Overseas with the Nepalese: Off to Chisapani

Before going to Chisapani, we went to a rotary meeting in Dang and one in Tulsipur. The rotary club of Dang is very new and they need a lot of support and motivation from Ashok. He gave them ideas and tips on how to run their club. We dropped off a few bags at this club to be donated to some school children. The bags were prepared before we left Banepa. In each of them are a few pencils, notebooks, soap, a tooth brush & toothpaste, Q-tips, powder, nailclippers, lotion, a comb, and band aids. We passed out a lot of these bags.

The rotary club in Tulsipur seemed more put together. When we arrived there was a crowd of kids there. They were kids who were rescued from child labor. After the meeting finished, we gave out bags to each of the kids. We also donated a walker.

Handing over the walker

Giving bags one by one to the kids

All the kids and rotary

The road to Chisapani was very flat. In the Tarai, people and animals use the road. In some parts, the roads are really crowded with 10 parts animal, 1 part human. People in the Tarai also bike a lot. Bikes are cheap and it’s not very hilly so it’s the preferred mode of transportation. Women seemed to ride bikes as much as men. There are also many rickshaws (photo here) in the Tarai cities. The Tarai region is very poor, so people can’t afford taxis. In Kathmandu, I usually only saw rickshaws in the touristy part of town. In the Tarai, they’re everywhere. There are also many bulls in this region because they’re used to pull carts. There aren’t many sows because they’re not as strong. Back on the road, there was an elephant spotting. I’m pretty sure it was wild because we were near a forest and there was no one controlling it.

Elephant spotting!

All four of us matching: Rubita, me, Anup, Rupak. Squished in the backseat for the entire road trip like this.

We also stopped to visit a friend of Ashok’s. When we meet new people he says, “and this, this is my local connection.” Ashok has local connections everywhere. This man’s oldest daughter died last year from a snakebite. We gave his kids pens and notebooks.

Ashok's friend and family

At Chisapani we stayed at a nice hotel. It was right on a huge river. We grilled some fish and goat meat. After we had a beer and ate all the meat, we went upstairs and… Surprise!! Time for dinner! I was confused. Apparently the meat was just an appetizer, we still had to eat a full course of dal bhat. I was so full.