Birthday boating in Bardia.
on Mel and Steve in Nepal (Nepal), 29/Aug/2008 12:15, 34 days ago
Hello again. You're going to think that we are on one long holiday here but this blog is in answer to some questions by Elise (Mel's Niece) and Sharon (Steve's sister) and will also serve as an update. But first, a question from Luca (Mel's oldest nephew):How hot is it in Nepal?Well, Nepal is varied. In some parts it is high mountain (where it is freezing) but where we live it is flat and hotter. At the moment it is summer and also the rainy season. This means that some days it is hot and reaches 40-45 degrees centigrade. Other days it is much cooler because of all the rain clouds (down to about 25 degrees). We are expecting the rains to finish in a week or so but then it will start to get cooler. We are told that the temperature drops to 10 degrees in December.What did you do for your birthday?Due to a day's festival, we were able to head off to Bardia National Park, which lies about 5 hours bus ride away. We stayed in little rooms that were built in the Tharu style, of mud and wood. Here is a traditional Tharu house, owned by our guide, Sitaram:The Tharu are the original inhabitants of the therai (the flat part of Nepal where we live). 60 years ago, this area was composed of just swamp and jungle, in which the Tharu people lived in forest clearings. They are reportedly resistant to the dangerous form of Malaria that used to lurk here. In the recent past, however, the forests were logged, the swamps drained and the mosquitoes killed with DDT (a nasty chemical). As a result of this 'progress', other groups, from the hills and India, moved in and the Tharu now mostly work hard on other peoples' land. They are frequently exploited and poor.The highpoint of the Bardia visit was a raft trip down the rain-swollen rivers into the heart of the park. We stopped at various points to climb watchtowers and observe nature at its grandest:We saw lots of interesting birds, insects and deer but the highlights were this very rare Gharial crocodile basking on a mud-bank:And this large, wild bull elephant with two youngsters in tow:There are also wild rhinos and tigers here but we didn't see those. All four creatures, and more, used to live all over the terai but, due to the above mentioned 'progress' are now very rare outside of national parks. We were, in fact, filmed by the army (who were very excited to find us as we were the only tourists that weekend). They wanted to ask us about our opinions on security and anti-poaching methods in the park. Now that so many rare and endangered animals are concentrated in the park, poaching may lead them to extinction. Poachers are usually poor and these animals dead bodies are very valuable in some traditional medicines and as ivory. The army is doing its best to protect the animals but they also cause their own problems and we found mounds of rubbish near their old camps.Did Steve make Mel a birthday cake?Yes indeedy! It was supposed to be chocolate but that ran out so 'Bournvita' had to substitute. There was no room for the candles but the 'miracle oven' gave it a funky round shape:What birthday traditions are there in Nepal?Although the date of birth is very important to many hindus (due to the importance of horoscopes) there are no real birthday traditions, for adults, in this part of Nepal. One thing that often happens is that people take 'mithai' (sweets) into work or school to share. Mel tried this but the office was closed due to yet another 'bandh' (strike). We had to eat all the mithai ourselves, which was a real nuisance as you can imagine!Anyway, apart from the above birthday news, the only interesting thing to report is that we were recently in a small earth tremor. We were having dinner at the time so didn't rush outside and it only lasted a few seconds.Schools have started again and we're starting to get out and about for work again. No doubt, there will be more school related blogs soon (which will answer more of your questions).Until next time, we hope enjoy the photos in the album.Mel and Steve