Nepal video (part 1)

So here is my very first attempt at video editing, any thoughts for improving would be appreciated.

Nepal (17) Airport

Straight from the Tribhuvan Airport website of Kathmandu, Nepal, comes the following customs requirement:

1.3 Visitors are also allowed to carry one binocular, one camera, one movie camera, one video camera, one radio, one tape recorder, one by-cycle, one wrist watch, one set of fountain pen, one perambulator, 15 radio cassettes and 10 disk records into the country for personnel use, on the condition that they are declared and are to be taken back on return. Carrying narcotics, arms and ammunitions are strictly prohibited.

Nepal (16) Animals

So here is a short post highlighting some of the animals that we've come across.

Goats:



Baby Goats:



Baby Chicks:



Donkeys:



Buffalos:

Nepal (15) Daily Routine

Even though so many aspects of our daily life are completely different then what we're used to in the States, life has started to feel very normal here as we become integrated into daily activities in Tansen. Daily activities include shopping for food, meeting familiar faces, and taking care of things around the house.

Me: Chini cha? (Is there sugar?)

Store operator: Cha..... (There is...)

We've had dinner with a Nepali family at their house, where 8 of us gathered in one tiny room on a bed because their house is so small, and ate chicken which qualified as an exotic luxury based on their income. We've had dinner at a European's multi-room apartment flat with waffles, imported blueberries, and heat.

We've had our teeth cleaned at the dentist.



I've had my hair cut.



Some simple things are much more complicated (like washing the dishes). But some normally complicated things are much more simple.

Despite all these differences, it feels very comfortable, and there are definitely many things that I will greatly miss.

Nepal (14) Welcome back to Tansen

Becca and I left Pokhara early one morning, and took the bus back to Tansen. The main highway doesn't go through the actual city, so when we got off the bus, we jumped on to the top of a jeep to drive us up to the city. The top of a jeep is a good place to sight see, and the air was as clear as I've ever seen. When we got to the main bus park and climbed down from the roof, we were met by a small entourage of somewhat official looking people. I had a hard time understanding what was going on, but fortunately Becca recognized one of them from the tourism board (Getup Palpa).



It turned out that we were being selected to be honored as the first tourists to Tansen of the year 2011 (Year of Tourism). Becca and I were whisked away, our backpack parked at the hotel, and when we got to the main field, the full greeting began.

We met parliament members, cabinet members, various officials, and got photographed and filmed by various journalists. By the end we were covered in marigold wreaths, scarves, and red tikka dust.

Nepal (13) MTB near Pokhara

A few days later, Peter, Becca, and I returned to Pokhara to spend a few days there again before Peter and Anna returned to the States. We had one day planned for mountain biking.

The morning started off with what could have been utterly catastrophic. We rolled out of the hotel early in the morning on our way to the mountains. With the enthusiasm of getting back on a bike, Peter took off accelerating down the main road in Pokhara. Behind him, I could hear him clicking down through the cassette and he was moving faster then I could keep up with. Suddenly, it looked like he hit a land mine and launched into the air, flipping over 180 degrees and coming down hard on his head. The bike tumbled away and he rolled to a stop, fortunately he jumped right up and after shouting a few choice words, gathered the bike off of the road.

Immediately we noticed that the front wheel was very messed up, one broken spoke and several other bent ones. I don't think we realized the full extent of the damage until later, though. When we finally did examine his helmet, we realized that it was completely toast. The foam was so cracked and crushed, the internal plastic skeleton was showing like a broken femur sticking out of someone's leg. The overall shape of the helmet was slightly more kidney bean then oval, and the external plastic cover had buckled in a few spots. We're convinced he would be dead or a vegetable if he hadn't had his helmet on. I still can't believe how well he fared, considering the impact. His foot hurt for a while, and he had a mild headache, but that was about it.

His cleats were worn, and had come unclipped sending his right foot into the front wheel where it locked up against the fork.

Considering the possibility that he just suffered a mild (or maybe not so mild) concussion, we decided to take the ride easy. Actually, it would have been smarter to cancel the ride. Had he gotten any worse during the day, we would have been far away from any help, with no real roads, transportation, or any other people around.

That night, I woke him up every 2 hours to check his alertness and mental status, just to make sure that nothing developed. He seemed fine, so I think we are really lucky.

Here are some shots from the ride:

Nepal (12) Tansen Challenge

So up the road from the hospital is a place called Shrinager Hill, and it is some hill.



There are some 500+ steps, and the goal of the Tansen Challenge is to make it up and down 3 times as fast as you can. The previous record was 14 some minutes, but after doing one up and down in training, I figured that record was just about untouchable. Not only was the run up brutal and steep, but coming down was tricky with some loose gravel and broken steps.



The race was fun and well organized, the kids did one up and down, and my Dad participated in the "geriatric" category.





I managed a 13:04 and won an awesome Norway t-shirt.





Even the goats climbed Shrinager:

Nepal (11) Daily shots around Tansen

Here is just a short collection of a few shots from normal daily activities.

Soaking up the sun in the garden behind the house:



Around the kitchen:



Playing Salu:



The local grocer:



And I have no idea what this is:

Nepal (10) Dakha Cloth

Back in Tansen, we had some time to explore the local area. One of the most impressive things I saw was the Dakha Cloth factory where everything is done by hand. Starting with spinning the threads, to spooling up the fabric, to weaving the entire thing together, the entire operation is done in the same manner that it has been since the first looms were designed and built.







A sample of the finished goods:



The most impressive part of all of this was the metal punchcards used to set the pattern. A spool feeds in the punched cards, which is "read" by the loom every weave cycle just like a computer. Depending on where the holes are, some strings pull up on the main weave lines, so when the weaver sends a shuttle with the correct color through the loom, the pattern and color are duplicated from the punched cards. I have some video that shows this process much better which I'll put together later.

Nepal (9) Trek, Day 4

We weren't far from Nyapul, and the last bit was mostly flat along the river. This was a particularly wet valley, some of the water was diverted into the fields for irrigation.



Back in Pokhara, we rented boats for the evening and paddled around the lake for a while.



The bus trip back to Tansen was another hilly trip through the clouds.

Nepal (8) Trek, Day 3

We had expected to spend some time in the hot springs that our map listed were right next to Gorrepani, but it turned out that no such hot springs existed. So after Peter and I returned from Poon Hill, we were back on the trail heading south towards Nyapul.



Our lunch spot turned out to have a rather nice view, we took our time and let our legs rest.



After lunch, our trail took a turn downwards, and we spent the next few hours descending on a steep and rocky trail.





Finally, our knees would have a chance to recover as we reached the bottom and hit some more "level" terrain (using that word loosely).



I think that my mom is smiling because the steps are finally mostly behind her.



Although we got close, we weren't going to make it back to Nyapul by dark, so we decided to stop and spend the night.



Where Peter found one of his long lost bretheren.

Nepal (7) Trek, Day 3 - Poon Hill

Just one photo for now of Poon Hill. Although I took many, more photos would just dilute the impact.



That's the moon.

Nepal (6) Trek, Day 2

The next morning we got up early, as the hike from Gandruk to Gorrepani would be difficult. The overall elevation gain was moderate, but there was a lot of rocky up and down in between.

We covered several diverse terrain types, including some old forest,



open vistas,



clouds,



and views of the mountains.





It was a long day of hiking, and after leaving at sunrise, we were just reaching our overnight destination at sunset.

Nepal (5) Trek, Day 1

After a few days in Tansen, it was off to Pokhara for a trek in the Annapurna region. The road was twisty and mountainous, taking us through the clouds.



Our trek started off along the river (where it was mostly flat), but soon turned upwards.



As we hiked, the trail got steeper and the mountains got closer. I can't imagine what it was like to build these trails.



Finally we arrived in Gandruk, where we would spend the first night of our trek. If you want to use the toilet, you'll need to chase the chickens out first.



But the view from our room was quite nice.







It got quite cool when the sun went down, but a hot cup of tea and full meal felt great after a day of hiking.



We all slept quite well that night.