closure

this blog has now closed indefinitely.

brief announcement

that we won't have internet access for at least the next week, so unfortunately this well of information is going to run even drier. i apologise but what i can say is that delhi was really scary at first with all the tourist offices pouncing and clawing, desperate for you to part with your money. was a real turn off.

until later we found a nice agency with people who actually listened, from where we are hiring a driver to take us around the state of rajasthan, and also agra to where the taj mahal is situated. pictures, stories and misadventures to be had and told.

wish us luck, because so far that's how we've gotten by.

love, keegs and lee.

physio in nepal

I know its been a while but recently we’ve been so short of time to fit all our souvenir shopping, sightseeing and clinics that we’ve exhausted ourselves come dusk. Its really hard to believe that in a what we first thought would be relaxing holiday is instead characterised by short bursts of extreme activity. Details on that next time…

Physiotherapy in nepal has been a real eyeopener. We began our placement at kanti children’s hospital, where we deal with cerebral palsy, torticolis, spina bifida and
brachial plexus injuries. There is only a single room where one senior physio and another physio assistant work, the former the only one really qualified with 4 years of study in india under her belt, while the latter, a local cert level only. The whole experience was very boring because there were hardly any babies to treat due to the winter cold (so parents don’t want to take their sick kids out which is silly), and the few that did were only mild cases. The physios seem to take a very passive role in educating the parents, and the only treatment administered is some passive movement of the arms and legs to deal with spasticity. Uninspiring stuff.

Hence countless hours went into playing connect four, drawing on our notebooks, playing hangman, noughts and crosses.

Beside kanti there is a another hospital called the tribuvan university teaching hospital, where thankfully there were many more interesting patients. Back home cases such as bell’s palsy (facial paralysis) and amputees are few and far between, but seen daily here. Few patients spoke english so it was difficult to obtain a history of their condition, whilst some had conditions lasting several years before even coming for physio, perhaps because physiotherapy is only 20 years old here. I was told many come from villages outside kathmandu, but are dedicated enough to turn up for daily treatment. It is really inefficient that all the patients they get are seen every day, when education and an exercise program more than fulfils the role of daily physiotherapist contact. The ‘qualified’ physios study in india before returning to nepal because no such degree exists here, and the other physios that work, while still qualified locally, need only a 3 year cert level to practise. Hopefully through mingling and sharing of ideas between the two qualifications, the disparity of knowledge will bridge.

[Fact: the most a nepalese physio can earn is 40000Rs (AUD800). So many have two or more jobs.]

What we found very prevalent here is the reliance on electrotherapy, which is the use of ultrasound, hotpacks, wax bath, infrared and other adjunct modalities to hasten healing. While well-meaning, this overuse of such modalities often is unnecessary but physios here tell us that there are so many patients that there is just no other way. Pity really, because when patients are referred for physio a tiny A5 card accompanies them, containing only their diagnosis and directions given by the doctors under which the physios robotically follow without knowing why or challenging them. As such there is little time spent on proper assessment, which really is half the treatment.

As it stands we only have a couple of days remaining with this hospital, during which we are planning to educate and to poke at their brains to get their minds ticking a little more, such that they may lift the profile of physiotherapy to the same standards of autonomy us australian physios enjoy.

It is an absolute shopping haven here in Nepal and it is so much fun shopping is rupees, but only if you know where and how. We were firstly introduced to the supposed best shopping district called Thamel, the central city of Kathmandu city. Just like the Melbourne CBD, this small city is packed with foreigners, relatively expensive hotels and food, and over priced merchandise. Foreign to the country and with sufficient amounts of spending money (during the first few days), we had wrongly thought Thamel was the place to shop and ended up purchasing goods for double the usual retail price. Only until now we realise the smaller towns located a few streets away from us sell the best and cheapest equivalent goods as those of the bigger districts. Smarter shoppers we are now.

Shopping is hardly an experience unless you bargain, and when you forget to bargain (as Keegan learnt the hard way), you feel ripped-off and miserable for the rest of the day. It is a safe assumption that as foreigners, we are always told prices double that of what a Nepali would pay. So bargain we must. We have learnt to hassle sellers and sales people at every opportunity to get the lowest price possible, no matter what the starting price is. I have managed to buy a 100% cashmere jumper for 1200Rs (AU25) from the intial ‘fixed’ price of 2500Rs. At one stage, we even tried lowering the price of a few hand-made purses which only really costed us an equivalent of one aussie dollar. Ridiculous, I know, but it adds so much more favour and fun to the shopping, paritcularly so when they speak nepali and we speak english.

More on shopping next time ‘cause time is running out in 2 minutes.

Miss home.

Ties that bind

Having spent the last week laying low, we’ve managed to fully recover from our terrible bout of gastro. We’ve spent a lot of money lately getting around by taxi since we didn’t know the area so well, but now we’re beginning to take risks on buses we can’t read the numbers to, and avoid the heavily congested main roads in favour of sidestreets.

We visited Pashupathinath Temple, which is a hindu temple where hindus send their deceased family members to get cremated. We had to pay a tourist entry fee which always annoys me, despite the fact that we don’t look that foreign. But they know. Its probably the way we carry ourselves – all cautious and protective, and armed with a camera doesn’t help either!

On that topic, my camera is still serving me well although I hate that it’s so silvery and shiny which always attracts unwanted attention, especially as I always desire that candid, natural composition. Grr…

The temple itself was magnificent, even more glorified by the gentle glows offered by the waning evening sun. We were shown around by this tourist guide who we initially refused services from but he kept tagging along and tossing up interesting comments such that we were hooked and had to have him come along for the ride. We were told that in such holy places to walk only clockwise though I regret not asking why. The temple is banked up by a small river and a cliff punctured by caves. In those caves live shy holy men who, unlike commercial holy men who are gaudlily dressed in hues of oranges and yellows, do not offer to have their picture taken for a nominal fee. (Bleah. We go cheated into paying for a nice group shot at the temple). But that was a really interesting visit to say the least.

Back on home turf we are very much settled in, having gotten used to the Nepali way of life. Typically Nepali people only eat twice a day : once in the morning and then again in the evening. We are yet to adjust our demanding stomachs to this routine, which we are slowly in the process of assimilating with a good supply of biscuits and chips for lunch. At meal times we eat a lot of rice (bhat) and lentils (dhal), and combination of other things like spinach, potatoes, beans, and some spicy condiments alongside for that extra kick. As with the muslims, we are only permitted to eat with our right hand, and when we want another serve of something, the serving spoon must not touch the plate. Nepalese people enjoy picked chilli which is like the indian achaar, but I think it’s more salty here.

Our host and hostess have a 17year old daughter and a 22 year old son. The daughter is starting her last year of high school soon whilst the latter is preparing to head to the US for further university studies. Both seem really friendly and welcoming, which must be testament to the number of visitors this family has been accomodating since 1992. Just two nights ago we played Cheat/bluff with two decks of cards, which brought tears of die hard laughter to our eyes everytime they try to bluff and we catch them out. Equally amusing was the game of Murderer where he who is it has to wink at other players without getting caught by the Detective. It made missing home more bearable.

As a very connected person, I especially miss not having a television to watch, but it turned out that our host family has cable tv! Most, however, are Indian channels bursting with Bollywood / pseudo American cum Indian music videos, but blessed are we for CNN, ESPN, StarWorld and Discovery – truly spoilt to the core!

I hate heaps more to say, but my internet time’s running out. Stay tuned for hearing about shopping in Nepal! Suba Ratri! (good night)

namaste!

firstly i am really relieved that there is accessible internet in nepal, if not then i don't know how i'll cope. forgive me for the lack of capitalisation and spelling because internet is charged by the hour (10rs, not expensive) and the keyboard is really crappy.

anyway, en route to thailand as stopover, we met alex, a really interesting guy who in his 60s has travelled to nepal extensively and told us that nepal is a beautiful country and has friendly people. true enough when we land in nepal it was such a shock to the system since there was rubbish everywhere and hordes of people trying to get you into their taxis, and the whole reception was overwhelming chaotic.

finally we met the people who were really out to receive us, and were whisked away to thamel, the major tourist area where the main office to our organisation was situated. it was scary though, how people flock towards you for money/tips, so vigilance was a must. upon arrival at the main office, we met up with ram silwal, who organised this for us, including a host family stay for about 3 weeks and a week of trekking.

that night, we were so overzealous that we went ourt shopping immediately, and i bought some thermal underwear whereas leanne (sciurine) bought a pashmina (like cashmere) jumper, some less revealing clothes and other essentials such as a nepalese phrasebook. the water here by tap is not safe to drink at all costs, and even boiled water is somewhat precarious. we had dinner at a rooftop restaurant that night.

we met Ganesh at a clothing store, a 21 year old salesman who happened to have quite a good commmand of english, and it turned out that he wrote occasionally on the topic of nepalese politics. we jotted down his address and realised that he live close to the hospital at which we are going to do our placement so maybe a visit to his place in due time.

the host family turned out to be the most hospitable people we've met so far, and were already accustomed to having visitors of other nationalities. at present there are two other dutch medical students staying with us, one just came back from trekking due to acute mountain sickness and the other leaving tomorrow. the rooms are well kept and i think the family must be quite well off to live in a such close location to the city. the house is like really really basic penthouse style: downstairs is where the family stays and upstairs, us. they also have satellite tv, which has become a real comfort thing, along with our own magazines we bought from melbourne airport, so that we feel less alienated and alone.

of late leanne and i got acute gastroenteritis, and we're both recovering from it. i got hit worse than she did but we saw a travel doctor and were given antibiotics so we should be fine in no time. i am still having some diarrhoea though, and we hadnt eaten properly. the doctor recommended we eat sweet/salty food like chips to keep electrolytes up, and some juice or sweetened tea. guess we weren't careful enough in our enthusiasm to try out new nepalese food. we are going to report this soon so we can claim it back from travel insurance.

the traffic here is pretty crazy, as is the amount of noise/air pollution. there does not seem to a clear system, especially at intersections, and there is no clear pavement to walk on either. hence we share the road with two lane traffic each in either direction, flanked by people walking along the edges. everyone honks more out of habit than necessity, which can be very annoying when trying to nap. the streets are full of peddlers and tiny shops with equally tiny shopkeepers, either squatting or amid squalid interiors, and we were quite shocked to see, at least in some pockets, people selling whole fish and whole pigs at room temperature, using only a stick and some plastic bags attached to flag away the offending flies.

just so you know, we are also five hours behind australia, so that makes it three hours behind singapore. we've been sleeping non stop ever since we got sick, and the fact that work hours begin at 9 to about 2pm encourage that. haha. the days and nights stretch and overlap over one another; we, very much disoriented, but we're managing to adjust.

unfortunately due to the lack of fast internet i shall not attempt to post up pictures, but i will try and update everyone here as soon as possible. miss you all.

The lowdown

Hello my friends.

Welcome to Of Black Tiffin, the latest series to have spun off from Chai not only to satisfy my designing urges but also to keep people posted about my 2 month trip to Nepal, India, Thailand and Singapore. Of Black Tiffin occurred to me while I was brainstorming for a theme that not only incorporated some of the flavour I was going to, but also to be sustainable enough to last for other trips, provided that I can recover gainfully from my dire bankruptcy.

The tiffin box has long piqued my interest, not only for its brilliant design, but also for its immeasurable uses. It keeps everything tightly sealed, compartmentalised, to reveal one cohesive meal or snack (as tiffin literally translates to) bound to be more than the sum of its parts. Asia is similar in this respect - binding all the tastes and cultures of each country into a (somewhat) harmonious whole, with each box full of surprises awaiting!

Anyhow, Nepal is where I shall begin my journey - where I shall be spending one month doing a physiotherapy hospital placement. During my stay I shall be living with a host family, the host being my supervisor at the hospital, which should make things either very convenient, or very annoying.

This is followed by a one week trek in the Annapurna Region, which is west to Basecamp (Everest). It is supposedly more fun and to my knowledge, slightly harder than that to Basecamp, during which it would be difficult, if not impossible, to post.

But the fun begins right after Nepal, when we are due to fly into India, the world's second most populous country. We shall be traversing large expanses of land, ranging from the cooler tropics of New Delhi, Amritsar and Agra to the scorching deserts of Osian. Much excitement awaits.

Bangalore is our final stop in India, before we jetaway to Bangkok, Thailand where my travelling partner and I will go our separate ways. This is because of our differences in sun fondness. She is the sunworshipper, while I like to think myself as more of a shady character.

This trip has taken many months of planning, and this blog, many hours of jiggling, but I think it's all going to be worth it. :)