Trip to Nepal
October 2006
Day 4 - Besisehar to Bahundanda
Bridge over the Khudi Khola |
At last - we're done with buses and we're walking |
Most days are not too difficult - this day is beautiful, and we're going to walk for a few hours and then spend the night at Bahundanda (it sounded to me like Bawmdata), which is about 500 meters higher (1300M).
This was a scene repeated many times on the trip. Nepalis carry large loads into between villages via the use of a basket attached to a headstrap. The typical footwear was flip-flops, the $1.50 item in a K-Mart. They would just relentlessly walk up and down trails through any weather and obstacle, using their sticks to balance themselves when necessary. They seemed to stay in good humor, and if they were complaining about their lot in life I didn't hear it. |
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This is the other method of moving material - the donkey train. The most common materials moved were sugar and rice. |
Land was terraced so that very steep property could be used for agricultural purposes. |
Lunch was wherever you found it - there were entrepeneurs selling food in many places. I ate many many eggs on this trip, peeled apples, tea (lemon, mint or black), egg noodle pasta, porridge and potatoes. Not a high protein diet, but it sufficed. David and Rachel were two New Zealanders traveling in SE Asia for their honeymoon. They maintained the reputation of kiwis by always being in good spirits and unfailingly being up for doing things the hard way. |
This is where I spent the night in Bahundanda - a very pleasant tea house at the top of the town. It drizzled a bit, but was mostly sunny. |
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This amused me a bit, as the last line must have had an extra word. I saw so many misspellings / mistakes on official signs, but I didn't know what was coming, or I probably wouldn't have taken this. After dark, I walked into the town where they were gambling using something like dice. It was mostly dark by then, as this town only got power from 5pm until 9pm. |