Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Rain at Last!


Every year the dry season brings problems to Nepal, but this year has been exceptional. Depending on who you ask, there has been no rain in Kathmandu for 4 to 6 months. Of course this causes problems with crops and means that fewer wells have water. With terrible pollution from decrepit vehicles and slash-and-burn agriculture, lack of rainfall also results in a thick layer of pollution hanging in the air throughout the Kathmandu valley. As you might imagine, respiratory infections are common here.

Furthermore, all of Nepal's electricity comes from hydroelectric power, so the dry season also brings a shortage of electricity. The situation is so bad this year that electricity is only available for a few hours each day. To make matters worse, these precious "white-ins," as I call them, often occur after midnight. There is no real schedule to all of this, so everyone (including businesses that rely on electricity) has to play a guessing game. Ironically, it is Nepal's cities that receive the fewest hours of electricity each day. For instance, Kathmandu only had about 4 hours of electricity while we were awake; there was often another 4 hours while we slept.

Sadly, there is more to Nepal's electricity problem than just a lack of water. I am told that many hydro-electric plants are out of commission due to poor maintenance. Furthermore, during the recent Maoist revolution, insurgents destroyed power plants. Now that they are the ruling party, the Maoists are suffering from their own sabotage; they refuse to fix the problem, as they blame the previous party for not fixing it earlier. Lastly, part of Nepal's limited electricity is being supplied to India, as a method of repaying past debts.


For all of these reasons, people have been hoping and praying for rain, and you can imagine their joy when the first rain in six months finally came! Katrina and I were lucky enough to be in Patan's Durbar Square on our way to dinner when the lightning started. I hurried back to the guesthouse to grab my camera gear, and poor Katrina was left holding a box of take-away momo's while her obsessive husband ran around hoping to catch lightning flashes with long exposures.

The rain finally came down in force and we had to take shelter by squeezing against the palace wall with a number of other people. Then the hail came. Fortunately, this was not the baseball-sized hail that had caused fatalities last year, but it came in buckets! During a brief respite in the storm, Katrina and I high-tailed it for the shelter of a restaurant. We dined by candlelight (both romantic and a necessity!) while the skies opened up again and hail came down so fiercely that the restaurant's courtyard started to look like an ice skating rink.

After the rain stopped again, we quickly paid our bill (needless to say, I tipped our poor waiter rather heavily) and headed for the guesthouse. In the square, people were celebrating the coming of rain, and kids were excitedly splashing around and throwing fist-fulls of hail. The streets were now ankle-deep rivers of rushing ice water, but we were able to edge our way down the narrow raised sidewalks, and arrived at the hotel with miraculously dry feet. To top it all off, there was electricity waiting for us! (Talk about a trifecta.)

That was our last night in Nepal, and we are now in Thailand, where last night it rained for the first time in months -- just call me "Rain Maker!"

Friday, March 13, 2009

A Restaurant for Vultures?

Bob's "glamor" shot
It's not easy being an ugly, bald scavenger. Vultures have an image problem that is difficult to overcome. Unfortunately, this negative image is working against them at a time when several species of Asian vultures are at great risk of going extinct. In the past fifteen years or so, the population of the Gyps vultures (white-back, slender-billed and long-billed) has dropped at a frightening rate in India, Nepal and Pakistan. An estimated 99.8% of the population has vanished during this time; that means that for every 500 Gyps vultures alive 15 years ago, there is now only one.

Kevin rules the roost at Maya Devi

The problem has been traced back to the anti-inflammatory drug, Diclofenac, which is used as a painkiller for both livestock and people. Because it can get a sick animal up and working quickly, farmers regard Diclofenac as a miracle drug. Unfortunately, this "miracle drug" is lethal to Gyps vultures. When an animal dies shortly after treatment with Diclofenac, the vultures that feed on the carcass will also die. Since vultures feed in large groups, one carcass containing Diclofenac will result in the death of scores of vultures. The dwindling number of vultures in Asia means that carcasses are being left to rot, increasing the risk of spread of disease.

Bob in his element over Pokhara, Nepal

Fortunately, there are some reasons for hope. Meloxicam is a drug that can be used instead of Diclofenac and does not harm vultures (or other birds that it has been tested on). The problem, however, is that Meloxicam is slightly more expensive and is more difficult to administer than Diclofenac. Moreover, Meloxicam doesn't work as quickly or as well as the drug it is replacing. This makes it difficult to convince poor farmers with little education that the long-term benefits of preserving vultures are worthwhile. It’s especially difficult convincing the farmers about the problem because they don’t see any vultures; they often say, "Save the vultures? What vultures?"

Thermal Surfing

Diclofenac has been banned for veterinary use in countries including Nepal, India and Pakistan, and there has been an effort to buy up and remove the remaining stock of the drug. However, it is still legal for human use and thus is available in pharmacies. Since prescriptions are not needed to buy drugs in many countries in Asia, a farmer can still easily acquire Diclofenac to use on his animals.

Kiran helps out with the vultures before school

One of the methods of encouraging farmers not to use Diclofenac has been through the creation of "vulture restaurants." Under this scheme, sick livestock are purchased from farmers, which are then treated humanely (Meloxicam is administered, if needed) and the animals are allowed to live out their days in a field. When they die, they are taken to the vulture restaurant where they provide a safe meal for the vultures.

Kevin and Anita - Is she really going out with him?
Although I know something about birds of prey and spend quite a bit of my time photographing them, I was unaware that vultures were critically endangered in Asia. I learned about the situation from Scott Mason, who, in addition to being the inventor of parahawking (the hybrid sport combining paragliding and falconry), also runs Himalayan Raptor Rescue, a conservation scheme initiated by the charity Himalayan Nature. In order to raise awareness of the critical situation faced by vultures, Scott provides lectures to tour groups, and gives them a chance to spend time getting to know his two vultures, Bob and Kevin. Few people get a chance to experience vultures in such an up-close and personal way. Participants consistently comment on how charming, amusing, and almost dog-like the vultures are; they often and leave with a new appreciation for these much maligned animals.

Another tourist falls for Kevin's charms

Donations to Himalayan Raptor Rescue go directly to the rescue and rehabilitation of birds of prey, as well as toward starting a vulture restaurant in Pokhara, Nepal. If you are interested in learning more, making a donation, or perhaps, becoming a vulture restaraunteur, you can find more information on www.parahawking.com.

Hey, this vulture restaurant has a take out window!

Parahawking!

Imagine floating in a paraglider in Nepal with the distinctive point of Macchapucchare behind you. Could it possibly get any better than that?

Yes it can! Scott Mason has done just that by combining his two passions: falconry and paragliding. Scott uses rescue birds to find the thermals that make for excellent paragliding.

Birds wind up in Scott's care because they have been injured, they fell out of the nest, their nest was cut down, or they were kept as pets. When possible, the birds are returned to the wild. Those that are too badly injured or too tame to be set free, are still cared for, exercised daily and kept in Scott's ever-expanding group of aviaries. The ones that cannot be returned to the wild, but are capable of training, get a new job: Parahawking!

Bob, an Egyptian Vulture, has been called in for mid-air refueling.

And he's off again, locating thermals to keep our paraglider aloft... and to earn more snacks!

Both vultures race in for a snack from Katrina's hand - looks like Kevin won that round! Better luck next time, Bob.

Fish Farms, Pokhara
Of course, the views from the air are nothing short of stunning...


... but, to be able to live the ancient dream of soaring, literally, with the birds, is unbeatable!

The end of a very good day!

Approaching the landing field. Run water buffalo, run!

After we land safely, local kids earn extra income packing up our gliders.

Woo-hoo!
And here's the guy who kept me alive: Brad Sander, who set the world record for altitude in a paraglider - over 25,000 feet! But everyone who was at last week's costume party just knows him as Bond. James Bond.

Just hangin' with our pals

To learn more about parahawking and raptor conservation, visit Scott Mason's website: www.parahawking.com

For some amazing pictures, see Katrina Keating's parahawking blogs on her site
www.katrinakphotography.blogspot.com

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Patan, Nepal

Durbar Square
Patan is only about 2 Kilometers from Kathmandu, but it is a world apart. I'm sad to say that K-K-K-K-K-K-Kathmandu is not what one envisions when listening to Bob Seger's song. I'm told that it was a paradise, but that was 30+ years ago. These days, Kathmandu is a noisy, dirty, polluted and rather charmless sprawl that nobody is too fond of.

By contrast, Patan is more relaxed, less touristy and has preserved many of its amazing buildings, thanks in part to UNESCO support. Happily, we skipped Kathmandu and went straight to Patan from the airport.

We stayed in a beautifully restored, traditional Newari house (not pictured here). A great place run by lovely people - the same family that has owned the building for over 200 years! The only drawback is that the ceilings are about 5'8" tall (oh, my back!) and the doorways are much lower (oh, my head!).

Pigeons of Patan

You talkin' to me?


Gentlemen of Patan

Street sweeper and trainee

Girl and Prayer Wheel, Golden Temple

Monkey Statue and Chain, Golden Temple

The origins of ayurvedic massage?

During the dry season people must carry water from the well

Patan Palace Courtyard

Dogs: Sacred and Otherwise

Durbar Square "Skyline"


Colorful Rituals of Nepal:


Novice and Monk, Golden Temple

Usually, photographs are not allowed of this ritual. For some reason the monk took a shine to me and gave me permission. He also sprinkled holy water on me and gave me a flower which is meant to bring good fortune. My "guide," an entertaining itinerant man named Vishnu, was very surprised at all of this and kept telling me how lucky I was.

Examples of Newari Architecture:





Time to say namaste

Monday, March 9, 2009

More Pictures from Rajasthan

Posing with a Hookah

Despite having some very negative experiences in Rajasthan, it is a fascinating part of the world, and we did meet many wonderful people. Here are some more pictures of our time there.

Note: Unfortunately, due to a really bad internet connection, I cannot see what pictures these are (I uploaded them last week). I titled the few that I could see. Still, I shouldn't complain; having both electricity and internet at the same time in Nepal takes an alignment of the planets!







Chai Break



Old man in the market, Jodhpur

Hayride in Rajasthan







A clever ox-powered irrigation system, seen all over in the countryside


A meeting of the minds

Basket weaver, Udaipur

OMG! I love shopping!

Woman in Market, Udaipur

Musician in a wedding procession

Musician performing traditional music of Rajasthan

Acrobats Performing outside of Udaipur