As planned the previous night, the taxi came to the hotel at 5 AM. The name of the driver was Lokraj, a calm and modest man of slim build. He could speak English a little bit, like most of the Nepalese I met. The plan was to go to Sarangkot, and 6 or 7 more highlights of Pokhara before the beginning of afternoon. As I was not interested in some of these places, I asked him to take me to see some villages instead. He first didn’t like the idea and said the villages are really far, etc. But when I insisted a bit, he agreed (In general, Nepalese people are shy and don’t like to say no).

When heading for Sarangkot, we saw lots of local people and taxis going in the same direction. After 20 minutes or so we arrived at the vantage point, and upon the first glance, I was flabbergasted by the awesomeness of the scenery, and the grandeur of the mountains as high as 8000 meters. I have seen the most beautiful mountains in the Alps, but there’s a significant difference between the 4000ers of the Alps and these 8000er giants. Their beauty and grandeur should be seen with one’s own eyes, and no image can depict it justly! We arrived before the sunrise and I shot the sunrise over there, though there were some clouds partially covering the mountains. Needless to say, over there was full of tourists, all coming with taxis, like myself.

We then headed for the Mahendra caves (where I got my Tika, the red mark on the forehead), and bats’ cave, and Devi’s fall. There were not so special though. We also visited a very long hanging bridge, much longer than the one over Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland. The driver, Lokraj, was very proud of this bridge as it was designed and built by Nepalese. It was almost 10 o’clock and by then, I had talked more, and got more acquainted with Lokraj. He was 32 years old, married and he had two sons of 12 and 8 years old. He was from a village on one side of Pokhara, and his wife was from another village on the other side.

We then went to the World Peace Pagoda on top of a hill close by, and for that, he drove on a very rough, unprepared road up the hill. I was amazed and at the same time kind of sorry for that, because he should have damaged his car by doing so (but the car was fine at the end of the day). The temple is in white and there’s a golden statue of Buddha on the outside. The hill overlooks Pokhara, Phewa lake and at the distance, one can see Himalayas, should weather permit. We did not see Himalayas though, as they were covered with clouds. Nevertheless, the scenery was beautiful and worth the effort.

Then I asked him to take me to his village instead of going to other highlights, which were kind of boring. He said it’s too far, and we can go to his wife’s village instead, which was called Fursha Khola. Upon arrival, people of the village inquired about him and me, and they were amazed by the idea that I wanted to see their village. In fact, I decided to come to Nepal to see the indigenous people in their villages, but when I arrived I learned that it’s not a trivial thing to do, and for that, one should trek for several days in remote locations, costing a fortune. So I was more than happy to see the life in closeby villages.

We then walked up to the house of Lokraj’s in-laws, which was situated at the top of a small hill, having their rice terraces around it. They greeted me warmly, and brought me a glass of cold lemon water. I started talking with the brother-in-law, called Chandra Kanta, one of the few Nepalese I met who was taller than me (in Nepal, I was significantly among the taller people). He had worked a couple of years in Dubai, like many other Nepali people I met. They usually work a couple of years in other countries, especially in rich Arab countries to earn a little money and start their own life back in their country. Chandra was learning Korean to pass an exam, which would then make him eligible to go and work in Korea. He was 26 years old and was married recently.

He showed me around the house, showing me the rice fields and their animals, a buffalo and her calf, two goats, etc. They keep the buffalo for milk, and breed the goats for meat. They had also various fruits, like banana, pineapple, mango, etc. He picked a pineapple for me, and boy was it delicious! They asked me to stay for lunch, and I obviously accepted. I was enjoying myself so much, talking and befriending these people. There was me, a foreigner city boy, mingling with the Nepali villagers, sharing their food and enjoying their company. This was priceless!

Our lunch was vegetarian food, consisting of three parts together. The rice, dal (which is a soup-like dish, usually with overcooked mashed lentils), and a stew of vegetables. This is typical Nepalese food. They pour the dal on the rice and eat the stew and rice together. They also brought some buffalo milk and told me to pour it on the rice. The food was delicious, and all the ingredients were cultivated by themselves. How many of us have ever prepared a meal that is 100% done by ourselves?

After lunch, we said goodbye and we went back to town. I marveled at these people, how much they work to obtain the most basic ingredients of life. They work for several months to cultivate rice, to breed animals, to make gardens of fruit trees, to obtain what we get in a half an hour visit to a shop. Anyways, I was as happy as I could get, and Lokraj had also grown fond of me, and he proposed to go to his home. He had a shop beside the lake, selling mountaineering equipment, run by his wife. His wife, very similar to her mother in face, welcomed me and was amazed by my delight on visiting her village. Their house was just behind the shop, and I met their sons, Tulashi and Bimal, the older and younger one, respectively.

Tulashi could speak English quite well, and Bimal just a little bit. I became friendly with them immediately, and showed them the photos I had made on my iPhone. And boy did they love my iPhone! They were fighting with each other to touch the screen and proceed to the next photo. From then on, whenever I had my iPhone out, they would immediately run to me, to watch what I do with it, and touch the screen! Steve Jobs!

I was done, and I thought I had a great time today, when Lokraj told me that he would take me to his village, called Naudada. I was not exactly sure, because it would be too much to ask and much more than what we had arranged last night. But I was thrilled by the idea, as I loved to do it. He said it’s far though, and needs considerable amount of walking too. I knew that he likes to do it too, so I said why not! He then fetched his older brother who was around and took his sons, and we all headed for his village.

The ride to his village was long, but most beautiful. Everything in Nepal is green, and there are hills after hills, and mountains and valleys and water everywhere. I can say kind of similar to Ticino in Switzerland, more humid but less touched. Along the way, I saw numerous scenes of village life, the animals, the rice fields, the men and women working in the field. After going up a little, he parked beside the road, and said we have to walk down from here. We walked down some 500-700 meters or so among the rice terraces, along the water path on slippery stones. I fell down once and hurt my back and blamed it on my being a city boy! Needless to say, the boys were running down like crazy with their flip-flops. Lokraj said he used to go up and down this route every day to go to school, and all locals, including his 70-year-old father do this path every day. Along the way, I saw several women of different ages, carrying loads of stuff on their back up and down. Village life is tough!

We arrived at the house after half an hour or so, and we saw Lokraj’s parents and 4 of his sisters (who were giggling at me for some reason!). They greeted us warmly and prepared us some kind of dessert, called Newa, which was made of lemon, sugar, chili, salt, and curry. Spicy, but very refreshing. Lokraj showed me the rice terraces, that were stretched all the way across the valley that we were in. All the slopes were made into terraces of rice. I again marveled at the amount of effort put into doing so. Every plant of rice is put in place by hand into a muddy ground, so you can imagine how much laborious work is needed for covering a face of a valley! The harvest is even more cumbersome and painful, as the people walk with bare feet in the field and the remaining part of the cut plant is very sharp and it easily injures the feet.

The kids were enjoying themselves a lot, by chasing the cats, wrestling with the goats, and running around like crazy! The rest were talking and laughing and I was watching all this, and enjoying myself. I felt like one of them. I just arrived there, and I started playing with the kids, sharing their laughs, even helping around. It was the most awesome thing ever! I then took a picture of the family, and upon watching the photo on the back of camera, they all sprang to have their portraits done! And did I like it? Oh yeah!

We said goodbye and walked all the way up to the road. The walk up was easier and less perilous than walking down, and as we reached the top, the sun was already set. We went back to Lokraj’s place. They told me to come back tomorrow to the shop and I gladly accepted. In less than half a day, I was feeling so close to these people! It was incredible! Lokraj brought me back to hotel, and I paid him what he first said the previous night not the haggled price. I owed him much more than that though, for one of the best days I’ve ever had!

The next day, I went to Soheil’s shop, the Kashmiri guy I met last night. We had a tea together (in Nepal, when you say tea, they bring you milk tea, which is good), and we talked about his work and Kashmir again. I then went to Lokraj’s shop, and they were again so happy to see me. They invited me for dinner which I gladly accepted. In the afternoon, I rented a boat to go on the lake for two hours. It was most relaxing. On the other side of the lake, I could see the monkeys jumping from a tree to another and shouting at each other. I then went to see a waterfall, and for that I walked up in a small river to reach to it. When I came back, to my horror, I found several leeches on my feet! I didn’t expect this, as the water was clean and not stagnant. I removed them quickly, though some were already sucking my blood! Damn!

In the evening, I said goodbye to Soheil and the other Kashmiri guy, Seyed Zohour Hossein, as I was planning to go to Varanasi the next day. I went to Lokraj’s place, and had the dinner with them. Over there, Lokraj’s wife was sitting and Lokraj was doing all the work. I asked if he always do that, and they laughed. She said every month, she has three assigned days of break, for the sake of one of their gods, and the husband should do all the housework. I don’t think that’s a good god to believe in! Anyways, we had some rice, dal, and a stew of mutton. Unlike Indians, Nepali people (both Hindu) eat meat, except beef. And as I understood, they eat a lot of meat (not compared to us, but to surrounding countries).

During dinner, Lokraj was sitting and watching us. I asked him why he doesn’t join, and he said that in Nepal, the cook always eats last and alone, waiting for others to finish, and say that the dish was good! I obviously teased him over this, as it was an easy one! I got their contact and gave them the address of the weblog. Lokraj, if you are reading, thanks again for the wonderful time we had together! I said goodbye to them, and promised then to return another time!

The day after, I left the serenity, greenness, and friendliness of Nepal for an absolute shock of India!

Side notes:

  • As usual, a report on my toothache! It is three days that I haven’t had pain and hence no painkiller! Yessss!
  • In Nepal, people would think that I am either Indian, Bangladeshi, or even Nepali!