We spent most of the day (six hours) traveling to Katmandu. We had to queue up multiple times: to get into the airport, to go to the ticket counter, to get our passports stamped to leave the country, to have our passports and visas checked as legal, at customs, at security screening, to exit the gate, and to enter the plane. As Mary (who had five body scans during this ordeal) said: 'You folks, have felt up my bodymore than my husband has'.
Upon landing, we immediately noticed the differences: streets are cleaner, more motorcycles (compared to scooters), less bicycles, women running shops, fewer people on the streets, schools (particularly those for languages and technology) everywhere. But the air pollution is still here and more people seem to wear masks in the streets to help filter the air. What I found most amazing was that they knew the date of the last snowfall in Katmandu, February 14th, 2003 when it snowed for about 20 minutes. Previously it hadn't snowed for 72 years.
 |
| Nepal's Flag (the only non-rectangle flag) | |
Our brief introduction to Nepal: 26 million people, 3 million live in the the Katmandu valley. Elevations from 60 meters to 8848m. with eight mountains over 8000 m. high. Because of the many valleys separated by mountains there are eighty ethnic groups and 75 dialects. Most people know three languages: their local dialect, Nepali, and Hindi (because they get many Indian TV stations). The next most common language is English. Religions: 80% Hindu, 10% Buddhist, and then 10% other. There really is no industry in Nepal. The government is in flux. Most people try to get government jobs because of the benefits, but many of the jobs are given as political favors. Sometime 3 different people will get appointed to the same job and may all get paid. There is no medical insurance, but both private and public health services exist.
No comments:
Post a Comment