Nepal Trip

Hi girls! Most of you have heard a little bit about my trip to Nepal, but my mom and I did a lot more than ride elephants.  This country is so different then America, and Baboo (my gnome) and I had many great experiences.   Baboo means "little brother" in Nepali.  Something cool about this country is everyone calls each other Brother and Sister.  There are different names for different age groups, and I think that is really cool!  

Well, one major difference in Nepal is the air quality.  A lot of dirt and dust is in the air, which is like a worst-case scenario of the Utah inversion.  It is also very humid, so we got sweaty really fast.  Next is driving.  The roads and traffic rules in Nepal aren't well developed, so we took a taxi or a tuk tuk.  A tuk tuk is a three wheeled vehicle that looks like it's been around for about 100 years.  It's hard to explain except is really bumpy.  It's only 15 rupees (about 15 cents) to ride, though.  Nepali drivers also act like they're in a race, so  it's always a adventure on the road!

Although we didn't have Nepali food every night, I thought it was pretty good.  Dhal Bhat, lentils and rice, is the main meal for most people, and although it didn't have much flavor, it was ok.  Some other food they had was rozma beans (delicious!), momos (kind of like dumplings), and rice pudding.  A funny thing is that my Grandma took us out to KFC and it was totally different!  My Grandma hated it because it had a weird spice but I thought it was actually ok.  

One of the first activities we did after touring the city was go to Royal Chitwan National Park.  This is where we rode the elephants.  We got there late at night so we stayed in a hotel.  It was really pretty, but we did find a toad and a June bug lounging in there!  Then we woke up early to ride the elephants. As we neared the place, he dropped us off.  We climbed up these steep stairs to a platform where and elephant was backed up against.  We had to step on his bottom and climb on to a basket!  The ride was awesome, and we got to see a real jungle.  Some creatures we found in there were monkeys, rhinos, deer, a crocodile, and some birds.  We had to be careful of leeches and luckily, none of us got any.  We asked the elephant trainer if he could take a picture with Baboo and he did!  Then we went to the elephant breeding center.  We saw elephant calves as young a three months old!  One was wandering around with no chain, and my mom wanted me to get close so she could take a picture.  As I went a little closer, it started walking towards me!  My mom, grandma, and I ran away, but my grandpa stayed still.  The elephant went straight up to him and nudged him.  We all laughed when my Grandpa ran away!  Then we bathed the elephants.  My Grandparents didn't want to scare us, so they just said the elephant was going to blow his nose on us.  We were surprised when we climbed straight on the back of the elephant with only a rope around his neck to secure us!  The trainer lead us into the water and started jumping up and down on the elephants back.  Then he'd say something in Nepali and he'd spray us!  It was so hot there that it felt so good, but when he dumped us into the water, I was a little scared!  He helped me back up, and then he sprayed us again.  This is one of the most memorable experiences on the trip.

Another thing we did was deliver the baby hats.  Thank you Beehives for helping me make them.  When we got to the hospital, we handed the big bag to the doctor and he said that we could deliver it to all of the mothers personally!  I passed one giant bag full of them in minutes, and I really felt the spirit doing this.  Although the hospital was way different than ours in America, I know that this was a holy place.

On Saturday, we went to church because this was the day that they worship.  I got to play the piano, and it was cool to see how many members they had compared to ours.  Their church boundaries were all of Nepal, and there were less than 80 people there!  I still felt the spirit.  It was cool because they said the sacrament prayer in Nepali for the first time.   Brother Ghimire from our ward had translated it and my mom and I got to bring it!  The rest of the church was in English, so I could understand it pretty well.  The two main religions in Nepal are Buddhist and Hindu.  You can tell the difference by the roofs (Buddhist is circular while Hindu is triangular) or that the Buddhist have the 3 eyes.  We got to visit some of each of the temples.  One of my favorites was Swayambunath, nicknamed the monkey temple.  It is called this because it is infested with monkeys.  We also saw bodies burning at Poshpatunath, and Bouda, the biggest stupa in the world.  This was cool to see how different people worship.

Another place we went is the youth hostile.  A faithful branch member owns this place.  This is NOT an orphanage, but a place for kids to go where there parents can't afford to send them to school or feed them.  They sleep, eat, and do their homework, and it's all run by volunteer work.  They all sang a song, and I took a picture with everyone in "grade 8".  It was a really cool experience.  One night we went to Rakeesh's house.  He is a man who helps my grandparents with their work.  We had another delicious Nepali dinner there, and we also met his brother, a famous movie star.  My Grandma says he's like the Brad Pit of Nepal.  He even took a picture with Baboo, and even though it was embarrassing, it was totally worth it.

I haven't written even a tenth of what we did, but I learned here that everywhere can be a holy place-- whether it's on an elephant's back, in a hospital delivering baby hats, or even at home.

~Lauren