Hello - ok bye

The Nepali children in the areas away from the busy tourist centers are beautifully charming. During a long hike or sweaty bike ride, there’s nothing more refreshing than “hello!” They pop out of nowhere and flash the brightest smiles, followed by “okay bye.”

After visiting the quite worthwhile International Mountaineering Museum, we had stopped for a much needed soda. There was an adult, several older children, and one small one, maybe 5 years old. When we asked how much for one Sprite, everybody looked confused, followed by “Oh, English…” A moment of hesitation reigned until the little one spoke: “Hello! 20 rupees! Thank you!” Of everyone, she was the only one who knew some English!

We rented mountain bikes to see Begnas Tal and Rupa Tal, about 15 km outside of Pokhara. The first part was mostly dodging trucks and weaving around slower vehicles on the busy Privthi Highway. Then all cars stood at a halt for kilometers and people streamed out onto the street. We kept weaving ahead, until the rocks and tree-trunk appeared. The locals had blocked traffic in all directions and a group of people stood obviously arguing. An accident had occurred and no cars would proceed until the reparations were decided. Lucky that we weren’t on a bus… Someone we had talked to before was on a bus when the same thing happened, and his bus turned around after waiting 4 hours!

The rest of the ride was great, with amazing views of the snow-capped peaks and rural countryside. Again, the children were genuine and enthusiastic. Down from the ridge overlooking Rupa Tal, a family invited us down to see their house, but we could not leave our bikes on the dirt road above. We then turned around and raced towards the other lake in 5 minutes (it had taken nearly an hour to climb up). After lunch of Rice and Curry Chicken, it was time to go back – all 15 km at an incline. Funny how we hadn’t noticed that on the way there…