I am a city girl. Most of my family here
lives in the capital city of Kathmandu. In my short visits in the past, I have
never left the city even though everyone tells me you have to never seen beauty
until you have visited Nepal’s countryside. This time, I have made it a
personal goal of mine to get out of the city.
Chitwan and Pokhara are two places that
are definitely on my list. Chitwan is known for its safaris and jungle
wildlife, and Pokhara is a smaller city about 5 hours from the capital, famous
for its beautiful views of the Annapurna mountain range. And if there’s time,
Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.
Originally, I had planned on traveling
and sightseeing with my mom in September while there was nice weather. Turns out,
it was still rainy season, and staying in the jungle when it’s raining isn’t
all that pleasant. The humidity and rain alone would be awful but as my cousin
joked, it might rain leeches. Frankly, I wouldn’t be too surprised if that was
literal. My mom got bit by a leech in Kathmandu in the winter. Going to the
jungle in the rainy season when the trees are chock full of leeches… that’s
just asking for it.
The bugs are out. Mosquitoes are
especially dangerous. Malaria and Japanese Encephalitis are fairly common
mosquito-born diseases in the Terai region, especially during rainy season. No
thanks. I told my doctor I only plan to spend a few days max in Terai, but he
gave me antimalarials in case I change my mind – or decide to go to India on a
whim. By far my biggest weapon was bug spray, lots and lots of bug spray.
I was really hoping to be able to
experience this with my mom which is the biggest reason why I had planned to go
in September. Tomorrow is the first day of October. My mom leaves next week. I have
to say I was a little disappointed.
Then,
I’m not really sure how it all happened,
but a few phone calls later, we were somehow canceling all of our plans,
dropping everything to leave tomorrow morning, rain or shine, 7am sharp for the
countryside.
As I rush to pack and worry about waking
up at 4am, I’m still in shock.
My life is on fire and I love it.
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