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.