miniatures

Minitures

Patna is a busy place.. it doesn’t have a good reputation.  But you have to make your own mind up about theses things. 

I am sitting in the local youth hostel drinking some tea I bought in Nepal from where I came yesterday. The tea is from ilum an area near the more famous Darjeeling.  I mistook the price in the shop and paid more than I intended (4000 nepali rupees a kilo) I did only get 100 grams..  but drinking it, it is the best tea of its kind I have had to date.. it was processed with Chinese technology (as distinct from the Japanese),,  very good tea. 

The honey is another thing that is really good about Nepal.. yum..  I tried a few brands.. all really good.   another thing I liked a lot was the cheese I bought from a shop near the guesthouse I stayed in kathmandu..  I don’t know what milk it was made of.. tasted a bit like semi aged peccorino.. but I am not sure if it was goat or not .. maybe buffalo,.. or maybe yak..   at the hostel someone had nailed a yaks head to the wall.. strange looking creature..  like from a different eon.. like a mammoth.. thats kinda tripped into ours.. by some portal left open by a time lord by mistake or something...

 I didn’t feel like asking the shopkeeper what it was made of..( the cheese i mean)   shopkeepers in Nepal are difficult.  Sorry to say but I find them dishonest.   double standards is the standard.  I think it comes ultimately from an aid mentality.  Not sure.

I made it to the youth hostel after a long journey.. 2 greulling days of very bad roads.. delays.. noise.  .. it is not good to arrive tired in patna.  It is not tourist friendly.  There are no cheap hotels that are accommodating to foreigners.  I was lucky to get to the youth hostel in fact.  Thanks to the guide book actually.. nothing else.  Watch out here!!

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The police are a bit jumpy in Kathmandu.

About a year ago in Sydney I bought a folding umbrella.  It fits nicely into the side pocket of a backpack.. mmm.  When I bought it I remember saying to myself .. I maybe take this one to India with me.. .. well.. strangely I did,  .. I got caught in the rain in Varanasi…

Then one day in Kathmandu I went looking for a liter of milk.. it began to rain as I came away from the shop.. on the corner.. there were two armed police in blue uniforms there minding the traffic.. etc.. I didn’t really pay attention.. I was busy getting the umbrella out of my daypack.. but I did suddenly become aware of them reaching for their guns as I fished around for the umbrella.   They relaxed when I popped it open and went on my way in the rain.

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Crossing the border from Nepal to India at birganj.

The nice man at the hotel where I stayed the night at birganj answered that the rickshaw ride to the border should cost 20 rupees.  Since every rickshaw wallah demanded 100 I decided to walk being totally fed up at being treated like an idiot.  The guidebook said it was 5 kilos.. it was. Though it was a hot day.. and by the time I arrived at Indian immigration over the border the sweat was dripping off me.. I rather wondered if I would look suspicious.. but as it turned out I probably didn’t have to worry that much.  I must have missed the nepali immigration office as I left without a stamp. Right. Ahem.

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In the Spartan Indian immigration office there was an overweight official of about 60 years. He did have a very jovial air and a bright red tilik on his forehead. He wore an assortment of large stones set in various metals on quite strong hands with which he handed me the forms to fill out politely and efficiently. I had the feeling that this man was capable of quite serious responsibility and was happy to do business with him.  I promised myself to recall his welcome next time I became exasperated by the touts  in India.  He checked my details as I noticed a picture of the mahatma gandi on the wall below the corregated asbestos of the roof and beams.  all was reasonably fine.  We namastaed and I left happy to be on my way.

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Rickety old bus from raxaul on the Indian side of the border to patna.. had to replace one tyre on the way.. the tread was giving out.. then 3 hours later the spare blew out.. pop.. hiss clunk clunk clunk.. ..   it was a solid old bus.. very heavy chassis. So it barely lurched. We just slowed down by the side of the bitchuman.  The conductor went off somewhere down the road with the spare tyre that had been removed earlier while others removed one of the double wheels on the back.. I didn’t wait to see how they configured it.. but sat down talking with some locals who were passing by.  There are a lot of friendly people in bihar.. well mannered and self effacing.  Here at least.. we did stop for refreshment a couple of times where the people were not so polite.. but you get that at bus stops.. petty crims.  Troublemakers. Layabouts .touts. 
its the only time ever that i have had to give my passport number for a bus ticket..   its an indication of the nature of transport and tourism in bihar..   people say its not safe to travel by bus in bihar..   i tend to agree but things are improving..  better if one is young and fit and doesnt mind a bit of kung fu practice..  trains .. sorry to say are not a lot better.

kathmandu, cows piss and charras

As a kid in the early 1970s I heard stories from travellers about Kathmandu.  I suppose I filed the info away..  I certainly had the wish to go there.  Exotic music.. Tibetan mysteries.. newar temples.. famous charras….  Well.. the hippies I am sorry to say had children who turned out to be yuppies who come here to pose for pictures to post on facebook.

Ahem.  ( i gotta admit doing it as well.. )

As for the charras.. well.. its illegal here and anyone stupid enough to trust someone trafficking it on the street..  deserves to pay the fine that may be expected to  be  extorted from them ..  

30-40 odd years ago..maybe..  yup.

The situation here is one of transition..   its not a republic.. and not a monarchy.. I guess it will find its way.. over the years nepal has generated a lot of good will.. ( best to think positive...)

I went looking for a gemstone yesterday here.. and entered the shop of a Tibetan trader..  there are dozens of Tibetan shops selling antiquites and all the art and craft that has accumulated in Tibet over the years..   its the heritage of a people that have lost their country.. and are losing their identity if the guy in the shop is anyting to judge by..

He didn’t have the stone i wanted so I asked about dzi.. not any more..  he said.. I said maybe 20 years ago.. he nodded.. he was decidedly not happy.. I said maybe in a new york boutique for $10 000.. he nodded again..

I left the shop none the happier myself..

the gem i sought is called gomedh which they say means cows piss.  .. as the best is the color of cows piss.. in english its hessionite..  it is supposed to protect the wearer from the harmful influence of the dragons head.. or rahu.. the north node of the moon..  quando in roma..... waisa desh.   jaisa bhesh.

kathmandu has the worst air ive ever been subject to.. i would stay longer here but for its poor quality.  my friendly advice to the people here is clean up the garbage on the streets... get some pollution controls..  more traffic cops.. and above all .. give pedestrians the right of way.. otherwise you encourage aggressive driving..  and the state of the roads that you have right now..  failed state. or def. heading that way..

I did find the cows' piss I was looking for.. a nicely faceted exemplar... and had it set in sterling for a reasonable price.. I had a good day in toto.. and will probably value the memory of it.

quick one on the go

pokhara noon. late august.... rainy season..
second largest city of nepal.. pokhara is built on a lake.. nice spot.. clean water..   there are himalaya behind the clouds they tell me.. .. but what i like about it here is the air.. so good..   theres a great german bakery as well.. mmm.. otherwise its a bit of a tourist trap... good to rest for a few days..   its a holiday resort.. probably was very nice 30 odd years ago.. the nepalese component is just a faded memory now.. the odd shadow..  some aging tibetan refugees.. carrying a great weight..  rather beyond poignant.. people who waited all their lives to go back to home.. but knew somewhere that it wasnt going to be..   paying for the mistakes of their ancestors.. but blessed by the same ancestors with a great wealth nevertheless..
but to go back a little way.. travelling through bihar and uttar pradesh a few weeks ago,  i saw more fertile green land than i ever imagined existed..  rice paddies on and on.. and on.. ..
what is on my mind is that even if half of what the experts say is true, there will be precious little water to water them in a few years.. and so no rice..  even as a result of a slight climate change ..  there is also nothing i saw that indicates that there is mobilization of the population in light of this..  and a massive mobilization will be needed in india..  if a billion odd souls are to have any chance of survival....(which it seems that they will be denied...) so .. water is not so much the problem..  but mentality..   corrupt old india's days are numbered.

nepal on the other hand seems to have abundant water for the time being at least.( and a fraction of the population)  it is close by.. .. it is also pretty well a total shambles.. if there is a government it is probably off somewhere helping some relative fix up his hostel.. the place is so disorganized....  the social system has fostered a status quo where talent cannot rise to the top.. so it either leaves the country or withers... and what you get is a corrupt and talentless governement and society.. a rigid, stagnant society...  but i feel its days are numbered...
a lot of nepalese are very fine.. people..   and nepal has many friends..(i count myself as one...) which will be all that will win this place through if there are serious problems.. and it looks to me like serious problems are just around the corner.  (its started already with the end of the monarchy 2008). .. not just from water problems.(india).   the place is hidebound. ... beautiful country.. lovely people... but change is so needed  and so happening.... a total shakeup.. hence the maoists..  mmm.  time for the power elites that have kept the country in stasis for hundreds of years to be totally cleaned out i'd say..
 great tourist destination.. mountains like no other..  its got many blessings...

a quiet word to all the good nepalese in the diaspora .. i reckon it maybe time to start thinking about what you can do for nepal... in light of the changes that are about to take place..  its you who are needed now.. here.. in nepal.. thats my opinion anyway..