Seat of Our Pants » Nepal

One Year Later

Martin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 01:08:49 +0000

Today is a good day to remember some of the cool things we did during our trip. Exactly one year ago, we were on our way back from Nagarkot, Nepal. We were pretty roundly hung over, thanks to the scrumptious and thoroughly wet feast our landlord had thrown the night before. All we wanted to do was to get back to our Lazimpat apartment ASAP – a prospect somewhat hindered by the fact that Maoist ex-insurgents had decided to blockade the Kathmandu Valley. The solution was to hang big signs saying ‘TOURIST BUS’ on our vehicles, park our western-looking selves in the front seats and hope that the Maoists were still letting foreigners through. Trying not to look silly by barfing on ourselves was also a priority.

This new year’s celebration is way different. Of course. We live in Mariposa, still figuring out our lives. We are moving towards a more structured life, slowly. What I do think though, and this is perhaps the greatest lesson of our trip — is that we still live our lives the way we did on that day in Nepal. Anything is possible, if we just put your minds to it.

And that’s all the ranting we had for you today. If you’ve missed it, Jaime’s running her own show over at the dailybeeswax.com, while I’m trying to write a book.

Oh and the Maoists did let us back home that day. All it took was bribing a ragtag bunch of 12-year old road-blocking insurgents (at a cost of 3 USD). Good times.

"Anything is possible, Dude!"

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Goodbye New Friend

Jaime — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 12:56:05 +0000

The Nepali Nose Piercing has come to it’s untimely end. We hadn’t been together long – I gave it a good home, it left me with an infected boil. I lovingly cleaned it, it only grew more and more angry-looking. I gave it promises of a good life, it demanded to be left in Bangkok.

So it is with a heavy heart (and most probably a very happy and relieved husband – he had to look at this huge boil for the last month) that my last tie to Nepal has been severed.

Now – for the love of God – let this boil go away.

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The Elephant Seal is Back

Martin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:23:54 +0000

A full-grown bull Elephant Seal (Mirounga Leonina) weighs close to 6,000 lbs/2,700 kgs. It grows to be about 16ft in length and it is the largest seal on the planet.

This is me and my backpack. Don’t worry. The seal weighs more (although not by much).

Photo: B. Navez.

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And…We’re Outta Here

Jaime — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:59:24 +0000

Our experience in Nepal has been one of the highlights of our trip, thanks in no short part to Arjun and his family. Without their help, we would be floundering around (much like we are about to do) trying to make educated guesses about what the heck is going on around us.

If you’re heading to Kathmandu and are undecided on where to stay, Arjun runs a cozy little guesthouse in the Lazimpat district (our favorite) of Kathmandu. Send us an email by clicking here and we’ll be happy to forward his information. You should really give this man business. He’s pretty much the nicest guy on the planet.

Until next time, Nepal! (and there most definitely will be a next time) You’ve been amazing.

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Celebrating Nepal – With a New Addition

Jaime — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:54:40 +0000

A few glasses of wine and an inquiry into nose piercing practices in Nepal lead me here:

That’s right. I got my nose pierced. I also used the word Karma today without being cynical. They say travel changes you…(enter Martin’s rolling eyes here)

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Nepali Hot and Spicy Potato (Piro Aloo) Recipe

Jaime — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:25:07 +0000

Our awesome landlord Arjun had us over for the feast last night, instructing us on how to cook everything he prepared for us. In total there were ten dishes. We’re talking a whirlwind tour of Nepali food – and every dish was better than the last.

Piro Aloo was served as a cold snack, but it would probably work just as well as a hot side dish. It’s super easy to make and has a nice bite. The seasoning/spices should really be added to taste, rather than following these quantities exactly. Experiment a little to find the best combination for you.

Piro Aloo

4 large Potatoes, boiled and cubed into 1” pieces an d cooled

4 cloves Garlic, ground into a paste (if grinding isn’t your thing, you can dice the garlic)

1 tsp Fenugreek seeds

1 tbsp Chili powder

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a wok or heavy bottomed pan until it’s good and hot.
Drop in the fenugreek seeds, stirring occasionally until they are almost black (if you don’t wait for them to turn black the sees will be bitter).
Add the garlic and turn off the heat.
Stir until cooled slightly then add the chili powder (you don’t want the chili powder to burn, which is why you cool the oil down before adding it).
Add the boiled potato and the salt.
Mash a few of the potatoes with your spoon and stir into the mix
Cook while stirring for 2 minutes and you’re done!

See, super easy, right?

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Kathmandu’s Outdoor Food Market

Jaime — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:55:13 +0000

In celebration of our time together our landlord (pictured) agreed to cook us up some amazing Nepali food before we leave. Not only does he run a tight ship with his rental units, but he also runs a guesthouse, helps to relocate refugees to the US, and was a professional chef for twelve years. The man is a blur of energy – and a darn fine chef so we’re excited for tonight’s feast.

We took a trip to a local food market this morning to pick up the vegetables he needed. We got there as the sun was rising and already the place was packed with people buying their day’s produce. As happens eight hours a day here, the power was out (the government calls this “load shedding”) when we arrived, so the interior of the space was lit by candles. This added a warm intimacy to the very, very large vegetable-stuffed building.

Leafy greens, garlic, onions, ginger, cauliflower, broccoli and tomatoes made up the bulk of the produce on offer. The deal was this: if you want something you have to buy five kilos of it. So, we bought five kilos of everything. Did it break the bank? Well, let’s just say that five kilos of cauliflower cost the equivalent of one US dollar.

I’d say the bank is pretty well intact.

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Kathmandu Photo Gallery

Jaime — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:21:32 +0000

While Martin is busy taking photos of the television, I was snapping photos of our last visit to the market in Kathmandu (OK, to be fair, he was with me and took some of these photos).

We’re leaving Nepal on January 22^nd, so I thought a photo gallery would be a nice way to get some of you pumped about visiting Nepal. It may have it’s fair share of issues, but the people are awesome, there are a million things to see and do and for you foodies – the spices are second to none (and cheap as heck).

brass-in-kathmandu

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Why Take Pictures Outside?

Jaime — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:15:50 +0000

What do you do when you have a lot of time on your hands? Why, you take photos of the television, of course.

Martin has picked up a strange habit of snapping photos of the television. To his credit, it doesn’t happen all the time and I guess I can see why it might be fun. The shows over here (in the Indian subcontinent specifically) are awash with color and vibrancy – which I think this photo captures in a cool, off-hand way.

Score one for your weird habits, Martin!

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Travel Planning Procrastination

Jaime — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:26:30 +0000

We’ve sat in Kathmandu for three months now, knowing full well the date of our departure. In all that time did we plan our next destination?

No.

We’ve done what every traveler on a tight budget should never do – leave planning to the very last minute. Granted, we’ve never had a rigid plan anyway – for the most part we really do travel by the seat of our pants. However when it comes to big moves, like we’re going to make in five days, you really do want to get those tickets with at least a little cushion time.

We’ve narrowed our choices down to two destinations. Each will be a pain in the butt to get to, but will both be fabulous.

The first is Darjeeling in India. It would be the entry point for our exploration of the Northeast States, where we plan to spend a month. There is one little issue, though. The Book (aka Lonely Planet India) tells us that at this time of year the temperatures there will “scare brass monkeys.” It would also mean an 18 hour bus ride across the sort-of unstable Terai here in Nepal. Sounds lovely, no?

Our second option is ridiculous. I’ll just come right out and say that. The plan would be to board a flight from Kathmandu to Bangkok where we’d have to do a 180 degree to get to Burma (Myanmar). Yes, it’s a huge backtrack. Yes, we probably should have hit up Burma when we were in the area – but,we didn’t. The obvious issue with this plan is the expense – getting there means a lot of flight time.

I’m curious what you think. Should we head back into India or return to SE Asia for a month? Write a comment or cast your vote in our sidebar poll. I look forward to seeing your opinion.

Cheers!

UPDATE: You voted (2 to 1) & we listened! Myanmar, here we come.

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