Earthquake Nepal
I took a bus from the gateway to the town of Thakurdwara and Bardia National Park, approximately 14 kilometers down a rustic road with a river crossing but not at certain times of the year. John dropped me off at the bus stop and we had tea waiting for a second bus with an open seat on it. It came and off I went. It’s a straight shot 8-hour bus ride and then change buses for a three-hour bus ride up to Pokhara. When I got out I looked for a taxi stand because the buses to Pokhara stop at five pm. It was five-thirty. I grabbed a taxi for 1000 rupee and watched for fallen rock from the earthquake only a few days before. As we drove up past Mugling, It was dark now and I noticed most of the people along the road had made makeshift temporary camps in front of their homes. Fires blazed and stories were told up and down the roads all over Nepal that night and for more to come.
I pulled into Pokhara just after 9 pm and most of the restaurants and shops were pulling down their metal gates for the night. The specials for this evening, we have Pringles and a beer. Thanks you very much. I went to the Lotus Inn and the proprietor and most of the guests were sleeping in the parking lot. Tremors continued. I slept like a baby knowing no one was going to wake me this eve. I woke up thinking about the lovely building codes in Nepal. Buildings shook this day.
I had to go back to Katmandu just to look and see what I had seen and now downed. It’s a long journey from Pokhara and back in a day. We took cases of water and left at 430 in the morning.
We had an extra passenger for a three hours going to Dahding where his family lives. At first light we stopped into a roadside teahouse made of wood and tin. The stove was the usual made of mud. I hadn’t heard of the damage there yet. He mentioned buildings went down including his parent’s house. We wished him good luck and let him off at the bridge to catch a local bus up the hills.
We followed the river valley down towards Mugling town and then a slow rise up a long winding road safe for one-way traffic but that is not the case. It’s two way traffic with the drivers all passing each other in near miss blind spots with buses and big rigs boxing each other in on the hairpin turns. To add to the chaos the government told the people in Katmandu to go back to their villages and the bus ride would be free. It was still pretty early in the morning as we began seeing roadside earthquake damaged homes, walls and roofs. Intermittent rain fell. Trucks and buses broke down on this little road really making it stop and go. On the opposite mountain a road side stall had toppled of the road and slid 100 meters down the mountainside. I saw one truck center punched on a power pole and empty, a transportation truck had lost it’s front axle and it was under the truck with the front left tire flat on the ground, another truck had driven into the two foot deep rain drain gutter and couldn’t get out. Three men stood around scratching their heads. I knew I’d see them on my return.
Once up on top of the mountain you enter the outskirts of Katmandu. Traffic was crazy with people packed up and sitting with their family on the ground waiting for someone to come and get them. Mini vans were packed with people and belongings tied to the roof, numerous buses leaving Katmandu had as many as 20 people sitting on the roofs some without tarps and it’s still raining a bit.
I heard later that when the government offered free buses some of the bus drivers charged people 4 times the normal price. A few of these drivers were found out and the police came in and beat the deceit out of them. Buses were free to villages.
I drove in to see Katmandu and the taxi driver needed a destination so I told him to go to Tamal where little damage had occurred being a newer area of town. It used to be a rice field but then again so did all the surrounding area of old Katmandu. I took a picture of a black and white photo I saw at the Monkey Temple showing farmland at the base of the rock the temple is on. Sorry for the light reflection in the photo but you get the idea.
On our drive in there were lots of buildings down or severely cracked and beyond repair. People were selling their wares and goods as normal. Vegetables, water, fuel, dust masks. With stop and go traffic in town you really notice when a big bus or truck hops on the pedal and belches out a black cloud right in your window. Or sitting in traffic with a long distance bus right there baking your closed window.
I looked for Sam’s Bar to see if V was okay and at the bar. She wasn’t and it was locked up from the inside. We drove off around the corner and dropped off the water at a small camp of folks that all needed water.
I wanted to go back to Paton Square but the way was arduous due to redbrick all still in the streets. We opted to go to the white tower instead. Basically we tried not to deviate from the main arteries of town and still see some of the damaged area. The white tower had people in it when it fell down on a Saturday afternoon. Here’s a picture of it standing before the earthquake and one the remains. A few vigils have been at this site full of candles, flowers, and incense. The first picture is from the monkey temple looking towards the white tower.
To get to the tower we parked on the main road and walked through the make shift camp. Considering how many people have packed up and left these camps there are still a lot of people
relying understandably on aid. Some just don’t have anywhere to go. I was warned by a Nepali friend to be careful of looters and thieves. I saw nothing like that taking place, I saw life going on a normally as it could, stores were open, lights were on in most areas, phones had been restored, there was just a lot more rubble blocking the congested narrow streets, alleys, and roads.
I wanted to see more but realized with the driver not knowing Katmandu I was never going to get anywhere. We headed back to Pokhara to avoid being part of the problem. We drove on a parallel road and saw a little more of the damage and it wasn’t all old rock and mud homes. Many of the newer homes had also faltered on concrete and rebar foundations.
On the return the traffic seemed to have died down but the road was still wrought with peril. We passed two cars on flatbeds that had hit head on. That’s always comforting.
As you now may know there has been a second earthquake of some size and destruction. Here in Pokhara it shook and cracked some buildings but nothing seems seriously damaged. People are scared and many are sleeping outside.
