Today was the start of our three-day programme of activities, but it was scarcely dynamic, starting at 4.30 this afternoon. After experiencing an equivalent safari in South Africa, where we were occupied pretty much the entire time, this seems laid-back in the extreme. In fact, the biggest noticeable change was that we were now being offered, and to order in advance, three full meals a day.
We spent the morning with a stroll through the town and out the other side. There we took in the Biodiversity and Wildlife museum; I had been concerned that it could only have lots of stuffed animals, and indeed that was mostly what it was. But it did have the faintly surreal to take a photo of one’s face in the middle of an elephant’s head, which we failed to resist, as well as quite a lot of panels with interesting information. We both enjoy reading such things (Val even more assiduously than I) and found out quite a lot that seemed otherwise unknowable.
Looking for another museum which was more human and cultural (and therefore to my mind of greater interest) we continued our walk. We failed to find such a thing, but did happen on an interesting shop-cum-workshop which made and sold products made from elephant dung paper. Even more interesting, a German couple who were volunteering and working there showed us round the back to see the process in operation, boiling the stuff, sieving it, pressing it thin and flat, and finally drying it. All of great interest, and we then bought a number of items, both for presents and for our own use.
Returned to the hotel for our three-course lunch, then spent some time in the pool, reading, etc, before gathering for our afternoon activity. I have to say we had no real idea what it was going to be; in fact, we, along with two other couples, were met by Ram, our guide, who took us down to the river to see the sunset. He was by no means pushy, but offered us the opportunity to sit a little further down from the free viewing point, where we could sit and enjoy the sunset with a beer. This turned out to be very pleasant; we got chatting with Rosie and Christina, a pair of young(ish) German women, who were very interested in our volunteering, and our experiences over the past few years. And the sunset was excellent – all too often, we have found both sunrises and sunsets, though heavily touted in certain locations, a bit of a let-down. But here, where they served as a backdrop to a social occasion, rather than the main event, it was very pleasant indeed.
This ran straight on to our next programmed event, an evening (well, an hour) of local folk-dance at the Cultural Centre in town, just a short stroll away. It was great. In the custom of Nepal, the men and the women danced separately, and though both were good, the men’s dances were far more exciting. (Apart from other considerations, it was almost a case of mothers and sons – there were no young women performing.) The women were also mostly unsmiling, while the young men displayed energy, passion, and gar more apparent joy in what they were doing. Their dance was actually quite similar to the more energetic stick dances performed by Morris sides in England (though with even greater energy and apparent enjoyment.) The last two performances were solo displays of astonishing virtuosity, finally with a pair of flaming sticks. And the whole display concluded with the audience invited onto stage to join the (male) performers. We would have joined them, but actually the stage was instantly packed – (the large auditorium had been packed.)
It had been a splendid day.
