Reflections – Karachi, Pakistan

My final days in Nepal were spent in Chtiwan National Park, a former game reserve for the King of Nepal that was turned into a protected national park. I went to Chitwan looking for a bit of adventure and hoping to spot a rhino or two. Though I did not see any rhinos, I did find a little adventure in an unexpected way.

Sauraha, the village outside the national park, certainly felt like the jungle. The muggy weather ensured I had to shower and change twice a day. I spent the first evening exploring the local Tharu village with a guide. Unfortunately, the tour was not very informative because the guide did not know very much about the villagers. I did learn that the Tharu were quasi-nomadic tribes that roamed the malaria infested Terai foothills in Nepal and India. After the eradication of malaria in the 60s, Nepalis from the north immigrated to cultivate the very fertile land, forcing the Tharu to give up their roaming ways. They mainly practice Hinduism, but I was unable to get any sense of how their specific practices differed from mainstream Hinduism except the god of fertility, Lakshmi, was central in the Tharu religious life.

The next day was dedicated to exploring the National Park on elephant back and jeep. Both safaris were relatively boring when compared to the safari in South Africa. We come across dears and a number of wild boars, which were hardly the tigers and rhinos I had hoped to see. The most exotic encounters in the park were with the numerous insects that crawled up and down my body. To be fair Chitwan had a number of factors going against a successful safari. The first factor was the weather. Visiting in the middle of the monsoon meant that the engorged rivers running through Chitwan prevented anyone from going too deep into the national park. The second factor was the flora of the region. The thickets of lush green Sal trees that cover over 70% of the region, made spotting even the largest deers a difficult task.

An hour before nightfall we realized that our search for large game would be futile and we agreed to head home. Thirty five minutes later something unexpected happened: our jeep broke down. With no cell phone reception and night quickly approaching we had no options but to leave the jeep behind and walk. The night was pregnant with anxiety and excitement. And for the first time I felt the promise of adventure was fulfilled. As we walked along the muddy road, in total silence and pitch black darkness, breaks in the forest canopy revealed glimpses of a shimmering star filled sky.

After an hour hike we reached an an army checkpoint and were able to contact help. At the army checkpoint, outside the canopy but still without electricity, the night sky revealed the brilliance and vastness of the cosmos. Granted reader this may sound like the trite ramblings of a man who has rarely strayed too far from a city, but staring at the thousands of stars, made visible by of the lack of humanity, I could only think of the insignificance of man compared to the infinite nature of space. Although our manipulation of nature has hidden the night sky from us, the stars continue to exit and will shine brightly in the night sky long after our chapter on this planet has come to an end. It was the first time on this trip that I felt in awe of my surroundings. An hour later we were hurtling down dirt roads on our way back to the hotel.

The next morning I got on a bus back to Kathmandu with a girl from the safari. Halfway to Kathmandu our bus broke down. We hailed down a local bus and jumped on with some other tourists. On my last night Kathmandu, I downed some Manhattans, did some shopping and met two brother from Holland with whom I chatted late into the night. I flew back to Karachi the next day.

I have decided to end my travels with Nepal and spend more time with my family. Travel is a daunting task and requires more energy than I can currently expend. I plan to do one final blog post summing up my thoughts on this trip. Stay tuned.

The Return of Blogging – On a Bus to Royal Chitwan National Park

After four weeks with my family, the last of which was spent in Nepal, I finally have some time to blog. Traveling with your family is an ordeal in and of its self and deserves its own blog post. I am sure everyone will understand why I am choosing not to go down that road. In all fairness my family behaved remarkably well and for the most part it has been an enjoyable week. However, I am not here to talk about the dynamics in my family and we should move onto Kathmandu and Nepal.

From inside an airplane Nepal appeared to be bucolic paradise evoking in me romantic notions of an agrarian society. Kathmandu airport, straight out of “Casablanca”, only heightened my perception of a country insulated from the march of “progress”. Therefore I was not prepared for what can only be described as the unique madness of Kathmandu. After having lived in Karachi and New York and having visited Cairo recently, I can say Kathmandu is the most chaotic city I have ever seen.

Though not a bucolic paradise, Kathmandu with its combination of Newari style architecture and narrow streets manges to evoke a different version of the Third World in the popular imagination: the bustling urban center. Think of the Khan-el-Khalil reimagined as an entire city. There did not appear to be any sections of the city where one could escape the narrow streets and the tussle between pedestrians and motorized vehicles.

Walking down the narrow streets of Kathmandu it is easy to see the marginal status of Nepal in the world. Entirely dependent on the ports of India for the import of basic goods, Nepal is steps removed form the center of world power. That may explain why the global brands and chains that have invaded other major urban centers in the Third World are conspicuously absent. In time that will probably change but for now the billboards on the streets of Kathmandu are mainly advertising local goods.

Looking at the billboards I also noticed a great deal racial variety in the models, which is also reflected in the population at large. As an important stop on the trade routes from India to China. Nepal has been influenced for centuries by both East Asia and South Asia. The mannerisms of the people tend to be Indian (not surprising considering the influence India has on the country) but the physical features evoke a kind of East and South Asian hodge podge. Of course this do not reveals any racial diversity in Nepal but rather the problems with racial categories in the West. This is not to say that Nepalis do not divide along ethnic, but their lines probably do not confirm to our racial categories. However, as my brother said, if the British ever ruled here they would have issued identity cards to everyone and categorized them into either Indian and Chinese communities. Racial categories that would then inform Nepalis today. In Nepal one can clearly see the capriciousness of Western racial models.

There are many more facets of Nepal that intrigue me but I do not have sufficient information and insight to blog about them. We have been stuck in traffic for the past two hours and I want to take a nap. I will end this blog with a few nuggets of information.

In the Kathmandu valley there are school kids, in all kinds of uniforms, all the time, everywhere

The food has been exceptional.

The music regardless of genre, including live music, has been consistently great.

There is a bunch of outdoorsy stuff such as white water rafting, mountain biking, trekking, etc. that I did not get to do. If you are up for that in the near future holla at me.
Alright I am going to take a nap and hopefully wake up in the jungle.