School Environment Day.  They're selling recycled cards. There were 7 competitions that students from different nature clubs competed on, including best nature mural and best school newsletter about the environment. 

A teacher and some of the murals at the event. 

Everybody's Got a Water Buffalo

(10 points to everyone who now has the Veggie Tales song in their head)

I’m quite far behind in posting about my trip to the hills two weeks ago, but it was a great experience and I think it merits a separate post.  To be fair, I’ve been out of the office 7 out of the last 10 work days.  I’ll be posting again tomorrow, because the creative “posting juices” are now flowing. 

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel a lot in my 25 years. I’ve seen few sites that rival the beauty of these hills.  It's breathtaking.

It’s an hour and a half motorbike ride out of Kathmandu and through the hills to the villages we visited in the southern part of the valley.  A very bumpy and muddy trip. The first village was reachable by motorbike, but the other two were best reached on foot. Because the schools are on separate hills, however, you have to climb down and then back up again to reach many of the other towns. There is one bus that travels between several sites on the hills once a day. Other than that, there were few vehicles in sight. Because we did the trip in three days, we could take our time descending and ascending again, which is good because it was ridiculously hot and my tennis shoes aren’t exactly idea for walking down these steep footpaths.  Each hike took several hours to complete.  The locals, of course, climb them in sandals in half the time that it took me.

The first night of the trip, ECCA staff member Binod and I stayed overnight at the house of one of the school’s teachers. It was reminiscent to me of the mud homes constructed by Native Americans in the southwest U.S.  Load shedding happens outside the valley as well, so we sat in the dark with the teacher and his family, eating our dinner by candlelight.  The house overlooks a number of hills to the West, and watching the sun set behind the hills is indescribable.   The second night we stayed in the community’s research center, which overlooks the Kathmandu Valley. Amazing.

Life here, however, is hard.  The majority of the people earn their living by farming (vegetables, mainly corn) or milk production (goat and water buffalo).  Trucks come every morning to pick up the milk from certain stations across the valley, which means that most families must haul their huge milk cartons up or down the hills every day.  Farming also takes place on the steep hills, so farmers must construct terraces and practice rudimentary irrigation techniques.  The entire Valley has not received much rain in the past 10 months, which has had a detrimental impact on crops and clean water. Two of the three communities we visited were very low on watr.

To reference the title, nearly everyone has a water buffalo in these villages.  Because cows are sacred (hence the reason they’re hanging out in the streets of Kathmandu), water buffalo is the meat of choice here.  Seeing as how I’m usually vegetarian, I so far have avoided sampling “buff.”  I did, however, also get to try some “local” fish, delivered to me in large chunks in a bowl, head and all. I had to gnaw the fish off the cartilage while the family watched. Easier said than done, people.

The houses here are very similar to one another: two story, mud and stone homes.  The goats, water buffalo, and chickens are kept close to the side of the home.  Kitchens are located downstairs, and those who can afford to build toilets have them located in little outhouses near the home (or group of homes).  Bathing is often done outside in buckets. 

In each village, we met with the principal, the teacher in charge of each school’s library, and the executive committee of the nature club (all students).  The nature clubs have been established by ECCA in more than 250 schools (and they’ve trained organizations to establish another 300 in other parts of Nepal, Bhutan, and India).  The clubs are hugely popular in the schools, and are run 99% by students with teacher/principal oversight.

The clubs encourage student awareness of environmental and sanitation issues facing their communities.  Through the clubs, students learn and teach proper hygiene, waste disposal, and water conservation.  They work together to publish school-wide magazines, hold academic competitions, paint murals on school grounds, and a number of other really impressive activities that improve the overall school environment.  Many of these schools have very few resources and little funding, so ECCA also runs a number of other projects, including: water purification, the development of school gardens and playgrounds, training teachers in good teaching methods, and creating libraries.  Each school is different – this is reflected by the diversity in the activities of each nature club and the types of programs that ECCA has in each. 

Binod and I met with each executive committee to assess how things are going. It was very interesting and heartbreaking at the same time to hear about the things that the students had to accomplish on their own.  One school was proud because they’d raised enough money from their nature club fees (about 10 rupees a year per student – maybe $0.15) to purchase trashcans for each classroom. Another school talked about how several students had taught their families how to dig waste pits at home to dispose of trash. The third nature club was offering loans to students who couldn’t afford to buy books for class.

I’m not trying to be political here (Hi Republicans! Hi Democrats!), but there’s a complete disconnect between the government (national and local) and the local communities in Nepal.  Anything that would be done by the national, state, or local governments in the U.S. (waste removal, development of bathrooms, provision of water and electricity) has to be done independently by the schools and the communities here. I personally find that appalling. Everyone should have access to water. Period. 

Anyway, here are some photos.   It’s your reward for reading this entire blog post.

 

The beginnings of the trip.  Nice mouth protection, no?

The hills surrounding Kathmandu Valley. Breathtaking. 

Binod meeting with students in Chaughare

The school in Chaughare. The school is extremely crowded. Kindergartners and First Grade students now share a class, for example, and tin dividers section off already small rooms into two.  The school is trying to build a new building, but does not have the funds to do so. 

A young girl with her baby brother strapped to her back.  This was very common, and the most convenient way for women to carry their children while they work. 

One in a long series of photos of these kids. We had a bit of a "photo shoot" one evening.  They're part of the Tamang community in Nepal, I believe. 

One of the many amazing views.  This picture doesn't do it justice. 

Water buffalo.  They're not a friendly sort. 

Beginning my descent from Dalchoki to Sankhu. I look relatively energized. That does not last. 

Students in the Dalchoki Secondary School. The boy in the middle raced us while on motorbike. He won by far. 

Students at the Dalchoki school.  The school has an amazing view of the valley. Students walk up to 2 hours every day to reach the school. 

Clothes drying on a fence overlooking a grouping of houses.