Back in the Big Dirty

Cloud lightning out the window of our new apartment in Thamel.

Update time!

Many things have happened in the past month since I last posted to this blog, so bear with me:

We had a fantastic time with Austin and Beth between March 5th and 25th. Thanks to a whole bunch of unexpected factors (see last post) we had a chance to show them a bunch of Kathmandu's sights and sounds before and after our trip to Langtang National Park. Once we finally got up north we had a fun, albeit dramatic, trek through fire, ice, sunshine and rain. Oh yeah, there were a few big mountains, too. Check out the Langtang photo journal in the gallery!

It was great to have a bit of home fly in to visit us, and made us extra-excited to be back in Portland. Our return date is coming up quickly (less than a month, now!) and we're scrambling to squeeze in everything we still want/need to do here.

As Beth and Austin were leaving, Ash and I were busy moving our stuff to a new apartment in Thamel, in a building owned and managed by Sanu's family. For our last month in Nepal, we'll residing in a downtown fifth-story penthouse of sorts... Amenities included consist of running water (brown), a leaky sink drain (a bucket underneath seems to take care of it), a briquette stove, a wooden bed frame, a chair, a coffee table, horribly sooty walls and ceilings, curtains (very important), one functioning incandescent bulb, and one power outlet (we still only get power for eight hours a day). A shared squat toilet, sans sink or shower, is down the hall. Despite this downgrade in accomodation, we're pretty stoked on this relatively impoverished and totally different urban experience. Not only are we in the gritty heart of urban Kathmandu, we're close to everything we need to do and have had an opportunity to get to know a few more of the subtleties of this place.

One of the biggest changes here over the past two weeks has been the onset of the spring rains! The weather patterns have been all sorts of unusual for the past fourteen months or so as Nepal experienced a dry monsoon season last summer/autumn and a very dry winter. As a result, electricity production has been pretty much impossible, and wells are drying up all over the country. A bunch of scientists are even concerned that large portions of Kathmandu valley could collapse as water tables are sucked dry. The recent afternoon rains (and snow in the mountains) have been bringing some relief and have provided some very entertaining thunderstorms in the valley. We can't get enough of it!

Over the past week I've been busy finishing up the written agenda and reports for the project we've been doing in the Ramechhap district (click here to download the latest pdf), getting photos gathered, researching product concepts for FoST and getting acquainted to our new digs, amongst other things. In April, I'll be focused on following up as necessary with Ramechhap (and maybe going back for another short visit) and developing concepts at FoST. Meanwhile, today is Ashley's first day shadowing at Martyr's Memorial Hospital, where she'll spend the next month watching and helping out on various rotations. Our friend Krish, also pre-med, did the same thing in February and had a great experience, so our hopes our high.

Aside from that, we're looking at a bit of river time (I'll be safety-boating for a large class II/III rafting trip on April 11) and three or four days down in Chitwan National Park riding elephants and (hopefully) spotting some rhinos and big bright birds.

The Royal Palace (just down the street from our new penthouse) opened as a museum about a month ago, and we joined throngs of Nepalis last Saturday to check it out. The sprawling palace and grounds have been pretty much vacant since the massacre in 2001, and sits today much as I imagine it was eight years ago. The buildings have this super-cheesy and sparse 60s/70s architecture and interior decoration, and it was pretty bizarre to consider that the place represents/ed the 'lap of luxury' for this nation..

Politics have continued to provide a never-ending comedy in the daily papers here.. Every day brings news of more back-stabbing closed-door meetings within the countless parties and subsets of parties, which usually result in pointless riots, bandhs, strikes, or killings. Nobody can figure out how to integrate all the small party-loyal militias into one army, the Maoists in charge seem to be driving for a one-party system empowered by social disorder and poverty, and China's (anti-Tibetian) whims are frequently carried out without a second thought. Stability in all sectors is still quite a ways off here...

We made the mistake of buying the first four seasons of House MD last week (ripped of course, at a cost of around $12), and have been sucked into 3-5 episodes per night lately.

We've been toying with the idea of spending a few extra days in Bangkok on our return trip to see some more temples, enjoy more massages, take care of some dental work, and maybe even participate in their never-ending political demonstrations (or not)!

And finally: what's up with this website/blog's new name? In short: 'hajur' is one of those Nepali words that can mean just about anything.. it works for 'sir,' 'pardon,' 'hello,' 'whaddup,' etc... So way back during the final days of the Annapurna trek we had a great night in Tatopani getting wasted on Marpha apple brandy. Krish (now infamous for taking gigantic gulps of the stuff rather than sipping it like the rest of us) had also been enjoying slices of a chocolate cake that was sitting under the bar. Upon finishing his second slice, Krish started talking about how much he needed a THIRD. The bartender (and cake enabler) was nowhere to be seen, and out of the blue Krish blurted, "WHERE'S MY HAJUR? I NEED SOME MORE CAKE!!" The phrase has stuck with us like .. um .. frosting on cake .. ever since and is somewhat emblematic of our whole experience here :)

Beruit by day; Bethlehem by night

Looks like we made it through the airport in Bangkok just in time! A few days ago the anti-government protesters blocked a main highway to the airport, two days ago saw two blasts in the terminal, and yesterday both of Bangkok's airports were shut down, delaying hundreds of flights and putting the whole region on edge. Meanwhile, we've spent the last week getting into the on-again off-again groove of Kathmandu.

On the surface this city is large, noisy, and dirty. The smog is thicker and more acidic than I ever imagined smog could be. The roads are a chaotic honking free-for-all where pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks, buses, cows, goats, and dogs all compete for space. You can't drink the water, the showers are cold, the power is sporadic, dogs bark all night, and most buildings aren't heated. Yet there is something about this town and its people that has been drawing me closer day after day, a warm embrace that beckons us to extend our stay and return often. The people here are kind, thoughtful, skilled, and remain deeply connected to their cultural roots. A lot of delicious food (from rice to wheat to cows, goats, and chickens) is grown and raised within the city limits, and I imagine that the bulk of our intake the past week has originated within fifteen miles of here. Because the bulk of the population is poor, material possessions are often prized and taken care of, and almost nothing (except for packaging) is discarded.

The inherent problems of pollution and waste that have come from diesel engines, brick-making factories, incinerators, and western packaging seem insurmountable. The costs involved to institute a waste management program and clean-air standards are beyond the scope of this poor nation. But with small groups of committed citizens at work all over the Kathmandu Valley, I feel there is some hope that this city will one day have clean streets and be clear-aired.

We've been staying at the volunteer hostel portion of NOH's Papa's House 2 (above the boys home--a girls home, Papa's House, is just up the road). Here we've shared the top two floors of a very nice building with between five and seven other volunteers hailing from the States, England, France, and Sweden, and here for a variety of durations and purposes. Most of us share a common bedroom, and we all share a bathroom, kitchen, and office. The place is actually much plusher that either of us had imagined it would be. Downstairs live 24 boys between the ages of five and fifteen, supervised by their "daddy," Vinod, a native of Kathmandu in his early 20s, and several didi's (female caretakers). The boys are a riot, and have been a lot of fun to play with, teach, and learn from. Most of them speak pretty decent English, so they've been easy to communicate with, and have helped us learn our first few Nepali phrases.

As I write this Ashley is over at the girls house with another volunteer, Tamra, helping to teach an art class to the girls who haven't yet been admitted to the local private primary school, Skylark, where most of the boys and girls spend their days Sunday thru Friday (Saturday is the day of rest here). With the exception of Michael Hess (Papa), males aren't allowed in the girl's home, so my only interactions with the girls have been in their courtyard and on the way to school. They seem like just as much fun as the boys.

Vacation Squared

A frustrating series of logistical miracles led us from a relaxing oil massage in Ton Sai to a missed shuttle connection in Ao Nang to an overcrowded taxi-pickup to the Krabi Bus Terminal (home to lots of buses) to a last-second taxi ride to the Krabi Port (unlikely home to only one bus -- ours) to a nearly missed VIP bus towards Bangkok to a 2:30 am transfer to a local government bus in Pran Buri to a much needed and fantastically comfortable bed at our friend Rob's house in Hua Hin.

Our time in Hua Hin proved to be an unexpectedly luxurious vacation from our vacation. Our hosts Rob (fishes with Ashley's father in Alaska), his girlfriend Jai, and their golden retriever Tuk-Tuk, took on the role of tour guides as they showed us around town, introduced us to their favorite haunts and restaurants, watched hours of movies with us in their beautiful house, and woke at an ungodly hour to drive us to Bangkok for our flight to Nepal.

Hua Hin itself is a popular but quiet weekend beach getaway for Bangkok's middle and upper classes, and is home to the vacation palace of the Royal Family. It also hosts quite a few European and American retirees, who can be found wandering the streets at all hours in their Hawaiian shirts, khaki cargo shorts, and faded loafers. Lots of small shops and restaurants line the streets, and a few small malls and markets host hundreds of merchants hawking the same merchandise that can be found all over town.

We found an exceptionally large ratio of ice cream shops per capita .. no matter where we were, a Swensons (really good sundaes), Haagen-Daaz, Baskin Robbins, or Dairy Queen was never far. Of course, a two-scoop cone at Haagen Daaz cost about twice as much as one night of lodging in Ton Sai (but it was sooo worth it)!

Thailand's road systems are all influenced by silly British ideas, and getting around town was a really weird experience. While everyone drives on the 'wrong' side of the road (I can handle this), and traffic rules are rarely heeded (I can also handle this), there are only rarely places to turn right across any main highway, and streets off the highway are rarely interconnected. Thus, u-turns were a mandatory and very frequent maneuver wherever we were going. I see the advantages to this system........ but it was just so weird.

On our second day in Hua Hin, Rob and Jai took us an hour south to Prachuap Khiri Khan, home to the 'Monkey Temple.' A hill sits between a monastary and the sea. Sitting at the top of 396 stairs sits a small temple/shrine complex with a beautiful view of the surrounding area. Living on the hill are roughly 4,000 monkeys, many in dubious health, and ALL of them very interested in tourists and their food (imagine being inside the monkey-house at an old school zoo...). A six or seven year old Thai boy, Pun, adopted us as soon as we got out of Rob's truck and served as our 'tour-guide' as we hoofed our way up the stairs to the temple. This kid was practically a monkey himself, and dealt with the more aggressive monkeys with far more panache than any of us could have mustered. Although a large male approached Ashley on our journey to the top and forcefully stole a bottle of juice from her, most of the monkey's were a bit more passive-aggressive. It was all great fun, but the unpredictability of the monkeys left us all a bit on edge.

That night we were all tuckered out, and after a few rounds of Johnny Walker, we wound up getting sucked into 'The Holiday' and 'Bank Job' from the comfort of Rob's huge and awesome bed/couch. We were so lethargic that we decided to call up a local Italian restaurant for delivery, and gorged on hot linguine, calzones, and gnocchi. For all we knew that evening, we had been magically whisked back to the US.

Food with Rob and Jai was actually pretty funny... for breakfasts and lunches we went to places with traditional Thai dishes, while for dinners we wound up eating Mexican, Italian, and Indian cuisines (as I write this entry from Kathmandu, I am VERY happy we took this world food tour while we had the chance)!

Our inital plan had been to spend a day or two in Bangkok with Rob before flying out. However, we were all having such a good and relaxing time in Hua Hin that we bagged that idea, and drove up the morning of our flight. After getting stuck in a massive traffic jam, retrieving our big bags from the hotel we stayed at our first night in Thailand, battling countless other traffic jams, and driving 180kph at every chance, we made it to the airport with only minutes to spare. Rob -- you rock!

One Night in Bangkok

After 30+ hours of travel door-to-door, Ashley and I met at 12:30am after the customs rigamarole in Bangkok's glitzy Suvarnabhumi (pronounced Suh-wan-a-poon .. which still boggles my mind) Airport. Since Ash and I used other peoples' frequent flier miles to pay for the trip to Bangkok, we wound up flying on different airlines all the way.. and as chance would have it, our itineraries were exactly the same; we even got to enjoy an overpriced lunch together at San Francisco International! Ashley definitely won out on airplane service with Japan Air though.. with multiple seats to herself, tetris, and frequent ice cream sandwiches throughout! I was a bit jealous of the ice cream......

As I write this fifteen hours later, we're back in the airport about to fly out to Krabi. We'll be back to explore Bangkok with our friend Rob after some much-needed beach-time, but this layover of sorts gave us a great preview of the city, largely defined by cab rides to and fro.

Cab Ride #1 - The Driver/Pimp:

Freshly reunited, Ash and I waited in the longest line of our trip for a cab to take us the 30km from the airport to our hotel. Our driver was pretty quiet, but introduced us to the flock-mentality of driving in Bangkok. Lines on the road? Merely a suggestion. Rear-view mirrors? Only for the meek. Blinkers and horns? A language unto its own.

As soon as we got off the new airport expressway, our driver took us down a dingy industrial street with the largest population of hookers and 18-year old pimps we'd ever seen. He slowed waaaay down a few times and we both silently worried that he was going to pick up one for us ;)

Cab Ride #2 - The Narcoleptic:

After a better-than-expected continental breakfast at our hotel, we hopped into a cab for what we thought would be a quick ride across town to Khao San Road, a street-market and cheap-hotel mecca for low-budget backpackers. Luckily for us, there was bumper-to-bumper traffic nearly all the way there (except for a short stint on a toll-highway), and our driver fell asleep nearly every time we came to a stop. In what turned into a fun game of two-man driving, I had to make a noise to wake him up every time traffic started moving again.

Cab Ride #3 - The Geography Ace:

We quickly accomplished our missions on chaotic, crowded, and fun Khao San Road: talking to a travel agent about flying to Krabi, finding a scarf for Ashley, and buying a new battery for my watch (which I've never really worn before, but am definitely appreciating now).

It was easy to flag our third cab down, and our driver somehow took us back to our hotel in less than half the time it had taken to get out to Khao San Road. Bangkok's geography? Continues to be very confusing.

Cab Ride #4 - Gobama:

We picked up our Thailand-oriented bags from the hotel around 1:30 pm and headed back to the airport. Our driver was the youngest and most talkative of the four, and used his limited English to ensure that we were Obama Supporters, decry McCain as "just like George Bush (boom boom)," and teach us how to say hello, thank you, and good-bye. Awesomeness.