Navigating Nepal
It’s been a while since I (Ethan Stranger) have done a “Traveling-related Blog Post”, but last, I’ve finally found the perfect moment to tell y'all about my so-called “Katmandu travel experience” (that I’ve mentioned within a few of my past blogs), perhaps the most famous time I’ve ever mentioned about my time in Katmandu was me being an extra in 2016s Dr. Strange movie (Picture: Bottom Center), but y’all already know that story too many times…
The same goes for my time volunteering at the KAT Centre (which I’ll mention a bit more within this post but read more about in my “How to treat the World III: Day of the Dogs” Post
(Click here to watch the slideshow that I created based on the KAT Centre)
So now that’s out of the way, allow me to finally tell y’all about the biggest adventures I took back in my late teen years (from being posting in Nepal to traveling to other parts of Asia), while having numerous ups and downs during this part of my life, thus enjoy me for a traveling story…you never heard, on a scale you’ve never witness…so now, let’s kick it off with some (funky) opening music (thus making this traveling post a musical, in a way):
It all started back in the summer of 2015 (right after High School Graduation) when my Mom and I were on our way to reunite with my Dad in Kathmandu (as part of his job, which involves him traveling the world). Before making it to Katmandu, My Mom and I spend a night over in Qatar, Doha (Pictures: Bottom) which (at night time) was like “a part of Las Vegas was dumped into a desert”, plus (at night time), it felt like being trapped in a sauna (worse than whenever I wore my band uniform for too long).
After arriving in Katmandu and reuniting with my Dad, our earliest adventures mainly involved getting to know this poor country a bit better, which was going out and exploring various restaurants, and temples (including the “Monkey Temple”, which involved my 1st encounter with a “Fake Tour Guide”, which we should’ve known), thus a lesson was taught to the 3 of us, whenever going to ancient temples, avoid those pesky annoying weirdos who say “We Tour Guides”, but really…they’re not, so just do what Michael Jackson (Picture: Bottom Center) would do, you tell them to “BEAT IT” (same goes from those annoying sales-people with their cheap knick-knacks), but never say beat it to a Monkey while at the Monkey Temple (just don’t provoke nor feed them), but do give something to those street dogs…
Other early adventures within Katmandu involved more with my Dads new work buddies, which involved going on his wild kayak camping trip and taking a trip to the Nepal Zoo (Picture: Bottom Center), never before would I get an experience to hold a Baby Langur (type of Indian Monkey) or pet the truck of an Indian Elephant (this is coming from an “animal lover”, me)
Haven managed to find a footing in this poor country, I began to try to make the best of the time I spent, which involved me getting some volunteer work at the KAT CENTRE (read more about that experience in my How to treat the World III: Day of the Dogs Post), I began studying at this animation academy (MAYA), started as the “Extra in the Dr. Strange Movie”, introduced the newest member to the family (CHEWIE), look at him when he was just a Puppy (Picture: Bottom Center), he looks like a “Polar Bear Cub” (read more about his story in my “Asperger Pets Post”). Eventually, my volunteer days at the KAT CENTRE were coming to end following a fuel crisis between India and Nepal, meaning I couldn’t travel all the way to the KAT CENTRE, thus I needed to find a line of work that wasn’t far from home, thus I began taking a paying winter hire position from within My Dads New Job, which was working for the Mailroom (I would pick up the mail, sort out the mail, deliver the mail), but on slow days, I would buy some snacks and watch Youtube (what else are you supposed to do on slow days, besides this as my 1st job).
In Christmas of 2015, The biggest trip I took that was beyond Nepal was all the way to The “Taj Mahal” (Picture: Bottom Center), surprisingly (as of now), who would’ve thought that years later, I would find myself in India (though in a different part of India that doesn’t feature that Taj Mahal, read more about that experience within my “Hooray for Hyderbad Post”)
Following that trip, I would continue finishing my seasonal winter position (while also getting 3 more season hire-related job positions during my time in Nepal, though they involved more “Computer-related, file document-making and house inspecting positions”), I also continue keeping in contact with the KAT CENTRE, in which I’ve managed to convince them to “form a partnership with my Dads Job”, like letting them know about any adaptations or donations they can lend out and I thought for a minute I’ve accomplished something great (but days before we departed from Katmandu, their partnership ended, as the KAT CENTRE was moving to a new location and it was really sad to see my accomplishment dissolved). I continue to attend Maya Animation Academy (despite the poor teaching condition they offered and the fact I was the only American attending), though I did make a Friend (DIP was his name), eventually, we’re no longer speaking terms (same goes for this Nepali girl whom I had a crush on at the time while over and briefly kept in contact whenever I returned to the states, Rozina Gurung was her name), but as I said before, I don’t touch base with neither of them anymore…
This brings us to the “Saddest part of the Post”, for a while My Dad and I would go with my Mom to this “orphanage (Picture: Bottom Center)” to help out (either delivering snacks or toys), but the problem was that the workers who ran the orphanage were known to take away the snacks and toys that were donated to the children (which lead to some of them developing “detachment disorder”, like when I was helping this little orphan open up some play-doh and he refused to let me help, thinking I was taking away his fun)
I remember there was (I believe) a British couple who entertained the orphans in a very cheap way, like the British woman (Picture: Bottom Center) would pretend she was holding 2 baby bird toys and sing “this one is jack and this one is jill (something like that)” and then later pull out a mouse toy to further entertain the kids, there was a playground, but it was old, cheap, and the grass had really grown too long, thus My Mom one day finally convince the orphanage to allow the children to have a special playdate over at the Phora (or American Club, which was like the YMCA), My Dad and I were chaperones, and for once, it was nice to see the children play on a “real playground and actually have some real food”.
Plus My Mom was a working force behind trying to save this one orphanage who had developed a tumor from inside his head. Eventually, My mom was able to convince the orphanage to have the ill orphan go through with an operation, though it was successful, months later the orphan passed away and it really saddened my Mom (but at least she tried to give that Orphan a chance to live longer)...
Besides (in general) I don’t know how much that orphanage has changed (or if it will), just look at their clothes, tables, and mini-private toilets (Picture: Top Center), thus I’m hoping that my Dear friend, K! (Picture: Bottom left Corner) can convince various churches to do there mission trips within Katmandu (sprinkle some of that “Blue Fairy Magic” to those poor orphans), #MAKESOMEONEHAPPY
And now, time to discuss all of the other places within Asia that I manage to travel to while still being posted within Nepal (which calls for a piece of epic traveling-styled Theme music)
Behold…the vast world of Malaysia (traveling from their Batu Caves, and temples, to downtown, where I would explore their aquarium, get a pic with their twin towers and earn my angel wings)
Celebrating Thanksgiving of 2016 in Thailand (try their pizza with Duck Meat, it’s really good), plus (besides exploring their downtown), My folks had a special thanksgiving dinner aboard a boat, where we witness some pretty ladies put on a little dance show for us (manage to get a pic with them)...
And finally, in February of 2017, traveled to Dubai, managed to stay at a hotel near the beachside, and traveled to the desert side of the city, though I did manage to travel out to a camel ranch in the desert (as well as ride a camel), it kinda didn’t live up to my expectations (as we mostly drove across the desert, which was like “getting seasick in the middle of the desert” and the camel back ride was too short, as we were taken to this “base camp” within the desert and I only ride the came from within the camp’s surrounding area (I was hoping for more a camel ride into the desert, in a way).
Plus I did manage to travel to other parts of Nepal (like Pokhara and Chitwan National Park), but I’ll explain in a future Nepali-related post (Especially since I’m gonna back soon), but let’s talk about the “aftermath of haven been living in a poor country for 2 years” wasn’t anything easy (thus I kinda had that same feeling whenever the crew of “Voyager” became lost in the Delta Quadrant), for, before this big Nepali trip, the only big traveling experience I had was going to Peru twice (but that’s another story).
The good side of this experience was that (at least) I tried to learn animation, I became friends with some of my dads work buddies (even got along with their kids), became an extra in Dr. Strange, traveling to other parts of Asia, volunteer at an animal shelter, adopted my dog (Chewie), got me some work experience over at my dad's job and met the famed elephant caregiver (Carol Buckley) (Picture: Bottom Center)
(Click here to listen to Carol Buckley and witness Tarra and Bella)
The bad side of this experience was my haven been forced to live within a poor country’s harsh conditions, and the teaching at the animation academy began turning for the worse (since I was the only American there, I was treated like an outcast, plus the staff attempted to take advantage of me since they believe all Americans “are rich”), getting into fights with my Mom would force me to (literally) forced me to walk all the way to my animation academy and back (while forced to walk on destroyed sidewalks, pee, and poo, forced to cross busy roads while avoiding weirdo strangers) and when I finally returned to the states, whenever I would try to apply for a job, I was turned down from a pet care hospital to nearly every grocery store and struggling during my time at community college, as I quickly rushed in after I came back from Nepal (thus I became like “Captain America: A Man out of time, Picture: Bottom Right Center”)
But through it all, I felt like I needed to get away from the states from a while (as Senior Year of High School had some ups and downs for me) and I thought this trip was my escape, while I did have some good times, there were several moments that would’ve scared me for life (Now I know how Allan Parrish felt (Picture: Top Center) felt when he got trapped in Jumaji for 26 years), for a guy (such as myself) who didn’t even knew yet he was on the spectrum, I was force to open my eyes to the harsh reality of the other side of the world, seeing injured dogs (unable to save them all), how that orphanage was being handled, how several Nepali people are able to carry heavy objects (like carrying a office desk by strapaping it to the forehead), having “unbreakable skin” (seriously, like whenever I see like a motorcycle accident, nobody calls an ambulance, they just get back up and drive off like nothing really happened, even my Mom went through that experince), their dentistry over there was like walking into Frankenstien's lab (for they have alot of drilling tools they use to clean teeth), seeing some guy blowing out smoke from his nose (it was like “the Island of Sodor existed inside of him”), a beggar with (literally) no eyes and at times where the sky was so polluted, the sun looked like a giant white circle (don’t expect Porky Pig to pop out), it was stressful and unbearable to see and watch.
However, whenever you arrive in Nepal, best you befriend the Nepali people that work at the KAT CENTRE, the employees at the American Club (Phora) and Vet for your Pet, and Hotels/suites (for they have experience in talking with foreigners from other countries and don’t view them as just “rich people”), just be careful on who you trust. Plus I was shocked to learn that my friend (Mr. N.Oliver) has a sister who’s now currently in Nepal for reasons unknown, she must be like “Silver Sable (Picture: Top Right Corner)”, perhaps she has more travel experience and knows better on who to trust...
Hopefully, this traveling post-experience will be inspired my dear friend (K!) to encourage churches to do more mission trips within Katmandu, sprinkle some of that Blue Fairy Magic on both orphans and stray dogs, plus encourage Pilot Kotyuk to see if he’s willing to come to my aid (wonder if traveling to the other side of the world is on his list)...
(Check out the KAT Centre Website to see see what you can do to help)
So until My Next Travelling Post, Ethan Stranger Signs off (with Music):
"I faced it all (while in Nepal) and I stood tall, and did it My Way" (after all...)
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