Prasoon Paudel
During my trip to Nepal, I learned many things about the culture, the food, and the nature. When I landed at Tribhuvan International Airport, I was surprised at how much better it was than the last time I came here; I would even say it was better than Indra Grandi Airport in Delhi, India, and probably as good as Dulles Airport. Though it wasn’t perfect outside the airport, there were certainly improvements that had been made; there was no trash on the sidewalks, and there were no trash on the roads. The rivers are still super dirty though.
In Kathmandu, I stayed at my sister’s apartment for about 3-4 days, and then I stayed at my uncle’s flat for another few days. Then, after another day at my sister’s house and a short visit to AP1 TV, I left in a jeep to go to Kushma, and on the way, we stopped briefly to eat at restaurants, and another time to greet my auntie in Pokhara. Then, once we got to Kushma, I played with friends and family. On the 20th of March, I did my bratabandha there. During my bratabandha, I cut my hair bald and listened to the 3 mantras which I recite every day. Suyog, who is one of my brothers from Kushma, and I ate chatpate, pani puri, kurkure, noodles, and lots of other snacks from shops. And at home, we helped make delicious soup to eat with rice and a scrumptious chutney to go with it. I also played with a dog and some buffalo.
Then, after about 2 weeks in Kushma, I went to Pokhara to spend time with Laxmi auntie, Saket bhai, Raju didi, and of course, my mom and brother. Raju Didi, Saket bhai, and I also went outside to look for a momo place, but to my surprise, there wasn’t a single place that served veg momo, so I ate chowmein and Raju Didi got chicken momo for everyone else. After ordering the chowmein, I was shocked at how much food I got for just 100 rupees; it was on a huge plate, and it was like a hill towering over. On my last day in Pokhara, I went to Fewa Lake and ate at a restaurant on the other side of the lake, though this one was much worse than I thought, and the sub-par food was also super expensive, over 500 rupees for a tiny bag of paneer chili. Then, after 4 days in Pokhara, we went back to Kushma.
Then, the next day, my mom, dad, and I went to Baglung and took a taxi ride to Sima, which is high up in the mountains, with an elevation of over 3500 feet. In Sima, we stayed there a day with my grandparents and spent most of the day outside playing with baby goats. Then we headed downtown again, and I spent another day at my grandparents’ house. Then, with the same taxi driver that took us downtown, we went to Sera, which is also another place in Baglung. In Sera, we ate khatte, which was cooked by my 90-year-old grandmother, but we only stayed for an hour so I couldn’t see all of it. I also admired the scenery there, and I was also breathing in the cleanest air I have ever seen; our taxi driver also came along with us, so that was nice too. Then, we went to Ramrekha, which is yet another place in Baglung; my uncle and auntie also live there with their son Sicchit and their daughter Sikshya. We stayed there for a couple of days, and we also went to the Kaligandaki river bridge, which was super long, but we only went about halfway down before it was time to go again. After that, we went back to my grandparents’ house and stayed there for another two days. Then, after that, we went back to Kushma, stayed there for about 3 or 4 days, said my goodbyes, and then headed back to Kathmandu.
In Kathmandu, my mom, dad, and I along with Suyog stayed at my sister’s house again, and after about a week, we had to go back to the Airport, and conversely, to America again. And that just about concludes my experiences in Nepal.
All in all, it was an amazing experience, and I would have loved to have stayed if not for school. The food was great, the culture was great, and the atmosphere and natural beauty were absolutely phenomenal.
(Prasoon Paudel currently resides in Manassas, Virginia, USA.)
