Oh Hai!

Have you watched two cocks race each other?
Have you seen two male goats fighting like two stubborn schoolboys?
Have you seen how the clouds move through the mountains?
Have you seen endless step fields, encompassing the depth, length and breadth of your view?
Have you witnessed the sun rising over the Himalayan mountains?
Have you drunk the clearest of spring waters flowing down from the Himalayas?
Have you hugged a baby goat?
Have you touched the fine furs on the back of a yak?
And have you, above all, seen a donkey fart?

As my five-month stint in Nepal is coming to a close, there’re so many things to remember Nepal by.

I remember my first two weeks here in Nepal was the hardest. Within four hours, my life had taken a drastic change. From the clean and green Singapore, I was transported to a world so radically different from the one I was familiar with. True, I had travelled to other countries before, but knowing that I’ll be in this country for another 150 days was leaving me close to tears.

I do not work for the UN or any of the NGOs here. Neither do I ride around this country in a huge 4-wheel drive, nor do I have servants at my disposal. I had to travel around Kathmandu like everyone else, in buses, tempos, micros and the tiny Maruti 800 taxis (that are by any standard, smaller than any car you can see in Singapore) or the bicycle my landlord had lent me.

Kathmandu city was dirty, polluted and dusty. Even some locals I met asked me, “Why Nepal?”

I honestly did not have an answer for that at that point in time. I have applied for an internship in Nepal to see the world, but it was a world that I had not expected at all.

Four and a half months down the road, I sit here pondering about the things I would miss about Nepal when I return to Singapore.

Nepal is an extremely blessed country. Singapore has no water, no land, no petroleum, no mountains and no great sights. For goodness sake, our highest “mountain” Bukit Timah only stands at a mere 163m high! Nepal on the other had, despite having frequent fuel crises, have got fertile land, the Himalayas, and great water resource. Everywhere you look, an incredible sight awaits you. Her people, as I have witnessed, has given a great deal of strength to this country.

In Kathmandu, I find it so easy just chatting with people, some of which are one of the most affluent people, and believe me, they were not chatting with me because they had to due to my field of work as a journalist.

A simple wave, a hello and a tapaila kasto hunooncha (how are you) later, the locals are more than happy to pose for a picture. A beer and a plate of momos later, I’m chatting with some musicians. An azuki green tea milk later, someone taps on my shoulder and asks me, “Are you a press photographer? I remember seeing you taking pictures somewhere.” The list of friendly incidents goes on.

There is so much to hate about the Kathmandu. The frequent bandhs (curfews), the smog, the pollution, the traffic, the chaos, the noise, the rubbish, the incessant barking from the dogs, load-shedding and for a foreigner like me, touts. But one cannot deny the fact that Kathmandu has its own charms, that it is a huge melting pot for Nepalis and foreigners. The locals working at Thamel perhaps have seen more nationalities than I will ever meet in my entire life. In a single room, you can see locals who hail from different villages and foreigners from probably all five habitable continents. No matter where we are from, we are bonded by a common link, in search for something - an adventure, perhaps - in Nepal.

Recently I went on a five-day trek to Namche Bazaar with my mother. We met many travelers along our way. I believe if we were each back in our own big cities, we would never even have stopped to say hi, or even tried creating conversation. Strangely, travelers like us with a common goal to see, breathe or even touch Mt Everest stopped to say hi, Namaste, how are you, where are you going, keep it up you’re almost there!

Sitting in the dining room of my lodge I struck up a hearty conversation with a German teenager (she’s in her gap-year and was on her way to Everest Base Camp) and her guide. Despite our many cultural differences, we had such a good chat about our experiences in Nepal, the strange looking food, my work, her experiences as a volunteer at an orphanage…

An author once wrote a book titled Forget Kathmandu. But I say, remember Nepal. When I return to Singapore in two weeks, I will be returning to our comfortable ‘air-conditioned nation’. I would perhaps forget all the names of the places I have known here, how I had to bathe to a candle light during load-shedding, the multiple horrible food poisoning incidents, the petrol crises, the water shortages, how difficult it is to get a bottle of Coke at the Khumbu region and the chaotic traffic conditions in Kathmandu. But I will never forget the wonderful experiences I had gained within this five-month stay. Seeing the Himalayas up close had been a wonderful dream of mine. I will not forget Nepal. For its beautiful sights and its wonderfully resilient people.

Remember Nepal.

This post is dedicated to all my friends and acquaintances I have made in Nepal, whom each and everyone made my life in Nepal a wonderful and eventful one. I’d like to thank my company for letting me have the opportunity to see Nepal outside Kathmandu alongside work. I would also like to specially thank NTU’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information and my father, for funding my five-month stint here.

Thank you Daddy, thank you NTU, thank you Nepal.