Besi Shahar

Today I went with Beda to Besisahar, a nearby town for the afternoon. He had business to attend to and I wanted to see a bit of the area, see a bigger town. Besisahar is about an hour away by bus from Bhotewodar. We first went to school for a bit so Beda could collect some things and then we made our way down. All I can say about the bus ride is thank God I don't get car sick! The poor people sitting next to me were groaning and looked absolutely miserable. Just imagine a vehicle the size of a minivan with about 15 people piled in racing down a road no better than the East Harrison FSR. I'm not surprised that accidents are so common here. What an adventure. With everything that I love about Nepal, I do not love the roads and don't think I will ever get used to them. No thank you! But of course, because I have a driver's liscense at home, I've been asked why I don't rent a car. Ha. It's worse than Mexico. Narrow and winding roads, drivers honking around blind corners to alert other drivers to your presence, no guards on the steep cliff edges, broken down vehicles, random cattle/goats on the side of the road, etc etc. It's utter chaos. But, on the plus side I now feel confident that I will find the correct bus to Pokhara when I do go, and know how to pay and how much it will cost :P

Once we arrived in Besisahar, our first stop was the school district office. I waited outside talking to someone about the differences between Canada and Nepal. Though really, the man - an English teacher - only wanted to talk about Trump. I swear, people know more about American politics half way around the world than most Americans do. And I learned a lot about how America is currently seen, from an outsiders perspective, to be the next Hitler or the next failing nation with Trump as President. Of course he wanted my opinion, which I don't really have. People here find it hard to believe that I would intentionally avoid forming an opinion about politics of a country that I'm not a citizen of. Or, maybe the truth is just that I don't want to share my opinion. As long as Canada doesn' t suffer I'm happy! And that's enough about that.

We made a few more stops and ended at the post office. Beda had received a package from a volunteer in Canada! Though it was sent from Bellevue. Made me think of home! I'm very curious about what's in the package... And about who sent it, tempted to see if we could arrange a meeting when I'm home haha. Anywho, guess we'll see what's in it later! Maybe after dinner.

Besisahar is definitely much larger than Bhotewodar, and has far more buildings, large stores, and I received less stares, guess foreigners are more common. I saw signs for trekking route nearby so there must be a few people that pass through from out of town. Overall, it was worth a visit! The drive there especially was fascinating once I just decided to ignore the bouncing and the sharp corners and looked at the view. The road follows a big river and was beautiful. We passes a pretty big dam too that produces a good amount of Nepal's electricity. The terrain is so rocky, so steep, and so wild. The Jungle just creeps in everywhere, I love it!

When we got back to Bhotewodar we stopped for a bite to eat at the same place as yesterday. Again the chicken was very spicy but very delicious! We then made our way back up to Sirubari taking a route I haven't gone before. The views were even better along this way! Although the pathway was even less of a path and involved clamouring up some very narrow rock chutes. Could hardly be considered a trail really, except that clearly it's used by people fairly regularly. I am getting in better shape though, the walk is becoming easier! We stopped a few times to rest and chatted a bit, was a good walk home. I showed Beda pictures of my home and we compared culture and stories of our respective countries.

For those who are wondering, my knee is actually feeling better than ever! For the most part... I've discovered how to walk so that it isn't irritated and how to avoid triggering the pain. My right knee, my trouble knee, only twinges occasionally now, when I'm walking down particularly steep stairs. My left knee has been bothering me more than the right actually. I think it's probably over compensating. But it's a dull burning pain, not a sharp stabbing pain that makes me feel like I'm going to collapse. In general, both knees feel more stable and less inclined to twist about like they had been at home! Muscles must be getting stronger. My hips on the other hand are absolutely killing me.. They ache so badly, but only when I'm sitting cross legged. At every other time they feel fine... I've been stretching and trying to get them feeling better but who knows if it's actually doing anything or not. Hopefully they start feeling better soon though because I need to be able to continue sitting cross legged! Actually, it's really only first thing in the morning or after standing long periods that they hurt, when they're stiff. After moving about during the day they seem to be fine. Just old and achy ;)

Update: in the package were some useful items for the house! Some food containers, a backpack, some lanterns and batteries, small samples of alcohol from home. Gives me ideas of what I could send! Will have to think on what's going to be most useful.. Time to start a list ;)Read more