Nepal Trip - April 5, 2007

Below is the second mass email I sent out to friends while I was in Nepal:

My last couple of days in Kathmandu have been quite interesting.

Kathmandu, although crowded, is a lot more manageable than New Delhi. The central area, Thamel, is where all the tourists hang and that's where I've done most of my photography. The area is quite old and has lots of winding alleys and streets.

There is so much pollution and dirt in the air you can literally feel it entering your body. A lot of people wear masks over their mouths and I would be doing the same, except that my smile is my WMD. I smile so much here because I think that disarms people a little as I'm taking their picture.

I draw a lot of attention and I attribute it mostly to my camera. People love it and love posing for me. They are especially delighted when I show them pictures of themselves with my digital cam.

Being a Westerner, you often get preferential treatment wherever you go. They scoot people out of the way so you can be first in line and call you by the most respectful of titles, like "ji" at the end of your name or just a simple "madam." And they go out of the way to make you feel comfortable, opening all your doors and offering you a seat. It's sometimes a little uncomfortable for me, although Paul swears you get used to it. People are just always SO, SO, SO nice.

Paul and I frequent this place called Phora for lunch. It's like a little Western country club of sorts and has a gym, restaurant, tennis courts, pool and spa services. The membership is a startling $35 per month (considering most Nepalis make around $334/year, that price is outrageous).

The Nepalis do what Paul and I call the "head bobble." Instead of nodding your head to signify yes, the Nepalis bobble their heads side-to-side. I read about it in Lonely Planet, but forgot about it. So the first day, unless someone said OK, I thought people were telling me maybe. It still throws me off, but I usually follow the bobble with an "ok?" and people respond with "yes" or "ok."

Every night there is a blackout around 7:30 PM (it's about 5 mins away from happening). Everything is black for about 10 seconds before the generator in the apartment kicks in. Obviously, most people don't have generators and I wonder how long the blackouts really last.

Honking is an essential commodity that, like carbon emissions, should be traded because there is a whole lot of noise pollution in this city. When there are no laws governing the roads, honking is really the only way to predict people's movements. I've observed that there are two forms of honking in the third world: 1) two short beeps are out of politeness for the other drivers. It is either to warn them of your presence in a blind spot or around a blind corner; 2) one long honk means "Get the hell out of my way!"

Paul warned me not to roll down my window too much in the taxis. I learned my lesson today when a 5- or 6-year-old boy stuck his upper body in my fully open window and put a Nepali newspaper on my lap. I was slightly startled and told him no. After about 30 awkward seconds, during which I had to pretend this kid's head wasn't 5 inches from mine, he got the hint and left. I rolled up my window about 7 inches and the driver laughed at me.

Yesterday, I went to a place called Bhaktapur with Paul's friend, Beven. Beven is also a photographer and was running some errands in that city (about 30 mins from Kathmandu), so he invited me along to take pics. We entered the main square, where the tourist police charged me an astounding 750 rupees, $10, which is actually ridiculous. Beven has a card which exempts him of those fees and even he was surprised by the price. We walked around the town together and got some interesting shots. I particularly like one that I took of this little boy's face behind a table that blends in with all the woodwork he is selling.

Who is this stranger taking my picture?

In the next few days, I'll be doing some travel with Paul outside the Kathmandu Valley to a place called Pokhara, about 5 hours from here. We're getting a car to drive us there so we can make stops along the way. We might fly back on some airline called Buddha Air in a 20 seater plane, but I'm thinking of vetoing that one. He also suggested taking a puddle jumper around Mt. Everest. No thanks.