We have now arrived at Ambassa, what can be termed only as a junction on the the east-west highway and the entrance to the Bardia National Park and the main village in the community forest at the edge of the jungle - I should explain that Bardia, as with Chitwan has 2 types of protected areas. The jungle, which is fully protected, and the community forest or buffer zone at the edge of the jungle. This area is protected but not at the detriment of the local people who live within its boundary. They require the natural resources that the forest provides. At this moment I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the village. Kia, hopefully you can remedy this.
As we got of the bus, we got rushed by all the Guest House reps pushing there guest house. Not the best welcome after our 4hr roller-coaster bus ride. However one of the reps - who we got to know as Jack, not his Nepalese name, ushered us to a table and chairs, where we able to drink Nepalese tea and be wooed by the guest houses. our plan was to go to the village - I still do not recall the name - and hunt for a guest house. However we needed to wait for a local bus. It was the weekend and picnic buses where arriving bringing people from the around the area to eat and party in the forest. No room left on the buses. During this time we discussed with all the reps at the junction and after the initial rush it was nice. As they are mostly all local to the village in the park, they knew each other. It was friendly rivalry. If they could not get the guests at their guest house at least they went to another Guest House in the village and for he good of the local economy. They readily admitted that they needed foreign tourists. The tourist economy was decimated by the recent maoist rebellion in the West Terrai region. There i snow peace in the region. In past 2 years, the maoist won the general election, Nepal has become a Republic and they are starting to integrate the maoist army into the regular army. A few bumps on the way but they are getting there.
Jack shared with us - it was more a rant whenever he could. You could feel his frustration - in that the main guides have not updated their books since the end of the rebellion - The Lonely Planet since 2006 & The Rough Guide since 2001 - In addition, The Lonely Planet has 5 guest house listed. When the people visit Bardia, they book in advance. The Lonely Planet was used by over 90% of the travellers we met - English, French, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew... - There influence is huge. Jack's guest house was not listed in the Lonely Planet and only under its old name in the Rough Guide.
I have mentioned Jack, A Nepalese man in his 20s from the village, is studying the tourist business in Nepalgange in between working. Jack used to work in one of the guest houses but left a few months ago and with 2 young partners took over management of another guest house, The Tharu Home Guest House. He managed to arrange a lift for us and himself to the village. We agreed to view his guest house. He employed young people from the village. We negotiated a fair price for all of us and we decided we may as well stay there, in the Banana Hut off course. We were the only guests! When we arrived in the village, we quickly realised that it would not have been simple as we thought to find a guest houses. They were spread around a large area. Without transportation it would not not have been easy. one of Jack's problem is that they as yet did not have a Jeep to bring guests from the junction. A big disadvantage. We stayed for 3 nights and we had a great time. As we already did the Jungle activities at Chitwan, Bardia was merely a stopover on the way to Delhi. In hindsight, we would not have gone to Chitwan and done all those activities in Bardia. Bardia was less developed. Closer to Nepalese life than Chitwan Disneyesque type of experience.The money spent in Chitwan would have been spent in Bardia, a more deserving place.
As a consequence, we just 'hanged around' the village and guest house. Sitting and chatting with the staff every night around a bonfire. Generally enjoying the time with the young staff and the people of Bardia.
We undertook one activity, visiting the crocodile breeding center.
After a night, more guest arrived. To be precise they made a grand entrance. Arriving in a 'Peace & Love' truck. A home on wheels. A sight so out of place in Bardia. They were a couple from Belgium/Netherlands with 2 young kids. Truly the last hippies. They travelled in this truck overland from The Netherlands over 5 years ago and have been in India since. Unfortunately for Jack, they did not need accommodation just food and just parked outside the guest house.
The food was excellent. The best Dahl Bhat Thakari we had. I have yet to introduce properly the Dahl Bhat Thakari is the staple food of most Nepalese. simply, its Dahl=Lentil/beans Bhat=Rice and Thakari=Vegetables. Dahl Bhat can have a meat dish but it is expensive. In addition they keep coming around to top up your dish - except meat - until we said no more. Heaven! We ate this everywhere as we travelled - you probably already guessed that from the previous posts. We never got bored of this food, as the Dahl Bhat varied slightly from place to place. The best for me was in Bardia!
Apart from the time during the wedding, this was probably the closest we got to real Nepalese people than at any other time during the trip.
More about The Tharu Home Guest House. It was obvious that the staff where young and new to the trade. Jack was training young local men. It was not a slick operation and I think the better for it. Unfortunately they have to compete with the other guest houses who have more resources. A lot of them are 50% owned by foreign investors. They can sell organise tours from there home countries. A huge advantage as most tourists - not the backpackers - those who bring in the big bucks unfortunately need 'a managed' natural experience. They will not travel by local buses to get to the park. They will come on organised tours. I hope Jack manage to accomplish is long term dream to open his own Guest House on his family land in Bardia.
More can be written about our time in Bardia. If I wrote it closer to the time we were there I probably would have. However in the end the photos give the true feel of the place more than any description can. Yet again, great photos Kia!
So enjoy the company of Jack, Pattu, Nanu and the people of Bardia.
More too come
1 comments:
Wonderful Dan! Great photos and sounded like a beautiful experience with the locals in Bardia.
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