Jeff Graham, visited the country of Nepal in 1999. Following are his email chapters of his experiences on the journey. His story reads very well and we extend our personal thanks to him for his dispatches from this far-a-way country. Here, then are his writings of his time there in September, 1999.---- Mr. T, September 1999
I would like to invite you to visit "Mr. T's Teaching and Travel Page".
September 14, 1999
I am going to bed early, waking up several times at night, and then
getting up between 4:30 and 5:30 AM. I take a shower, which I don't
take for granted since the first time I didn't have any hot water, and
shave and then read books on Nepal until breakfast about 7 to 7:30. The
food here is wonderful. The servants ask you what you want and they fix
it for you. There is juice and some fresh cut up fruit. Pineapple was
the fruit today and yesterday was a mixture of oranges, papaya, and
pineapple. That is followed by French toast or scrambled eggs. Toast
with bread and jam is available. Lunch was a cold soup like tomato with
a dollup of sour cream, and a stir fry with chicken and rice and
seasonings. It was good. Bread is available. Cherry pie with ice cream
topped everything. (Tough life huh.) For dinner last night we had a
poofy souffle with chicken in it. There was also salad and dessert. I've
had meals at the US recreation center and this is far better. I'll have
to go on a diet when I get back home.
This morning I caught up on some reading about Nepal. Some interesting
facts. They are very modest people keeping clothes on when they bathe
publically. There are outlets along the roads where people gather to
wash themselves and clothes. There are not many people with running
water in their houses. The women will have a covering cloth as they
wash. After they wash, they dress under the cloth. I've seen this done
in the river as well as an outlet by the road. The men sometimes bare
their chests but sometimes not. They just wash themselves and their
clothes. I've seen the pounding out of the clothes type of washing. They
really flail away beating the clothes on a rock.
After catching up in my journal and writing email messages, I was taken
to the Travel Agency to go over my schedule. Two different
people told me of the experience to expect. I will be touring with two
ladies from South Africa. We will start about 6 AM with tea (I hope I
can cool it down. They don't serve juice.) At 7:30 there is a small meal
served. The trek starts at 8 AM and each day is a different distance
depending on the elevation gain. The first day is a three hour climb
through Chetri and Brahmin villages (the two highest classes) until the
skyline camp at Kalikastan or Thulokot. There are views of much of the
Himalayas from here. Each camp for the next two nights has this same
view. The second night is a stay near Gurung village of Shaklung. This
is where the Gurka forces came from that served in the British and
Indian armies. I'll bring home a Gurka knife. It has a curved blade and
is about 14 inches long in a scabbard. The last day is going down a
series of over 3000 steps. The two women from South Africa will go back
to Pohara, I continue on to the white water rafting part. (The trek goes
from 900 km - about 3000 feet altitude - to 1700 km which is about 5800
feet altitude. Actually those are just the highs and lows, there is a
lot of going up and down, too. There is a Sardar (Sherpa leader), cook,
and sherpa (for carrying loads).
Tips run about 320 rupees a day for the trekking group to pay. For the
three days that would be about 300 rupees for me or about $4.70. When
trekking, one should always pass by in a clockwise fashion (to the
left). The prayer wheels should move in the same way. The earth moves in
this direction. Also you shouldn't wear shoes into the home. The feet
are the polluted part of the body and you shouldn't walk over anyone or
touch them with your feet. Because of the lack of toilet paper, a ritual
of using the left hand and water to cleanse oneself after a bowel
movement was practiced. Therefore, when receiving or giving anything,
either the right hand or both hand should be used, never the left hand
by itself.
I then get to do my rafting. So far I am the only tourist. There is a
small raft with a guide and a chaser kayak. By the time I go more people
may be signed up. We decide just before we put into the river if a
certain stretch is too dangerous. If it's only a level three + or low
four we will do an upper stretch. If the water isn't right, we will
start farther downstream. We go for about 2-3 hours before lunch and
then a couple more until we make camp for the night. The next day is
more of the same with lots of level two and some three stretches in the
river. I'll then be transferred to the jungle mountain tented area for
three nights. Here I will have a chance to ride elephants on rides
through lands with rhinos and other wildlife, take a bike ride through
the area, or take a jeep ride through the jungle. There is a longer
safaari type jeep ride available too.
Well, you know about as much as I do. I may not have time to catch you
up when I stop by the embassy at Kathmandu on my way to India on
September 30th. I will get messages from you and try to send something.
Jeff on an elephant ride. Photo by J. Graham, 1999.
On the way back from the travel agency, I took a wrong turn. I got to
see more cattle on the sidewalk taking a rest, small putt-putt taxis
asking me if I wanted a ride, watched a basketball game between some
boys at a court in a fenced in school yard (they didn't take the hint
that I would like to play - they just all tried to show off their
Michael Jordan moves), and saw many shops. I watched cement being mixed
and raised three stories by hand. The cement was put in pans like gold
mining pans and lifted from man to man all the way up the scaffolding.
They actually threw the pan to the next person. When a person shovels,
another person has a rope attached to the shovel and he helps put some
force to the shovel movement. It is interesting to watch. Brick is used
a lot. Roads and houses alike are mostly brick.
I finally made it back to the residence. I changed shirts (the muggy
weather makes one sweat from every pore) and started to write this Nepal
News letter. Tonight will be dinner and who knows what else. I hear
tomorrow is a day where all autos for hire go on a strike. The local
natives want their language to be included on all legal documents. It
will be a good day to take a bike rickshaw or walk without so much
traffic.
September 15, 1999 (part 2)
Hello to All,
Today is much quieter than in the past. It is a strike day for the
locals. Most traffic is not on the street. Where there were 50 vehicles
going by in a few minutes yesterday, there are five today. The locals
want their Nuari language to be included in all official papers and
documents. I was told that the observance of the strike is very
widespread, the people don't necessarily agree with it. I will not be
able to go to certain areas because of the striking crowds.
Today I learned a lesson of "There's a sucker born every minute." Just
before I got the lesson, I was saved by my friend. We were wandering
down the path after watching the activities around the Hindu Temple
called Pashupati Nath. We had seen one pyre burning a body for cremation
and saw another shroud wrapped body that was to be burned next. There
are little pads of cement next to the river where the body can be burned
and the ashes pushed right into the river. After watching this for
awhile and watching the monkeys running around, we left for the other
side of the temple. A man speaking very good English sidled up to me and
asked me what country I was from. I told him the US. He said, "Very nice
country." Then he started to tell me about one of the temples. It seemed
very innocent and just like he was being friendly and chatting. It was
then that my friend called me aside and told me that I was about to be a
part of a tour that I would have to pay for. Let the buyer be wary is
not only the case. Even when you aren't a buyer you must be on alert as
to what a friendly chat means. Lesson learned I hope.
I continued to the other side of the shrine. Only Hindus can enter the
temple. All leather must be left at the door to the shrine. Cows are
holy animals. Most of the people seemed to be wearing sponge thongs but
some left their shoes at the gate. There was a gigantic golden bull
about seven feet tall and 20 feet long up on a pedestal inside the
temple. There were all sorts of other statues which the people honor by
giving food offerings or putting daubs of pigmentation that can be
purchased outside the gate to the temple. I have pictures of the stands
outside the temple selling these things.
I was asked to visit a person who had housed them on a medical mission a
couple of years ago. It is the Helping Hands mission in Nepal. I called
today and made arrangements to visit tomorrow. I have wedding photos and
some other gifts that I can be the go-between. The mail is not a
guaranteed way to reach people. It's better to have someone you know
deliver messages.
I was then whisked away in our motorcade of 3 vehicles. I have a better
feeling of what people who must be guarded feel like. but there has been evidence of some
unrest in the area so precautions are being taken.
Last night I got up for a bathroom break and saw that the TAP was all
wet. I couldn't find the reason right away. The problem came from a
drain at the top of the water reservoir for the toilet. When the water
was filling it, the float didn't stop in time and there was a runoff
from the drain. It was right over the TAP. It was just soaking wet. I am
very thankful that I have this western kind of facility with the TAP. I
haven't had to use the squat kind of toilet yet. I get enough of that
when I'm backpacking. I will accept all of the amenities that I can.
I haven't had the opportunity to eat the staple food of rice with lentil
and some vegetables mixed in the middle called "Dal bhat tarkari" yet.
From what I heard before I came, I haven't missed much. Food in Nepal
is much like food in India.
Later this afternoon I'm going to take a walk in the Thamel area which
has lots of shops. I will be going to a market tomorrow where the prices
are marked and the bargaining is not as prevalent. I may try my hand at
buying a thing or two today. Shopping is an area where I don't feel too
comfortable because I don't know any perimeters in which to work.
Hope that this gives some of the flavor of the area for you. More later.
September 15, 1999
I wish I had my digital camera to send you some photos. I will scan
and send you some photos when I get back home.The photos will give a whole
new fullness to any writing I send you.
Today is a strike. I'll tell more about it in the Nepal News I send. It's
strange to be on the roads and not have the crazy traffic coming at you.
September
September 16, 1999
Hello All,
Here's an excerpt from the book Winter's Tale.
"Nothing is random,
nor will anything ever be. The time the milkman gets up . . . And yet
there is a wonderful anarchy, in that the milkman chooses when to rise . . . How
can this be? If nothing is random and everything is predetermined, how can
there be free will? The answer to that is simple. Nothing is predetermined; it is
determined, or was determined, or will be determined. No matter, it all happened
at once, in less than an instant, and time was invented because we cannot
comprehend in one glance the enormous and detailed canvas that we have been given - so
we track it piece by piece. Time however can easily be overcome, not by chasing
the light, but by standing back far enough to see it all at once. The universe is
still and complete. Everything that ever was, is; everything that ever will be,
is - and so on, in all possible combinations. In the end, or, rather, as things
really are, any event, no matter how small, is intimately and sensibly tied
to all others. . . Justice becomes apparent not as something that will be,
but as something that is."
As a change from the usual, I'll write some thoughts.
What should life be all about? Should it be exploring new places in the
world, working in a job for years and years, making your body feel good
by eating and sexuality, helping other people, searching out knowledge,
working hard to accumulate goods and power, meditating for hours to be
open to new truths, following a guru, finding a soul-mate, simplifying
one's life to eliminate excess of goods, exercising regularly to have a
fit body, or pushing oneself to ever tougher standards of purity? At my
present stage of life and present state of mind, life is about finding
how one connects to that higher and greater power, how to be happy in
all circumstance through being grateful, and to realize that we can only
make decisions on what we know and feel at the time. Living life and
dealing with the situations that come up is the classroom of the earth.
Some of us need to take the same lesson over and over. Some seem to
learn at a higher level but that might be an illusion. Each person must
deal with their own life and make decisions on how to live. This trip
and many of the other thoughts above are just parts of life. Life is
about finding the connection to God and living out your life to be true
to your search and have decisions made based on what will help you
progress on your search. My feeling is that noone has the answer for
someone else. Each must come to a place where they find the connections
that lead to growth. Allowing others to put your growth in a box and
tell you what to think are not helping with your life. People who
challege you to grow and accept where you are help your growth.
Enough of the heavy stuff. I feel like a high schooler just getting
serious about life. I'll let you know how all of this works itself out
as you talk to me in the future. If you feel that you have all the
answers, I challenge you to give permission to God to allow you to grow
more. You will open yourself up to pain, pleasure, hope, dispair, but
you will be living and growing in your search. I believe you will never
arrive at the destination. Until you die, you will not know "the
answer." I have no clue as to what happens after death. I do know that I
want to live life. I don't want to escape into some corner or try out
every faith and belief. I will live with my mind, heart, and spirit open
to the truths that are for all to find. I look forward to being with
those who will be a part of my journey.
Jeff
(See what being in a place like Nepal can do for you?)
