Those of you who are avid checkers of this online publication will have taken note that I have been silent for roughly the past week. I assure you, there is a very good reason for it.
The story begins in the Bangladeshi embassy in Washington DC, where on a lovely summer day a passport was delivered, bearing the name of yours truly. It was supposed to be stamped with a visa authorizing a one time stay of three months. When the passport returned to Tim, all was not as it should have been. The visa said that Tim could visit Bangladesh as many times as he wanted for a year, but could only stay for a month each time.
Tim made several valiant attempts to get the problem mended, but success eluded him like it usually does the Tigers Baseball team (good job, by the way.). The solution was to take a few short trips out of the country during his stay, so as to allow the visa to renew. Not really that bad a punishment.
So about a week ago, Tim found himself on a plane bound for the Kathmandu valley and the Himalayas. It was a lovely trip, full of fresh air, stunning vistas, entertaining ex-pats, and lots of those touristy treats that are not generally available here in Dhaka (hot shower, anyone?).
The highlight of the week was a two day trip up into the mountains. (If you work for MSU and can get fired for knowing about the silly things that students do while abroad, I recommend you skip to the next paragraph). Rachel and I (no more third person in this entry) decided to take a public bus up for the equivalent of a few cents, as opposed to going a more touristy route and paying lots of money for the comfort. You'd think that the bus drivers wouldn't make much of a living charging that little, but you should see the number of people they cram into these things. When it became clear to the conductor that these Americans had little experience being packed in like sardines, he invited us to ride up on the roof! Ever since I was a child, riding around the mountains in Pakistan, I had always thought that it would be tremendous fun to ride up one of those winding mountain roads on the top of a bus. No windows, no seat belts. Just the hair-pin turns, the wind, and the mountain. It was just as glorious as I had hoped it would be.
For those of you who've not been to Nepal (which I assume is most of you?), I highly recommend taking a visit. Kathmandu is a fascinating city, historically, culturally, and religiously. It is very easy to get around (everyone speaks English), and the prices are great.
I will try to get some photos posted soon.
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3 comments:
Sounds fun. Reminds me of the "tap taps" in Haiti where haitians would hang on to bars on a bus to catch a ride, including, the back and side. I don't know why you would try to mend the situation of month long visa. The way i see it, you have no choice but to vacation. Some friends of mine in Turkey take a week vacation somewhere every 3 months so they can renew their visas and not deal with other problems of getting a longer visa. I figure its one of the draws of going. Some local news for you. It snowed 4 inches in Petoskey today. Thought you would like to know.
Shoot. Rachel's lucky to have you as an escort...I don't imagine a single white female would be able to do as much without it!
Are you sure you want your mother to know that you've been riding on the roof of a bus? I'm just sayin' ... ;)
~The Eldest
so there were these random bicycle-with-passenger-cab-attached things on campus today...some promotion for some bank...they offered students free rides to class. it made me think of rickshaws, and how cool it would be to drive one.
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