Culture Shock

Kathmandu and surrounding Valley

Today's lesson: Culture shock
1. Overwhelming feeling of disorientation and confusion derived from extreme differences when exposed to a culture, way of life and/or set of values that you are unfamiliar with or is not your own.
                         OR
2. Nepal

I dont really know where to begin to be honest.  There is just so much about this place that is note worthy.
Landing in Nepal we came out of the clouds basically on top of the city, I wasn't sure we were landing on a runway because the houses were so close to the bottom of the plane. As I came out of the airport I got my first taste of Nepali 'hospitality' when I was offered about 15 taxis within 4 steps of the door. I literally had a wake of drivers behind me bartering themselves down to pennies for the trip to Thamel.  I was rather disappointed with Kathmandu, nothing is very far away in the city and the surrounding valley, but it takes ages to get anywhere. The roads are shocking beyond anything I would have imagined and the traffic is horrendous, it doesn't help that there are literally no rules. Technically they drive on the left side of the road but really that is only abided by when there is a median separating the sides.  Having just come out of the monsoon season, the roads were muddy, and full of pot holes, but the worst part was the garbage. According to a local paper there was 300 tons of garbage piled throughout the streets rotting in the humid wet weather. I found out later there was a strike which was why the garbage had gotten so out of control. But nonetheless I've basically become a vegetarian, depending on how grungy the restaurant feels because in all the piles of garbage you will find cats, dogs, chickens, cows, and/or water buffalo 'grazing', and you can't believe that they don't end up on your plate. It gives free range a new meaning...

The dump

The food is amazing though, and you can get whatever you want, most restaurants serve any Asian dish as well as Italian, Mexican, German, Swiss, and Many others. Two Nepali kids who were training to become trekking guides (but also worked for a trekking company and tried to sell me a tour, surprise surprise) showed me a little hole in the wall restaurant that has great food and for a fraction of the price out on the main street, so that became a staple for me while in Kathmandu.
Thamel is the touristy area and is completely overrun by rickshaw drivers, taxis, trekking and gear shops, souvenir shops and beggars.  As in any developing nation, everyone is blinded by dollar signs, and try to grasp whatever piece if the tourist pie they can, and as a result prices skyrocket and no matter how pleasant a person seems, in the end all they want is your money. It's quite disheartening actually because until you experience otherwise, it really ruins the appeal of an entire country.  There is some novelty to it all but in Thamel that wears off in a real hurry.    
 
My main goal upon arrival was to figure out how and who to hire a guide through and where to buy all the gear I'll need. That turned into a very overwhelming experience. You are hassled from every angle, and literally every second shop is selling the same gear. I went to numerous shops comparing prices and quality trying to find the best of both worlds.
Basically, for vendors selling gear revolves around the concept of "ya, same same...but different" and buying gear revolves around the 'degree of fake.' It is very important to assure them that you know everything in their store falls within this 'degree of fake', because they tend to forget at first even when quality is noticeably crap, branding is sloppy, fraying, uneven, and far more often than you would think, on the wrong side.  And material is clearly different.  Generally the Nepalese are incredibly honest tho, and after reminding them that it is indeed fake, they say "yes, but good fake!" one guy actually looked at me like I was an idiot and said "this Nepal, of course fake!"
Good fakes however, can be very good, they're often made in the same shops as the real ones yet they're still a fraction of the cost. I just bought a soft shell North Face jacket for $40 bucks! Needless to say i think im going to be using the services of FedEx before I leave, even though I'm well aware that I can't afford anything, I just can't help it. Anybody want anything?!?

        

Stolen

Within the Kathmandu valley, there are 6 UNESCO World Heritage sites, so a lot of places to see. The first was the monkey Temple, which was perched on a hill top at the end of a seriously steep and arduous set of stairs. Climbing is free but you gotta pay at the top. It's called the monkey temple for obvious reason, it has been overrun by hundreds of rhesus monkeys. Cheeky bastards too, if they want what you're  eating they will have some one way or another.  They can be very crafty and fun to watch their tactics, as long as they've targeted someone other than you.

 Bhaktapur temples

The best site was Durbar Square in Bahktapur, it is the biggest, quietest and best preserved temple. Ross (Scotland) who I met at the guest house had a travel bible so we made the most of miserable weather and did a rainy walking tour around the town and temple. It had a much more authentic feel to it which was nice, and far less hasseling from people trying to sell you things.  It seemed as tho it was a place where people went about their daily lives, but just so happened to have a beautiful temple in the middle.  
I am pretty sick of Kathmandu and honestly it was somewhat of a let down. Basically it has everything you don't want in a city; pollution, bad traffic, very noisy, awful smell, piles of garbage, and people harassing you. That being said, there are a lot of beautiful sites and things to do around the city, you just have to go find them.   The culture is amazing, it is so vibrant and deeply ingrained in everyday life, but it's hard to believe that something so colourful and vibrant can be derived from such a filthy place.  

Heading to Pokhara tomorrow, which will be an adventure in itself. Anywhere from 6 to 10 hours to go a little under 200km...

Take care everyone, chat soon!      

Pokhara

I think buses in Nepal roll out of the plant looking like shit, however, being new they are bought by private companies, and after significant abuse (doesn't take long) they are not fit for the best and become tourist buses, which are then driven further into the ground, until basically nothing works, at which point they become budget tourist buses, after further abuse, and a colourful custom paint job and probably no more than 10 working parts, they become public buses. Seeing a public bus bearing down on you is a sight to behold, people everywhere, bits flying everywhere and an accelerator firmly pushed to the floor. Needless to say busing in Nepal is a serious adventure, be it the roads, the driving, or the buses themselves, it's all crazy! The Sea to Sky highway is reduced to a crawl if so much as a rock falls onto the road or if there's an accident of any kind...we drove right past at least 4 trucks flipped in the ditch (big flatbed trucks, not your typical ford pickup) two rivers that had overflowed their banks and I lost count of the mud slides that we just plowed right through without batting an eye. Hands down the most exciting bus trip ever. And if it's nice out people will ride on the roof of the buses; safe? Hell no.  Natural aircon and best view in the house? Absolutely.
Pokhara was an incredibly refreshing experience coming from Kathmandu. It is far more laid back, quieter, clean and people don't hassle you nearly as much.  And there is a real sense of community even in lakeside which is the heart of tourist area. Everyone just seemed happy, chatting on the street on their way to work or home saying a no-strings-attached namaste to tourists with a big smile (with majority of their teeth still firmly attached).
I met three Brits (Luke, Jess, and Hannah) and two polish dudes (Martin and Kyle??) at the the guest house who had also just arrived but on a different bus, so we went out to find some food and get the standard 'where ya from, where ya going, how long, etc.' questions out of the way. After attempting to pay the bill we some how ended up with about 2000rupees extra and since the polish robotics student couldn't figure it out, clearly the only logical solution was to buy a big bottle of rum. That led to a shesha bar and an uneventful but really fun evening.
The guest house we were staying at also ran a school for poor, disabled, and/or underprivileged kids from the surrounding villages. In Nepal there is a very obvious issue with poverty and lack of education, and a major problem are the orphanages. Most of these Kids are not actually orphaned, they have been taken or sent from the villages to the city to try and get an education and a better life.  Unfortunately many of these kids will see what they believe to be the freedom of the streets, living off of tourists and will run away from the orphanage. They end up on the streets begging not being educated and having a far worse life. And kind hearted tourists are the root of the problem, because they give out some money or food, creating the dependency.  Unfortunately the best thing you can do is nothing at all.
The butterfly school takes the poorest of the poor in the surrounding area and educates them and gives regular medical checkups so the parents can go to work during the day. The kids are taken home at the end of the day to be with their families. They are then sent to the government funded public schools with a firm base of education...hopefully.

 Our day began with a visit to the school which was very rewarding to see good hard work paying off. And turns out it's only the Italian breed of child I dislike, because these kids were amazing. It's so easy for kids and everyone else from western countries to take education for granted; these kids could not have been happier just to get a uniform and a pen much less a full education.

After school we went down to the lake and rented a canoe/row boat...still not sure which it resembled more. I utilized the 'J' stroke to it's fullest though. The lake is beautiful; not clear, blue, glacial beautiful, more like brown, muddy, covered in water lilies beautiful. But it reflects the surrounding mountains like a champion so made for some great pics. We found a little waterfall which kept us occupied for a while but hunger took over so we headed back, for some food and gear shopping!! Yayyy!
What better way to end a great day than with a straight shave? Shady joint, but great shave and head massage to cap it off!
I have about 2 weeks to kill before my trek so I'm renting a motorbike for a little over a week and going to try and get lost in the boonies up towards Bardia National Park where tigers, rhinos, and elephants (among others) are said to be milling about. I like to think I'm karma positive at the moment so hopefully I can cash in for some wild animal viewing!

Take care everyone and chat soon!                

Smirf Huts

Night buses suck, and the trip to cappadocia was no different, even though there was only 14 people on the bus with room to stretch out, you just can't get comfortable. We arrived at about 6:30am with the sun rise and with that came the hot air balloons. Hundreds of them all drifting quietly over the landscape. It was quite a spectacular scene and mind boggling when you first see the 'fairy chimneys' as they're called, to be honest they reminded me of smirfs...or something a smirf would live in...just me?

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Goreme

The ____ Church

From the top of ____ Church

We picked the right valley because it turned into a few kilometers of this!

You get the idea

Crazy formations

Sunset over Cappadocia

The landscape is nothing you would ever see anywhere else, crazy rock formations jutting out of the ground at the bottom of deep canyons cut into the desertlike ground. It really is too difficult to properly explain what you see so just have a look, save us both some time!

Cappadocia is by far the coolest place I've been in Europe, it's just so different and there is some great exploring. You can basically pick a valley and start walking, and if you want to get lost you have to make a serious effort because if you ever lose your berings just climb out of the valley and you can see for kilometers in any direction.
But, hands down the best attribute, the humidity was gone!!! It was still 35-40 degrees during the day but you could actually go out into the sun and enjoy it, what a concept! And I wore pants one night, who woulda thunk.
Cappadocia is the name of the whole area, so Gorëme was one of the main towns in the area nestled into the bottom of a valley and where I stayed...in a cave. The whole town is built into the side of the valley and then in the rock fairy chimneys that riddle the valley floor. It is the modern day flinstones. Everywhere you look there are windows or cave openings in the side of cliffs with a little yard out front and a big front door.
We did a tour the first day we were there which took us to the _____ church, (can't remember the name)  built into a particularily large fairy chimney and was full of secret passagways and the steepest spiral staircase I've ever seen that went up about 6 stories. Would have made for an epic game of hide and seek! Next was the biggest of several underground cities which housed up to 10,000 people during times of conflict. It was one of those sites that was amazing, but more impressive on paper then in reality just because when moving through the different rooms and levels you can't really get a feel for the scale of it, it's just a bunch of interconnected holes. But a little imagination goes a long way though!

In the evening we went to Turkish night which is an avalanche of Turkish culture in 3 hours or less.  Traditional food, unlimited Raki which is turkey's booze of choice (licorice flavoured, same as sambuka) old guys playing music and traditional dances including whirling dervishes, which are essentially guys in white dresses doing pirouettes until they reach a state of extasy, which usually takes more than an hour.  And then a belly dancer.  I was lucky enough to be dragged out onto the floor for a 'lesson'. Thank god there was unlimited booze, or else I might have realized what a fool I made of myself. Needless to say, I don't have a bright future in belly dancing, but good fun!
My last night bus in turkey brought me back to Istanbul where I was catching my flight out. I had one day to ready myself for the next leg which included buying a pair of asics shoes for $20.00, not too shabby. They're very white and will absolutely under no circumstances see the light of day until I get home.
Turkey's in the books, it's an amazing country and absolutely on the list for a second visit. I would highly suggest it to anyone but might slap you if you go for less than a month, there is just too much to see. Also with a whirlwind tour you will get stuck in the tourist culture and miss a lot of the real culture.
Next step NEPAL!! this will surely be the highlight of my trip, or hopefully so because it is the main reason I'm not at home right now. Getting into the jungle, river rafting, monastaries, temples, and of course the mountains to check out the roof of the world.
Take care everyone and chat soon!