This was my first journey to Asia to visit my son, who was volunteer teaching in Nepal for several months.
I didn’t know it would change my life.
This trip to Nepal, India, and Bali transformed me into a full-time traveler 21 years ago.
Let’s get into it!
My feet are freezing its 5:30 AM in the Himalayas, I’m on a local bus in Kathmandu headed for Pokhara, an 8-hour ride at least, and I couldn’t be happier.
My son is asleep at my side.
And this morning was the first day I could manage to board a bus without knowing the exact location of a toilet.
A new adventure begins.
I like travel. When you get tired of one country you just go to another one.
I’ve been through scare warnings, shooting sprees, arrests, Maoist demonstrations and the lifting of ceasefires. What next?
The arrogance of so-called informed Americans thinking they know what is going on here in Nepal. Even we who are here don’t know. All those lectures I had to hear from dum-dums who knew nothing.
Change the subject. I’m not listening. Fingers in ears la la la.
Yes the USA State Department issued a warning about citizens traveling to Nepal since there had been protests and killings. But my son is living there and I’d walk through fire to get to him so I didn’t listen.
I arrived in Kathmandu last week, it only took a thousand hours to fly from California.
And now after our volunteering we’re exploring Nepal together.
So finally this bus is moving. Almost. We’ve been sitting here for a while. Another security checkpoint.
Sometimes a man in fatigues will get on the bus, look around, and get off.
Other times, no one gets on and we just idle for a 100 years and nothing happens. No shoot-outs, no bloodshed, just interminable waiting.
We’re the only non-Tibetans on the bus.
It humbles me to be in the minority. I’m looking out the window now and there are two children playing in a field. One is fully clothed and the other is wearing no pants.
Maybe it’s a new way to toilet train.
But it’s more entertaining to watch than complain about the fact that the bus isn’t moving. I keep craning my neck around the seat in front of us and asking, “When will we move?”
My son calmly opens a book and starts reading.
He says, “Ma… chill.”
So it’s cold in the Himalayas in winter.
But, “Don’t bring anything,” my son told me, “You can buy everything here for cheap.”
So I get off the plane after flying over Mount Everest and he’s wearing a tee shirt!
However he was right, everything is low cost here. Pashminas, turquoise, and Nepail dumplings (momos).
I’m happy I brought 50 rolls of film with me to take photos. You can’t find film here.
Son knows Nepali! And converses fluently with the locals. We get invited into people’s homes and treated with respect because of his cultural know-how.
He has a large community of people in Kathmandu who have welcomed him into their hearts and homes.
But he insists, “I’m not fluent.”
However he has whole conversations with local people and I just stand there mute.
So we arrived in Pokhara the beginning of the Annapurna Mountain trail, the 2nd largest mountain in the world.
But my son got sick because he caught my recent illness so we didn’t do more than lay around resting and eating, which I needed too.
Then we decided to go to the Royal Chitwan National Park, maybe we’d see rhinos and elephants since they live there.
I’ve noticed whenever we’re asked where we come from they sing, “Check in to the Hotel California.”
They think it’s all Haight-Ashbury and surfboards. We know it’s all computers and electrical engineers with phones attached to their pants.
A far cry from the Summer of Love.
No matter, I hate to disturb their image of California being the land of milk and honey, and babes on beach blankets. But I do.
They need to know before getting their work permits and paying some huckster here for a visa out of Nepal that it’s not all namaste in California.
It’s mostly I’m too busy for a relationship and I drive a Mercedes. Or was that the last decade?
There are people who have never seen a white person in Nepal. I was sitting at the bus stop that was really just a tree stump today and a baby of about 3 years old, eyes wide, ran up to me after hiding behind her brother, tentatively poked my knee with one tiny finger to see if I was real, and ran away laughing.
We cause quite a stir. And now we’re celebrities since they found out we’re mother and son. Some misguided people thought we were boyfriend and girlfriend!
I get asked daily, “How old are you?” I don’t tell. I just say, “150.”
Son says, “Just tell them Ma.” But when I tell them my age the person asking may be my age and she looks ten years older from all the strife and sun here.
We observe each other over the cultural chasm between us; silent in the knowingness.
The people in Nepal are handsome and gorgeous; the most friendly and kind humans on the planet.
So now we’re going trekking in the jungle to the Royal Chitwan Preserve. My son says we can walk on our own feet through foliage to see wild tigers, rhinos, and crocodiles.
“Wouldn’t it be better to take the jeep, Honey?”
“No, let’s walk; we’ll see things that you can‘t see from a jeep driving fast. That’s what the tourists do.”
“But it’s so much walking.”
“Its good for you Ma.”
OK fine I’ll try it. This is after hiking for ten miles on New Years Day, down from Ngarkot where we crashed those two parties.
My son says it was only five hours of hiking on that mountain but it was closer to fifteen hours.
My feet hurt all the way up to my knees.
But it was an adventure. Now he suggests we see tigers and assorted wildlife up close and personal that some people make into purses.
I’m a bit scared so to make myself feel more prepared I look in my money belt.
“Is there an ATM in the jungle?”
“Ma, listen to what you just said.”
“What?”
“About the ATM.”
“Well wouldn’t there be one so people could spend money in the jungle?”
“It’s the jungle!”
I thought perhaps it was like Disneyland with an ATM at the park entrance. Just in case you want to get your picture with an elephant and you need to pay for it after purchasing your slurpie.
Somehow I thought Nepal would provide me with easy access to my bank account but in this country they shut down the Internet when they feel like it.
Only two towns in Nepal have ATMS so don’t bet your rupees on finding one outside of Kathmandu. Or even finding an Internet location.
Nepal also has national curfews and everyone must stay inside for a week or so.
Jimi Prem, our local friend says, “The curfews keep the streets clean. “
* * *
There are many things you can’t get here in Nepal.
Electricity when you want it. There’s a power outage 3 or 4 times a week but a pleasant person shows up with a lit candle within 5 minutes. We’re tourists they like us.
Bread is dense and don’t expect to find gluten free.
Pure water. I marvel at the clean water we get right out of the tap in the USA. I never buy bottled water at home – when I get home I like to turn on the tap for fun and actually drink the water.
They don’t have central heating here. You want to flip a switch to be warm but there are no switches to be seen on any walls.
Once the sun goes down you better be under the covers. It’s damn cold at night in a Himalayan winter. Small space heaters are coveted. I have one at my guesthouse which is why I like sleeping there.
We were invited to bunk at friend’s homes without heat but I didn’t want to shiver all night. No thank you I’m going back to my space heater now.
Contact lens solution is expensive, when and if you can find it.
But riding in a rickshaw is better than a Lexus; you’re higher up than in a car and you can observe people without being caught staring.
So Nepal was my first country in Asia to visit and it changed my perspective on world travel and turned my life upside down.
You can read my book on it here if you want to know the thrilling stories with photos and hilarious mistakes I made starting a new life.
https://www.amazon.com/Kitten-Heels-Kathmandu-Adventures-Vagabond-ebook/dp/B005MR4X1I
And if you want the latest news on destinations to move or travel to join my subscribers and get google meetups with me and practical tips on how you can change your life too!
What an exciting life. What courage you have.
Your adventures always keep me riveted, Mary. You made me laugh about the ATM, your son probably eye-rolling you. Funny! What a great immersive read. Loved it, Mary.