Neffus in Nepal: The Real Nepal

For months after Heidi and I arrived here in Kathmandu, people would tell us that this city is not the "real Nepal". They said that if we wanted to experience the glory of Nepal, we would have to get out into the villages where life happened at a different pace and where modernization had not yet altered the landscape. A few weeks ago, I had my first encounter with the real Nepal. Along with Bal Krishna, the director of one of MCC's partner organizations, I flew to a place called Okhaldhunga, which is about 150 kilometers east of Kathmandu. It was a 30 minute flight but felt like a world away. The adventure started in the small plane as we bounced around during a thunderstorm. At one point, when we were within sight of our destination, the flight attendant walked down the aisle, yelling over the roar of the engines, informing us that we were turning around due to bad weather. Thirty seconds later, we turned around again, and the flight attendant said we were going to "try" to land…not the most reassuring words I have ever heard. Fortunately, we were able to land without too much difficulty, just the normal jarring caused by landing on what looked more like a field than a runway.

After I recovered from the landing, I was immediately struck by the beauty that surrounded me. The place around the airport was the only flat surface that could be seen for miles. I was enveloped by lush valleys and giant hills (which would dwarf the "mountains" of PA). Terraced plots were literally carved out of the sides of the hills. I can't imagine the work it took to create them, but I marveled at their beauty. The air was clean and pure, the small village almost eerily quiet. I definitely wasn't in Kathmandu anymore. From the "airport", we planned to walk three hours to the town where we were going to meet with several partner organizations. Just as we started out, the rain returned, and a friendly shopkeeper informed us that we could get a ride on a jeep that would arrive in the next hour or so. We decided to wait and sure enough a Land Rover arrived. After bouncing around for about an hour, a small town materialized out of the fog and rain. We had arrived in Okhaldhunga.

It wouldn't be accurate to say that places like Okhaldhunga have been untouched by modernization. As we walked through the small town, I noticed many groups of people gathered in tea shops watching the news. Like every other place in the world, everyone in Okhaldhunga seemed to have a cell phone. There was Coca Cola and young men wearing Britney Spears t-shirts. The towel that I bought, because I forgot to take one along, was covered in the ubiquitous face of Mickey Mouse. But I could understand why people referred to this as the real Nepal. There was a night and day kind of difference from Kathmandu. I saw very few vehicles, probably mostly due to the difficult terrain. No one seemed to be in a hurry, and everyone seemed to know each other. Some of the differences were hard to describe. A sense of serenity filled the air as I watched children playing with toys they had obviously made themselves. The houses were not surrounded by gates and barking dogs like most of the homes in Kathmandu. This helped to make the people and culture feel more accessible, less isolated. One evening as we walked back to our guesthouse, thousands of stars filled the sky, and I commented on their beauty. Bal Krishna responded saying that you have to be in a dark place to fully appreciate the stars. I think he might be right.

Of course, it would not be fair to idealize places like Okhaldhunga. The geography that makes these places so beautiful also makes life quite difficult. One morning, Bal Krishna and I got up early, planning to walk to the top of a nearby hill to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, the hike was longer than anticipated, and we arrived about a half hour after sunrise. On the way down from the lookout point, we saw a number of porters, carrying huge loads on their backs, headed to even more remote places. They carry these loads, weighing 130-150 pounds, for up to a week. Several of the people we met were quite young, maybe a few years older than my nephews. Working as a porter is the only option for many women and men in remote parts of Nepal, particularly during non-harvest times. There are few economic opportunities for people in these communities, which is why many of them leave their serene villages lives to find work in Kathmandu or India.

Although I enjoyed my time in Okhaldhunga, I quickly realized that I probably would not survive if I had to live in a remote part of Nepal. After two days, I grew tired of eating lentils, rice and vegetables at 9 o'clock every morning and then again in the evening. Of course, there was no filtered or bottled water so I had to drink boiled water, which never seemed to cool down. The showers were so cold that I couldn't stop gasping. After five days, I was ready to get back to crazy Kathmandu, drink a cold bottle of water and have a hot shower (and of course, be with Heidi). On the day before we were supposed to fly home, we headed to the town nearest the airport in the middle of a torrential downpour. It was easily the scariest ride of my life. Several times, we had to back up to gain momentum for the steep climb, and I was sure we were going to back off the side of the road and plunge into the never-ending valley below us. My fear was combined with an uneasiness that was caused by the hand a stranger had decided to rest on my knee. I couldn't tell if he was trying to brace himself, keep me from bouncing around or if he just liked clutching my knee. I decided to go with one of the first two options.

Unfortunately, all of the rain caused our flight to be cancelled. This meant we were stuck with nothing to do but watch the rain and pray for a break in the clouds. I was so bored that I started rereading a book I had just finished. Fortunately, we met up with some friends from Kathmandu who were in the same predicament. We spent the afternoon playing rummy, and when the sky finally cleared, we ventured out for a game of basketball with some local boys. I awoke the next morning to a bright sun and a group doing yoga outside my window. The high hills were once again visible, and I again had to stop and catch my breath as I marveled at the beauty surrounding me.

We almost didn't make it onto our flight. The only plane that was coming to Okhaldhunga that day was from a different airline than the one we had originally scheduled. Bal Krishna managed to secure two seats that are typically reserved for government officials. However, thirty minutes before take-off, a government official showed up to claim one of the seats. At that point, I had given up hope. However, Bal Krishna made some phone calls, and just a few minutes before the flight was going to take off, they confirmed that we had seats. It was an appropriate ending to an adventurous journey. Now I can say that I have experienced the real Nepal.