Pichua River

Feb 7, 2001

Early Afternoon. Had me a bath! Best wahing I've had since Kathmandu. This is a gorgeous river of clean mountain water floating over pink and beige granite. Oh yeah, two truisms I thought of :

1) Every Nepali ethnic group sez that another is "clever" (meaning tricky) and gets all the good stuff. The speaker of this statement is usually put morth as a moral innocent.

2) Its better to not shave than to shave without a mirror (is this some analogy to Bhuddism?)
 
Goptasor - 6

February 7, 2001

Night. Excellent place for the night found while having tea - nice sassy granny, cute, respectful kids and a beautiful young married couple. They sent the small boy with me when I went for a walk to see the Hindu Mundir and onward up the road towards Bodjpur. The most beautiful and vibrant towns/buildings I have seen in Nepal are here. There is also a great mandarin orange orchard as well.

On my walk I met the local doctor, policeman (keeping a low profile and looking nervous due to this being maoist territory), two school teachers, and the postman. I had to keep buying packets of buiscuits for the boy out of a sense of guilt for having him wait around through all this adult conversation. All of the town's dignitaries and me walking back towards the boys home and stopping at every teashop for a glass of milk tea. The little boy is like a less-pampered Pedrum a few years ago (he is 5 years old).

Turns out dinner is the best I have had in Nepal: dal (lentil) with cumin, fresh and tasty sag (bitter kale), two kinds of achar (homemade pickle), and the price is right at 40 rupees. I will give them more for sure.

The beautiful couple are Hari Krishna Bastola and his wife Goma, the granny Myna Sundari Bastola, and the boy Asbin. I don't know if Hari Krishna is the perfect man like his namesake but it sure looks good from here. Wow.

Great bedroom too - big shade tree overhead and everything quiet as the songbirds settle down and we move into night.


Nepali Lesson:

Bagyamani = Lucky
Sab banda ramro = The best