Several weeks ago, I went with several other PCVs to Bardia, National Park. We spent 3 full days exploring the park, two nights camping. The experience is best relayed via some pictures I took on the trip.
There are three geographical regions in Nepal. The Himalayan region, or mountain region which borders China and Tibet. This is what you're thinking of when you imagine Nepal. The hill region, which is where all of the Peace Corps volunteers are placed. To be clear, what a Nepali considers a hill would be considered a mountain by most Americans, certainly all Minnesotans. Bardia is in the terrain region, which borders India. This area is largely characterized by Nepal's at times contentious relationship with India. After the Maoist civil war in Nepal, India assisted Nepal in negotiating a peace treaty in 2004. A plan was put in place to establish democracy in Nepal, create a secular country, and end the monarchy rule. India's involvement meant that it had, and continues to have, strong political and economic sway over its smaller neighbor. Now, as Nepal reforms its infant constitution, India feels it is not receiving its just recognition and accolades for assisting Nepal, and Madheshi people, those living at the border of Nepal and India, complain that their needs are not accounted for in the constitution. This is of course, an incredible simplification of a complex issue based in decades of political discord. I include it to bring you into the mind of Ali, as a I traversed the terrain region, my first departure from the hill region.
Nepal is a small country by North American standards, but these regions are so dramatically different that it feels as if you are going to a new country when you travel between them. The long 2 full day bus ride to Bardia was made tolerable by my excitement to take my first vacation in Nepal, and by my fascination with how different life in the terrai is to life in the hill region. It was surreal to see landscape like this, I've grown so used to my rolling hills and views of the Himalaya. From the road, the houses were different- closer together, pathways akin to sidewalks defining the layout of the "neighborhood" rather than where I live where the sloping uneven landscape defines where houses are, pathways created out of possibility rather than convenience. People were riding bikes- an impossibility where I live.
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| Traversing our first river on the first day |
In Bardia, we stayed at a hotel called Mr. B's place. For what it's worth, I recommend. We were greeted by Mr. B himself, who assured us that camping was the best option to get a feel for the park was to camp. Recently what I have been missing most in Nepal is the wilderness. You would think there would be a lot, between treks that are overrun by tourists, and forests that are harvested daily for firewood and greenery for water buffalos, I have not found the wilderness that I crave. Until Bardia.
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| Sunset on the way to first night's campsite |
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| No better way to wrap up a day of exploring than nepali tea |
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| Rhino sniffing out encroaching Americans |
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| Mama and baby |
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| NepALI sees an ALIgator. but it was a crocodile |
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| Ducks on route home |
Good morning, how are you?
ReplyDeleteMy name is Emilio, I am a Spanish boy and I live in a town near to Madrid. I am a very interested person in knowing things so different as the culture, the way of life of the inhabitants of our planet, the fauna, the flora, and the landscapes of all the countries of the world etc. in summary, I am a person that enjoys traveling, learning and respecting people's diversity from all over the world.
I would love to travel and meet in person all the aspects above mentioned, but unfortunately as this is very expensive and my purchasing power is quite small, so I devised a way to travel with the imagination in every corner of our planet. A few years ago I started a collection of used stamps because through them, you can see pictures about fauna, flora, monuments, landscapes etc. from all the countries. As every day is more and more difficult to get stamps, some years ago I started a new collection in order to get traditional letters addressed to me in which my goal was to get at least 1 letter from each country in the world. This modest goal is feasible to reach in the most part of countries, but unfortunately, it is impossible to achieve in other various territories for several reasons, either because they are very small countries with very few population, either because they are countries at war, either because they are countries with extreme poverty or because for whatever reason the postal system is not functioning properly.
For all this, I would ask you one small favor:
Would you be so kind as to send me a letter by traditional mail from Nepal? I understand perfectly that you think that your blog is not the appropriate place to ask this, and even, is very probably that you ignore my letter, but I would call your attention to the difficulty involved in getting a letter from that country, and also I don’t know anyone neither where to write in Nepal in order to increase my collection. a letter for me is like a little souvenir, like if I have had visited that territory with my imagination and at same time, the arrival of the letters from a country is a sign of peace and normality and an original way to promote a country in the world. My postal address is the following one:
Emilio Fernandez Esteban
Avenida Juan de la Cierva, 44
28902 Getafe (Madrid)
Spain
If you wish, you can visit my blog www.cartasenmibuzon.blogspot.com where you can see the pictures of all the letters that I have received from whole World.
Finally, I would like to thank the attention given to this letter, and whether you can help me or not, I send my best wishes for peace, health and happiness for you, your family and all your dear beings.
Yours Sincerely
Emilio Fernandez