Dunai was not exactly New York (Title borrowed from Sam B)

On September twelfth, I and my two travel buddies, Sarah and Sam, journeyed to the “big city” of Dunai. Dunai is the headquarters of the Dolpo district, and we had been told by the chef here (Im) that it was a very big city. (It has less than 200 buildings.) We were also told that it was a 2 to 2.5 hour walk along a main thoroughfare (a walking thoroughfare that is; there are no cars here).

The day started out lovely. We got up early to watch the sunrise, which was beautiful, with gray clouds growing into hot pink and then fading to creamsicle above the mountains. We had some tea, got some water ready for the trip and headed out.

It took us an hour to get down our mountain and then we started walking on the larger road that runs parallel to a river coursing through the mountains. The scenery was beautiful, with lots of mountains popping up here and there, large cypress trees, and huge rock falls beneath sheer cliffs. The sun was out and so the weather was warm, but there was a lovely breeze following us everywhere we went that made the temperature perfect.

On the way down the mountain: pink flowers and steep slopes.

A view of a tributary river and a wonky mountain.

A special tree (with many string offerings tied to it) under a sheer cliff side.

After the three hour mark and no sign of the city (remember, I was told 2.5 hours tops) I started to get a little nervous. We finally arrived 3.5 hours after we set off into a small village nestled along the right bank of the roaring river. We quickly passed through the town looking for food, especially the momos (steamed dumplings) we were told the restaurants there had. None of the restaurants had them, so we settled for egg omelets (with onions, yum!) and some buffalo milk tea (it tasted extremely, um, earthy).

Sarah posing with our omelets and buff milk tchiyaa.

After that we crossed the river on a rickety wooden bridge to visit a monastery up the hill. Luckily enough, right next to the monastery is a private boarding school. We were invited in to talk to the principle and one of the teachers and given the most delicious coffee I’ve had in Nepal. The school seems to be run very nicely, with a good rewards system and teachers in an English medium for grades Nursery through 5. I was very excited to see that they also had a library, which included Dr. Seuss (The Lorax), Shel Silverstein (The Giving Tree), and college level books on Ecology. After the school we headed up further on the hill to the Bonpo monastery. Bonpo is the pre-Buddhist religion in the region. It had a nice little mundir (temple) high up, surrounded by prayer flags of every shape and size; we circumambulated counter-clockwise (in contrast to the Buddhist clockwise) and then made our way back down the hill.

I have to note that on the hillside of Dunai, I realized that the city had the most energetic feeling. I don’t know how to describe it; it was almost peaceful, but more ancient and powerful. I immediately thought of the magnetic hotspots I’ve seen in specials on channels like the Discovery Channel, and I have a feeling I’ll have to investigate that further. It was so strong and yet subtle, and most of all earthy. It made me extremely happy. It would be difficult to be unhappy with that scenery, but this made the experience awesome (I mean awesome in it’s non-vernacular way) for me.

The Bonpo temple on the side of a mountain in Dunai

Once we were back in the city the search for momos recommenced. We were told that somewhere would have them, but no one seemed to. Once we finally found a place that had momos, we sat down, and one of my travel partners was sexually assaulted about thirty seconds after we got in the door. Needless to say, we got up and left immediately. I hate to get on a negative kick, but men never fail to disappoint me, wherever I go, ever. Having been sexually assaulted twice in my 22 short years of life, I tend to get extremely angry whenever someone close to me is harassed or assaulted, especially in my presence. I’m glad that I wasn’t certain which one of the men did the assaulting because I’m afraid I would have caused a scene. It amazes me that nearly every single woman I know has an assault story, and that it just keeps happening. I don’t understand what the hell happens in men’s minds… it doesn’t matter if you’re uneducated or you’re drunk, to me there is absolutely no excuse. Nepal only exacerbates the situation unfortunately; men tend to stare at white women and most expect that their morals are a little looser than the women of Nepal… I’m going to do my best to overcome my anger quickly, because I’m afraid I might really snap at the next man who leers at me. I am glad, however, that I’m in Nepal and not involved in a relationship right now, because needless to say, my boyfriend would not be gettin’ any for a month or so. (Amendment: Add two harassments during Dashain to that assault, please.)

After that we bought some sweets and samosas for the trip home, and stopped by a café on the edge of town for some chowmein. We headed out, picking up a couple of taggers-on on our way. At first we basically ignored them because we figured they wanted money, but they just wanted to hang out with us. We spoke an odd mixture of English and a little Nepali, spelling words in English and trying to communicate our likes and dislikes in Nepali. We shared our sweets with them, and they stopped with us whenever we needed a break from the walk. Unfortunately, Sam’s legs started hurting her about halfway back from Dunai. The walk was a lot to take on in a single day, and while we had considered breaking it into two and staying the night in Dunai, we had vetoed that decision and tried to tough it out. But Sam’s legs eventually got to the point where she literally couldn’t walk but a hundred feet without pausing to stretch, so Sarah ran ahead to get help while Sam and I took it slow because my legs were killing me as well. (Sarah is a mountain goat, literally, she’s all over the place. I don’t know how she ran up the mountain as fast as she did.) Sam and I got to the base of the mountain, but Sam’s legs were just too bad, we had to go steps at a time, and as I could not see any donkeys coming and the sun was starting to set, I seriously started making plans to camp at the side of the road for the night.

One of our young friends made on the way back.

Well help came finally, just not in the form we expected. I had been watching for a donkey, but our savior came as a boy named Nahendra. The people of Nepal carry heavy loads by tying a strap around the back or bottom of the load and then around their forehead, supporting the weight up the mountains half on their backs and half on their heads. Nahendra, a nineteen year old student, came with a scarf which he tied around Sam’s bottom and then around his forehead. He literally carried her up the mountain like he would a bundle of sticks. I did not know whether to laugh or to cry, I think I was doing both. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting day for all of us, I know, and this was the cherry on top. This guy was amazingly strong (he can carry 70 kilos in this fashion! (Sam weighs less than that, btw, just so you know)) and we hiked the long way around so that the slope was less steep; however, it made for a much longer hike, and we ended up getting back to our hotel five hours after we left Dunai. After getting Sam into bed and plied with ibuprofen, Sarah and I ate a quick supper, and then it was bedtime for all of us. The day was a debacle, but I have to be grateful for the weather, the subtle energy-laden feeling of Dunai, and my friends, all of which helped make the experience a positive one in general.