Translators, Hotels, Friends, ...

- in Marpha -

Buddhi Bahadur Lalchan and his family run Neeru Guest House, famous for chocolate cake, apple pie, lasagna, tacos, daal bhat, you name it. I keep coming back there, though most of the children have already left and moved to Jomosom, Pokhara, Kathmandu and Hotel Transhimalaya in Marpha. Actually, right now it's only the parents left...

Dolma Tsering, my first friend in Nepal, and she still is. We had great times together checking out restaurants in Marpha's surroundings, we even walked 1 1/2 hours to Tukche to have donuts! Dolma has got a souvenir shop in Marpha - Tashi Delek - which I strongly recommend to anybody who's interested in Tibetan handicraft.

Dolma's little daughter Pentok. The half-a-smile is a fake, she would never smile at anybody who isn't her mother, by any chance...

Tek Suhang, originally from Paanchthar district, still in his office in the ACAP post in Jomosom. Right now he lives in Pokhara studying business or economics or some other weird stuff. For a cup of coffee he copied huge tables for me, by hand!

Pabitra Gurung, my brave translator from Nadipur, Pokhara, on a hanging bridge crossing Kali Gandaki river.
Pabitra's father used to join the British Army for many years, so Pabitra has lived in more countries than most girls of her age. She had just finished college and was about to start computer science at university when I met her. Waiting for her college results, she helped me doing interviews for a couple of weeks in Marpha, Madhwaliya and Pumdibhumdi.

Sasi Hirachan and her husband Gunja. I keep meeting Sasi, either in Marpha or in Kathmandu. When we don't meet, she's sending me apple rings, dried apricots and honey from Marpha. I hope one day she'll add brandy and cider.

- in Madhwaliya -

Bagwati Gaire and little Onam.
There were no hotels at all in Madhwaliya, so Pabitra and I rented a small room in her house. Bagwati's husband Kumar Kanta runs a small shop and restaurant, and usually one of his two wives (actually, Bagwati's only the second one) cooked some great food for us (the best roti you can get between Delhi and Kathmandu!).

Dibika's the second daughter of Kumar Kanta's first wife.
Though we occupied her bedroom, she enjoyed our stay a lot and spent many evenings sitting on the rooftop with us (the only cool place in the house).

Punam Joshi, Dibika's older sister.
Punam is already married, but every time her husband, who is a bus driver, is not at home, she stays with her parents. Which was nice for us as it never gets boring with her.

Ruku Rana, her two daughters and some other children.
Ruku helped us translating into the appr. 100.000 languages spoken in the Tarai. She is a social worker and found that it was her job to give us all the assistance we might need. Thank you, Ruku!

Pabitra and a very special new friend.
She definitely preferred her little goat to the mean reptiles which can be found all over Rupandehi district...

- in Pumdibhumdi -

Pabitra on a boat crossing Fewatal.
My arms still hurt when I look at the picture, and I'm sure her's hurt, too.

Raj Bahadur Gurung and his wife Bim Kumari.
Pabitra and I found his house by chance when we were looking for a hotel in Kalabang - another place without hotels, ke garne?
Anyway, staying in Raj Bahadur's place with his sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren was great fun, at least until I realised that the toilet was full of big spiders at night!

Sarita Gurung and her greatgrandmother.
Sarita's one of Raj Bahadur's eight grandchildren. She tried to teach me Nepali (like the other seven), so I decided I'd convince her to practise some English!! Well, somehow we got along fine...

Rajesh Gurung and his wife Subha Laxmi.
As labour migration is a family tradition, Rajesh has worked for one year in Malaysia and now thinks about coming to Europe for a job.

Rajendra Gurung is still sending me e-mails keeping me up-to-date. A father of four, he works in a Japanese project close by. What the Japanese do there? Who knows...

Sahara and Sarita blinded by the sun.
Taking pictures around noon is no fair thing!

- in Jhapa -

Swechha Karki assisted me in Jhapa and Ilam.
Here she finds a pink goat (a protected species, small ruminants of this rare colour can only be seen in Jhapabazaar, Nepal)...
Swechha was born in Jhapa and studies dancing and sociology in Kathmandu. As she is a private student who has to attend university for exams only, she has recently opened a beauty parlour in Kathmandu (Your Choice in Purano Baneshwor).

Swechha's family (at least half of it):
Her mother Sushila (the sister of Sandhya who translated for me in Solukhumbu), her brother Rosan, hajur aama*, the servant and Swechha. Sushila's cooking - which was great, by the way - made me feel like Hänsel in the fairy tale: every time she saw me she had something to eat for me.

*) Nep. grandmother

- in Barbote -

Duma Rai with her children and sisters-in-law.
She runs a small hotel in Biblate on the Ilam-Phidim road, and I was probably the first gorini ever who stayed with her. Duma and the girls do decent vegetable momos, though the sweetshop across the road had a great curry which made it impossible for us to walk past only...

Swechha's enjoying the luxury of our hotel room in Biblate.
She loved the wallpaper as she liked a good read after dinner and before playing cards.

The hen next door.

The bathroom.
If one doesn't mind an icy shower in a cold and always foggy climate, it's not too bad... Swechha was extremely brave and didn't even borrow my torch at nighttime. Congratulations, Swechha!

- in Jubing -

Sandhya's first day in high altitude, after her first mountain flight.
Born and grown up in Jhapa, Sandhya Pokharel (Swechha's aunt) got a university degree in economics and currently works in Kathmandu as a radio anchor. Translating for me in Solukhumbu, the two of us had a lot to discover there. Sandhya's school knowledge about "the mountains" did not always proof to be accurate...

Nima Rai's hotel in Paiya is the most original place I've ever seen and certainly deserved its name Beehive Lodge! Nima and her husband Ganga are great fun to be with, they love playing cards (for money!), and if one doesn't feel busy enough there is little devil Tashi Maya to run after.

Another great hotel is Tashi Delek Lodge in Sikle, Kharikhola. It is run by Phuli Sherpa and her husband Pasang. At the time of our stay Pasang Rinji climbed Mount Everest with a Malaysian team. Two days after we left the lodge we heard that the whole team had made it up to the top. Congratulations!

Ang Sarki and Migma Sherpa are the parents of Phuli. Of course, they are lodgeowners as well, they run Kwangde View in Bupsa, only one hour from their daughter's place. Here I got the best hash brown potatoes I ever had and very good chyang, Nepal's famous self-brewed beer. Every evening, Sandhya had one glass, and I had two.

- in Pokhara -

One of the Marphali's in Pokhara, Neeru Hirachan introduced me to Bollywood movies and to the best momo place in Pokhara, close to her house in Chipledunga, in a corner next to the big tree. The mutton momos there are world famous, not to mention the soup that is accompanying each momo serve and the self-made chili sauce!
I first met Neeru and Siddharta, her little son, in Marpha, when he still looked like a (crying) angel with black curls. Two years later and after his first haircut things had slightly changed...

The wild bunch.
Chhabi Subedi and his family are from Sarangkhot originally. They run Yuriko Momo Restaurant at Lakeside in a side street, very close to Butterfly Lodge. Actually, I never tasted the momos there, but they certainly do a great curry. A good place to improve your Nepali skills by doing the children's homework!

Very close to Yuriko Momo Restaurant, Kesab Raj Baral from Lukunswara in Pumdibhumdi VDC runs Kalpana Cold Store. Another nice place to hang out, make phone calls, do the laundry, rent a bike, etc. etc.

My Nepali teacher, Chet Adhikari (with glasses), together with his friends who founded the NGO Annapurna Child Welfare Association Kaski last year. Some people say there's too many small NGOs these days, but they are certainly needed!

- in Kathmandu -

Mary Karki, a Philippina who somehow ended up in Nepal, runs a housemaid training center for young women going to Hongkong. One of the few places where you find beef in the Hindu kingdom.

Mary's secretary Anu whose husband is a professional kickboxer!

The future Hongkong housemaids. By now they have all learned Cantonese, Chinese cooking (incl. the preparation of beef (one can't mention it often enough)!), how to use a washing machine, how to clean behind a sofa, etc.

Last but not least, my best friend, Anu. The first time I stayed in her parents' hotel in Marpha, Anu did not talk to me at all, but I have already forgiven her. Anu's living in Kathmandu right now with a friend from Marpha. She's taking classes in anything from cooking to webdesign, she even found herself a German teacher! Anu's planning to take up an au-pair job in Germany for a year, please send an e-mail to her if you're interested: anushatp@hotmail.com

The Photographs