Nepal

Nepal 13: Earthquake Aftermath

Daniel 11 Comments
Nepal after earthquake

As I walked around Thamel, I noticed there was a lot of rubble lying in the streets. In places, large sections of the city seemed to be missing. The flow of people adapted to these oddities by simply detouring elsewhere.

The rubble was the result of the 2015 earthquake, which had devastated Nepal a little under a year ago.

From the U.S., I remembered a flood of news coverage and charitable donation campaigns. The way I remembered it, hundreds of millions of dollars had been donated for disaster relief, as well as innumerable hours and personas from many international NGOs. And yet, here I was, a year later, in the capital city of Nepal, and people were still living in tents.

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Nepal 12: The Drug Dealers of Thamel

Daniel 12 Comments
Kathmandu Nepal Street Photogrpahy

I told the agent thanks, and I’d think on it. I folded up the piece of paper with his budget calculations on it, and stuffed it in the back pocket of my slacks. We shook hands and he must have committed my face to memory, because for the next week, every time I passed his office, he would call out to me and ask about my plans.

But today, we simply said goodbye. I left his office, and headed for the main streets of Thamel.

The sensory overload was immediate, and total.

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Nepal 11: Fixations

Daniel 16 Comments
Mount Everest Base Camp Trek

As I entered the lobby of the Annapurna Guesthouse, the owner greeted me warmly. He asked about my travel and how I liked my room.

“Load shedding right now,” he said, pointing at the lights. “No power.”

I nodded, dumbly. That explained the cold shower and nonfunctional TV.

“We have generator though,” he said. “No interruption.”

I could have asked him why the power was down if his generator ensured no interruption, but I really didn’t care. A few months ago, when I was working midnight shifts for my company back in the U.S., reliable power and wifi would have been my paramount priority. Now, I had a different job, one I could work on any schedule I chose. But to be honest, I didn’t much feel like working at all in Nepal.

Why should I care if the power went out, now and then?

Isn’t that why I was here, halfway across the world: to disconnect, to see something new?

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Nepal 9: Kathmandu at Night

Daniel 13 Comments
Kathmandu Nepal picture at night

[This is a chapter from my travel book. There are lots more chapters posted on the blog, but if you’d prefer to read them all at once, sign up for my e-mail newsletter and I’ll be sure to let you know when they’re available in a condensed form!]

I could have hugged that kid. He must have been no more than 15. It was midnight, we’d been delayed by a whole hour, I’d never confirmed my booking or put down any deposit on my room, but still: there he was, standing in the rain. Waiting for me.

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