Why do I love Nepal so Much?

Kathmandu 003
Originally uploaded by susiebarber

There are so many reasons, but here are some:

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. The average annual income per capital is under $300 US. Yet as poor as they are, these people are so kind and welcoming. They all smile and greet you. Without exception. Everyone.

The place is clean with no visible garbage anywhere. The one time I saw a pile of garbage, I walked back by 30 minutes later and the pile was gone. It was only there for pickup. Sure, some streets aren't paved and therefore get muddy when it rains, but everything including bathrooms are clean. It wasn't that way in India.

I've had 3 different Nepali tell me that as poor as this country is, they take care of their own. They proudly explain how even the poorest person has shelter and is fed every day.

When a shop keeper asks you inside his/her store and you decline, they smile, say "namaste" (that means both hello and goodbye) and wish you a good day. They don't push and shove and get in your face. The one time a vendor got aggressive, an elderly Nepali man complete with cute little hat, ran up and yelled and waved his arms until the vendor went away. He then apologized to me and said that the man was Indian and that Nepali don't behave that way.

I have a head cold, so yesterday one of the workers at the guest house that I'm staying at walked me to a pharmacy. There was a chalkboard with the name of the doctor on duty. I'm not sure if I talked with a full-fleged doctor or a pharmacist, but he asked me all kinds of detailed questions, including where I had been the last couple of weeks and all about my symptoms. He rolled his eyes when I said that I had been in India and told me that it's very easy to get sick there. He pulled out one of those disposable thermometer strips and took my temperature. He then took a box of decongestants out and cut 12 pills away with scissors. Total cost? 35 Nepali rupee. It's currently 69.5 Nepali rupee to the dollar, so about 50 cents. On his way to the shop this morning, he stopped by the guest house to check on me and see how I was doing. My head is now clear and it's a bit in my chest and I have a cough. He had me come by to get some medication for the cough. How sweet is that?

Yesterday, I tipped a waiter 50 rupee for a 120 rupee lunch (and that's a splurge here). He chased me down on the street and told me that it was too much. We talked at length and he told me that I should never tip more than 10 rupee for a meal. That's like nothing. I didn't have a 10 rupee bill, but I talked him into 20 rupee, but he only agreed if he could share it with the cook and bus boy.

I met this very interesting South African at my guest house yesterday afternoon. He's been living in India for 6 months and came here to renew his visa. We started talking then went out for tea. After we went for a drink and then dinner. We talked for about 5 hours. Since I was sick, I decided to return to my room and go to sleep, but he wanted to stay and listed to a Nepali Bob Marley cover band. He offered to walk me back (the streets are very confusing here), but I said no. I walked down streets with everything closed up and a few Nepali men sitting on steps. Anywhere else I would have been a little afraid if not a lot afraid. Each man that I passed smiled, said Namaste and asked where I was heading. When I told them, they nodded and smiled and told me that I was going the right direction. Then they'd ask how long I was going to be in Nepal. When I said 18 days they'd smile and say "Good, we'll meet again then" and gave me a wave and another Namaste. It's just so completely safe here, even at 10:00 at night and deserted streets.

There's so much more, but those are some of my first day stories. I did visit the Monkey Temple this morning after watching Biden's speech (I'm 12 hours and 45 minutes ahead of all of you on the Pacific Coast). I've been walking around the city, but now I'm going to go back to my room, download the photos and burn them to CD and write something up. Oh yeah, and eat something. Until later ...