Kathmandu to Kashinagar: Bombs & Elephants

Namaste! (That is hello in Nepali and also in Hindi, language of Northern India) Happy Groundhog's Day to you too! (February 2 is Ground Hog's Day in America.) Hope you had a good Chinese New Year and a good time with your family. I am in the India in the province of Uttar Pradesh in the small village of Kushinagar. I am alive, fine, and doing well. Wow, alot has happened since I last wrote!

JAN 28. I rented a bike and rode all over the Kathmandu valley. I saw Kathamandu (the capital), went to an old city Bhaktapur, and then to another old city nearby (Patan). My legs were really sore from riding up and down hills on the highway. It was a long ride but good exercise and I got to see a lot of old Nepal architecture. Very amazing. I got back to the hotel around 4:30 and asked for my laundry. The hotel claims to have a 1 day laundry service - give them the laundry one day and it will be finished the next. I gave them some laundry around 8am on Thursday morning. When I left Friday morning, they told me it will be ready at 11am. When I got back Friday night, they said it would be ready by 11am on Saturday. When I asked at 4:30pm on Saturday (Jan 28), they said it will be ready tomorrow at 11am! I told them I am leaving in 1.5 hours. They said well you can get it when you come back to Kathmandu to fly out. I told them I am not flying out - I am going to Pokhara in 1.5 hours. They did not believe me - the guy said "I think you are making a joke on me. There are no night buses to Pokhara." According to my travel book and my inquiries in Kathmandu, the nice buses for tourists leave only in the morning and run during the day but there are cheaper poorer local buses that run at night. But I did not know for sure if there was a Pokhara bus or not. I told him that I planned to take a local bus and he said I don't believe you - there are no night buses. I said, well I am leaving here anyway - get me my clothes ASAP. He said he would get my clothes as soon as possible but that they were at somebody's house and that person was out of town so he would have to call someone to go pick them up. Just so you know, this was not just one shirt - this was all of my shirts except the one on my back, so if I did not get my clothes back I would be wearing the same shirt for the next 4 weeks. He said he would get them by 5:30. He didn't, but he did make it by 6 so I was a little late leaving. I wanted to arrive at the bus station by 6. When I arrived at 6:45, they told me the bus to Pokhara had just left but that I could take another bus. The friendly guy gave me a ticket and I got on a bus. I was so tired from cycling that I fell asleep immediately. I woke up around 8:30 when someone told me I had to get off this bus and get on another bus. So I did. Once on the other bus, someone told me that my ticket was a fake - the guy had made a fake ticket. The man who gave it to me had just walked up and had a ticket book so I assumed that was the way to buy tickets. However, actually I was supposed to go to some hidden window in the back side of the wall to buy the tickets. (These are not really "stations" - more like bus parking lots with small food stands all around. - There is no obvious station or ticket window) Anyway, I had to buy another ticket but it was still cheaper than taking the tourist bus. Around 11pm, the bus I was on stopped on the side of the road and turned off the engine. I was told that we stopped because of the Maoist uprising (rebels in Nepal who blow up bridges, towers, buses, etc. They call themselves Maoist after the teaching of Mao Zedong -- the current government is a kingdom with a dominant all powerful king. They demand democratic freedom and more fair representation for the people.) Because of the Maoists, the king (government) implemented a curfew of 11pm so that no vehicles can move from then until 4am. So our bus sat on the side of the road and we tried to sleep (in bus seats - not a sleeper bus) until 4. At 3:40 the bus started moving again....

JAN 29. I didn't sleep so well - so I was still really tired from cycling and little sleep. Anyway, I arrived in Pokhara (northwestern Nepal near the Himalaya mountains) around 6am. I fought of the hotel touts and went and had breakfast. Then I decided to climb up to Sarangkot - a peak from where you can see many other nearby Himalaya mountains (Anapurna). I got a ride to the beginning of the way there by a man on a motorcycle. He was very friendly - but then mentioned that he sells tours and told me where to find his shop. What I found is that most Nepal people are friendly - but they also want something from you. Along the way I must have met 50 children (not all together - a few here and a few there). Some were friendly and said hello. Some didn't. All of them asked for money. Some would say things like USA is a rich country - Nepal is a poor country. Give me 5 rupees (Nepal money; 1 dollar = 8 Chinese Yuan = 70 rupees). Some would not say hello - they would just come up and grab your leg or grab your bag and not let go and say give me money. Some kids squashed my bananas in my bag. Others squashed my bread by squeezing my bag. I was not happy with those kids! Finally after much walking I made it to the top. There I met two girls from Korea who had taken the boat from Incheon to Tanggu and then traveled to Beijing - Xian - Tibet and then Nepal (similar to me). They were happy that I could say Anyang Haseo (hello in Korean). In fact, in october, I had travelled to their hometown - Andong - in eastern Korea. I said goodbye and then started racing down the hill, passing some Chinese tourists. (I met several people from China in Nepal). I had a small conversation with them in Chinese and they too were happy to meet someone in Nepal who knew a little bit of their language. As I went down the mountain, two small boys came up and asked for money. I then spent five minutes teaching them the words "please" and "thank you" and how not to grab and squeeze foreigners. Actually they knew no english other than "give me a chocolate" and "give me 5 rupees". I don't know if they knew what it meant, but they started saying it so maybe at least now there can be polite beggars in Nepal. At the bottom of the mountain I ate lunch in a restaurant by the lake Phew Tal (the second biggest lake in Nepal) and met a guy from England. Then I went to pick up my bag - I left it at the restaurant where I had eaten breakfast. When I got there, I told the guy I was leaving Pokhara. He said no you are not. I said I am taking a night bus to Tadi Bazar to go to Royal Chitawan National Park. He said no you are not - there are no night buses. I said ok, but I am leaving. I got a taxi to take me to the bus station. He refused to turn on his meter. I had heard that the fair price is 70 rupees for the distance (maybe 3 km or 1.5 miles). I asked how much and he said 200. I said 60 or I will get out of the cab. He said ok 100 and started driving. I opened the door and started to get out. He said ok 70. I said no 60. Then he agreed to 60. I think it is illegal for him to drive without the meter and with the meter 70 is the fair price. I think without the meter, he gets to pocket more money. Anyway, he told me there is no night bus to Tadi. When we arrived, I gave him 70 to be nice. This time I decided to look for a ticket window. There was a big window saying bus tickets - I went inside and the guy said there are no night buses - only day buses. I said thanks and kept looking. A few feet away there was an old small window - the real bus ticket window. The man I had asked had been a travel agent trying to sell tourist buses. The real bus ticket man sold me a ticket to Tadi for 160 rupees ($2.22 or 18 kuai.) The bus was sitting right there and was leaving in 10 minutes. Persistence is important - don't always believe what you are told the first time! We left around 5pm. Then at 9pm we stopped at a place with many food stands to eat supper. The man said that we would not start the bus again today - we would sleep on the bus again because of curfew. So we did.

JAN 30. Around 4am the bus started moving. Around 5am they told me we had arrived in Tadi. I realized the nice thing about curfew - if it weren't for curfew, we would have arrived in a small village in the dark at 10pm and I would have to pay for a hotel. Because of the curfew I saved money by sleeping on the bus for free. Of course it was not so comfortable, but I did feel safe on the bus. I made friends with those around me and guarded my few belongings closely. So now it is dark and 5am in a small village. Royal Chitawan National Park is in Sauraha (6 km or 4 miles south of there). I felt like walking but finally agreed to a bicycle rickshaw from an old man who really wanted to take me. I did it more for him - he looked pretty desparate and at least he was wan't begging for me to give him money - he actually went and unlocked his garage to get out his rickshaw when he saw me just to make some money. It was good too - there were many turns - I would have gotten lost if I had walked. I got to the city around 6am. It was still dark and very foggy. Nothing was open - very few lights. The park office was supposed to open at 6am and elephant rides are held at 730am and 330pm. Why elephant rides? Because jeeps can scare away the rinoceroses and tigers and if you go on foot the rinoceroses and tigers will kill you. Elephants are the best way. But the office was closed. I waited until 7 am with the sun rising - everything was still closed! It was like the whole city had been killed and I was the only one there. Around 7:05am I saw 5 elephants riding off into the forest and so I was angry. Finally I found the park man opening the park office at 7:10. I asked him does this office open at 6am? He said yes. I was angry. I said the elephants just went into the jungle and I have been here since 6 but since you were not here I could not buy a ticket or know where to go. He said those elephants were army men going to the jungle to shoot/kill poachers who come to the jungle and shoot the tigers and rinoceroses. I asked if I could get an elephant ride later and he said (his english was poor) there are no elephant rides today. I said - " no rides anywhere in the whole world?" and he said yes no elephant rides. I said "there are no rides in Thailand, America, anywhwere?" And he said "yes no rides. Tomorrow. Tomorrow" I was not happy. Finally, I met a guy from a hotel who spoke good english who was coming to register some guests at the hotel with the park. I found out there were elephant rides in the park at 3:30 in the afternoon today. Also he helped me arrange an elephant ride at 8am in the morning - so that is what I did. It was a little expensive - 1000 rupees ($14 or 110 kuai), but the ride lasts for 1 hour and 45 min and you get to see wildlife up close. I got to see two rinoceroses really close - they are not scared of the elephants. Also saw some rare birds and deer close. No tigers though - they are nocturnal and do not stick around long when they hear any noise. The guy told me that in January and February it is the dry season (from May to October is the monsoon season when it rains a lot). During the dry season, the rinoceroses will often leave the park and come into the town to eat the farmers crops. He said every year, several villagers are killed by the rinoceroses in the middle of the night when it is dark and foggy. Fortunately, when I arrived at 6am I didn't meet any rinoceroses! In the afternoon I took a canoe trip down the river boundry of the park and saw crocodiles close by and some more birds. Then me and two guides walked throgh the park on foot. Once we got inside the park, they told me it was very dangerous. (Thanks, why didn't they tell me that before I decided to go!) Actually I was already aware of the danger a little. They gave me tips on what to do if we met rinoceroses, sloth bears, tigers, wild elephants, pythons, cobras, etc. For rinoceroses, you should climb up 6 feet above them - they can't climb. If no tree, run in big long zig-zag shape - they can't see well - only smell and hear. If getting close, throw things - your camera, your hat, anything. If you throw something, they will stop to smell. For tigers, sloth bears - get in a big group with the others and make a lot of noise. Do not run - they will chase. Do not climb - they will climb. For tigers - they always attack from behind - not when being watched. So if you see one, always stare at it, never turn your back. And then turn around and move slowly away. If you see a wild elephant - good luck. You will probably die! The wild ones are very fast, very smart. They always attack, can knock down any tree, and almost always get you. Fortunately, we were in a part of the park where there are no wild elephants. They said a local Nepal man was killed by a wild elephant 15 days ago. For cobras, if they bite, you are dead in 30 minutes. So don't get bit! They said don't be afraid - often on the jungle walk they dont even see a bird. We saw 4 crocodiles, many wild monkeys, some birds, rinoceros and tiger dung (so they had been there recently). Actually, one of the guides thinks he saw a tiger but wasn't sure. Tigers usually are not aggressive in the day unless scared - usually they eat/attack at night. Nothing so scary or exciting. But exciting to think that all of those animals were nearby and I was walking through their neighborhood. The guides said they do this walk everyday and see a rinoceroses 30% of the time and a tiger 5% of the time. They kept trying to get me to go on a 5 day camping tour with them - of course they want me to pay money for that! I asked them if they ever saw anyone die - they said yes - many people - last year a guide died by a rinoceros. They said they knew of no tourists dying though. Guides are trained to save the tourists. They said the worst thing they ever heard for a tourist was a broken leg from a rinoceros. The man in the Suraha (the city) told me there is no night bus. I said I will take a night bus to Lumbini. He said no you won't. Anyway, I got the guide from the jungle walk to drive me on his motorbike back to Tadi, where I caught a minibus at 5pm to Barahpur by 5:30pm. Around 6pm, I found a bus to Butwal (it is pronounced like boot - not butt :-) ), which is close to Lumbini. I got on it. The man said we would arrive in Butwal at 8pm. Oh my, I thought - my night bus is too fast! I will have to get a hotel then! Actually, that sounded good. I was tired of sleeping on buses and wanted to stretch out my legs. Around 7pm, the traffic came to a stop and we heard gunfire! Then a man got off our bus and checked things out. He came back and said something and everyone got off the bus. What? I asked? He said the Maoist rebels had put a bomb on the bridge ahead. We cannot turn the bus around and we cannot go ahead. We will be stuck there until the day after tomorrow! What? I got off the bus and found many truck drivers and other buses. The local village (between Naranygat and Butwal) was turned into a refugee camp! Scary, interesting, and exciting at the same time. I went to some local people's house and fell asleep on their bed. Oh, a bed - felt great! Around 11:30 someone on my bus woke me up and we went back to the bus - to sleep....

JAN 31. I actually slept well. I was tired from the past few days. I woke up at 7am and went out to get food, use bathroom, etc. The rumor/theory was that the Maoists had placed a bomb on the bridge. When I passed by in the morning, I did see the pile of rocks on the bridge with some electric wires underneath, but they almost looked like plastic toys. I walked around with some guys on the bus. One guy said he is 22 and likes all girls except Nepali ones. He asked me to take his photo and take it with me to US and China and ask girls to contact him. He said many people in Nepal get married when the boys are 20 and the girls are 15. He said he was upset about not having a girl. He was a little strange. Then I met the bus driver and another guy. They told me I should go back to the bus because the Maoist rebels may want to kidnap me because the US fights terrorists and they may not like Americans. I went back with them but believed them to be wrong because I read a lot about Maoists before I left and they said they like tourists and foreigners and their fight was only with the governement and they have never harmed foreigners - only the governement. In the past 9 years, about 10,000 people have been killed in the fight between Maoists and government - but all are targeted towards each other. I went back out in the city and walked around and met some local town people. They said I was in no danger. They said the Maoists did the same thing previously. The reason they do this is to show everyone how weak and slow the governement is to come in and clean things up. Several people were present when the Maoists came. Apparently, it was a group of 80 people - mostly females about age 17! Many had guns and pointed them at people - but they shot nobody. Then they put the rocks on the bridge and forced some big trucks to block the bridge. The local people took this seriously - they said for nobody to move the rocks or trucks for one day or else the Maoists would come and cause trouble. Also the Maoist had blow the roofs off several governement buildings - but they evacuated the buildings first so nobody would be hurt. So we were stuck for a day. I met a lot of local people - I ate in several restaurants, when wading in the river with local people, hung out with the men and talked about politics, played with the children in the street. I was the only foreigner stuck there - everyone else on all the buses were Nepali.

One family invited me to their home and we had tea and he showed me his mill. It was very exciting. I had a good time there. After hanging out with local villagers, I walked back by the bridge around 3pm. There were no wires and the rocks had been moved slightly. I inquired what happened. I was told that the village had a kid go take the "bomb" and throw them into the river. Supposedly, there were two of them. However, I question rather it was really a bomb or just a pretend threat. Anyway, the kid threw them both in the river and nothing blew up or anything. Perhaps there was no bomb at all. Later a local boy - about 15 let me sleep at his house (the bus driver had told me we would be there an indefinite period of time). Oh great! Finally a bed! Right when I layed down even though there was another bed, he layed down next to me in the same one. Then he put his arm around me. It was really wierd. Then at that time we heard yelling in the street (about 9:30). We thought the Maoists may have come back. I took the opportunity to leave! Out in the street the local town people were pushing the trucks and rocks out of the way. I guess 24 hours had passed so it was ok to move them. I went and helped them. We had to push away abuot 6 big trucks (Maoists had blown out the tires). I helped with 2 of them. So about 9:50pm - 1 hour before curfew, the town was set to move again. I estimate there were more than 1000 large buses and large trucks stuck there up and down the highway - in addition to other cars and motorbikes. We started driving and we drove all night - I don't think we stopped for curfew. It was slow going - we passed the last truck parked in the rode due to the bomb about 3am - 5 hours after we had left. We got to Butwal around 5am....

FEB 1. I got a bus to Bhairawa and then to Lumbini (birthplace of Buddha) and arrived there about 8am. Not very interesting location - but interesting in history I guess. There are lots of temples built by different countries. China's looks like a miniature Forbidden City. Different architectures for different countries. Then I took a bus to the border city in Nepal and India. I walked across the border from Nepal to India and left Nepal. Once in India I asked the man for the money exchange, and he said that it was located in Nepal! He said - sure it is fine just walk back over! So I did - nervously. I went back into Nepal and changed my money to Indian Rupees and then walked back into India. No problem.

Then I took a bus to Gorkapour arriving around 3:30. I planned to take another bus to Kushinagar to see the site of Buddha's death and then another bus back to Gorkapour (in Uttar Pradesh) to catch a night train. However, I met a man on the bus from Kashinagar who said I live there and I want you to come stay at my house tonight. He seemed really nice and professional, but he was really pushy. I considered it for a long time and then told him no. He then told the bus driver that I was going home to his house. I told him no again. He said ok. No problem - I will tell you where to get off to see the temple where Buddha is buried. I said thanks. We entered a small town called Kashinagar he said the temple is up ahead - don't worry I will tell you when to get off. Then we drove and drove. It was now 5:30 and getting dark. I then figured it out - he lied to me and was taking me to his house and said we could go to see the temples together the next day. That really made me mad. I told the bus driver and then I found out that the man had told the bus driver that I wasn't getting off in Kashingar - that is why the bus driver hadn't told me to get off! So I was really mad. I told the bus driver to stop the bus and so I got off right there on the side of the road. I didn't want to keep going any further from Kashinagar - I did not want to go to the man's house now! So I got off. Almost immediately a man on a motorbike came by and I flagged him down and got a ride into town. He was extremely nice, extremely smart, and the president of the local bar association (a lawyer). He gave me a ride to town and then asked me to give him something to remember me by - he said not money and nothing valuable just something small. So I gave him a Curves pen (the fitness center where mom works). At least the lawyer on the motorbike showed me where the Buddha temple was. But I had no idea about a hotel. After he left, within 5 minutes, I met a kid (probably 12 years old) who is a Buddhist monk - rare in India because everyone is Hindu. But this is the town where Buddha died. Anyway, this boy was really smart and really nice. He gave me lots of useful info about the town and got me to a hotel that is run by Tibetan monks - free but they ask for donations. So I am glad I met those two - the lawyer and the monk really helped me a lot. Now I am writing this email. Tomorrow morning I will go see where Buddha died. So I have survived lots of people who said "there is no night bus" - but there was! And I survived the tigers and rinoceroses and cobras and pythons! And I survived the Maoist rebels. And I survived the tricky man on the bus and getting left on the side of the road (with no map and no directions - the sun had gone down - I wasn't even sure which way was north/south/east/west). God has taken care of me and protected me during my travel. It is an interesting world that He has made.