Retro Diary: Nepalgunj

July 12-21, 2010

In my 24 years, I have seen less of Nepal than a tourist on a week-long hiking trip. Of course I’ve lived here all my life, save for college. But I still haven’t seen the real Nepal. The Nepal that you can’t find on postcards and tourism posters still evades me. Before today, Nepal for me meant Kathmandu. The capital, my city, was all that I knew of my country. This had to ¬change if I wanted to truly understand my country and my people. 

As chance would have it, my office had a 10-day research field trip planned to the south and far-west of Nepal. The first stop was Nepalgunj—a district in south western Nepal.
 

The first thing you notice about Nepalgunj is the weather—it hit 115 degrees F (45 degrees C ) during our stay. Made me wish Americans would stop whining about that weak 100 degree heat wave! Still, a little heat never stopped anybody. So while in Nepalgunj, I set foot on a village for the first time in my life. No electricity. No fuss. Just a simple, laid back way of living. It’s not for everyone. It’s not for me either. But there’s an old school (okay ancient) attraction to that way of living. You make ends meet. And you get by. No excesses. Just living the simple life.
 

The other highlight of Nepalgunj was the couple of times I went out with my co workers in the evenings. Ate like a king. Drank like a peasant. Had the usual, staple drinking conversation for all Nepali males aged 20 – 29: politics and the crippling brain-drain (young Nepalis leaving Nepal to go study abroad and staying there).
 

At the tail end of our trip, Nepalgunj had just gotten heavy rainfall after a short drought, quenching the thirst of parched farmers throughout the land. The next day, said farmers were out in full force in their fields, making sure the opportunity did not go amiss. Driving past the (what felt like) festive atmosphere among men, women, children and cattle was a sight to behold. So at this point it is probably best to let the pictures do the talking.

The long and winding road. Only in the south will you find such a vast stretch of flat land.

The Nissan Patrol. Our trusty, beast of a ride.

One of our many "tea stops" during the long 13-hr ride from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj.

Another tea stop. Crucial to stay awake and alert, especially for the driver.

The quiet life.

Buffaloes chilling on the fields.

This is a common sight in the south, cattle double as farming tools and vehicles.

Case in point re: using cattle for ploughing.

On their way to the field after three days of rain. Game time!