Wendy and Mal’s excellent adventure

Saturday is the chutti (day off) in Nepal and that means different things to different people. For the average Nepali male, the chutti is indeed the day off. A day to relax with your mates, drink, play carom, be at leisure. For the average Nepali woman, it means you have “extra” time to do more cleaning/ sweeping/ dusting/ washing/polishing/ catching up on the things you didn’t get done in the week if you left the house to work. The housework divide here is a housework CHASM! But I can hardly talk. For Mal (who arrived here last week) and me it was the day for an adventure. Housework be buggered.

We hired a car and driver and headed back to the place where this phase of our Nepal journey began in 2006. Dharan. We also wanted to test out the supposedly good road to the temple of Barahakshetra which was a good long day walk for us in the old days.

The East West highway is currently a minefield with diversions every 100m or so. But it’s a minefield with a purpose as the plan is that by 4 years, there will be a smoothly running 6 lane highway across the country. Replete with low flying piggies I suspect. To distract ourselves from the bone rattling ride we played one of our favourite games: What’s the funniest shop name?

Fabulous contenders such as Face-Off Beauty Parlour, Fine Cafe, Decent Restaurant, Highway View were outclassed by Hotel Hygienic just between Dudhe and Jhiljhile. Says all you need to know.

We reached Dharan at dal bhat o’clock and the bus park eatery we frequented in our youth looked a tad run down. I enthusiastically pointed out a place called Hamro Bhansa, Sasto Bhansa. Climbing the stairs, I realised that my initial translation of Our Kitchen, Clean Kitchen was wrong and that it was in fact called Our Kitchen, Cheap Kitchen. Fortunately it was a Cheap AND Clean Kitchen and did a great veg set.

And of course the owner had relatives in Australia. Just about everyone we met had relatives in Australia. Probably looking after our sick and elderly. Our health system would not run without the Nepalis. That makes it hard for the Nepali health system!

The kind of shops I love in Dharan….Downtown Desi Line.

Like Bunnings at home I guess.

Feeling full we headed to Ghopa Camp and the compound where we lived for four years. A friend who looked at a photo of our flat commented that it was a dump. As Mal said, But it was our dump and we loved it.

The veggie man was the same and the old trees planted by the British Army when it was their camp still provided an air of genteel respectability. Shabby perhaps but refined.

From there we headed on the motorable road to Chatara which used to be the end of the road and the point at which you could get a punt across the mighty Koshi River. In our time here, it was another bone rattling ride across dried river beds but was now a pretty good road that continued over an impressive bridge all the way to Kathmandu! The road also continues beyond Chatara to the temple and that was our destination.

Motorable might be a generous use of the word to describe the road beyond Chatara but it was fine. And we could not have done the long walk we used to do to get here! It’s a beautiful temple complex in a really serene place with statues dating back to the 5th C. Pilgrims from all over Nepal and India come to visit and some try to lift a stone which it is said can only be lifted by the virtuous. Obviously we didn’t try and based on my observations of the lifting attempts, men are more virtuous. I’m sure they think they are too.

The temple is at the confluence of the Koshi Khola (River) and the Koka Khola. It tickles my fancy that I have been to the Coca Cola AND the town of Pepsi Cola which is near Kathmandu. Small things I guess….

I love a good suspension bridge and this was one. I love exploring little streets and alleys and discovering little vignettes of wonderful textures and colours. Today was hog heaven for me. As my Mal said, I’m still not over it.

Here are the aforementioned textured vignettes.

There were LOTS of brooms for sale at the temple. Holy brooms.

We needed more food and found a place that perfectly coordinated with my kurtha surwhal for black tea and sel rotis. We think it was the same place we had a dal bhat 15 years ago

At the neighbouring table a young couple offered us fresh turmeric and seeds that would purify our blood. We stuck with the sugary tea and sugary rotis but thanked them warmly.

And it would not have been worth living if we’d returned without Khuwa for the hard working family back in Birtamod. This is (gosh this was a sugary day) a traditional Nepali sweet that is basically condensed milk. Milk and sugar is boiled and stirred in giant woks until it reduces to create the paste that forms the basis of many Nepali sweets. It an be mixed with Cardamon and pistachio or eaten, as we all did when we got home, with beaten rice.

And now it’s now. Dust has been washed off and it’s back to work tomorrow. If you’ve read this far, thanks for indulging me you darlings!