A father's love apparently knows no bounds. When daughter #1 started riding horses, I bought her a pony, which we later upgraded to a horse. A small fortune in equine supplies ensued, supporting several tack shops in the central Pennsylvania area. When she graduated high school a few years ago, I drove her, daughter #2, and a van full of adolescents to the giant hippie music-fest known as Bonnaroo, where I spent several mud and rain filled days trying to avoid heatstroke and preventing them from exploring the more "chemically-enhanced" side of the festival (overheard from a couple of the less upstanding members of the crowd upon learning they were inspecting bags- "Dude, where should I put the 'shrooms? I'm not wearing any underwear?").
So naturally, when my intrepid daughter decided to study abroad in Nepal (per capita annual income: $300) instead of someplace with, I don't know, running water, flush toilets, and low incidence of malaria, I agreed to go over early with her to explore the countryside for a few weeks before her classes start. Fortunately (?), I have over a month of vacation waiting to be used. And nothing says "vacation" like getting vaccinated for Japanese encephalitis, hepatitis A and B, and a variety of other tropical diseases, before going to a third world country in the midst of monsoon season (chance of rain: 80%). Well at least the Maoist revolt that's been underway for the last decade (and which essentially shut the country down last year, requiring emergency evacuations of the students at that time) has been under a truce agreement for the past 10 months.
Despite my daughter's protests that she did not want to have a guide because she wanted to "have an adventure" (it's a freaking third world country where I don't speak or read the language - I'm pretty sure it will be an adventure anyway), I hired a guide to set up a trip through Nepal and Tibet (because why visit one third world country when you can see two?). We also set a couple of days aside to acclimate to the time shift in Bangkok.
Now I just have to survive this last week of constant calls of "Dad, Dad!! Are you excited yet? Are you excited yet?" and a 17 hour plane ride to Bangkok (nothing says fun like increased risk of DVT's). Oh, and a mudslide recently killed 26 people in a village about 50 km from where we will be travelling. Woo hoo!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Is upgrading from a pony to a horse like upgrading from coach to first class? Have fun in Nepal and don't let Candace put you into a cab by yourself, I heard about her plan for that.
Thanks for inviting me along for the ride!! I wait with much anticipation to read of your adventures.
As for the Maoists, tell them that it is a noble principle but it can never work because of human corruption. Who knows? You may just be the catalyst for permanent peace.
Monsoons? Come on Gear Boy. I would think the possibility of testing gear in a monsoon would excite you! I know you have the gear to handle a monsoon or possibly even two. Right?
And last, but certainly not least, eat a few momos for me.
Viva Nepal!
Great....Gearboy's off on another trip. this time to Nepal, and it's rumored he took a Nikon DSLR to document the trip. (Now if only he knew how to use it!) Auto bad, Program Good........
Good to see the Oracle checking in. Now if we can just get Low-Tec on board.......
As far as the Oracle noting "you just might be the catalyst for permanent peace", well...I'm laying odds on a revived insurgency before all this is done!
Good luck on the journey. See you when you get back. And you better have at least one yak butter tea!
Panga Joe
(like I was going to sign in and let the Greys track me, yeah right)
Post a Comment