Banda and The Gangetic Dolphin

Banda and Gangetic Dolphin

In Bardia, in the town of Thakurdwara, a gateway to Bardia National Park, we heard stories of incredible violence in the area, Tikapur to be exact. I wanted to go and check it out for two reasons, 1) to see what all the fuss was about and 2) to see the Gangetic Dolphin that come up the water ways when the monsoon rains swell the rivers and enhance the dolphin’s fishing area. Johnny and I decided to take a motor bike instead of walking because the ferry boats were not really reliable on short notice and due to the amount of the distances we wanted to cover between the burnt shops on the side of the main streets in Tikapur and getting out to where the dolphin are said to show up at sunrise and sunset.

The road to Limpki was disserted except for the occasional ambulance heading in the opposite direction. Most of the gas stations are closed and the road from Limpki into Tikapur was swarmed with people and trouble throwing bikes into the river, destroying motorbikes, and general Banda behavior stopping all moving vehicles and not letting any through. This was one of the trouble spots. We didn’t go into Limpki due to a quicker route from where we were coming from. This was more of a country short cut once you’re across the Karnali River bridge. As I mentioned in the past there is a large scale construction project going on that will divert water from the Karnali River that the animals in Bardia National Park depend on as well as the people living down river. The water is being diverted into the South Western region for farming. More research is needed.

We saw a motorcycle coming from Tikapur and we flagged him down and asked if there was any trouble in town and he no, everything is quiet now. We drove on towards Tikapur down a dirt road and the closer you get to town the more rickety the bridges get with boards popping up in between two that are loose or where a board is missing all together. On the way in we passed a group of well dressed men having a meeting out of city limits because a gathering this size is prohibited. They seemed more of an Indian persuasion not Tharu. I didn’t put much thought into it at the time. We drove through town alone, not one car moving, a couple other motorbikes, all store fronts shut and locked down. On a particular block all the carts or shops along the main road were burned. We saw a few people sitting together that stared at us as we drove by. They stare anyway but it wasn’t the same, there was still anger in them. We saw both army and police in a few centers of town, the rest of the people were in their house talking quietly and sharing their night and what they saw.

We cut through town knowing we were coming back this way later. Right now we were primarily heading to the river and see some dolphin. We pulled in to find Johnny’s friends family resealing the bottom of their ferryboat in the front yard. It was a true family gathering of the male side of the family of all ages. They said they hadn’t done the Dolphin count because they were waiting for some folks from Katmandu to show up but the Banda had carried on and they couldn’t get out of town. They also said the dolphin aren’t usually at this spot in the middle of the day. Normally they seem to appear in the mornings and evenings. We sat for a bit and caught up on the local news and then headed to the river where we found approximately seven Gangetic Dolphin fishing at the confluence of two rivers. I was exposed and really hot sitting in the flood plain of the river watching these beautiful creatures fish and frolic in the eddies and light rapids.

I put my elbows on my knees and tried for good photos maybe a nose sticking out or a breach for air. Let me tell you, it is nearly impossible to know when or where a dolphin is going to surface but in a river it’s a little different because they may be fishing a particular spot like a confluence and rise near the same spot as current goes by. It’s still tricky even with that because your ears are drawn to another dolphin that just surfaced and splashed on either side of where you’re focused. Now you’ve taken your eyes off your target to see and now another surfaces right in your frame but your beyond focus and its gone.

A young girl from the family showed up and put an umbrella over me and talked a continual stream of Nepali to me while I sat with my eyes through a viewfinder focused on the river. She was cute as a button and decided to periodically nudge my head with the umbrella while I was trying to focus and continued a monolog to the back of my head. Then we saw the Garial nose and eyes emerge in the river. She was alarmed but not bothered since they technically just eat fish, right? While we were watching the Garial swim up stream to the opposite riverbank I was lining up to take a picture of it and a dolphin showed up as well. We sat for an hour or so and I took 85 pictures and still feel I missed it. Lucky for me I have volunteered for the dolphin count that should be happening in the next few weeks with or without those coming from Katmandu.

We took off to eat something at a Banana Restaurant at the edge of town and John talked with some friends who were surprised to see him considering what last night brought on. We were told there was a curfew that could be turned on at any time. Police were said to be coming into Tharu peoples homes searching for certain people or maybe it’s the people that should be there but are not. How ever you want to look at it. We were told there were a lot of folks from India that had showed up for the night of violence. The locals could tell the difference because they dress differently. That’s an interesting thing since India on the other side of the border erupted too. Johnny’s friends were worried about our safety and felt uncomfortable putting us up for the night. They suggested a hotel with security down town. We decided to drive back through town as the sun was an hour out of sunset.

People were out, lots of people all walking this way and that and all their heads turned to the sound of a motorbike. Our saving grace on purpose was to show them we were tourists and wave and smile and don’t stop. Some intersections were particularly tense as youth and bystanders gathered as we came within earshot only to see two foreigner’s faces and begrudgingly let us go. Tense.

As the sun set the sky began to rumble off in the distance in our direction and when we got under it the lightening flashes drew your eyes to lightening bolts crashing down and thunder immediately following it. The wind would gust out ahead of torrential showers that came in waves but they never lasted and that was good because we still had a river crossing on the bike. Another bike followed us over and got stuck in the newly formed soft riverbank. I actually walked across the river and thought of crocodiles in the dark. I moved quickly.

www.davidcdagley.com

Nepal Under Banda

Nepal Under Banda

An early flight to Nepalgunj becomes difficult when the Banda is on. A Banda is not a strike by any particular body or political orientation, it is nation wide and there is no end in sight at the moment. This is all about the signing of the new and revised constitution and the powers that be adding a new district or division to the mix. The Tharu where I’m staying right now only know that some politicians are pushing for this and when it’s over life will resume with no difference to them, just the politicians. No vehicles move basically between 6 am and 6 pm but it’s more extreme outside of Katmandu. There is a curfew in certain places where violence has risen. That means no transport buses, no trucks, no personal automobiles, and motorbikes are forbidden, but so are plastic bags and that’s not going well either. hops are closed for the most part. I’ve been here for two weeks and the Banda has been on the whole time. When I asked about it at my hotel in Thamel, The Holy Himalaya, they said no problem for tourists in Katmandu. Fine. When I was picked up in Nepalgunj we were the only vehicle in the airport parking lot and the only vehicle on the east/west highway besides an ambulance that we mistook for a police car racing up our 6. It blew by us in a cloud of dust.

We noticed a group of men standing in the road making us slow down as we approached. One of the boys carried a two foot long, ¾ inch chunk of rebar in his hand. Johnny driving slowed down and explained we were just picking me up at the airport and won’t be driving. They rolled their eyes in fury not because we were white but because they want everyone to obey the Banda including whites and the further east or west from Katmandu the more likely trouble will start and spread like a virus. We obviously don’t vote for any party but the youth and angry need something to take it out on and your windshield will do just fine. I’ve been told they also like to light stuff on fire such as cars and bicycles. We saw three such groups of mostly male if not all sitting at what would be bus stops or shelters along the road out of the monsoon rains that announce their presence with a precursor of wind followed by a thorough down pour that has the potential of becoming a flashflood somewhere down stream.

When I arrived in Nepalgunj it was raining and it has rained part of almost everyday since. The town I’m headed for is across a river that we cross in the jeep if the water level isn’t too high. They do not have a floating raft to ferry vehicles, people and supplies to the other side. A flashflood will occur and a few hours later the river subsides and you can cross if you so choose. We were worried about it but all worked out.

My friends Johnny and Sitaram who own Wild Trak Adventure are putting in a new dining hall and I noticed they really didn’t have the right tools for the project. The builders are all Nepali or Tharu and are extremely capable of doing the job with the tools they are accustomed to using but I thought I would help by bringing some of my own tools and helping out for a month or so. So I picked up 600 quid worth of tools in London at the Paddington Hardware Store. The owner thought I’d get the VAT ‘tax’ back at the airport by showing receipts but they want the owner of the hardware store or any other store you buy stuff from to fill out a tax sheet that has to go with you to the airport. The line was really long and I didn’t have the tax sheet from the hardware store so my choices were limited considering my flight was in one hour. Anyway, the tools arrived with me in Katmandu and again in Nepalgunj. The carpenters building the dining room were curious as expected and I went to work putting together a kitchen with them looking over my shoulder at what ever I brought out to use whether it was a cordless drill, skill saw, grinder, or a belt sander. They are particularly happy with the cordless drill and have their own plainer but when the power goes out, which is often, they revert to the old ways and do it by hand. Now I’m the one learning something.

A friend of Johnny’s called, Ram, and wanted John, Sitaram, Krishna and myself to join him and his brother Deep to help identify a bird said not to live in Nepal, an owl. Apparently he has taken some photos and explained what it was to some folks who wrote a book about birds in the region and didn’t include the Mottled Wood Owl in Nepal. He wanted to bring it to their attention so we set out in the jeep for the community forest where Ram and Deep had been seeing this bird. We should up with a hand held speaker with Bluetooth capabilities and a phone that had previously downloaded the Mottled Wood Owl’s calls. It worked like a charm and within one sounding we received a response from the wilds.

We attracted a pair of owls that for now I’m going to call Mottled Wood Owls but that is still left to the professionals to make clear. The male was darker in color that the female but they hung out on the same limb or at least in the same tree together. A third owl arrived and I think that is the one in these pictures. The couple had had enough shenanigans with the speaker owl. Every time the owl would leave we would play the download and it would return and perch in different trees around a clearing off the dirt track road. We did this for two evenings because the first evening we were too late to get any good shots but apparently those in the back seat saw a leopard. I saw nothing but tracks and maybe where it bedded down for a while.

On our way out just before the sun was going down and we were walking back the way we came in Deep saw another owl camouflaged in a tree not far from us and we began to identify it as a Brown Fish Owl. We took a stack of photos and were frantically looking for a download for the Brown Fish Owl. After 15 minutes of fat thumbs on small screens we found it and played it to no avail. This bird didn’t even look at us. When we got home we looked it up in the book and have come to the conclusion that it’s not a Brown Fish Owl at all but a Tawny Fish Owl. The main differences between the two owls are height and subtle markings on the chest and back of the head. It never really moved off.

A resort operator up river went to Nepalgunj the other day to pick up a client and was stopped by the mob on the east/west highway and he and his guest were not allowed to pass and had to spend the night elsewhere. The second day they made it through but the river was too high and had to stay somewhere else again. By the time the tourist and owner got sorted at the lodge the tourist had to basically turn around and head back to where they came.

Life goes on in Bardia and no one travels anywhere at the moment, except into the jungle. Stay turned because due to the Banda the Gangetic dolphin count has been delayed so I will most likely get to participate and that should be something worth waiting for. If for nothing else the photos should be acceptable.

www.davidcdagley.com

Post Earthquake Katmandu

Post Earthquake Katmandu

I flew Air India from London to Delhi and on to Katmandu Nepal. A friend in London like a particular hotel called the Holy Himalaya, in Thamel. (www.holyhimalya.com). I have been here four nights. It’s a bit more upscale than I normally travel but in relation to London it’s very worth the money. It’s around $40/night. The rooms are big spacious with tv and clean. Yeah, I can stay a couple nights.

The airport was still crazy because many tourists have returned but not on the normal scale. Great! The taxi ride is 15 minutes to 30 minutes depending on traffic. On the drive in a noticed many cracked buildings usually of redbrick, and other building materials as well but just not as apparent. I spent the afternoon sorting out the next step which is Bardia to spot a tiger and hopefully some fresh water dolphin that are basically trapped behind a dam and this time of year with the monsoon rains swelling the rivers the water is deep enough for them to hunt for fish in a larger area.

I called me friend Bishal (9803171826) I highly recommend him. He’s knowledgeable and has rescue training. We hopped on a motorbike and he showed me the two other squares I hadn’t seen, Kathmandu Dubar Square and Bhaktapur Dubar Square. Winding around to get to the squares was as much as a goal location. There is a lot of damage and especially near the squares because these were the squares of the three kingdoms that used to be separated by farmland and terraced rice paddies.

The squares and the surrounding homes are all redbrick and date back. The wood carvings are inmost cases are intricate and show a devotion to creation.

The squares are all old and lost temples or shored them up before they do fall down.

Down the narrow side streets are piles of debris from the earthquake and in some harder hit areas half the street is one long line of debris from falling buildings and rubbish thrown there for whatever reason.

I don’t know any details about the clean up or even if there is one in motion. The kids are still having fun and life on the surface seems to be back in motion minus a few tourists but that’s a good thing for a little while I think.

On out return we saw quite a few protesters of numerous groups and about as many police with riot gear and all shielded up. I didn't hear of any problems but the monks were out in force. The signing of the constitution is what it's all about right now and tensions are high in the political arena. There have been government shut downs of all motorized traffic or else you may get a rock in the window. The trouble seems to be outside of Katmandu more than in it east or west.

October is supposed to be the best month before winter hits, so says the bartender ‘V’ at Sam’s. She also said she would probably turn down an invitation to Bardia at this time of the year because it’s so hot and humid that it wouldn’t be as much fun as at other times. We’ll see.

Anyway, I just wanted to show a couple photos of the condition Katmandu is in after 3 ½ month time.

www.davidcdagley.com

Gharana Music Festival

GHARANA MUSIC FESTIVAL

Kathmandu, Nepal - October 8^th-11^th, 2015

Hotel Yak and Yeti & The City Museum Kathmandu

Six years ago I arrived in Nepal with a nylon string guitar and two duffel bags full of J.S. Bach and John Dowland scores, and way more trekking gear than I needed.  I knew embarrassingly little about the country I had chosen to travel to, but I knew the Himalayas were there and I was determined to get to Everest Base camp, and then spend the remainder of my 150 allotted tourist visa days volunteering as a music teacher and travelling.  I had just graduated from the Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor of Music in classical guitar performance and completed what would be my last season working as a whitewater raft guide on the Upper Hudson River Gorge in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State.   Some of my friends were off to graduate school or the great (and somewhat closer) outdoor life of the Pacific Northwest, but my childhood fascination with the Himalayas got the better of me and in my mind there was no other logical place to go but Nepal.

Six years later, the country of my post-college adventure has become the place where I live with my wonderful wife and where I am about to present a world-class international classical music festival. – the Gharana Music Festival.  When asked why people climb Mt. Everest, George Mallory responded, “Because it is there”.  The reason I finally decided to start my own nonprofit organization to promote classical music and music education in Nepal, and to organize the Gharana Music Festival, was also quite simple – because it wasn’t there, yet.

The Gharana Music Foundation and the Gharana Music Festival were born to fill what I saw as a void in the already lively music scene in Kathmandu.  The festival serves as an opportunity for the Nepali public to experience live classical music and music education as never before. Through a series of concerts and workshops, music enthusiasts and aspiring musicians will have the opportunity to become exposed to a variety of classical music of world-class quality. As such music is not yet regularly available in a live setting in Nepal, and as it has never been presented in such a concentrated way, the festival aims to stimulate interest and set a precedent for the future growth of classical music appreciation and education here.

It is an honor and privilege for me to present such an outstanding group of artists and educators in our inaugural year, including classical guitarists Rupert Boyd, Brendan Evans, Ana Maria Rosado and Paul Cesarczyk, as well as incredible cellist Laura Metcalf and Nepali didgeridoo master Salil Subedi, with whom Nepali classical musicians and I will collaborate.  In addition to being amazing musicians, they are all extremely enthusiastic and supportive people who I know personally as old friends, classmates and teachers, as well as a couple new friends.

Despite the devastating earthquakes that shook Nepal this year, and the immense grief and loss, I am grateful for the unwavering determination everyone in this project has shown, and I am personally touched that all the artists are so enthusiastic and dedicated to coming to Nepal to make this happen.  In addition to being a wonderful music event, I hope the festival will also serve as a symbol both in Nepal and internationally that the nation is still on its feet, that people can still visit here and that beautiful things are taking place and will continue to take place far into the future. 

I hope you will check out our festival and follow us online for updates, and I hope to see some of you here this Fall!  Please stop by and say hello if you can make it!

Daniel Linden

Founder and President, Gharana Music Foundation

www.gharanamusicfoundation.org

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gharana-Music-Foundation/386570661515096