Nepal Holiday Trip

After spending 10 days in Nepal with my parents for holidays, I arrived back in Singapore on the 19th of July. Instead of writing my travel experience in the usual journal format, I decided to spilt this post into different sections - cityscape, scenery, transportation system, food, culture, people and others.

Cityscape:

 

Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is a historical city. At around 1400m above sea level, Kathmandu is filled with endless rows of 2-3 stories shophouses, some of them more than 100 years old, unlike the jungle of towering skyscrapers that we are see so often in Singapore or other metropolitan cities, In fact I haven't seen any building taller than 10 stories apart from a tower, which according our tour guide is the tallest structure in Kathmandu. The cityscape probably resembles Singapore in the 1960s. Crooked windows and huge prominent cracks in some of these surviving old buildings are scars of the destruction of a devastating earthquake about 70 years ago (if I remember what my guide said correctly). Peering out from her exquisitely carved wooden window which seemed on the verge of giving way, an old lady watched us strolling through the streets of the city, seemingly nonchalant about the danger of living in such a dilapidated building. It was definitely to my surprise that such buildings were still inhabited. The people continue to do so because they simply cannot afford a better place.

 

 

(Above: Patan Dubar Square)

Transportation System:

I think the road conditions in Nepal are rather similar to that in India. You can see cows walking and sitting in the middle of roads and vehicles are expected to give way to them as they are considered sacred in the Hindu religion, which comprises around 80% of the population. The drivers in Nepal seem to have a penchant of sounding the horn, as frequent as every 5 seconds, and their horns even have melodies, like the sound of trumpets. Given the chaotic traffic conditions where motorists weave in and out of lanes ever so frequently even in narrow 2-way lanes, coupled with the fact that animals and people also walk on the roads, such incessant horning is understandable. Nevertheless sometimes I wonder perhaps the sounding of the horn is a form of greeting by cheeky drivers. Traveling on the roads by vehicle can be quite a bumpy ride as not all the roads are tarred or properly maintained, with potholes and rocks all over the roads, especially the mountain roads.

Strikes are also very common in Nepal and I was 'lucky' enough to experience the transportation strikes first-hand. Our tour van was caught in a massive traffic jam about 3km long and after waiting for around 3 hours, we decided to haul our luggage and walk on foot. At the site of the blockade by the protesters, the cameraman of a television crew filmed us dragging our luggage amid stares by onlookers, protesters and the police. Not long after we passed the blockade by foot, the strike ended, leading me to wonder if the sight of tourists being affected by the strike caused the protestors to relent. For those who do not know, the tourism industry is one of the largest economic sector in Nepal. Thus, it is of utmost importance for the Nepalese to ensure a quality experience for the tourists during their stay.

(Above: The crowd of protesters marching off)

(Above: Me dragging my luggage)

Scenery:

(Above: Hilly slopes and rice fields in Nagarkot)

We took the Yeti Airlines Everest Flight on 13/07/08. The view of the Himalayan mountain ranges is breath-taking.

(Above: Takeoff from Kathmandu Airport for the Everest Flight on board Yeti Air)

(Above: Picturesque view of the Himalayan ranges)

(Below: A slide show of the pictures taken from the window and cockpit of the plane. The mountains in the pictures are actually larger than they seem as some parts of the mountains are covered by cloud, so you can only see the peaks clearly, much like icebergs.)

Food:

The traditional Nepalese food is shown in the first picture. Luckily, we also had other types of food in Nepal apart from the usual dahl and chapati which is not really suited for my taste buds.

Culture:

There are more than 70 different ethnic groups in Nepal, each with its own culture and traditions. My family and I were lucky to witness and participate in a Nepali wedding ceremony in one of the villages en route to one of our destinations.

(Above: The wedding ceremony site)

People:

Most of the Nepalese people that I encountered are friendly and would greet tourists with 'Namaste'. We were lucky to have a very friendly, helpful and experienced tour guide, Mr Jeevan.

Others:

Below is a video clip of an ayurvedic 'singing' bowl, so called because it resonates after being hit or rubbed with a wooden stick wrapped with leather (shown in the video). In the video, you can see the water spraying about at four sides along the circumference in the bowl and rotates with the encircling motion of the stick. My guess is that the phenomenon is caused by standing waves in the water created due to the vibrations in the bowl. The four sides from which the water spray originate would correspond to the anti-nodes, and the calm regions are the nodes. The person explaining the use of the ayurvedic bowl is my tour guide, Mr Jeevan.

We got cheated by a group of snake charmers in the streets of Pokhara when we took photos and a video of them, unaware of the fact that we have to pay them $4 for just a few seconds of video. Luckily our tour guide stepped in to handle the situation so we ended up paying $1.

The Hedonic Treadmill

I believe most people want to be rich, strive for fame, status and money. It may not be their intrinsic desire to do so, but rather a result of societal, parental and peer pressure. Nevertheless, a life based on the ceaseless acquisition of material possessions, wealth and accomplishments is not the answer to everlasting happiness. This is explained in a theory called the 'hedonic treadmill', a term coined by Philip Brickman and Donald Campbell.

So what is the hedonic treadmill? It is an analogy of someone running on treadmill to illustrate the point that we need to keep striving in order to maintain the same level of happiness, akin to someone running at the same speed just to maintain the same position on a treadmill. If we want to increase our happiness, we need to strive even harder. Psychology researchers have found that the level of happiness of lottery winners increased initially but returned to their original levels quickly. The reverse is also true - the level of happiness of those recently handicapped fell initially but climbed back to original levels subsequently.

"In all of these situations, despite a massive shift in standard of living or achievement of major life goals, after a short period of time the life-satisfaction levels return to normal. Despite the fact that external forces are constantly changing our life goals, happiness for most people is a relatively constant state. Regardless of how good things get, we'll always report about the same level of happiness. It is believed that the baseline of an individual's happiness is at least partially genetic. For example, identical twins are usually equally prone to depression. "-quoted from Wikipedia

So if you think that striking the lottery, snagging the President's scholarship or winning some prestigious award will give you prolonged joy, think again. But then I am sure, many people would have had first-hand experience of the effects of the hedonic treadmill themselves, yet they still strive for even more material wealth, fame or higher status in the hope of attaining the elusive everlasting happiness. As the internationally acclaimed author J.K. Rowling has aptly put it: "...personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two." (http://harvardmagazine.com/commencement/the-fringe-benefits-failure-the-importance-imagination)

I have had relatives and friends asking me why I did not choose to study medicine or some other courses which more lucrative in nature. Being a doctor will allow me to save lives. Yes, it is a noble thing, but my passion still lies in Physics. Nevertheless, there are many people who wish to become doctors and lawyers not for lofty ambitions, but for the high pay. Last year, there was a spate of articles in The Straits Times which highlighted the trend of general practitioners in Singapore offering cosmetic surgery to boost their income. Plastic surgeons and cosmetic specialists earn much more than an average GP, and this explains why cosmetic courses are so hot in medical school. This merely drives home the point that many doctors are more interested in making big bucks rather than saving lives and earning less. As much as I would like to believe that people of such intellectual calibre would be enlightened enough to realise the trap of the hedonic treadmill, it is not to be. Well, maybe the fault is not theirs alone. It is not easy to overcome the strong societal, parental and peer pressure to achieve the so called 'success', which is defined shallowly in terms of monetary wealth and societal status.

Before the current financial crisis, business and finance courses in universities were all the rage given the high salaries of those working in these sectors. However, reality sunk in upon the unfolding of the Subprime Crisis and many graduates are now finding it an uphill task to get a job or even an internship. As a result, more students are now turning towards the engineering and other faculties. Several years back, there was also a sudden wave of interest in the life sciences industry after the government's exhortation that it is the 'next-big-thing'. As with all fads, the life sciences craze fizzled out some time as well. Sounds Déjà vu? My point here is that we should not just follow where the money seems to be, for it may very well turn out to be the wrong path. Neither am I advocating that one should always blindly follow one’s interest, for we have to feed our families and ourselves. Nevertheless, monetary remuneration should not be the salient and over-riding factor in determining one’s career path. A balance between pragmatism and idealism has to be struck.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a great scientist and aspired to win the Nobel prize. However, as I grew older and wiser, I realised that winning prizes is not the most important thing in life and it will only give me temporary happiness. I still wish to be a scientist, but my main aim now is to help people through science research and development, as well as through other forms of community service. I am not advocating that everyone should give up their ambitions to be bankers or superstars or even the President of United States. It is good to have aspirations, for you will then have something to work for and life becomes more meaningful. But making money and attaining status should not be the ultimate aim in life. We must exercise caution in threading the fine line between sinking into complacency and being overzealous or 'kaisu', or we would only be the ones to suffer.