travel

Nepal 2012 – HFH: Day 1, Departure for Bharatpur

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Monday February 13, 2012

I have been anticipating this part of my trip for a long time and am tickled to finally be at the build site.

Our team arrived from Katmandu (K-Du) on the ‘brain shaker’, a small 18-seater plane. I can’t remember the last time I was able to watch pilots doing their job in the cockpit or being thankful for our safe landing.  It was a whoozy ride for me but I was happy to arrive and begin the build.

Our HFH team is stationed in Bharatpur, a small city on the edge of Chitwan National Park. Bharatpur is located in the lowlands of Nepal and sits at a considerably lower altitude than K-Du. Where K-Du is located at about 1000m, Bharatpur is only at 100m. It is significantly warmer and definitely flatter than other parts of Nepal.

The project that we are working on is on the edge of the city, in a community that is very poor. Most houses appear to be one room shelters – some wooden, some made of concrete blocks or bricks, and some a jumble of materials put together in an apparently random fashion. To date, Nepal is the poorest country I have visited and Bharatpur, the poorest city.

Sujit Maharjan, the HFH Nepal contact, met with us to give a bit of an orientation to the build, the family for whom we are building, and construction processes, safety considerations. Our family of 5 is led by a widower named Kamala Neupane.  The home she currently lives in provides shelter for herself, two sons (ages 16 & 17), and two daughters (I think that they are around 21 and 22).  The daily wage of those working in the household is 100 rupees (approximately $1.50USD) per day. This is not a lot considering that I bought a new pair of hikers in KDu that were the equivalent to one month’s worth of wages and I did so without putting a lot of thought onto the price. My description of the site is bland to what one sees on the site. It’s a pretty impoverished family.  Immediately, I am grateful for what I have.  We take things for granted.

Our team of 16 is a bit of a motley crew. I love it! There is a varsity basketball coach, a NYC model, hedge fund manager, software developer, retired army member, physician’s assistant, architect, and civil engineer, to name a few. We come from NYC, Boston, Chicago, Kentucky, California, Minnesota, and Arizona. Once again I am the lone Canadian, which I don’t mind at all. I’m trying to be an example of a great Canadian.  Please pass the beer and poutine eh.  😉

We are building a 3-room home which is split up so that each room has a window and its own entry. None of the rooms are linked to each other. It kind of reminds me of row housing we built in Cambodia. The homeowner had the option of making the home into one entire room, but she opted to design it into three rooms.  My understanding is that when the house is built, Kamala’s mother will join them.  They will live in the first room; the daughters will occupy the second room; and the sons will have the third room.  In Nepalese culture, daughters leave the home when they marry and sons bring their brides home.  In this case, when the daughters eventually marry, each son will have a private space for him and his wife.  There will be no kitchen built.  They will cook outside at the back of the house.  When and if the  homeowner has funds, she will put in a cement pad for the kitchen.

We are a keen group and all are excited to let the building begin! 

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Luang Prabang in Living Colour

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What can I say?  I LOVE Laos!  It feels so sedate and safe here.  The people are so gentle.  It has offered a perfect reprieve after the chaos and stress of Vietnam.  Motorbikes – don’t see many, don’t want to see any!  I had my fill of them in Vietnam.  Laos has opened up her arms and embraced me.  It is beautiful, the people are kind, and the streets are sedate.  It’s not for everyone, but it has been an antidote for me.  I haven’t left yet, but I am longing to return.

Lovely Luang Prabang, Laos

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December 16-23, 2011

Laos is a lovely landlocked country that is bordered by Myanmar, China, Thailand, Cambodia, and Thailand.

Laos was another country on my agenda but by the time I got there I was feeling quite emotionally and physically tired from Vietnam. My original intentions were to travel through the country over 7-10 days, but when I arrived in LP, I wanted to stay put.

I was in LP from December 16-23. I arrived by air on the 16th at around 10 pm. Going through immigration for my tourist visa posed some challenges. I had to pay cash for the visa, either in US dollars or Thai baht, neither of which i had. Nor did they take Visa. It was poor planning on my part. Immigration made me surrender my passport so that I could seek out money in the airport. The sole ATM was broken and the money exchange shop was closed. Immigration kept my passport and the gentleman at the office gave me his phone number and told me to phone when I had the cash. He told me that he would deliver my passport when he got my call.

It was 10:15 pm and as I left the airport, I felt unsettled and stressed about being without my passport. Anyone who is well-travelled knows that surrendering your passport is a big no-no. I envisioned difficulties at my guesthouse as one must show his/her passport upon arrival. My only option was to roll with it.

Sandra, the angel who saved my ass in Immigration

As I stood waiting for a taxi, a woman named Sandra (from Switzerland) asked me how immigration went. We had chatted very briefly at the airport in Hanoi and were on the same flight. I shared my self-imposed debacle. What happened next was totally unexpected. Sandra graciously offered to give me US money to pay for my visa. She had expressed the same concerns about me having surrendered my passport. I kept saying ‘are you sure?’ and ‘I will pay you back’. In response she said ‘I know you will’. I was so touched to have the trust of a total stranger. In total, I had 10 minutes of conversation with her before she offered the help. Travellers are a nice bunch of people! Once I paid my dues and with my passport securely in hand, we shared a taxi into LP and exchanged information.

The next day, I journeyed across town to her guesthouse. She wasn’t there, so I left a note indicating the time I passed by, suggested dinner at 7 that evening, and wrote that I would pass by her guesthouse to pick her up.  I went about my day visiting the various temples, wandered the markets and shops, and enjoyed people watching. I ran into Sandra at the palace and as soon as I saw her I asked ‘did you get my note?’. She said she hadn’t and asked ‘did you get mine?’. We shared the content of our notes and discovered that almost word for word they were exactly the same. We shared a laugh and agreed that our meeting at the airport was meant to be. She will be a friend with whom I will be in contact long after my travels. She too was travelling a long time. She was a great friend in LP and we hung out quite a bit.

I ended up staying in LP for longer than initially thought. LP was delightful and the people so kind and gentle. As it it a UNESCO protected site, everything is fiercely protected from greedy developers. There are no buildings higher than 3 stories and all are beautifully preserved.

I loved so much about this place – rising at 5 am to watch the hundreds of monks collect the daily alms from people on the street; settling into my morning ritual of Ovaltine and some kind of deep-fried donuts at a local coffee shop; having beers while watching sunsets on the Mekong; visiting the morning markets with bizarre veggies and meat products (rats, mice, or squirrels anyone?); eating from the buffets in the food market for a dollar; cycling about the town, and wandering the romantic streets in the night market.

It was here that I met fascinating people. I loved conversations with Thorsten, a man from Switzerland who has been travelling 5 months of the year for the past 27 years! Amazing! When i asked him which countries he hadn’t visited, he noted only 5 countries – Bhutan, Japan, Korea, and a few others that I cannot recall. His tales were fascinating.

Julie and Fintin Fox from England

It was also the place where I met Julie and her 8-year old son Fintin (Oxford, England) who were taking the year off to travel the world. What an adventure for an 8-year old. If I was a mom, this us exactly what I would be doing. I enjoyed sharing a couple of meals with them, although for one of them, I had food poisoning that I carried with me to Bangkok. They will be in Alberta in July and I hope to have them as guests in my home.

I enjoyed conversations with Dieter, a musician from Germany. He travelled overland to Laos from Germany and started his trip in August. It’s hard to imagine the number of trains he took. He spent 3 months just in China. In preparation for the trip he learned Chinese.

Dieter on the elephant.

Then there was Michael, a divorced 55+ year old man from England. He and Thorsten had met travelling a number of years ago and unexpectedly were in Laos at the same time. He was totally eccentric and hilarious. Sandra and I met them at dinner one evening and Michael gave us a rundown of European men and which to avoid or take as lovers. He talked non-stop, was hilarious. Post-dinner he sent me an incredibly detailed e-mail outlining an itinerary to Myanmar, Thailand and several other places. The details included times of trains. His memory and recollection of details was admirable. He was also a Jehovah’s Witness which didn’t really fit with his consumption of alcohol (well, he is a Brit). Oh and the email ended with some scripture references – maybe it does fit.

The people I have met have made this journey extra special. I have been constantly impressed by people and their stories.

I will find a way to return to LP…..hopefully the next time I will be able to share it with someone from home. Sometimes that’s a hard part of travelling independently – seeing beautiful things and having grand experiences but being on one’s own. It is so hard to fully describe what happens on a daily basis and nice to share it with someone.

Luang Prabang was lovely and a nice refuge to recover from the craziness of Vietnam. I was sad to leave. It is a place that I will definitely go back to and to date, it is at the top of my favorites along with Chiang Mai.

Beautiful Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

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December , 2011 – I recently came back from a 2-day boat trip to Ha Long Bay. HLB is in north Vietnam. It was so beautiful and thus far, my favorite part of Vietnam. It was the only place in Vietnam that I wished I had more time. It was a reprieve from the intensity of the many places I visited in this country.

S-21, The Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum

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November 2011 – Note: This blog posting contains photos that you may find upsetting.

Cambodia has a painful history and visiting the S-21 in Phnom Pehn is a must. It is a part of the history of this country a

nd coming here (and The Killing Fields) is crucial for a full understanding of what happened and why Cambodia finds itself in its current state.

S-21 was a former high school that was turned into a place of interrogation and torture by the Khmer Regime between 1975-79. During that time, about 3 million people were killed and 20,000 were victims of S-21. Of the 20,000, only 8 lived to tell the tales of the horrors committed there.

It was here that the educated class – doctors, lawyers, professors, engineers, monks, nuns, and anyone else seen to be a threat to Pol Pot’s vision of a pure communal society – were brought to be tortured and killed. Family members of these individuals were also brought here. They too needed to be eliminated so as to avoid these members engaging in revenge killings against the regime.

Meticulous records and photographs (taken when the people entered and after their death) were kept.

As I wandered the various buildings looking at the vast sea of photographs of victims and exhibits showing the methods of torture, I had a lot of thoughts.

I thought about my circle of family and friends and how if we were here in Cambodia during the regime that we all would have been targets. That it would have been highly likely that we would have been murdered for the simple reason of not being from the peasant class, of being a member of the aforementioned professions, and of being a city dweller. I thought about the elimination of all these individuals, the loss of a generation of educated people and the tremendous long-term impact on the country.

Simply said, Pol Pot, his ideology and regime screwed this country.

I thought about the methods of torture and in particular, water-boarding, one of the methods used here. People who support this kind (or any other kind) of torture baffle me. When is torture ever right?

It was not an easy visit.

I have included some photos of the site to give you an idea of what it was like. In particular, I was fascinated by the graffiti that I stumbled upon underneath a stairwell. I am not alone in my sentiments.

Cambodia 2011 – HFH Khmer Harvest Build: Day 5, November 19

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The last day of the build was to be an emotional one. The foci of the teams were to finish up small projects, clean the home space, decorate the front of the house as a part of the welcoming, and participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony with the family. Post-ribbon cutting, there was a closing ceremony with speeches, thank you’s, and some entertainment.

I’ve included a link to a video shot by a New Zealander which gives you a sense of the day.

Of course the best part was meeting the entire family who would be moving into the house along with extended family members. Our family was a couple with their two children, ages 9 and 2. The lady who took a liking to me was there along with some additional grandchildren.

The ribbon cutting ceremony totally caught me by surprise. Each of my team members and i were allowed to make one small cut in the ribbon with the owners who made the final cut. Cutting the ribbon, I got totally teary, choked up, and started to cry. What a moment for that family! All I could think of was ‘they have a house’ and how important that was in their lives. It was the start of more teariness for much of the team. Once officially in the house, there was dancing, singing, and a definite sense of joy. Mostly joy…the 2-year old, who I suspect had never seen a white person, started to bawl every time one of us went near him. I really think it was the Caucasian factor. The look on that child’s face was priceless. They’d take him out of the room, he’d stop crying, back into the room, one look and the tears began all over again.

The family was also very emotional. Through a translator, the lady had some lovely sentiments. The mother kept touching me. As i was standing there readying to leave the family, the mother and daughter came to me with a translator. Through the translator, she said that i was to be called the first sister of her daughter. I don’t know the meaning of this exactly, but I took it as something of honour. Nekane, my roommate, had a similar experience, being called the first sister of the owner’s daughter.

It was a meaningful day. A day of pride and joy. I thought about the future of that family. My optimistic self wants great things for them and knows that the housing will change so much for them. Along the way, in small and big ways, I hope that each of the volunteers were changed. I personally feel some kind of shift internally. I don’t know how big it is, but at minimum I have a changed perspective about poverty. I only hope that my changed perspective will make a difference.

It already has….on January 10th, I was to return to Canada. I’ve decided to not come back and to extend my time away so as to participate on another HFH build and will return in March. This build will be in Chetwan, Nepal in mid-February. It will be a 2-week build. I am planning on fundraising my HFH donation/fee (which pays for build materials and my accommodation during the build). I’m really hoping that friends and family will be able to support me in this endeavour. Baring any difficulties in setting up visas from over here, I will go. Stay tuned…..

Baci, Sonya