tierneybb – Page 2 – GW Blogs from Abroad

Kathmandu Valley

AdminSeptember 25, 2012December 14, 2018

For the next two and a half weeks I will be trekking through the Tsum Valley, along the Northern Border of Nepal. Featuring the famed Mt. Manaslu, we are headed into this remote valley in order to do research on the Tibetan(iod) peoples there. Only recently made accessible to a group of our size by the government, there are no "proper roads" (as in motorable) into Tsum from Nepal, and only one from China. Instead, after a ten hour car ride to the bordering state, we will have a six day trek into the valley, three days of homestays in remote villages, and a five day hike out. That's seventeen days, eleven of which will be spent hiking, some for an estimated six hours a day, which for me, means more. I would say I'm more outdoorsy than most of my D.C. friends, but that mostly just requires having pitched a tent at any time in your life. Compared to my Colorado friends... well I have other interests. In vague preparation I camped out a night with friends before hiking a 14'nr (Mt. Bierstadt, elevation 14,065 ft, and named after a painter, so I could tell art history stories the whole way up). But I'm concerned. I've already asked our house manager Rinzi to bring an extra donkey along to carry me up the mountain, and despite his laughed agreement, I think I will be alone on this one. Well, alone with twenty other students, nine program staff, and a large group of sherpas doing the actual heavy lifting and camp setting. So, alone like the Tim Curry (King Arthur) song in Spamalot, mostly just in self despair.

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Namo Buddha, Outside the Kathmandu Valley

AdminSeptember 19, 2012December 14, 2018

By tierneybb

Traveling by road in Nepal is not for the light of heart , but mostly it's not for anyone prone to motion sickness, acrophobia, or concerned about a head on collision in cars that have mysteriously been stripped of all the padding from their frames. Barring such concerns its easy to enjoy the jolts and jarrs of the rough road and the scenic views provided by steep drop-offs overlooking the valley. While this had a number of the students clutching the stripped frame of the land rovers in which we rode up to Namo Buddha, the professional drivers here are probably just as skilled as any Nascar driver, and collisions are incredibly rare despite the harsh road conditions.

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Boudhanath, Kathmandu

AdminSeptember 10, 2012December 14, 2018

By tierneybb

Observing my surroundings as we eat delicious dhal by battery powered light I realize this is not a place where Blanche DuBois could thrive. Bare bulbs jut out from the walls, their wattage unshielded or dimmed, and this rechargeable light for load shedding hours is especially harsh, casting long shadows and distorting the most innocent objects. Kathmandu has a way of being similarly blunt and glaring to a point of distortion. Where poverty versus wealth is so clear a dichotomy, the standard of living itself becomes obscure. Everyone here has some variation of idiom about how nothing makes sense but ultimately it all works. The constant state of destruction and rebuilding that at first stood out so much has faded into the background and navigating the broken streets has become second nature in a short amount of time. White, unlabeled, TATA vans packed with people are actually a surprisingly effective public transport system, with teenage boys leaning out the open doors shouting the names of different routes. While many other students are feeling pangs of culture shock, homesickness, and often actual pains from the limited adaptability of their own digestive system, I have somehow managed to avoid all of these hazards of the first few weeks abroad (so far, now I've jinxed it).

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Pharping Village, Nepal

AdminSeptember 4, 2012December 14, 2018

By tierneybb

I felt guilty about demanding this woman move, we had no language in common and it would have been easy enough for me it sidle in and bear the next four hours in the purgatory of the middle seat. But I had held that spot on the twelve hour flight to Qatar, and after thirty hours in transit I was going to claim the comfort I had reserved for myself this last leg into Kathmandu. As we headed East the pitch black of night was nearly uninterrupted by any city lights until a piercing sunrise revealed glimpses of rolling hills under the low clouds. I kept tearing my eyes away from the Disney classics I had pulled up on the entertainment system to check if any of the mountains I was so desperate to see were visible. Finally, as we began our descent cold grey faces of sheer rock were tearing through the clouds in the distance. These Himalayan peaks were like nothing else I had ever seen: not only did they ascend so much faster and further than my native Rockies, but the sharp angles and uniform grey made for an austere beauty I am hoping to get closer to over the course of my semester here in Nepal. ...continue reading "Pharping Village, Nepal"