It's a Long, Long Road

The adage is as old as time - 'hit the road', 'get on the road', 'move on down the road' - there are a thousand variations on the theme, and no matter which one sings to you today, it's inevitable that some version of this theme will resurface for you tomorrow with yet another twist.  And so twisted the road as we made our way past the landslide over mountain, through valley, past river, shack, yak, goat and bull. 

We moved more swiftly at times than I was comfortable, but we were men on a mission.  Word had it that a bandh (national strike of transport services except airports) was in progress for the next day meaning if we did not complete our journey back to Napalgunj by tonight, there would be no travel by motorized vehicle the next day and we'd miss our flight back to Kathmandu (or K-du as I like to call it).

The road back was as beautiful as the road out, and along the way, we met a number of road warriors out to fulfill their own life's purpose.  Shepherds tended to their flocks, milkmen delivered their goods, the tupperware salesman made the rounds and the produce specialists loaded their goods for sale on their bikes.   Some transported their goods atop the old noggin and some - like this feisty little guy took the goat by the horns and muscled it from one point to another.  Every site was a feast - a reminder that it's a different life here.  It's a tough life no matter how you slice it, and the only way to make it through is to live unaware of how the other half lives.

It was the scenery that made our 15 hour journey back possible.  And since the visuals can speak more eloquently than any text, I will leave you with a series of photos that tell the story.  Enjoy!

This little guy could be the poster child for why we do this kind of work! His mom made the best meal I'd had since landing in Nepal - homemade noodles with local spices, tomato and garlic (sure beats dahl bat!)

 When you look up 'multi-tasking' in the Nepali dictionary, you are likely to find a picture of this woman.  She's got one child on the breast and she's playing Rock-A-Bye baby with another in the sack.

Bicycle produce salesmen load their vehicles for a days work.

We made it back in one day, but the strike necessitated that we take bicycle rickshaws back to the airport.

 The hotel we stayed at during our last night - Traveler's Village in Nepalgunj, is owned by an American woman who has now been in Nepal for 37 years.  She specializes in 'American comfort food' (and talking your ear off) - I had waffles for breakfast with homemade sausage.  (Don't ask what was in the sausage - I didn't want to know!)  Talk to you next from K-du!