Hinduism, Buddhism and Tourism

Kit flying in Bhaktapur

Bhaktapur
Triumphant roars from the rooftop battlements greeted each victory as somewhere in the sky another kite floated to the ground. Teenagers  pretended they didn't care when expert youngsters cheered their giant killing. Across the Bhaktapur skyline, you could find pieces of string scattered like the broken conkers in London playgrounds.

Goats gather for
the sacrifice

Down below, the tourists were dispersing from Durbar Square and throngs of festive Newaris furiously haggled over ducks, chickens, goats and even the occasional buffalo. It was a day too early to see the beginning of the Dashain animal sacrifices. Instead, from all around, bikes, carts and trucks gathered animals into marketplaces ready to meet their end.

The Dashain holiday had come four weeks into my deployment and, with nobody to spend it with, I had been visiting Bhaktapur in Kathmandu thinking about what to do next.

Alex and Mirielle fit in a Carambol
lesson

Mountain Outside Kathmandu
When I saw a Google post for a "Rough biking trip east of Kathmandu", I knew I had found some people I could travel with. The next day when Alex, a French tour company owner parked the van at the bottom of the hill, we were definitely in for a good day!

Alex led the way speaking invaluable Nepali as his neighbour Mirielle and I squeezed past landslides and cattle down stunning the valley. As the sun disappeared behind the mountains, we reached the Trisuli River in time to throw the bikes on top of the first passing bus. It was almost as if we'd had a plan all along...!

High...

Climbing and Kayaking - Hardcore Nepal
"No wusses, waterphobes or whingers" said the welcoming leaflet for Hardcore Nepal's climbing, canyoning and kayaking trips. Apprehensively, I put my life in their hands for a full week of general terror. Along with , Grant, Kamel, Meghan and Xavier we shared the fear of learning to lead climb up and crash down waterfalls. By the end, we more or less trusted each other's belaying skills:-).

After two days of drowning upside-down getting personal training at "Kayak Bootcamp", I had  learned to paddle well enough to steer the my beginner's kayak headlong into "Upset" a Grade 4 Trisuli River rapid on the final day. After the inevitable upside-down drowning that followed I righted and rolled the kayak, in a frenzy of failed  Eskimo rolls.

Not for the first or last time - I abandoned ship and prayed for rescue.

Suresh on a 20ft
Dashain swing

My rescuer Suresh and his brother Ramess came from the Dalit caste, they are also known as untouchables. Ramess started Hardcore Nepal with his American wife, Sandra. Having got a lucky break learning to guide as a teenager, he was taking a host of other untouchables along for the ride. Each day new trainees would join us eager to show off and waiting for their place in the glittering world of tourism.

I loved the way they brought you into their world. Thinking nothing of transporting tourists on the roof of a bus or stashing you in a pickup with three kayaks and twenty-six other people. I turned down the offer to hang off the back of the truck.

They say that Nepal has three religions. Hinduism, Budhism and Tourism. Plenty of reasons to believe in at least one of them...

Team Kayak