Today, we’re off to Panauti! The city is located 10km away from Namobuddha, and this time around, we decide to hike there. First of all, Côme really doesn’t want to ride the bus anymore and second, we heard the way there was really nice (through rice fields and villages). So we are off with our backpacks, first stop: Buddha stupa for a little prayer (we’re taking no chances 😉). This is a really nice historical site and the alley going there is rather colorful. They say Buddha’s relic is contained in the stupa. Then we walk down the hill and soon we see the rice fields in the middle of the hills. They are beautiful! The day is sunny and we’re really enjoying our walk. Everytime we walk through a village, the villagers greet us with smiles and namastes.
In one of the villages, we witness an 8 year old hunting a pigeon with a slingshot and then catching it with his bare hands. When a villager catches our bewildered faces he tells us (trough gestures) that it is for eating. We’re impressed and Côme will ask a thousand questions about this moment. In another village, Côme befriends a baby goat. Then in another one two girls come to meet us and as we sit somewhere to have lunch (breadsticks and tomatoes), a nice girl comes to attend Côme’s explorator’s wound. To thank her, we give her the last pieces of chocolate we were sparing (in a couple of villages ahead, two kids will come to us to ask for chocolate… news in Nepal travel fast!). This is one of the best days of our stay in Nepal. We are all enjoying ourselves. Julia and Doo are transported by the scenery and the moments we share with the people. Côme is scrutinizing every new insect he comes to see.
In the late afternoon, we still have “a bit” of walking to do and as we walk by children playing soccer, Julia invites us to the game so we can “rest”. Today it will be Nepal vs. France and unfortunately for les bleus, we lost 2-0. We fought hard though but Nepalese football is really not that easy: in order to score, we had to shoot a standing brick on the floor. So we say goodbye to our friendly opponents, put on our backpacks and off we go. Before reaching Panauti, we come accross farmers harvesting the rice. The technique is fascinating: men are beating the rice bundles on a stone wheel they turn with the help of their feet and a woman separates the grains with a mesh. We then finally reach the city. It is very lively, there are people everywhere. We walk by a huge bamboo swing next to a temple. Children are taking turn to see who’s going to go the highest. We stop to watch and a mother invites us to join them. Côme is a bit scared on the swing so we continue on. 5 minutes later it’s pouring rain so we take refuge at a restaurant. Since we haven’t eaten much today we decide to order. The food is delicious! It will be our restaurant for the next two days.
Then we reach our house for the next three nights. We are hosted by a charming family: a mother and her sons (Suman, 22 and Rhisav, 12). Rhisav (pronounced Rissop) will stay with us the entire day tomorrow. Côme and Rhisav will play a lot together, building legos, trying to fly Côme’s kite, playing with soap bubbles. Rhisav will act like a big brother, sometimes teasing Côme but also worrying about him and being protective when Côme becomes too adventurous (getting to close to a ledge…). Rhisav will show us around the city: gambling games in the street, how to pray in a temple, eating berries that taste like grapes… We go back to the swing, buy ice cream for every child there (Côme will discretly throw away his… we find it discusting…). In the evening we will all eat together with the family. Doo and Suman will talk for until late at night about Nepalese culture.
Once again the goodbyes are particularly difficult. We came to be very fond of Rhisav and he’s got attached to us. Côme will give him his kite and in return, Rhisav will give him his mini bubble maker. Thank you Rhisav, we miss you!
These past few days, Côme:
Did not understand: why there were rice fields everywhere on the way.
Learnt: that you had to run to fly a kite from the ground.
Enjoyed: playing with Rhisav.
Julia:
Did not understand: how people heat their houses in the winter.
Learnt: that kids were hunting pigeons.
Enjoyed: witnessing the different steps to harvest rice.
Doo:
Did not understand: how children could like the ice creams sold there.
Learnt: many things about Nepal.
Enjoyed: the football game with the kids.