Baboo reporting from Surya Presad Adikari Farm.

This is Baboo, your Nepalese farmer correspondent! (aka Anthony) It is now our third night on the farm, and the women we all call Ama (or Mom) are now calling me Baboo, which means boy. But when they say it, I feel like family. Back to the family in a moment.

Getting here was crazy. We enjoyed a nice, mostly downhill bike ride out of Pokharato Begnas lake about 10km away. The next 12km was HELL. Granted, it was so awesomely beautiful, but damn, just the first uphill alone had me and Jamey stopping 3 times to get up it (and he doesn't stop), it was hot, Cara was feeling dizzy... we went up up up up up like this for a while, all around the mountain, and then it became a dirt and gravel and rock road -- so hard to bike up, let alone at the steepest incline we've seen yet. My odometer only counts time when you're actually moving, and by the end of our 7 hour ride we'd only been moving for 2 hours and 20 minutes. We had stop stop about every 30 seconds of 'riding'/(falling). I'm not sure if it was the best or worst part, but every person we asked about the farm told us it was 30 minutes, or 20 minutes, or 2 hours, or 1 hour... it just kept changing, so we never knew how far away it was. I've come to understand after 2 weeks here that people's sense of time and distance is terrible, so it's best to just plan on things taking 3x longer than best case.

But was truly beautiful country. I need to remind myself to savor the landscape, because from what I gather Nepal is so much prettier than India, so you take the good (views) with the bad (hills) and appreciate the accomplishment that hardcore biking to hard-to-reach places brings. We saw flocks of cows, goats and sheep, met some really nice dogs, I saw my third cat (they're so few), and *best* of all kids accompanied us for the last 5km or so, which was the slowest-going, hardest and steepest part. We were hurting, and sometimes they helped push us, but more so they kinda bothered [me at least], ceaselessly asking for a pen or a shirt or sweets or some money. It wasn't without it's laughs and cute stuff, but yeah, kids. They like squeezing our brakes, and one girl kept unzipping our bags. And of course it was impossible to shake them, until, when they were 'helping' Jamey up the hill they steered him into a wall.

Alas, after the whole day literally pushing our bikes up a mountain, we arrived at the Surya Presad Adikari House, a family-run coffee farm. And boy was it worth it. (Yes, Jamey, despite all my bitching, it was totally worth it.) The home is made of earth, meaning it's basically packed dirt, some of it's painted over (like the walls), but they keep it clean. Surya and Serivasti (Ama), the heads of the farm and household, are warm and caring hosts. They already had a full house of 6 volunteers: Gary Field, an early 40's Aussie who has been living in India for the last 3 years; Chris and Maha, another mature Aussie and his Pakistani wife; Xavier, the 22yr old French Geography student with Krishna ponytail (I still need to ask about that); Colin and Chach, 25 and 27 west coasters (SF, Portland). With the addition of the 4 of us, it became an especially full house, 12 in residence and another 2-3 women who work here daily. The dynamic is superb, and we all get along well and have plenty of time to share and learn from each other.

Since the moment we arrived, everyone has treated us like family. It's a pleasure to work in exchange for a great place to learn, first-hand, a bit more about what Nepali life is like, to be graciously included in all aspects of this home, as well as the in-depth coffee education. From the first night, I felt comfortable taking my shoes off and climbing into the small kitchen which was already full of 7 or so people, to sit and keep warm by the wood burning earth stove, and chat while Ama cooks dinner. We don't have to get up too early, and instead of being told what to do we just kind of jump in and help, be it taking the husks off the coffee beans, spreading them out to dry, running around the steep hillside jungle picking beans (and oranges), weeding, carrying buckets of beans down to the well to be washed... it never feels like we're being worked too hard, there are plenty of breaks for tea or coffee, or to play with the baby goats. They are so funny! At 3 weeks old they are so playful and the hop around and love to jump on our backs. Today, we did a human and goat pyramid, with Surya and Ama on the 2nd-to-top tier, and the 2 baby goats on top! It's so relaxed and fun and awesome. It's one thing to bike ride past all these farms, but it's so great to live here at one and see how it works, how the people do things the way they've done it for decades (and probably centuries), unaffected by the industrial revolution. Also it's pesticide-free, everything we are eating is grown here on the farm -- even the buffalo's milk in my coffee!

I've always wondered what it would be like to farm, get my hands really dirty, live a different life. It's blissful. And so is the star-gazing! Except for a few dots of light in the hillside, it's completely dark at night, and way up and out here it's not polluted at all. I think we all really love it, and so we've asked if we can stay a couple more nights. Plotting out the rest of the month, we're opting to skip the farm east of Kathmandu (even though it sounds amazing), and instead we'll be biking to Chitwan National Reserve (where we'll see tigers and elephants and work on another farm,) before we bike 500km all the way along the south of Nepal before the end of the year. We're meeting up with our Indian friends near the Indian/Nepali border, who will drive us in a Jeep to a bunch of sites and all the way to Goa, where we'll begin our 4-6 week bike journey down to Karala. We're doing the 500km in Nepal opposed to India as it'll be relatively flat, Nepal is prettier, and from the group's first month experience, it's so much more relaxed here in Nepal. India is a love/hate experience for practically everyone I've ever spoke to about it, but Nepal is just love/love. It's 8PM, and it's time for B-E-D!

Signing off, your Baboo.

No Tofurky in Pokhara.

First off, yes I'm fine, in regards to the acts of terrorism going on in India at the moment. I'm far from it, and we'll definitely and incidentally avoiding New Delhi and Mumbai and all those risky places upon our return in a month.

In the beginning we thought we'd only be in Pokhara for a night, then a day, and due to a few changes in became 4 or 5 days. In contrast to our first days here, when we did lots of errands and city stuff, like laundry, post office, grocery and supply shopping, internetting, trying to get to the farm and going up the wrong mountain (really bad directions), the last two days have been more fun and leisurely.



Bonnie and I took a row boat out onto the lake, and a man on an island we rowed to told us about the "boat toilet" out in the distance on one of the shores, so we took off towards the white-looking trees and discovered tons of birds perched atop this cluster of "bird shit" white trees. It was so funny. Then we took pics of ourselves with the sunset-peach mountains behind us, and spent the rest of the night uploading our pics to Flickr (check it out! flickr.com/photos/anthonyp), writing cards, having dinner at the spot we frequented across the street, and watching Babe II: Pig in the City (genius, sick dark twisted genius.)

Yesterday really felt like a "day off", and boy was it nice. It was also Thanksgiving so we wanted to take it easy and eat good food. In the morning I took a walk to explore the new neighborhood, and I found a nice little Stupa (or temple/shrine) on a tiny little island I got over to by way of a 'hidden' staircase off the road. I just sat and looked out on the quiet morning lake for a while. It was a perfect day, warm with clear skies, crisp fresh air. I realized that Pokhara is like a Rio di Janiero or San Francisco of Nepal, beautiful and relaxed, a pleasant jewel of a city. I read that there's nowhere else where a plateau meets with such huge beautiful mountains so suddenly as here, and off in the distance was the Annapurnas mountain range so clear and high above us, like an unbelievably painted wall so close to us. This backdrop makes the view from our roof, or from just about anywhere in town, seem like a fairy tale.

Next we went down to the immigration office and got Visas extensions so we can stay another 15 days in Nepal, so that we can visit three farms here instead of one or two, with enough time without rushing or taking any public transportation. We had lunch at a beautiful Zen Japanese restaurant, where we got to wear different slippers around and eat yummy organic veggies. Then I went cruising on my fully UNloaded bike, and it was just heavenly. My friends were still feeling under the weather so I made two runs on their behalf to the post office, where I spoke with all the postmasters and got to stamp the envelopes myself. I managed to rile up Bonnie and Cara to take a bike ride around the lake, and that was sweeeeeeet! Beautiful beautiful beautiful, especially outside the tourist areas with all the hotels and sky-diving places. I was so moved that I took a 10 minute handheld video of my ride back, and despite it's bad handheld shakiness, to me it's worth a million words. (I'll post it on Flickr eventually!)

We looked around all day for any Thanksgiving-y comforts, and not only is there nothing resembling any American holiday dishes, there aren't even any Americans. Sure, there are tourists and white people, but they're from anywhere but. It's kind of amazing. So the best thing we came up with was Japanese food (again). It, too, was yummy and organic, but it was no smashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry and pumpkin pie! [Tummy grumble, seriously!)
I wish I could write about TODAY right now, but now I'm on the farm (it's Amazing!) and I need to get some shut-eye for my first big day! Let me say, though, that today was freakin BIG, and so was this freakin mountain! OMG, seriously, so big! PS- I'm sleeping no more than 10 feet above two buffalo. Yes!!

All my love limitless love, right at you!

Metrics

I'm metric now, so some of our norms so far are:

it 28 degrees in the daytime (and we're pretty high up but shorts and tees are fine, with sweater in the evening); we're moving at an avg. 9km/hr while pedaling uphill (which is sloooow! -- I wonder what my RPM is on gears 2 & 3); we cruise down the mountain at about 35-40km/hr (which still feels dangerously fast as, with bike and body I probably weigh about 300 lbs); i just got my bike 'computer' or speedometer working yesterday -- yay data!; I drink about 4 liters of water on a day-long ride; i hit my head on the tiny doorways at least once a day. I'm a bona-fide giant in these parts. 80% of the doorways are 4-8 inches shorter than me, and I never fail to whack my head good, esp. in the morning as I'm carrying my luggage out from the room. It is kind of fun, though, being 2 feet taller than grown adults.

Biking uphill is freakin hard.

(the mountain views make the hard work worth it.)

So cycling in Nepal is freakin hard.  I'm actually kind of getting used to it, like you embark and then you're climbing a freakin mountain and it's like, just another day biking in Nepal!  These mountains are so pretty though.  On Sunday we rode past Fishtail peak, which looks like a big pyramid way high above everything else in sight.  So after pedaling uphill for an hour, or sometimes two and a half, you're rewarded with a nice long (yet relatively short) cruise downhill.  So it's half & half: half up, half down.  I've accepted that.  The worst, though, is biking for long periods of time at a slight incline, like 5 degrees, because that can go on forever with no reward, and you can barely tell it's uphill except that under all the weight of the bike your body is pedaling so hard but you're going so slow, and it really seems like it should be easier.  

Sunday was actually my hardest day, as I didn't stretch on Saturday, everything was sore and tired, and our final day of pedaling to Pokhara was uphill all the way as it's pretty high in elevation, the last half was one of those subtle and endless uphills.  Also, the roads on the second half of the 200km were noticeably narrower (so more harrowing with the buses) and the roads were bumpy and rough.  Now I might finally understand what it might be like to run with [big] boobs, as riding over the ripply road made my load bounce endlessly, and it's so annoying and tiring.  And the roughness of the road makes way more friction.  Anyway you get the point -- this is not easy.  But my ass is gonna look great.  

I was about to lose it about 90 min from Pokhara.  It was way hot and I was sweating bullets, I kept stopping on the side of the road as my legs were like "F you AP", and I was cursing the buses as the road was too narrow and bumpy and buses were coming too close for comfort.  My saving grace: on my headphones came Wesley Willis' "Fit throwing hell ride" and, although he did not invigorate my tired legs, he gave me a huge smile that lasted for miles.  For those of you who aren't familiar with Wesley's music, this song is about him having a schizophrenic outburst and yelling obscenities while riding the Chicago city bus, and then getting thrown off the bus and chased for two blocks by the driver.  Oh Wesley, I love you!

Today we got up at 7am but somehow didn't get on the road until 1.  Big mistake, as we didn't have very specific instructions on how to find this farm... it has no address.  Our instructions were to find our way to the top of this hill and then ask around.  We asked everyone on the whole mountain but nobody knew of the farm or the family name.  Basically, from this high point on the road (5km up), you can hike up for 45 minutes by foot to a remote village.  And from the village, it's an hour walk.  So basically it's inaccessible by bike and at 4PM, when we got arrived here, we opted to turn back as we'd run out of sunlight.  It's still a hot debate how we're gonna do this, if at all.  We enjoyed the leisurely downhill cruise back to Pokhara (yay!) to check into a hotel and figure it all out.  I vote for paying someone to haul us up in a pickup truck via a sketchy gravel service road, but Jamey wants to bike up the sketchy gravel road in 1st gear.  We'll see.  

I haven't even written about Pokhara.  This town is great.  We've been here for two nights, and now, tonight, for a third.  It's a pretty big city, with a fabulous huge lake, and a hip trekker's (ie. touristy) neighborhood called Lakeside.  It's great b/c we can stock up on goods you don't find anywhere else but the big city, and there's internet.  I just got back from playing ping-pong with a bunch of kids down at the lake (I beat 5 of them and then one bested me.)  For the last two nights we were staying with a really cool couch surfing host named Prem, and his partner in do-gooding, Ragu.  They run an organization called Vision Nepal which has all sorts of initiatives to better the life of Nepalese people, be it educating them about health and water safety, creating child day care facilities, protecting the nature and environment.  He rules.  I could go on about Prem, but it was so great just talking about his life and views, getting to know a progressive Nepali person who has one foot in the traditional life (with his wife and kids in the countryside), and his cosmopolitan foot in the city.  Very very cool.  

Yes, it's dinner time!  My cohorts have been on the internet at the cafe and I'm in the dark hotel room with my headlamp and laptop typing away (blackout time).  But I'm damn hungry from that mountain, and so I'm off for one last night of city food before it's Dhal Bhat for a week on the farm (including Thanksgiving! ):  Don't get me wrong, I love dhal bhat, but it's no sweet potato pie!  

I love you all!   Gobble gobble, AP!

My Comrades' Blogs

For some more info about our trip, and maybe some uncensored info about yours truly...

Bonnie: http://bicyclebon.blogspot.com
Cara: http://pictureamillionwords.blogspot.com/
Jamey: http://veganbetweenyourlegs.com

We slept in a school. (Damauli, Nepal)

Sucked to miss a nights records because now I'm so sleepy, I have TWO fantastic days to debrief on, and we're getting up again at 6AM to finish our 4th day of cycling before we reach the farm. Let's get to it...

I know these long blog entries are too much to read, esp. on a daily basis, so take it with a grain of salt that this more is journal is more for me to remember, cuz after time the days and weeks would mix into a big milkshake-like impression, and well I can't let that happen. OK, enough disclaiming.

So YESTERDAY, Day #2 of cycling was a lot harder than day one, and that's not only because it was ALL rolling hills, nay mountains, and well, that's hard. Also, my leg muscles were still tired from Day 1, so it took a lot of will to advance through another 60km. Let's summarize: the views got better, the villagers even nicer (the more we stopped to interact with them), I'm becoming ever more comfortable with my bike, tweaking it as necessary, and I'm thrilled that Cara, Bonnie and Jamey are such great companions.

Between the Nepalis' grasp of the English language and Bonnie's killer skills with the phrase book, we're communicating well enough with everyone, and when verbal communication isn't an option, just hanging around each other is enough. Let's take the kids, for example. (This applies to people of any age, actually.) When you roll up on your bike to take a rest, whoever is around will come over and check you out and greet you. Smiles are ubiquitous, so the walls are down at first sight. The great thing we share in common is a mutual curiosity about each other, so it's kind of like glorified, face-to-face people watching, where everybody wins.

Yesterday we saw a terrible sight. First let me say that on this 2-lane windy mountain road that we've been traveling on, lots of buses go speeding by, and while I don't personally feel threatened or endangered by the drivers (they do their best to give us room), there is some scary passing that goes-on, and it gets especially hairy when oncoming cars are speeding around curves in the road (with little keeping them from flying over the cliff). Also crazy is that these buses are often loaded with passengers hanging on the roof, singing and screaming and carrying-on like it's the best time of their life. Well yesterday we saw a bus down in the river, and lots of ambulances... but this drop was hundreds of feet. Needless to say many people died. There's a lot of sad stuff in everyday life out here.



We wanted to camp last night, and shortly after we passed the bus crash we found a little school with one of the doors wide open. Inside the simple stone and concrete room with aluminum roof there was a chalk board and some long desks. As we scoped the scene a bunch of kids from the nearby farm came down off the hill to see us, and an adult came too. After a little gesturing and phrase-book magic he gave us the go ahead to sleep there. Sweet! The catch is that for two hours (until the sun was gone) a dozen or so little kids hung around with us, looking at through the windows and even doing yoga with Cara and I. (It was so cute!) I didn't journal as I wanted to keep the technology on the down-low. Keep in mind we had no privacy, just steel bars in the windows and the door didn't lock, so we just read by candle and headlamp light until we were asleep at 8PM, exhausted. As we were getting ready to go at 6:30am, the kids were back to see us off. This is now the SECOND time I've slept in a school. (First time was with Gabriel in Prague.)

(our classroom/bedroom for a night. note the chalk board.)

Now TODAY was more hard cycling. I mean HARD. I was tired and feeling weird and sluggish, and didn't feel right until we had a big lunch with our Swiss friends we keep running into. We probably did around 70km today, and afte rlunch we rode straight up a mountain for almost 2 hours before we cruised down for a glorious 10 minutes or so. It was slow and steady uphill, and I'm proud we did it. I really got into a nice groove, listening to Boards of Canada on my iPod, the late afternoon sun dressed the hills orange, and with eye candy like that it was just blissful. When we hit this BIG town where we are staying tonight in a hotel, with it's maybe 5x5 grid of streets, we were happy for the warm dinner, cold shower, and real beds. I was happy to find especially fair prices here ($1.20 each for our two rooms and another $1 for the best dinner and ginger tea I've had so far), this town rocks. We also re-packed our bags for optimal balance and to shed some ounces, and watch Babe on my Macbook before bed. One more day... and I hear them mountains are BIG tomorrow!

Muah, my American family! I hope you're still thinking me me as I am you! I must say it's delightful to have much time to think and reflect. More on my reflections some other time. Just wanted YOU to know that you're in my thoughts. Good night!

Fully-loaded Bicycle Touring for Beginners

(bandana = pollution scarf)

We woke up at 6-something AM, finished packing, had a hearty Nepali breakfast courtesy of Nabin and Nabina (his sister), then it was down to business! When I walked outside with my first 2 of 5 heavy packs to attach to the bike, I noticed only one bike was there, and it wasn't mine. "Where's my bike?!" I looked down the street and Nabin, Nabina, and Vinod were all riding happily around. "Git back here, Nabin!" With the help of many (including everyone in the neighborhood quietly cheering us on from their balconies) we loaded up our bikes with all of our massive, heavy panniers. I really couldn't imagine how we were going to pull this off. So much weight, precariously balanced. Cara mounted her bike to be the first crash test dummy, and within moments she was kissing the wall of the nearest apartment building. "I'm Ok!" 16 hugs later we were waving goodbye and cruising away.

I've never rode with "clipless" cycling shoes before (the kind that attaches your foot to the pedal), which is kind of an oxymoron because they seem like a damn clip if I've ever seen one before. "Oh, you'll fall a few times, EVERYbody does. [Big smile]." Normally you would topple because you can't un-clip in time before stopping, or you forget you're clipped-in and allofasudden you need to stop. But not me! It's SO much better, so powerful, as you make use of the up-swing in your pedaling. I could geek-on about my hot new ride but damn, I'm officially now a cycling machine.

Today there was a strike/protest in Kathmandu, and while I don't fully understand exactly what the whole story is I know it was inspired by the untimely deaths of two students, and as a result there was no school for my hosts, protests were happening right in our street, and somewhat selfishly it worked out in our benefit as there was NO traffic in Kathmandu. Again, I'm not sure why this affected there being cars on the road, but we rode out of the bustliest town I've ever seen without cars to worry about, only peds in the streets. It was kinda freaky though when we saw a mob attacking an official-looking vehicle, throwing rocks and smashing windows. (The rock throwing was definitely scary, but we rode right through and it wasn't that kind of angry mob. But we got TF out of there quick!) The crowds thinned out until we were speeding through the urban sprawl, and eventually the urban vanished completely and we were climbing.


Oh, the hills! The miracle of this bike is that there's always a gear that still feels easy to pedal despite the weight of the rig. It takes time, patience and a little endurance, but soon we were cruising down after our first big ascent and the view completely took me away. Layers of mountains covered in stepped farms extended endlessly, and that's exactly where we were headed, and where I am now.

If I stopped to take a snapshot even one tenth of the times I was inspired to do so we'd only be halfway as far as we've come after our long, full day of pedaling. (One must consider the group when it comes to slowing down the tour.) We probably went about 60km today, which wouldn't be much if we weren't climbing mountains, and we have 140 to go until Pokhara, so 2 more days of we don't have any problems. I really could ramble on and on about today's ride, what I saw, how I felt, but I won't. I'm a wordy journalist, and I'm impressed you've made it this far. And there's always tomorrow!

Fast-forward a thousand smiles and Namastes (often with hands pressed together, esp. from the little ones!), hundreds of farms and dogs and tiny houses, also goats and chickens and pigs with their scurrying piglets along steep cliffs, all the while riding along the winding river through the valley between the mountains with the real snow-capped rock giants visible beyond.... I can say with certainty it was the most beautiful day I've ever known, and not even in sleep could I dream of such beauty.

We ended up staying at a Water Park Resort in its off-season. Besides the four of us there are only 2 other guests, whom we ate dinner with in the cavernous empty dining room in candlelight with the men's and women's changing rooms on either end. The hotel inn-keeper took us on a walk through the park and down to the river, where we walked and talked and waded-in to our freezing knees. It's just so damn rich. Everyone we meet is just so kind, and gracious, and I'm convinced actually happy. It's kind of contagious.

My friends have gone to sleep hours ago, and now so will I. Thanks for reading! Namaste!

And in case you're wondering, I AM thinking about you, and missing you. I have all day to meditate on my loves and loved ones. Thank you again for reading. Good night!

Jitney to Tranquility

the Nepalese kids are so damn cute! (so are the goats)

Today we braved the bus system to travel to some further-away places, namely a monastery and another temple. The jitney, as Jamey called it, was an experience, as we literally had to run and hop onto it, and it whisked us through Kathmandu. The jitneys are cheap, unregulated buses that keep this city moving. Usually when I see them, they look more like a van than a bus, but there are between 15-40 people crammed into them. And forget personal space. To illustrate the miracle of how they accomplish moving around so many people with such little vehicles I'll use Cara as an example. When she sat down, a toddler landed right on her lap a moment later, as she was now sitting next to a woman with another toddler on her lap, and together they all rode for the remainder of our magical jitney journey. Was fun.

Our destination was a bit more rural, and beautiful. You could really see how we're in the Katmandu Valley, as the tallest mountains I've ever seen tower above us all around in the distance, and a fertile rolling scenery extends in all directions. There was much property between houses, and the cottages were beautiful. The Nepalese were still as busy as ever, working away so hard on their chosen task, be it brick-laying, hoeing, paper-making, gardening. We walked for a long while, eventually up a big hill to a sweet Monastery where we could really see all around, especially the now more defined shapes and faces of the surrounding mountain range. Our two Austrian friends Raphael and Daniel were checking themselves in for a month-long meditation retreat, and we saw them off with a nice lunch and a relaxed walk around the manicured grounds.

Today was so great because I got a taste of the countryside and the villagers, and I love it. Tomorrow will be such a treat, I am positive, when we bike our first 60 or so miles towards Pokhara through natural Nepal. Which reminds me, I really should be getting some shut-eye as we'll be up again in 5 hours! You'll see pics of the temple and monk services we saw, and the cute village children, so I'll leave it there. Also notable was our "going away" dinner with the other half of our Kathmandu peeps... it's funny how after only 3 days I feel like we have a little family here, between our hosts and their sisters and other guests and friends. I felt like all day was a sort of farewell celebration, and much talking and squeeze-it-all-in getting-to-know-you transpired. After dinner we all came back to our little guest room and did a big pyramid photograph (Cara's favorite thing). Then we sat around on the floor where we landed in our collapsed pyramid and exchanged information and hugged good night and good bye.

Like Ice Cube said, It Was a Good Day. But aren't they all?

Tuesday Nov. 18, 12:14AM - Kathmandu, Nepal

Nepal just gets better and better! Today we got up mad early (before 7am) to go see the Monkey Temple up on the hill. ALL four of us slept like poo for once (not just me, Mr. Restless--I'm convinced it's from gong to bed around 12 instead of my natural 3-4AM) but Jamey is suffering from a head cold so he opted to stay home and attempt rest, and the three of us were guided by Nabim and Binad to the highest point in the valley, an amazing temple literally teeming with hundreds of monkeys. We walked along the poor poor back streets and along the trash-filled river, where pigs foraged for leftovers and we could smell the bowels of Katmandu and the stench of death. (Apparently they burn bodies along the river... which reminds me of a label I saw yesterday on a bag of museli which read "Keep our country clean. Please burn this bag and label when you are done." The f'd thing is that the bag was a heavy clear plastic. Anyway my point is that burning trash IS the sanitation system, as terrible as that is for the environment and people's health. Another f'd thing was an unattended infant we saw just lying around in a basket, with her naked bottom exposed to the world and dozens of flies buzzing around on her back and sweater. While this was probably the dirtiest place I have ever been, my cohorts say it's nothing compared to India. Apparently everything in India is 10 times more .... than Nepal, like traffic, mayhem, crowds, pollution, trash, smell... Regardless of the scene I have been describing, it's only a description of the visceral aspects, today was still a beautiful and exhilarating day for countless reasons.

The holy Buddhist site was gorgeous, huge, colorful, with countless bells, inscriptions, Golden Buddhas, and thousands of prayer flags leading all the way up the hill to the pinnacle above a set of giant Buddha eyes. At one entrance a security guard was commanding 100 rupees admission, so we walked around along wooded paths to a back entrance and a long stairway which led to the top, and we got in for free. The panoramic view was breathtaking -- you could see any point in the valley, and the capitol stretches much farther than I would have guessed (as if feels more like a large village than a sprawling city.)

It was great to have such an early start, for by 10am I felt we accomplished much and it was time for breakfast. After my first coffee in days and a good meal (best veg burgers here!) I felt like a million bucks, and we went home and finished putting together our bikes. Jamey was still feeling low so Cara, Bonnie and I went out to buy maps to route our trek to Pokhara, the city 250km away where our next farm is just outside of, and since my back is still hurting mucho I went and splurged ($10) on an hour-long Ayurvedic massage. My masseuse wasn't as skilled as I would have hoped but she did loosen up that gigantic sore knot in the middle of my back some, and throughout kept asking me if I wanted a happy ending ("penis?"). It got kinda weird after the tenth time she inquired, and bewildered she eventually got her boss in there to verify that I would be leaving satisfied without it! Was so bizarre. (Jamey's going back tomorrow to take her up on the offer, LOL!) Next we all went on a bike ride around the neighborhood to test out our bike handiwork, at dusk/rush hour no less, and it was SO FUN! It's as thrilling as biking in NYC except it's 10 times more crowded and miraculous that so many vehicles and pedestrians can share a common tiny strip of road, completely without lanes, yet somehow the kinetic energy just flows and everybody makes it through just fine. This is really hard to convey, but try to imagine countless motorcycles, little buses filled to the brim with people, bicycles and people all heading right for you, nobody wearing safety belts or lights or helmets (except for us) and swerving in every which direction, but it all moves seamlessly like blood cells through an artery... miraculous. We don't plan to EVER ride at night let alone through any big cities, but I think we're a good team and we can handle the crazy Asian scene. We just have to keep it up with rubbing the Buddhas and praying to the good luck gods at ever turn. (There's a million ways to get your good luck around here... I think this civilization runs on luck!)

After this we went out for Italian dinner with Binad, Martin, and two Austrians (Rafael and XxXx). Ciao! was so good, plus it had the nicest WC in Nepal, and Jamey met a couple of 60-something cyclists who live in the Himalayas and gave him lots of first-hand advice on our upcoming bike journey to Pokhara. All in all it was the best day yet, not to mention that I feel so comfortable here already, finally. Everything from interfacing with our hosts, to chatting up the shop-keepers and hanging around in the streets for hours, to washing up and getting stuff we need from local shops, seems as natural as in anyplace I've been. Plus, the mayhem of Katmandu feels a bit like MY mayhem, in other words it's not so foreign anymore as it is familiar and endearing. I like it here, a LOT, and I'm positive this trip will continue to be as enchanting as it is for me right now.

Monday Nov. 17, 11:04PM - Kathmandu, Nepal

What a crazy day! I slept badly, woke up mighty crunchy and with headache. (We had no water at bedtime, and I didn't want to chance the tap/well water on my first day.) Made a water run first thing, took a walk around the neighborhood. So many motorcycles, hustle and bustle, and dust. We put together some of the bikes (except mine, which will be the hard one since it's in a dozen little pieces due to having to cram it in a bike box 1/3 too small). The whole plumbing situation (water pump/hole in the floor toilet) will take some time getting used to. For now I'm leaving my serious pottying to restaurants.

I need to make Potty talk for a sec. Even though I find the No TP cultural difference unappealing (and scary), after my first whole day here I get it. (Yes, there's no TP! I really don't want to get into it, as I've avoided the new system thus far, but yeah. Maybe in fancy places.) So it's kinda cool because the Nepalese people basically don't create much disposable waste. There are no garbage cans. There's almost no packaging, or plastic. The only people drinking out of water bottles are tourists. It's pretty rad! Whatever packaging there is they burn or leave out for the animals to eat. (I saw 3 cows today noshing on a big pile of trash in the road. That was kinda gross, but I guess it's the other side of the coin.

So we walked all around town with our Nabin and Binod, saw some temples, went into some shops... the economy in Katmandu is largely geared towards tourists, so there are tons of places to buy textiles, clothing, paintings, jewelry, trinkets, all hand-made, much of it beautiful and very tempting. Good thing we're traveling light, or I would've bought gifts for the whole family. We visited Thamel Square, right near our house,a and Durbar Square which had dozens of temples. We even saw a living goddess, Kumari. She was probably only 4 years old, and when I saw her peek out of her house she was so beautiful, and I felt a holy presence! (No pics, respect!)



I was definitely feeling the jet lag and came home and took a nap while my peeps rested too and watched a movie on my laptop. We went out for a traditional dinner of [some kind of] dal (All-you-can-eat, they came around with more and asked if you wanted any, just like home. And all for 70 rupees, less than a dollar!) We dined with Martin, another couch surfer who is staying in the room above ours. What an interesting guy! He's been a nomad for twenty years, since he left home at 18, and he doesn't work, but follows his convictions of helping make the world a better place, practicing freeganism and making publications to promote living happily and in harmony with the world. A professional vagabond and freeloader, it was inspiring to hear his story.

Totally wiped out from walking around and dodging traffic on tiny streets, I'm going to bed! In the morning we'll get up at 7 to go visit a temple at the highest point in the Katmandu valley. If all hoes well tomorrow and we don't have any problems with our bikes and getting a map to plot our journey to Pokhara, we'll depart on Wednesday!

Namaste. Anthony P[ees in a hole.]

Sunday Nov. 16, 1:15AM - Katmandu, Nepal

Just arrived a few hours ago, on my way to sleep. First super-quickie impression of Katmandu: super cute, people are sweet, everywhere is dilapidated beauty, the city is old and poor, and totally charming.

I spent about 24 hours in transit since take-off at JFK, with the first 12 hours in the air, then a 7 hour layover in Abu Dhabi, then about 4 more hours on my connecting flight, then customs and the way fun crazy cab ride 'home' to our couch surf flat.

Air Etihad, the national airlines of the UAE (United Arab Emirates), was a sweet ride. There was amazing food, good booze, really nice staff, and it was posh and totally geeked out with 80+ movies on-demand and a camera view where you can watch the sky/runway from the cockpit view and also a bird's eye view of the terrain below. Abu Dhabi airport was kinda cool too, out in the middle of the desert, hot, seemingly nothing for miles around, and everything outside covered in dust (a la burning man). People looked cool, in arab dress, and arabic writing everywhere. Was fun for people watching. I slept a lot, both on the plane and at the airport, as I pulled an all-nighter before I left.

We landed at the tiny Katmandu airport around 9PM. Our flight was seemingly all the action going on there at the moment. Relieved that all my stuff and bike arrived intact, I was wondering whether my friends made it too or not -- minutes before I boarded my flight in NY and suspended my cell service I got a call from Bonnie, who was with the gang in India at the Nepali border. She told me that IF they caught the night-bus they would be arriving in Katmandu at the same time as I was expected to land. That was a big IF! Long story short, they paid a Jeep to take them the shorter 5-hour ride over the Himalayas to the capital instead of taking the regular 10-hour road the bus would have traveled. It was harrowing and memorable, but I'll leave that story for them to tell.

As I wheeled my wide load (bike box) out of customs I heard them scream my name, and I soon was in the arms of my travel buddies in my country-to-be for a month. I can't imagine what I would have done if they weren't there, and I'm glad I didn't have to find out! There were definitely more people outside the airport than inside, about 200 of them trying to give us a ride and help me with my luggage. Next thing I know my box is strapped on top of the tiny car by a shoestring, I was climbing into the passenger seat on the wrong side, and we were on a wild ride down narrow streets, barely skimming by the oncoming traffic which swerved constantly as a rule. I noticed the cool white 2-3 story buildings in various states of disrepair, hand-painted colorful signs on their facades, people and stray dogs walking in the streets. It's gorgeous! Soon we were home, chatting and eating a home-cooked meal with our hosts, a nice 23-yr old student named Nabin and his 2 teenage sisters, plus a couple of their friends.

Wow, I'll have to learn to make these posts more brief if I want any readership! I'll get better, and use more pics to do the talking!

Good morning friends. Show & tell ya soon!

Yes, the day has come

Hello lovelies! This is my first blog post EVER. Wheeeeeee!

I figured this could be a nice way to process my thoughts, pics, document, communicate. Well that is obvious. The tunnel is built and our intercontinental link is complete!

All is good on the home front. I write this from my living room, with Axl Rose crawling over foot, Ezmerlda the cat rolling on her back cleaning herself and being cute (yes, they get along real well and I'm confident they'll play nicely). Amy is singing, and settling-in, and being DJ. My bike in pieces ready to get boxed for the flight, my to-do list is all checked-off (well, mostly.) When and when did I get a cat and a girlfriend named Amy? It all started with a play date, to see if they got along. They did. One thing led to another, and now Amy's subletting my room while I'm away. (New gf, now? I know, timing is so strange. Comments welcome.)

Tomorrow has been a long time coming, but at 10AM I'll be in the air bound for Kathmandu via Abu Dhabi. And I feel great! All my stress of late has basically come from too much prep (I'm a terrible and drawn-out over-preparer), but I feel like now that long arduous journey is over, and now I have nothing but excitement. Life is good. I have great new roommates: Amy, Poonam, and Ian. Lately I've felt an amazing outpouring of love, support, and good will from my friends and family. Amy's been a Saint. Axl's gonna miss me and I will him, but he's been the best too. I can't complain!

I want to thank everyone, You especially, for being there for me. And for reading this now. And for hopefully not forgetting me this winter. (I have a theory that we'd probably only come out of our coccoons a few times to see each other if I was here anyhow, so you'll barely miss me!)

So stay tuned for more news to come! And photos, right here!

xoXOxo, (: Anthony P