Three weeks since I last wrote - so you know you're in for a long read!
On Saturday 3rd February Clare and I went to Kathmandu with Purna in the VSO jeep. We waited until after 11.30 to check that our four friends from Birgunj were safely on board a flight to KTM, having cycled to Simra airport early in the morning before the banda started in Birgunj.
For Shannon it was her farewell to her placement and she had to leave some of her luggage behind; for Richard it was a quick return to Kathmandu, and he's still there, having had the Education workshop, a language refresher course and now being advised to stay because there is a new traffic strike starting from the weekend; Eric and Jocelyn managed to return, but have now been summoned again. With new volunteers arriving next month to replace Eric, Jcelyn and Colin (who's travelling round India)I hope they will be able to take up their placements unlike Geraldine and Nancy who had to stay in Kathmandu last year.
Well,we travelled over a new route-below the reservoir, bouncing along sandy and rocky roads high above a deep gorge, then dropping down to the valley. A completely different landscape from the jungle and paddy fields-bare in places - scenery for a western comes to mind,but all the time a great reminder about how hard life can be, not really very far from the capital. As we came into proper habitation at Pharping, our driver Panna pulled over at a motor repair centre (garage it wasn't). We had two punctures. Having changed the front wheel and pumped the rear one 'to last' we continued to the Ring Road, where I took a taxi to the airport - Stephen's plane should already have landed. (The puncture had delayed us, but the journey had taken less than four hours). Thanks to the fact that we had forgotten to tell Ste he needed photos for his visa, he didn't come out until just before 5pm, so all was well.
Having met up with the Gunj group at the Pacific, we spent the evening having pizza at the Roadhouse before watching football until the power went off - a sure sign it was time for bed.
Stephen and I then had two days in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur (cold and very dirty - the garbage problem was starting again and has only just been resolved -for the time being), two days in Pokhara (thick cloud hiding even the green hills and making Fishtail as much a myth as the yeti), 24 hours at Sauraha in the Chitwan National Park (encountering a traffic strike on the way from Pokhara, but meeting an enterprising hotel owner who organised us very well - no tigers, but many birds, two crocodiles, lots of monkeys, a snake that could have been a cobra and a rhino), two days in Hetauda (including a walk up to the temple and a home cooked meal at Urmila's)and another jeep ride back to Kathmandu, where we spent his last morning in Nepal visiting Pashpathinath temple to see the sadhus who were arriving for the big Shiva festival later in the week. Ste refused two offers of a 'smoke' but the sadhus certainly hadn't refused! The ten days went very quickly, but despite having had only the faintest glimpse of a mountain from the roof of the Pacific on the last day, I think we had a good time with plenty of sights, sounds and smells to remember.
The only mountain we saw, and the only yak I've seen so far, at the Mountaineering Museum in Pokhara
An evening view from our riverside guesthouse in Chitwan (we'd just returned from a 'cruise' on one of these)
Hindu holy men gathering for their day of legal pot smoking and incredible physical feats
At the Pacific, our home from home in Kathmandu
The morning after Stephen left, the education volunteers were bussed out to a very comfortable resort hotel on the edge of the valley for our programme review/planning workshop. I was very sorry that when we went into our third floor conference room, there was a stunning view of the Himalaya and I felt much better when it disappeared quite quickly into the clouds.
Our programme that day was disrupted because Purna (who was already suffering from a very sore throat and couldn't talk - very unusual) had to leave us because he'd received news that his brother had had a motor bike accident in Hetauda and was having a scan in Bharatpur hospital. Our Country Director, Tracey, stepped in to help out and the next day a very quiet Purna was able to rejoin us with good news about his brother's condition. He'd flown both ways and only been able to return so quickly because the American Ambassador (a very controversal figure here, because of his regular 'interfering' statements)had been visiting the area, so there was a plane available.
That evening it began raining and it rained all night (we were quite pleased - perhaps it would ease the electricity situation, and as someone in Pokhara had said,"If it rains down here, it snows up there and people don't come to see grey mountains")and all the next morning. As we were having lunch, we noticed the rain had turned to sleet. Once back in the conference (having been joined for days 2 and 3 by our partners - in my case Mahendraji, the section officer and the DEO himself!) proceedings were held up when our Programme Development Officer,Rima, suddenly stopped translating for Tracey, and said "It's snowing". We were as bad as the children at school - just gazing out of the window instead of concentrating. The Nepalis were as bad as us and were all saying that they hadn't seen snow falling before. We realised why, when we saw the papers the next day - it was the first time snow had fallen in the valley for 62 years.
The caption reads 'After 62 years snow in the capital'
The conference hit another problem when it was announced that on the following day there would be a Valley bandh (called by the indigenous groups who want increased recognition, representation in government and a federated nation based on ethnic groups - a further development after the demands of the people of the Terai). It was agreed that some of the partners who lived in Kathmandu would return home, but would come back very early in the morning before the bandh took hold (our DEO was back at 5am!). At the end of the final day those of us staying at the hotel were promised either a ride back to Kathmandu on the hotel bus (TOURIST ONLY notices clearly displayed) or an extra night's accommodation. It turned out to be a delayed departure on the bus. There was very little traffic - only cycles and motor bikes-but literally hundreds of people walking back to the city. When we asked why, we were told they had all been up to Pulchowki, the highest hill on the Valley rim, to enjoy the snow. People hadn't walked to work during the bandh, but had used the day to enjoy an unexpected treat.
As the next day, Friday and the following Monday were both Government holidays (Shivaratri and Democracy day), it meant I could enjoy a long weekend away and I'd agreed to meet Roz half way between Pokhara and Kathmandu at Gorkha, the capital of the small state which had been the home of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the leader who united Nepal back in the 18th century and who was an ancestor of the current royal family. There is an old palace/temple complex right at the top of the ridge above the village with excellent mountain views when the weather is right.
The climb is about 1200 feet and we did it three times over the weekend (twice a long way round and then the 'straight' route up the steps. We were rewarded with quite a clear view on Sunday morning.
On the way back down (it was only 8.30) we stopped for breakfast at a chiyaa pasal where we had curried potatoes and soya beans, lemon tea and fresh sel roti cooked over the outdoor stove.
I had an even better view of the mountains as my bus back to Hetauda went down into the valley at 7am on Monday morning. The sunrise colours on the snow was something I thought only happened in Joe Cornish photographs, but they are only stuck in my memory.
For once, the bus journey through Narayanghat was unhindered by road blocks and I was back home before 11am. After doing a load of washing (which was dry in no time - it must be getting warmer)I went up to the market to stock up on veg and go to the dairy. As I crossed the road to the fruit stall, I realised there was a gathering round the statue in the centre of the main crossroads (where I saw the King lose the peacock feathers from his crown a few months ago). Each of the four roads was blocked by rickshaws and there was a fire burning. Many people were standing watching and waiting. At exactly 4pm two young men climbed onto the statue, removed the black hood and proceeded to remove the King's sword, his glasses and his crown and then hack at hs knees until the whole statue toppled on to the road to loud cheers. I left then, as one young man made a speech and the other tried to fix a Maoist flag on to the empty plinth.
I knew it was Democracy Day and obviously many people don't welcome the King in the new Nepal, but I didn't realise, until I saw the news that evening, that similar events had been happening all over the country as a reaction to a statement made (illegally, according to the interim government)by the King the previous night. The plinth now displays it's flag and a large democracy banner (unfortunately I didn't take the camera when I went shopping, so I didn't capture the moment of downfall)
And so back to work. I was really encouraged by the positive atitude of Mahendraji at the conference - he'd come with an action plan all worked out, lots of interesting activities including school monitoring and support with RPs (which I'd been waiting to do since I came), so imagine my disappointment when I found out that he wouldn't be at the office all week, so we couldn't finalse the details, as he hadn't named specific RPs and noone else knew about exact dates. The DEO did return to Hetauda on Tuesday afternoon but was involved in metings elsewher until Friday lunchtime when he was summoned to the office by a concerned section officer. The concern was a report in the newspaper that the National Students' Union (Revolutionary) had been demonstrating in Kathmandu because, despite the peaceful situation, SLC (GCSE equivalent)exams were still scheduled to take place only in district centres and they had threatened to lock all DEO offices. Sure enough, as school ended (Friday is half day)a chanting group of 15-16 year olds from the secondary school down the road approached the DEO gates. Armed (with large sticks)police were in place and let in a small delegation of students - some older ones were clearly the leaders. After a short discussion with the DEO, we were all told to leave and then the gates were locked by the students.
It's hard to know what to think. Nepalis want democracy and free speech and the right to demonstrate are all part of that, but so are upholding the law and allowing people to carry on their occupation. The younger generation is only copying their teachers and other activists, but this week has left me wondering about the future and whether we shall ever have the chance to make even a small difference. It's hard to find starfish in this land locked country!
