Step 1. Go to an east coast, private liberal arts school with a large body of international students.
Step 2. Befriend a nice guy from Nepal.
Step 3. Move to Thailand and plan to stalk said friend from Nepal “while in the same hemisphere.”
Step 4. Show up in Kathmandu with no plans.
Step 5. Get escorted ’round the city and the country with little to no effort exerted on your part because your hosts are so awesome.
As you can see, I have absolutely no practical advice for travelers to Nepal. Some girls in my hostel asked, and I had nothing. Nothing at all.
I can’t imagine what my Nepal experience would have been like without the intensely gracious hospitality of the Pande family. We were fed very well, with my friend Paulie refusing, flat-out refusing, all of my requests to pick up the check at shared dinners in restaurants. I was able to snatch a couple through pure wiliness, but it wasn’t easy. I am now carrying around a great deal of generosity debt that will have to be passed on to others.
Our short trip was packed to the brim with activities that exposed us to ancient Nepalese culture through temples both Buddhist and Hindu and behind-the-scenes Durbar Squares with well-curated museums. We also got a strong introduction to modern Nepalese life through late nights spent in cafés with friends and invitations to family parties. In fact, my biggest take away from our trip was that all Nepalese people are as awesome as Paulie. Everyone seemed to have a generous streak and a great sense of humor. Everyone likes to hang out, despite the 6-day work week.
For instance, normally when anyone asks about the tattoo on Andy’s hand, he will respond, “it’s from Twilight.” In the states, this is often results in a cold-shoulder snub or a gleeful hug, depending on what one’s opinion of Twilight is. In Nepal? Every audience got the joke and laughed immediately.
At the family gathering, we got a primer on some Hindu idiosyncrasies from Paul’s uncle, who let us know all about the old process of rubbing down one’s floors with cow dung and sprinkling oneself with cow urine to purify a space. Everyone laughed. Especially when considering what the Europeans must have thought.
How I would sum up Nepal? Everyone laughed a lot.
It was good.
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Pictures, from top to bottom: 1) Prayer flags from Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu, 2) the view from the architect-in-residence’s apartment in Patan Durbar Square, 3) a little girl feeding pigeons at Kathmandu Durbar Square with kohl on her eyes to protect her from jealousy, 4) a woman in a beautiful sari, one out of many, 5) a rickshaw driver.
9 Responses to How to Spend 5 Carefree Days in Nepal
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Hi! I'm Susan, and this is my travel journal. You can read more about me here.
best way to see a place is with a local for sure… looks amazing, so jealous of your travels right now! happy trails!
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Oh wow. It sounds so….happy! And like a very carefree way to travel. That is ideal. Was that little girl wearing crocs? And eyeliner? So interesting! Also, I would have none of those reactions to Andy saying his tattoo is from Twilight. I just wouldn’t get it at all. So, there’s that.
I meant to insert a link to a page explaining the tattoo, but I didn’t. It’s here: http://darktower.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Coffin_Hunters. And I’m pretty sure Crocs are the universal footwear of toddlers everywhere. Eyeliner is to prevent jealousy or something.
Very neat. A co-worker of mine is from that area and says he never heard of allergies until he moved to the states. It’s just not something they get there. Interesting stuff. Andy’s tattoo reminds me of a JPop metal band, mainly because it looks like a coffin but it’s still Andy so he can’t have that hard of an edge.
(I had to “Bring a piggie his cigar” to post this… I don’t know if that is the stupidest captcha system or the best.)
All I can say is “WOW”…followed shortly by “JEALOUS”. Would you have felt that Nepal is a generally safe place to travel if you hadn’t been attached to a local?
Shanna Schultz recently posted..Velo en Provence: Bicycling in the Cote Du Rhone Region of Provence
We met plenty of travelers who choose a good place to stay, worked with travel agencies, and seemed to be having the holiday of a lifetime, so I think it is doable. There are TONS of tourists in Nepal and the industry is well-developed, if slightly isolated from everyday Nepalese life. Since Kathmandu has doubled in size in recent years the crime rate has gone up, but generally foreigners are not targeted.
I think it would be difficult to do independent, backpacking-type travel, however. For one, dealing with cabs is just a pain in the ass, and you’d have to do a lot of it. Also, a lot of the beautiful mountainous areas are quite remote, and it helps to have transportation arranged.
If I had gone alone, I probably would have ended up in Thamel, the backpacker area, and would have gone on arranged tours to the sites and felt sort of annoyed about the whole thing.
Hey! I went to Lhasa the other day and it looked almost the same. Nice pictures. Did you go hiking? Was it cold?
We did a bit of trekking, and it wasn’t cold at all compared to Siberia! Most every other tourist comes to Nepal for SERIOUS hiking with SERIOUS gear, and I felt a bit out of place with my jeans and chucks…
Hi, Susan. I want to be with you when you are in Nepal.
I will take you to many places. Being with me, I will ensure you enjoy every moment. I simply like your photo and can judge that you are a well cultured and good person. I like to make new friends who are from a different nation. I am fun loving and a simple and well educated guy.