A taste of Nepal

A taste of Nepal

By Debbie Gardner
PRIME Editor

This January, Runa Skar, Director of Marketing for Providence Place at Ingleside, an independent living retirement community, owned and operated by the Sisters of Providence in Holyoke, planned and undertook a solo trip to the country of Nepal.

More than a sightseeing trek, this trip was an immersion into the culture of her son-in-law, who is Nepali.

Skar was kind enough to share some of her experiences and pictures with PRIME. Here's what she told us:

PRIME: What made you choose Nepal as your travel destination?

Skar: My son-in-law is Nepali and he, my daughter and my six month old granddaughter were visiting Nepal at the time so his parents could meet their granddaughter for the first time and celebrate the baby's ceremonial "rice feeding."

In Hindu traditions, the baby's first "rice feeding" or "Annaprashan" at the age of six months is a grand celebration with 250 guests for dinner. So this trip was a great opportunity for me to join them.

PRIME: How long was the journey to and from that country? Did you feel it was a difficult trip?

Skar: The trip to Nepal was over was 24 hours long. It took me from Boston to London, over the Arabian peninsula to Bahrain and then to Kathmandu, Nepal. In one of the most breathtaking aspects of the trip, as the sun was setting, we flew next to the grand, snow-capped Himalayan mountains. It was just a magnificent sight. When I finally arrived I was astonished to find that I had no jet lag, despite the length of the trip.

On the return trip I planned things so I would be in an adjacent seat on all the same flights as my daughter and granddaughter, so I could help with the baby.

PRIME: How did you manage to plan and book all the arrangements you needed for this trip?

Skar: Zen Travel specializes in trips to Asia, so, by working with them I found making the overseas flight arrangements was pretty easy.

Within Nepal itself, I worked with a wonderful local travel agency whose owner was known by the family. Therefore I trusted my guides and drivers and felt safe.

PRIME: How long were you actually in Nepal? Where did you stay?

Skar: My trip lasted for three weeks. Nepal is a poor country with 28 million citizens. About 2 million of them live in the capital of Kathmandu where I resided.

It was a very busy, congested, dusty city full of pollution from motorbikes and cars, which were constantly honking their horns. People drive on the left side of the street in Nepal (a custom left over from British rule in India) and you had to be very cautious when crossing the multilane busy streets (with no traffic lights!)

The energy in this city was high and every street had open air shops and bazaars offering cloth, spices, meat, clothes, tea, beautiful handiwork and anything you needed for sale. Interestingly, the shopkeepers in Nepal have a two tier pay system: one for Nepali citizens and a higher one for foreigners. And, despite the language difference, you were expected to bargain!

PRIME: What was the best part of the trip?

Skar: Everything!

PRIME: Can you give some specific examples?

Skar: I was scheduled to fly alone out of Kathmandu to a small town called Pokhara to do some trekking in the Himalayas. The day of my departure, fog delayed my takeoff and I sat at a tiny, primitive airport trusting that my guide would be waiting for me when I arrived at my destination. I had no way of contacting him.

He waited!

After a very bumpy two-hour ride high into the mountains including a change of cars due to "bad petrol" my guide, Rohit, and I started climbing.

Due to the elevation, the afternoon sun was very hot. We climbed past dry small patches of terraced land and primitive farms where people grow rice, wheat, corn and millet.

Surprisingly, the trek was mostly on man-made stairs of stones! Along the way we met the heavy laden donkey caravan and women and men carrying huge logs or propane containers on bent backs.

After hours of walking, I spotted a sign: 8848 steps to here and now you have 4252 left to Gandruk, my destination. By then it was late afternoon and we needed to reach Gandruk at 3000 meters elevation, by dark for the overnight stay.

At dusk, I finally arrived at the guest house and quickly had the best hot (solar heated) shower (in a freezing bathroom,) I have ever had. I ate a small bowl of rice and settled in, exhausted, for the night, satisfied. I slept wearing all my hiking clothes, including my hat, windbreaker and gloves, tucked under two handmade, heavy blankets.

At dawn I awoke in the utter silence of the cold mountain air and climbed another few hundred steps to see the sunrise over the Annapurna range. Pink sunlight scanned the ice capped mountains illuminating Machhapuchhre at almost 7000 meters, a holy mountain no climbers may scale. It was magnificent . the world stood still for a moment.

The experience was truly awesome, and worth the exhaustion of the climb. (and the very painful, tender hamstrings I experienced for days afterwards!)

PRIME: Was that your only solo foray in the country?

Skar: No. My other solo trip was to the southern part of Nepal to Royal Chitwan National Park which borders India. I took part in an elephant safari into the hot, dense jungle. In this subtropical climate, I saw rhinos close up and lots of wildlife.

In the early morning mist I took a (wobbly) canoe trip in a wood vessel carved out of one large tree trunk. It lay low in the river. A single oarsman stood steady, barefoot at the back guiding me. Right next to us on the riverbank rested huge crocodiles, waiting for the sun to warm them while colorful birds chirped to welcome another day. This became both a magical and a mystical ride.

PRIME: What was the worst part of the trip?

Skar: The most challenging aspect of the trip was coping with the blackouts in Nepal. We could go days without electricity. My son-in-law's parent's home was able to access and use some "saved energy" but you still had be flexible. The lack of electricity was caused by the extremely dry weather in the country and the instability of the government. The king was ousted in 2008 and Nepal now is ruled by a Maoist Prime Minister who is trying to move the government towards democracy.

PRIME: What was the most surprising aspect of your visit?

Skar: I think it was the realization of how much the idea of family togetherness is universal, regardless of the living conditions. Even in rather poor, dusty roadside homes with thatched roof and a dirt floor, you would see vignettes of family togetherness . children sitting on a grandmother's lap, getting a bath, walking hand in hand into the fields, doing chores and spending time together.

PRIME: What was the most memorable aspect of your visit?

Skar: It was fascinating visiting the numerous holy sites in the country, which dated back hundreds of years, to see the many Durbar Squares (royal squares) with pagodas built in the 12 century and the stone temple for Lord Krishna with 21 golden pinnacles. These sites are on the UNESCO world heritage site. They were unequaled by anything I have ever seen.

PRIME: What part of the culture of Nepal was the most interesting?

Skar: The Nepali are a very religious people and Buddhist and Hindu shrines and temples stand side by side, many from the 16 and 17th centuries.

Hindu homes, like the one I stayed in, all had a lovely family shrine, secluded in a private room. Early every morning my son-in-law's mother rose and brought offerings and prayed there. The priest visited with blessings on birthdays. When I was to depart, my son-in-law's mother gave me a symbolic meal of banana and yoghurt for good luck and placed a handmade Marigold garland around my neck. A rose garland was placed around my granddaughter neck. She also got the red Vermillion paste tika (third eye) placed on her forehead with her Nepali grandmother's blessings. After this ceremony we could not return into the home which was bad luck.

In my exploration of their religious customs, I circumvented one of the most ancient stupas Swayambhunath, or Monkey temple where holy monkeys thrive on offerings. This hill has been a holy site since the 5th century CE. After climbing 365 steps to its base a vast, white dome painted with Lord Buddha's eyes in four directions,(the all seeing nature of Buddha). Between the eyes is the "nose" which is the eternity symbol in Nepali: unity of all. Hundreds of prayer flags blew in the breeze. Tibetan Buddhist monks in saffron robes spun the prayer wheels, chimed the bells, and fondled their prayer beads while circumventing 8 times. This was their holiest of places, and a site of pilgrimage.

PRIME: Did you sample the cuisine? What was it like?

Skar: The family servant brought hot Elam tea with milk and sugar when we awoke.

Lunch and dinner meals consisted of dal spicy lentil soup, Bhat: boiled rice and tarkari a variety of curried vegetables. They cook in mustard oil and use a lot of cumin, coriander, cinnamon and ginger. It was delicious.

The meal preparations took most of the day, starting with a trip to the market to shop for fresh produce in the early dawn.

At mealtime my son-in-law's mother, the hostess, would wait to eat, overseeing the meal until we, the guests, were done.

PRIME: After undertaking this long journey alone, would you encourage other women to embark on such a trip solo?

Skar: It is said: 'A journey brings us face to face with ourselves' and that was my amazing revelation. Ultimately, we are all alone on our life's journey and this becomes evident when you travel. I gained strength and confidence and cultivated the ability to trust my instincts.