Nepal Trip December 2000 - page 5
Bob Schmidt & Rupa Hamal
28 Dec 00 - Leaving Pokhara
We had breakfast at the hotel again, and had tea and toast with the lady who owns the hotel, as well as her son. They said it was the tail end of the prime tourist season, but we didn't see very many tourists in town.
We got the car packed and started to head out of town. Reaching a main intersection, there was a chaotic situation developing. Some young men had decided to stop all traffic, and hold a demonstration at this intersection. Motorists tried to continue but were turned back. We had to detour onto a rutted, muddy back road that was clogged with traffic. Buses passed each other in opposite directions, passing with just inches to spare. The route took us through the dusty bus depot, before we were finally able to get back on the main road and head out of town.
Hrithik Roshan
This brings us to the subject of Hrithik Roshan, a popular Indian film star. Sometime during our last day in Pokhara, Nepali news media reported that he had given an interview in which he made derogatory comments against Nepali people. This had caused public sentiment to erupt, primarily that of young Nepali people. While eating in the restaurant we saw a group of Nepali youths march by, burning a replica of the Indian film star. It was reported in the news media that movie theaters that had been showing Hindi films, especially those starring Mr. Roshan, had been attacked by angry mobs, who not only demanded that the film not be shown, but also wanted to destroy the film itself.
We thought these demonstrations would soon end, and people could protest by simply not attending Indian movies. However, leaving Pokhara the next day, the subject of the demonstration was once again Mr. Roshan. Exactly how blockades of traffic in Nepal would influence and Indian movie star was not clear at all.
Stairway to Heaven
We finally got outside Pokhara, and traveled uneventfully East toward Kathmandu. Unfortunately my stomach was a bit upset from something I had eaten in Pokhara (perhaps at the dog restaurant).
Around noon we stopped at a cable car that carried passengers up to a temple of Mana Kamana. This cable car was fairly new, having been built by a Swiss company. As was typical at many establishments, there was one price for SARC countries (people from Nepal, India, Bangladesh, etc.) and a different price for others (me). The ride was spectacular, crossing the river valley, rising up a steep slope of terraced farms and small foot paths, finally reaching the village at the top that surrounds the temple.
Before the cable car was built, it was a 5-hour hike up from the main road to reach this temple. Rita and Rakesh had made this trip years before. The village at the top caters to tourists who come to visit the temple. Many goats are sold, for the purpose of performing an animal sacrifice within the temple. Tradition holds that before entering the temple, worshipers must remove all clothing articles derived from animals, as they are considered unclean. This includes men's leather belts, leather jackets, purses, shoes, etc. Exactly how they reconcile this with performing animal sacrifices was unclear.
Also for sale were small offerings for the gods, souvenirs, posters, and toy plastic guns for children. Again it was not clear how the guns were connected to the business at the temple.
We ate lunch at a small hotel, then took a few photos and rode the car back down the mountain.
Bridge over Troubled Waters
Continuing East toward Kathmandu, we stopped at a point where there was a footbridge over the river. Rupa and I got out and tried it out. It swayed a bit in the wind but basically seemed quite sturdy, made of steel cables and metal planks. However, a few meters away, were the remnants of its predecessor. This bridge, with thin cables strung to small wooden slats, looked like it had been more challenging to cross, even when it had been in good repair. As it stood, many of the wooden floor boards dangled precariously down toward the water. Other foot bridges we passed were designed more like this older bridge.
Revolution Number Nine
About 30 miles from Kathmandu, traffic was stopped. We had hoped we had seen the last of Hrithik Roshan, but here it was again. We drove around the side of a long line of stopped buses and trucks, up to where the roadblock was located. Again it was a group of youths, standing around several burning tires and tree branches in the middle of the road. Some motorists had left their vehicles and walked up front to watch the fire. By now, darkness had fallen. Rita boldly left the car and questioned one of the youths about the blockade, specifically, how long it would last, and what would they do if the police came. The answers were "until the tires stop burning" and "if they police come, let them put the fire out". As before, any sense of specific objectives for this blockade was left to the imagination.
The police never did arrive, possibly not wanting to start a major confrontation.
After waiting a while to let the fire burn down, they allowed a few small cars to pass. We drove through along the shoulder of the road. I just prayed that we wouldn't have to stop the car over any flames, as ground clearance on our Fiat was not much. The fumes from burning tires plus the late hour gave everyone a headache.
If I ever get out of here.. I'm going to Kath Man Du...
We passed a police station at the pass heading into Kathmandu valley, where we were warned that numerous blockades awaited us in the city. The policemen were correct. We passed about six different roadblocks at key intersections. In some cases, police wearing riot gear were working to remove the burning tires. In other cases, drivers of stopped cars would go from door to door, recruiting people from the vehicles to help clear the roadblock, reasoning that a group doing this would be safer than any individual.
We finally passed the last roadblock, and arrived home around 9 PM. Ashok had done a heroic job driving through these obstacles, without calling undue attention to ourselves. Both he and Rita were scheduled to work the next day, and they needed to get some rest.
Rupa made some nice hot soup, and I went to bed.
29 Dec 00 - Aftermath
The next morning we were able to catch up on a bit of news. While strikes in Nepal were not uncommon, the level of disorder and roadblocks was the worst Nepal had seen in 10 years. We were lucky to have arrived when we did, since much of the traffic never made it into Kathmandu. We heard of bus passengers having to take their belongings and walk the 30 miles or so into the city.
Hrithik Roshan denied ever having made the statements attributed to him, and challenged anyone to produce interview tapes to prove him wrong. Of course, none of this mattered a bit to the protesters. Mr. Roshan was just a convenient excuse to start events; they quickly evolved into protests against India in general, and against the current Nepali prime minister in particular. Other theories were put forth about the motivation to start the protests, ranging from Indian interests, to political fighting within Nepal. One thing that seemed clear to me was this was not just random spontaneous protests. The roadblocks were everywhere, and clearly had been planned in advance, probably by some leftist political parties or Maoists.
CNN did cover the protests as a minor item. While we hadn't witnessed any real violence, apparently there had been killings in other parts of the country, during clashes between police and demonstrators.
While walking in the Thamel shopping district, we did see broken windows in several buildings that held business that were partially owned by Indians (Nepal has rules on foreign investment that require majority Nepali ownership). This kind of vandalism was clearly bad for business, scaring away many Indian tourists and businessmen, whose spending Nepal desperately needs.
Quiet Streets
Several of the leftist political parties joined to enforce a Bandh, or general strike. They try to restrict any vehicle travel, and prevent stores and offices from opening. In practice, the vehicle ban seemed successful, but many stores opened for business anyway.
Walking past any intersection we could see the blackened remnants of burned tires, and fine steel wire from the tire cords. Only a few vehicles used the streets, mainly carrying policemen and soldiers.
Oddly, one side benefit was relief from traffic congestion and pollution. Walking was much easier. A group of policemen were stationed outside the Indian embassy down the street, no doubt fearing more anti-Indian violence. We never saw any activity in this part of town however.
Later that evening we took a short walk, and saw groups of soldiers on the streets near the embassies.
CNN Story - Nepal Tourism down in 2001
30 Dec 00 - Home Improvement
As usual, I spent a few minutes chanting prayers with granny in the morning. She seemed to enjoy having some company.
Having rested from the trip, Rupa and I decided to do a few home improvement chores. One wall of windows on the upper floors needed some paint. Rakesh and I took a walk to the hardware store, and picked up a couple of liters of oil-based paint, some turpentine, brushes and sandpaper. We were a little unfamiliar with having to thin the paint to the proper consistency before using it. We spent several hours sanding and painting. The windows and doors looked pretty good when we were finished. Rakesh and I also wrestled with a couple of broken rooftop water tanks, moving them away from the edge of the roof.
All this activity was attracting some attention. Rupa overheard neighbors commenting "Look, there's a White guy painting the house!"
Even granny approved. After watching me work for a time, she asked Rupa to tell me to start working on the windows downstairs too. Maybe next visit.
Another positive development - my suitcase finally arrived. Roshan kindly assisted in retrieving it.
That evening we dressed up and drove to a nice Chinese restaurant, meeting Rajesh for dinner. We talked about our trip, and how his movie filming had been going. We would have liked to visit his filming site, but the strike had prevented most travel.
