(Krista) Tomorrow we leave Nepal for India, and in retrospect, our visit has been much too short. In total our eight days here has been a great introduction to the urban life of Nepalis, we haven't had the opportunity to experience rural life, any of the real "touristy" things, nor have we been able to learn much of the language, outside of "Namaste". Namaste is a wonderful alternative to hello or goodbye, and it means "I salute the God in you". Formally one is supposed to put their hands in prayer position while saying it to the person they are greeting (analogous to shaking hands). When walking into shops, restaurants or hotels, one is only really required to say Namaste, but I personally like to raise my hands in prayer, as it makes the encounter much more pleasant (in my opinion). On Christmas day, Tony and i hiked up to a Buddhist stupa across Phewa Lake in Pokhara (the World Peace Pagoda). On our way up, we walked right through a small but very busy village (I believe there was some form of party going on). Here we had the opportunity to pass through rural Nepal, seeing folks of all ages playing and celebrating together, and thus made very good use of the formal method of saying Namaste. I love seeing the little kids raise their prayer hands to their face in greeting, and I love doing the same to the seniors in the villages.

Through our very brief stay here, we have met some incredible people, primarly through our visits to restaurants and hotels. Rarely will you meet an ungeniune person who isn't more than willing to serve you, or ensure you have the most perfect meal. In all the restaurants or hotels we have been too, we have always been helped to the fullest degree, and it seems that everyone takes their jobs so seriously. It is a wonderful and inspiring atmosphere, and meeting these people (99% of them have been men) always makes dining enjoyable. We have observed that this reliable level of enthusiasm and genuinity (is that word?) is somewhat rare in the service industries around the world, and wonder why it is so reoccurring here. Perhaps it is because these people (men) really understand how good they have it in comparison to some (most) people living around them. I think this is something us westerners fail to realise or reflect upon. We rarely give much thought to the fact that there are many many people who are much much worst off then we are in the West. Living here in third world conditions is not easy, nor is it comfortable, but people here seem to be content with what they have. I wish I could take a piece of this country home with me to show people just how easy we have it. People here don't have clean water, many don't have running water, and most have to visit a communal water tap (or even a well) with buckets or barrels to retrieve their daily water. Laundry is equally labour-intensive, as there are no such thing as washers. Woman can been seen all over the country washing their clothes in rivers (most polluted), fast running ditches, or in small buckets. Clothes are dried anywhere and everywhere - on fences, bridges, piles of brush or bricks, and even on temples! Whenever we ask "when will our laundry be done", the response is always "it depends on the weather". How do people shower and bathe? In the poorer districts I have seen them using buckets, washing themselves outdoors, on sidewalks, and even in the middle of temple grounds.

As for heating, there really is none, and very few (if any) buildings are insulated, and since it drops to around 3C at night, it gets really cold (none of the hotels we have stayed in have been heated, leaving us with sleeping in long underwear and burning candles). Many people don't have warm clothes, jackets, or even decent blankets (I have seen many torn and ratty sheets out to dry). Even though North Face may object, the cheap rip-off jackets that one can purchase are a blessing to these people, as it provides them with affordable and decent protection against the elements. Oh yeah, we can get a real decent North Face fleece jacket (rip-off) for about $4US here.

With the average annual income sitting at about $200Us, you can understand some of the difficulties a country like this faces. Hygiene and cleanliness take a second priority to survival. On our way to Pokhara on the 24th, our bus drove us by some real eye-opening raw food marking and preparation practices; raw chicken, goat or duck sitting outside on less-than sanitized tables, or people just slaughtering or de-feathering chickens/ducks right out front of their "house" or on the street. I can see why vegetarianism is so big here. Most of the children (and some adults) we see on the street are dirty from head to toe, including their clothes. Many lack decent footwear, wearing ill-fitting sandles or flip-flops.

Life's little luxuries are definitely different here than they are back home. Video games and computers are nil, except in internet shops. Private phones must be rare, as many people use the public STD/ISD phones that are smattered all around the towns. Good luck hearing a cell phone ring. Ping pong is a big thing here though; we have seen many men or teenagers playing on their concrete tables with bricks as nets. There is also another popular outdoor game that we have seen being played on concrete tables. It is a cross between pool and shuffleboard (they use a sugar or salt to lubricate the surface). Kids don't have toys, they play with anything they can find, such as cans or rocks, or even pigeons. In the tourist regions, I think the kids find alot of enjoyment out of running up to tourists, and saying "Hello", followed by "1 rupee", or "cookie", or "sweet", or "chocolate", or "biscuit" (pronounced as biscoot), or "money". These kids sound so adorable, I can see why some tourists continue to exacerbate this begging by giving them something when they ask.

Not all people live as I have just described. Some make a good living running businesses or working, and likely live a comfortable life by their standards. Its just Tony and I have seen much life on the streets, and it is mostly the poorer aspects of the country we have witnessed. The big question is: do these people have opportunities to make enough to afford a rip-off North Face jacket, or is it their caste that has put them where they are? Further, do these people want to have running water, or are they perfectly comfortable the way they are. Knowing that the caste system is the norm here raises some insane questions.

Okay enough...I just have to tell you about this waiter we have recently met. Him, his wife and two kids (12 and 14) live only about 5kms out of central Kathmandu (here in the Thamel district), and by taxi this would be about 100 rupees for foreigners ($1.33 US), and thus about half for him. However, he cannot afford it. Instead he works from midday to 11pm in this Thamel restaurant, then sleeps out back. He awakes at 6am to walk one hour home, visits with his family, then walks one hour back to be at work. My jaw dropped when I found this out. And this is only one person of the many we have met here in Nepal, I can only imagine what the other stories are.

Speaking of restaurants, what is food like in Nepal? Amazing. Rice and beans (Dal Baat), are the rural norms, according to many trekkers and mountaineers who have had to live on this meal for weeks and months. I personally love these lentil soup and rice mix, as it usually comes flavoured with cilantro and other goodies. The "typical" Nepali meal that we have been purchasing in restaurants is a smattering of goodies: vegetable curry, chicken curry, dal (lentil soup), steamed rice, a pickled vegetable mixture, a poppadam (a big chickpea flour chip), and cold veggies. All dishes in this meal are all-you-can-eat, and as soon as you finish any of them, waiters are on you to refill your bowls. My absolute favourite dish is called a "chatamari", a rice-flour pancake topped with buff meat, egg, or both. Tony's favourite meal are called "mo mo's", a steamed or fried dumpling filled with either veggies, buff or chicken (see one of Tony's entries above for what "buff" is). A spicy pickled dipping sauce accompanies these things, a real treat for only $0.25 Canadian.

Other treats we have encountered is some restaurants' "happy hour". Many restaurants in touristy areas weasle us in by offering two cocktails for the price of one. Here in Nepal, I have enjoyed many a pina colada or mango daquiri. The Gin Fizzes are pretty good too. Our favourite place for these cocktails is by far the Maya Cocktail Bar in Thamel, Kathmandu. Every cocktail we tried here was much better than any in any restaurant in Pokhara.