-
- "The sublime and the ridiculous are so
-
- often nearly related, that it is difficult
-
- to class them separately. One step above
-
- the sublime makes the ridiculous, and one
-
- step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again."
-
- -Thomas Paine
-
-
-
- Mount Everest rises 29,035 feet into the sky over Nepal.
-Its Nepalese name Chumolungma means "Earth Mother."
-
- For me, this -culture was a dramatic change from anything
I had ever- experienced. Riding through the streets on my bicycle in-
Kathmandu, Bachtapu and Patan was distressing to my sense of -balance.
These cities thrive with human misery beyond most- westerners' comprehension.
Even for those who have enough to- eat, the squalid conditions of great
numbers of people left me- gasping for understanding. Children with deformed
bones and- bodies looked up with pathetic eyes and uplifted hands for a
few -rupees from passersby. Trash and garbage lay everywhere in a- profusion
of chaos. Freshly killed chicken and water buffalo -meat were presented
to the public on wooden tables in the street,- accompanied by a cloud of
flies. In a short time, I had to- swallow my sense of trying to understand
this strange land, and- accept it. Otherwise I would have been emotionally
torn to- pieces.
-
- One of the good things in Kathmandu was the
cheap price for -lodging. I met Lance Hill an Australian push-bike rider
at the- Star Hotel. We stayed a week, exploring the nooks and crannies-
of the city. Bright colors were everywhere. Women's' costumes brightened
the market bazaar with reds, oranges, greens and- yellows. Temples featured
Buddha's eyes glaring at every person -walking by. Vendors offered an
array of fruits and vegetables we -had never seen. Merchants displayed
metal works, cloth and -beads along the streets. Boys on tricycle taxis
stared at us -when we passed. The poverty overwhelmed us, but Lance pointed
-out that it wasn't any different than inner city New York. He- was
right. Nearly every society has poignant forms of human- misery.
-
- We decided to ride to Pokara about 180 miles
away. That city -was the beginning of many major trekking routes into
the -Himalayan mountains of Nepal. The climb out of Kathmandu was a- killer.
Combine altitude with steep grades, and my lungs -gasped for oxygen.
My legs suffered too.
-
- The second day into the ride, we stopped along
a river to -watch a funeral (on the other side of the water) of a young
-Sherpa boy who had died from a fall. His family had placed him -on top
of a pile of sticks. He was bound in linen, except for- his face, which
was covered later. People walked by his body to -pay their respects.
His parents gave his belongings to- relatives. They sang a song of celebration.
No one seemed to be -sad during the ceremony. Finally, they covered the
boy's face -before throwing more sticks on top of his body and lit a fire.
-It quickly consumed the corpse. After it was thoroughly burned,- several
men used poles to throw the remains into the river.
-
- "I reckon that's the most sensible way
to finish a bloke's -time on this earth," Lance said. "That's
the way it's supposed to -be anyway. That's the way I'm going."
-
- "That makes two of us," I said. "I
can't see taking up a lot -of room after I'm gone anyway."
-
- What we had seen was one of the most natural
ways to dispose- the dead. The longer I stayed in Asia, the more I understood
-their customs. They may be thought of as Third World, but they -live
in sublime connection with the nature. Their lives are- basic to the earth,
in balance with it. I felt a new kind of -peacefulness in Nepal, a sense
of present moment living-in -harmony with life.
-
- Two days later, we rolled into Pokara. Around
us, stunning- mountain scenery with snow-covered peaks jutted into a clear
blue -sky. The sun's intensity bore down on us and we were hungry as -we
moved into the city center.
-
- "Let's get a good hot meal," Lance
suggested, as we rolled- through the dirt streets.
-
- "There's a place that looks as good as
any," I said,- motioning off to our left.
-
- "Let's do it," Lance added.
-
- We stacked the bikes in tandem against the
glass windows of -the restaurant. Stacking made theft more difficult.
We could -never allow our bikes to be not watched for a second. Gear-
vanished when unattended.
-
- Lance had a table before I walked into the
cafe. Wooden- tables and chairs were the only furniture on a dirt floor.
I- threw my camera down on the seat next to me. A bearded fellow -came
over to take our order. We asked for Dahl Bott, a rice, -bean and leaf
green food plate. It was the standard staple fore-most people in Nepal.
They allowed extra helpings which was the -custom. It was less than 50
cents a meal. Add some unleavened -bread, and we were happy riders.
-
- - When our waiter walked away, a thin, white
turban covered -man dressed in a linen Serapis walked through the door
carrying a- stick over his shoulder. At the end of it, hung a medium sized-
wicker basket secured with rope. The Indian man sat down ten- feet away
from us. He placed the basket in front of his folded -legs. At first,
we didn't pay much attention, but then something- caught Lance's eye.
-
- "Bloody hell mate," he blurted out,
pointing down at the -man.
-
- "Look at that thing flare up," I
gasped. "Is this a joke? -Look how big it is! Hey Lance, that damn
thing's coming our -way."
-
- Before us, slithering ever closer, a six foot
long, fully -flared cobra held our complete, undivided and total attention.
-It kept moving closer, flicking its tongue. We sat there, a -captive
audience of two, looking into the snake's eyes, -transfixed by the motion,
solidly riveted to our chairs.
-
- "What's the deal here?" I spoke ever
so clearly. "This guy -would be arrested back home."
-
- "We're not home," came Lance's sobering
reply.
-
- I was transfixed by the snake. It crawled
across the dirt- floor of the restaurant toward us. What were we supposed
to do? -Nothing in my life ever prepared me for being in this scene. I
-was taken by surprise, unable to react. This stuff happens with- Indiana
Jones in the Temple of Doom, but not to a couple of small- town bicycle
riders. Right? Wrong!
-
- Seconds later, because we hadn't responded,
the man let the -snake crawl to within 24 inches of our legs, which brought
an -immediate response from both of us. We leaped up, sticking the- chairs
in front of us to fend off the cobra.
-
- "What's the next move?" I asked,
totally confused.
-
- "No moves at all, unless you wanna' die,"
Lance said.
-
- "What IS this guy's problem?"
-
- As if to help us understand, the man thrust
his free hand- into the air with a few pieces of rupees.
-
- "Money, ah yes, the bottom line, he wants
money," Lance- said.
-
- "Here, give 'em whatever he wants!"
I said.
-
- At that point, I would give him my last dime,
just to save- our lives. This was extortion by terror. We slapped a pocketful
-of coins onto the chair and shoved it toward him. He grabbed the -money,
then gripped the snake by the back of the head and shoved- it into the
basket. Seconds later, he tied the knot, stood up- and walked out to the
street, vanishing quickly into the crowd.- It happened so fast, my cocked
camera lay on the table, leaving -me with the only pictures--in my mind.
-
- Excerpts from: Bicycling Around the World: Tire Tracks
for Your Imagination by Frosty Wooldridge, Copies available: 1 888 280
7715 <http://www.frostywooldridge.com>www.frostywooldridge.com
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