Usually I stay away from package deals. This time though I did it, and it was the most touristy thing I have done so far. My current travel mate Jason was into going to a place called Chitwan, where Nepal´s best national park can be found. He was inclined to do so by booking a package deal ahead and I let him and the travel agent convince me that it was a good deal. It would have been, had the travel agent not blatantly lied to us. So just do not go to book those deals no matter how cheap they seem to be. You get more and cheaper if you organize it all on your own.
All in all though we had a fun time at the national park, even though the promised jeep safari never took place. We did meet Geoffrey from the US and Nicole from Australia and the four of us did all the organized activities together. Otherwise I think it would not have been much fun at all. But with the guys sharing the same fatalistic humor about the staged safaris and hilarious guides, trying to pretend it all were for real, it was not only bearable but actually fun.
We started of with a Elephant safari which means all four of us were riding on an Elephant. I loved that part most since Elephants are really cool beasts with a big heart (beating at a slow rate of just some 30 or so beats per minute). From the Elephant we saw Rhinos and Deer in the “Jungle”. What really happened (though most other tourist appeared to be immune to notice this) was that the Rhinos are there every day and used to the tourist masses tagging along. In fact, there is much reason to suspect that the Rhinos are even fed by the tour operators in order to get them to stay in this part of the park.
In fact, it was nice to observe the Rhinos but the truth is that this part of the park is a so called buffer-zone. That means it is not the actual park, but an area designed to protect the real forest. Tigers, which some tourist ironically really believed to have a chance meeting were nowhere to be found, of course. There is no chance to see Tigers in this part of the park. Maybe there is no chance in any part of the park at all since the numbers are tremendously low (less than 90, maybe less than 50 individuals).
However, during the afternoon walk we were in for a laugh, since our guide made the best efforts to create the suspense that naturally cannot be found in a staged setting. In accordance to him we have almost been trampled by both, a Rhino- which nobody saw, but we maybe heard (we are no experts on Rhino sounds and it may have been another guide hiding in the bushes), and an Elephant- which the guide claims to have seen, but we just heard some cracking wood. “Very dangerous wild Elephant” became the phrase of the day that kept us laughing. The safari basically consisted of hearing a sound, going towards it and, on a sign of the guide, run for our life´s.
In fact we did see some monkeys and loads of bugs. Some deer too, but very hard to see. Anyhow, we had our fun and so it continued in the same style with a river tour where we saw crocodiles, another Jungle walk to spot birds, bathing with the Elephants, checking the Elephant rearing station etc.
Concluding, if you plan on going to Chitwan, do not do it with a package deal. And consider twice if you want to come at all. There is not all that much to it, unless you have never been to a zoo. Which is maybe the best way of describing this place.
If you however add some hundred dollars per day you may find people who may actually take you into the real park. Where you will not necessarily see more than what we saw, nevertheless.
However, if you wanna chill with mates close to a national park that offers some non-demanding daily activities and the possibility of drink beer while watching the sunset over the national park´s river this is the place to go to. Else go trekking. This is at least where I am heading now…
I have always thought about rafting some time but never gotten around to doing it. A shame I didn´t. It rocks! I absolutely loved it. We did a rafting tour today on one of the easier rivers in Nepal. And even though, one man over board (wasn´t me) and a fair amount of sore muscles afterwards are prove that we had to earn our survival.
But seriously, I regret I have not done it sooner and I can not imagine it to have been the last time I did it! I loved every second of it! The rapids, the white water, the struggle, the wonderful view, the sunny weather, the fights with other boats, the swallowing of heaps of water, the exhaustion, the countryside, the excitement, just all of it. A “must try” I would say, and Nepal has the reputation for some of the best rafting on the planet.
From the rafting we went on into Chitwan, one of the main Natural reserve parks of Nepal. We attempt to do some safaris here and hope to see some wild life. In fact, I am not so sure we will see so much here, but I like the fact that I am in a rural area again. I want to enjoy nature as much as possible while I am here, since India is not gonna over much of it for me.
One downside however: check where you book your trip carefully. Metro Everest seems not to be a company that can be recommended. Jason and I met an American guy during the rafting who also had booked with Metro Everest travels. When we arrived at our hotel (which is part of a package deal) we were shown one room for all three of us. Hilarious if one considers that we a re individual travelers and we have booked individually. It has been sorted out and we have lovely rooms at Rainbow lodges. However, beware that some agencies in Nepal have a strange conduct of business. Metro Everest is a bad place to book your trips, I would say from that experience (there is more to the story, with promises not kept, but that is a boring story, so just take it from me: stay away from Metro Everest… stupid name anyway )
After two days of exploring Kathmandu I became aware that I had not been outside of a major city in…I don´t know for how long, but far too long anyway. I got tiered of the pollution in the air most, and in Kathmandu my allergy kicked in. Well, in a country that claims to have 4% of all the worlds varieties of flower species there should be something for someone with pollen allergy to choose from.
On a city tour I had met Jason from England who was interested in doing a little countryside excursion I had been thinking about doing alone initially. We headed to a town called Nargakot, enjoyed the sunset there and walked from there the next day. That meant getting up at just after 4 in the morning and feeling cold again for the first time in months. But we were rewarded with a sunset over the Himalayas. Mount Everest was hardly more than a speck on the horizon, but the view was spectacular.
From there we headed towards a place called Dulhikel where we were supposed to stop for a night. But since we felt fit and it was early in the day still we walked on. In the end we finished two days worth of hiking in one day, were sent the wrong way once, got a lift to the right place when we noticed the mistake and barely made it in time for the last bus to Kathmandu, all exhausted and merely running on spirit and pure will-power rather than our swollen feet, just to find out that the bus-drivers were on strike! Great. So we stayed in the only available Hotel in Panauti, as the town is called.
The next day buses were still not heading anywhere due to strike. Due to the 30-some kilometers walking the previous day we were not all too fit but had to walk some kilometers more anyway, because no taxi was available in Panauti either. To cut the story short, we made it back to Kathmandu with help of some bicycle rickshaws and some strike breaking taxis. I would have had the sleep of a lifetime, had I not had to get up at 5 in the morning the next day to catch a bus. Who said traveling was easy? I think I am going to need a holiday soon!
No regrets whatsoever however. The view during the walk was incredibly nice, walking high up on the rim of valleys. We met and talked to quite a few locals on the way and had tremendous fun. We hardly saw another westerner during our walk. Just one guy on a bike and a group of presumably German hikers. Other than that just local kids who followed us around in through their villages, people staring at us and smiling friendly as response to our greetings, people laughing about us or at us (we must have been quite a sight; two baldly shaved and tall white guys) and some of the most fantastic insights into the real rural live of the Nepali people. Often it felt as if we were walking right trough someones living rooms by mistake, and in a way I think that was literally true at times, as people´s life happens outside to a large extend.
Why so few people do this walk is a mystery to me. But maybe people trust pre-organized tours, which they have to pay for, more than almost for free, do-it-yourself trips?
How much you can trust the organized tours is a story for another blog…
In Kathmandu I do not get over the feeling of being caught up in a giant movie set. I am on the set of this Eddie Murphy movie with the “golden child” and some adventures await me around the next corner. Usually around the corner is a moto-driver and the adventure is to evade him (Moto-drivers are always male. See previous post for more info on driving and sex).
However, or maybe because of that it is a lovely place so far. For the first time I felt like breathing again, and that in a rather literally sense. Finally less of all the stench that seems to be following you around in India. Not as much of the urin/feces/undefined rotten smell and much less dirt. Right when the Airplane doors opened I felt like taking a deep breath, the first in an eternity it felt like.
The air may not actually be that much cleaner, due to the stuffy streets. Nevertheless, maybe one can smell the close proximity to some wonderful nature, or maybe it is due to the much more comfortable temperatures. Whatever it is, with or without fresher air, me and most of my fellow travelers coming from India feel like having arrived in a comfy zone.
Hard to explain, but if you plan on doing some traveling in the touristy parts of north India, or if you are there right now, going gently mad and reading this right now, Nepal may be the place you should throw in to your travel plans for good measures and a pinch of sanity. OK India is not all that insane sure. And I said it myself: I expected worse. Nevertheless, Nepal is refreshing compared to India any day of the week.
Even the crazy Kathmandu. I was warned of this place but I guess laying in a bed in Delhi (or actually sitting on the toilet in Delhi most of the time) watching Hindi television has made me harder…
A downside obviously is that Nepal has become (I assume it was not like this all along) a Disneyworld. There are too many tour guides and too many agencies who want to guide you somewhere. And while I am planning on doing some mild trekking or rather hiking it takes out some of the fun being bombarded with offers all the time. Besides, from what I hear people think some of the treks are so populated and well organized that one could do them easily without guide. I might just attempt that. So, if you never hear from me again…
For starters I will stay in Kathmandu and explore the area around. Loads of things to see, both nature and culture wise, it seems…
One sincere warning though; if you (as some hippie-types I have seen around here) have come for enlightenment, you may come in vain. Today I was asked a million times by locals what I was looking for (Hello sir, what are you looking for, I can help you find; that kind of thing). A million times I replied “enlightenment” or “wisdom” or “Nirvana” or “Shangri-la”. Not once was the answer anything even remotely resembling any of the Zen- or whatever buddhistic mantras or phrases that I have seen or heard anywhere before. Unless…”want taxi?” has been meant as a “mantric-guidance”…like the sound produced by one single hand clapping…maybe…or…maybe not…
Traffic in India is not propelled by petrol or other fossil fuels alone; it is propelled by “almost collisions” (AC), which saves huge amounts of petrol. India has discovered this as a means of saving money and protecting the environment, by reducing exhausts. The way it works is somewhat technical and hard to explain to the layperson but I will attempt to break it down for you, precious reader.
One driver, let´s say a taxi driver, will speed up as much as he can (Taxi drivers are always male in India, in case you asked. Suck on this you militant feminists ) when, for example, in the process of trying to take a right turn (or performing pretty much about any feat in traffic: speed up is the key word in traffic in India, fullstops). The driver will next aim at let´s say a bicycle rickshaw or pedestrian or any other participant in traffic and stay on the chosen target as long as possible. Only in the last split-second, only a blink of an eye away from total impact and personal human disaster as well as quite a bit of blood-loss, the driver will jack the steering wheel around so wildly and furiously that he merely and clearly too closely evades the opponent.
In a process that is both, too complicated to explain (because it would contain words like potential and kinetic energy and joules (not the name, the physical measure) and crazy abbreviations and some rather ordinary ones like “a” and so, too, and speed of light and quantum physics and stuff) and defying logic and the laws of thermodynamics, the car AND the rickshaw are both propelled dynamically and extraordinarily.
However, in short, air, which is compressed between the two, acts as an energy buffer that, if additionally swirled by sudden movement, as produced by insane steering wheel movements, will release more energy than it has taken to compress the air. In other words, you get more punch for the pound (not the lovely old ladies drink, which can warm you so magnificently, especially on long and cold winter evenings, though one would certainly also be pleased having to spend less on booth…but the boxing action, metaphorical for power).
Now the genius of this process is that the driver will force all the other traffic behind and next to him into ACs similarly to the one just produced by himself (still a male driver. Everyone driving in India is male anyway. And why would they not be?). In a perpetual domino-like process huge amounts of kinetic energy are produced and hundreds of liters of petrol are saved per square meter street.
This can be measured by square meter of street because the streets in India are packed so tightly with cars, motorbikes, rickshaws, buses, small airplanes and cows that the whole of India´s street system approximates, mathematically speaking, one completely covered area. By day and (especially) by night.
India´s attempt to export this system to Europe has not yet been perceived too well over there. The central and northern European states uttered some lame road safety concerns. Time and again Europe sadly enough puts human life before environmental concerns. However, some trials were reported to be going on in some states less squeamish Especially the experiments in Spain and southern Italy look promising!
In short, does Indian traffic drive you nuts? Totally…
Being forced to watch Indian television for some days is not as bad as it may sound. Well, mostly it actually is bad, but on the positive side there are several insights into Indian politics, social development, and maybe a humble glimpse of the Indian soul.
What struck me as completely neglected in western media is the suppression of the Christian religion in some parts of India by their Hindu neighbors [1]. Yet again I am startled in how many regions of the world religion is a problem for social peace. A current study claimed to have found more evidence for the hypothesis that religion developed due to a higher survival rate of communities who developed religious ideas. Because, so they argued, these societies would be more cooperative.
While this idea makes quite a bit of sense to me, the downside of such a development would then obviously be, that people with different religions do not feel this spirit of cooperation for each other. And that is what we, sadly enough, see all over the world. Anyone who sees religion as a predominantly positive force must be dreaming.
In the west we seem to stop to have done that, while in the majority of parts of the planet religion still plays a major role. In one of these documentaries about the current threat to Christians (and do not forget that we are too aware of the trouble Muslims have and cause with Christians and Hindus and basically anybody else in India too) some individuals reported that they will convert to Hinduism now, because they feel it is necessary for communal peace. They emphasized how they are not feeling forced by anyone, however, it is hardly a rational choice only these individuals took. Peer pressure and fear likely play a part to some degree.
Whatever the natural force for religion to develop may have been, ultimately it seems to be in the way of peace, on a planet that appears to be shrinking due to its increasing degree of interconnectedness.
Interestingly, yesterday the Catholic Church announced the first female saint coming from India [2]. While some Christians celebrate and believe it to be a good thing for the Indian Christians, one commentator nailed it best: this, or any other kind of superstition has no place on the 21st century.
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LINKS (the content on the pages linked to does not reflect my opinion on the topic):
[1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7591217.stm
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7666158.stm
What neither North-Africa with its occasionally questionable hygienic condition could achieve nor several trips in South-East-Asia, India did within two days. I contracted some ill gut-bug as seems. I have started taking antibiotics since there was no improvement after one day. I am anxious to see how that is gonna work out. If it does not it might not be bacterial and a hospital visit may become unavoidable. I doubt that though.
Hence I plan to move on very shortly, to Nepal. The best time to go, in terms of weather is now they say, so I will make it there first I suppose. Unfortunately I became ill the very day I was going to head for Agra, where the Taj Mahal is situated. The bug altered my plans.
In accordance to Lonely Planet about 70% of travelers get sick while in India. So far I would not be surprised if the numbers are that high. Since what I have seen so far must carry one tag especially: dirty. I described the conditions a little bit already, but it is hard to really describe with words how unhygienic and dirty Delhi is. Food is often prepared on streets with traffic going by, trash heaps scattered around, cows walking by and raw foods exposed to sun and heat for far too long. Additionally, it does not help that dishes to prepare the food in, seemingly, are not cleaned with detergents but often times with sand.
Hence I had a quiet day yesterday and also today seems not to get too wild. Fortunately I stay at a rather acceptable place that even has mostly clean sheets. I was going to move because my place is a bit outside of town. I am glad I didn´t do so. The places I checked out were centrally located in the main tourist street in Delhi. However, the scum and scam around is amazing. The rooms are without exception close to unacceptable. Cheap though. But I guess in that case it makes sense to pay 6 instead of 4 Euros per night. Now I even have a TV…a necessary component for those sick days in
Today I tried to sort our some tickets for my escape from New Delhi. On my quest I was not actually bugged by people as much as I expected. Not at all! And what additionally amazed me was that Rickshaw drivers and shopkeepers only mildly overpriced as compared to South East Asia. But maybe I was just lucky on my first day. Or the fierceness of my facial expression has scared them off from too bold experiments with my patience.
Some guy lured me into a travel agency to over me some kind of packet deal for two weeks of traveling. They were not too bad, not even too pushy. At the same time I was very skeptical of course. And I also said that to the guy. He thought I was confused. And he was right, though he was wrong about the reason. I was not sure how to go about my trip (in contrast he thought I was confused by India, but as mentioned my confusion was rather limited due to the positive surprise).
It does indeed seem to be much harder to get around than it looks like from afar. In fact many trains must be booked well in advance and the connections are not as fast as one would wish for. Distance are, on the other hand, rather large. Trains are still faster than buses, but from what I hear both are far from comfortable in most cases. We will see about that, but I do indeed think of more bus trips with horror. I feel I had my share in SEA for a while. But then again, planes are just too pricey for me. Tough luck of a backpacker I guess. However, trains are booked now and on Sunday the adventure starts.
Despite what I said positively about India above, make no mistake: it is horrendous! The dirt in the streets is beyond description. The smells of feces and urine at some street corners mix unpleasantly with the essentially yummy looking treats of the Indian cuisine which are prepared in street-kitchen or sold from mobile stalls. As smelly rickshaw drivers push by some miserably diseased looking and malnourished old man/women/little child looks at you and begs for money. While you try not to stumble over some guy lying on the sidewalk (not sure if he sleeps in the 36 degrees hot and dusty Delhi weather or if he has begun decomposing already) someone wants to “practice his English” with you and needs to know where you are from, friend.
Mysteriously people point you into directions without ever having inquired where you actually want to go. But that does not matter anyhow, since they already know where they want you to go. While you try to evade them a truck almost runs you over since you had to take the street for walking and wildly honks the horn. That you almost would have ignored owing to the fact that absolutely each and every participant of the traffic in possession of a horn, a bell or anything that allows for making noise does so constantly without interruption- or so it sounds. Besides, the sidewalk is reserved for work shops fixing rickshaws, preparing food, sleeping, parking bikes, cows who “graze” in a pile of trash bags and beggars. All this is happening while you try to absorb the strangeness surrounding you, like dresses women wear, the way things are decorated or the funny lines cars and buses have
written on them (on some buses that look as if they were the automotive equivalent of an undead who just crawled out of his grave it says “propelled by clean energy”, all along while they blow a life-taking exhaust into your lungs).
Yet, I thought it would be worse. But hey, it is the worst place I have ever been to! Naturally in many ways already after merely a day one of the most interesting too… However, just wait and see, I already overheard some guys´ conversation in the tourist info this morning, discussing how Agra was worse than Delhi. Congrats! That is where I am heading next…
Now I am on my way to India. The first leg of my trip has come to an end. In the end it was about time to leave. Otherwise it would have started to become a bit boring. I am looking forward to what India has to give me. Hopefully not as much trouble as I anticipate.
Unlucky as I am I have already seen India´s two prettiest female on my flight, since they were part of the group of air-hostesses on my Air India flight. So the point “finding the most beautiful Indian woman” on my list is already checked, which means there is one thing less to do. Well, then I can go on concentrating on culture. It is rumored that there is plenty of that in India.
But still, looking around the plane I have the certain impression that in India they select the women working on-board by looks primarily. Seems things are still in order in some corners of the world… Damn you, damn European feminist, damn spoil-sports!
There are some things you need not ask in Bangkok. Like for instance: sorry, where can I find a Tuktuk? Or comments like: isn´t it warm today? Also asking for a 7eleven would be quite futile since you are never further away from one than 50 meters (mathematicians the world over still wonder in awe how this feat was put in practice). Another question one need not ask is: where are the shavers?
I have been running around town in the quest to find a new cable for my shaver. I forgot mine somewhere along with so many other small things. I now know every single mall in Bangkok. And shopkeepers in every single electrical appliances store in town know me (not always in the best memory. I just say: a tall, unshaven westerner with a insane expression on his face, foam floating from his mouth, yelling the words “shaver, shaver” with aggressive emphasize).
One of my highlights was, when some girls in a shop were trying to point out where the Panasonic head office is in Bangkok, on my map (yes, I was prepared to take the issue up with the local CEO). I immediately felt reminded of all the studies where scientists tried to look into the topic of “sex and orientation”. I will only say this: after 5 minutes of searching (all the time I was thinking they were looking for the aforementioned head office so frantically) they screamed in joy: this is where we are! We took it from there; 6 hands running across the map up and down and left to right there and 10 minutes later- after having pointed at every single road at least once- I urged them to give it up.
Another little anecdote comes to mind. When I tried to help out a German couple the other day to find their way, she was holding the map and looking at it. I said something like “the place you are looking for is north of the river”, she replied: “ok, but on this map it does not say where north is.” I didn´t laugh. But I swear it was hard´n´heavy not to! He said with an emberrassed tone in his voice: “It usually is up here”, pointing at the top of the map…
Anyhow, back to the topic. Shaver. No luck anywhere. Whenever they had shavers they were for ladies (and the adapter didn´t fit). Makes one think what is going on? Then it suddenly all came together…men here have no beard growth. At the same time there are more transsexuals and cross-dresser here than in the remaining countries of the planet. So it is obvious why there are no shavers for men! Anyhow, hence I am without a shaver cable substitute still.
Whatever, tomorrow I move on to India. Maybe they grow manly hair there? My friend and former office mate Atul from Mumbai was hairy…My luck may just turn in favor for me…
PS. It seems that Panasonic has different cables for different appliances. That makes sense. Consequently the customer has to buy a new cable and cannot use any other, if something is wrong with the original. In Germany they seem to want close to 50% of the purchase price of the shaver! So yes, makes sense for Panasonic, not so much for the customer…
All in all though we had a fun time at the national park, even though the promised jeep safari never took place. We did meet Geoffrey from the US and Nicole from Australia and the four of us did all the organized activities together. Otherwise I think it would not have been much fun at all. But with the guys sharing the same fatalistic humor about the staged safaris and hilarious guides, trying to pretend it all were for real, it was not only bearable but actually fun.
However, during the afternoon walk we were in for a laugh, since our guide made the best efforts to create the suspense that naturally cannot be found in a staged setting. In accordance to him we have almost been trampled by both, a Rhino- which nobody saw, but we maybe heard (we are no experts on Rhino sounds and it may have been another guide hiding in the bushes), and an Elephant- which the guide claims to have seen, but we just heard some cracking wood. “Very dangerous wild Elephant” became the phrase of the day that kept us laughing. The safari basically consisted of hearing a sound, going towards it and, on a sign of the guide, run for our life´s.
