Saturday 13 September 2014

The rain

Normally September is the beginning of the dry season in Kathmandu.It follows the end of its raining season towards the end of August. Thats the reason I have always travelled in September to Nepal.What with climatic change etc, the wet and dry season have become confused.The wet season appears to be hanging on, thus causing havoc to the place.

This happened once before when I came to Nepal a little earlier. The unseasonal deluge caused flooding underground , so much so that it overwhelmed the nests of vermins like mice, cockcroaches,  as well as rats. The children were having a lot of fun killing  the rats etc. And I was almost hysterical . There were many dead bodies of  giant rats littering the road- the locals' way of disposing rubbish.A pretty horrific experience for me at that time.I recalled that  no matter which direction I chose to walk , I could not avoid coming across the upsetting sight.

I suppose this time it is only mud for me to tackle. I ought not complain really.So I thought. Generally nothing stops me doing things I want to do most of the time.  I decided to venture out this morning- my first walk since I arrived here3 days ago. It has been drizzling the whole morning , nothing major happened.So I went out prepared with an umbrella ,above ankle trousers  and flip flops with good grip on their soles.The distance was no further than 500 metres. I was thankful that the normally busy road was very quiet , and was depleted of people and traffic for a change! I thought I was right to venture and enjoy my long overdue exercise.

What followed was a night mare balancing act, trying not to slide down onto the mud.By the time I realised that the reason the road is so unusually quiet,  I was stuck between a large crater in the middle of the road and a slimy watery path. I stopped, panicked, did not know which spot I sh ould pick to put my next step forward.I was cursing myself for being so stupid, thinking I could tackle whatever....In the end I stepped on the slimy path. I swayed underfoot. Maybe doing Pilates exercise has paid dividends, I stayed upright till I reached the firm mud.

To cut a long story short, I had to go into one of the local shops I frequent (where I purchase my annual supply of pashiminas) and asked for a ride back on a motor bike. That was an adventure in itself. I thought only my feet and flip flops were covered in  mud.When I got back, it was pointed out by the children that the  back of my trousers were caked in mud.

Everyone had a good laugh. And that ended my first outing. Pray the rain to go away tomorrow to allow the ground to dry.... 

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