I just have one week until my triumphant return to the States. I can barely wait. I am looking forward to seeing Jenna, Ronin (my dog), my friends, and family. Not to mention I am excited for American movies, food, and beer. I am also looking forward to my short time in Amsterdam. On my way to the States I am spending a couple days in Amsterdam to sight see. Who knows if I will ever see Amsterdam again, right? So why not?
Probably the most eventful thing that has happened since my last post if the I.S.E.R. picnic. Dirgha (the director of the institute) and Meeta (Ph.D. student) had been arguing over the provision of alcohol at the picnic. Dirgha was arguing that the picnic was an opportunity for the staff of the institute to express themselves, so beer and rum was fine. Meeta didn't want hard alcohol at the picnic because she felt it changed the whole dynamic of picnics and perhaps gave the wrong impression to the staff. Needless to say, we had both kinds of alcohol for the picnic. It was a lot fun. We drove a couple of hours from the institute into a wooded area. I thought it would be a quite picturesque place. In fact, it was more the opposite. It was filled with people (mostly high schoolers) and the location was on a degraded hillside. In addition, every picnic group had their own music blaring from giant speakers. After we got our speaker system setup, however, I don't think anybody could compete with the sheer noise they produced. We had a covered area to ourselves. The cook had help from a catering service. Everybody got comfortable and played cards and ate food for awhile. Then we starting playing some games. For instance, in one game everybody tied a balloon around each of their feet and when the timer started they had to scramble and pop everybody's balloons without their own being popped. I didn't last long but it was pretty fun. Then the alcohol came out and things got pretty loose. One thing I learned was that dancing is mandatory at a Nepali picnic. The interesting thing is that no one is self-conscious about it like they would be in the States. Even guys. Usually guys in the US are so afraid to dance. In Nepal, they could barely wait to get up and cut a rug. I was eventually beckoned to dance, and dance I did! They also played another very interesting game. The girls and guys grouped up on opposite sides. Then the microphone was passed around to the guys first and they sang a verse. Then the microphone was passed to the women and the responded with their own verse. As they kept doing this I realized that the verses were being made up on the spot to respond to the previous verse. And all of the responses were flirty and full of insinuations about marriage and so forth. I had no idea what was being said at all most of the time except everynow and then after a particular good response somebody would translate for me. You knew it was a good response when everybody would laugh and mockingly shout at each other. At some point I realized that my friend Alex, a Ph.D. student from San Diego State University, was getting pretty drunk. It happened very fast. We were talking very casually when I noticed that he was spilling his food everywhere. He then starting dancing with abandon which was a clear indicator of inebriation. Around the same time one of the cooks, Rishi, appeared to be astoundingly drunk. He was sitting on the floor and somebody was pouring water on his head. I helped him up and with a friend we drug him to the bus to fall asleep. Eventually, the picnic was packed up and we headed back to the ISER guesthouse. Good times.
My birthday was Nov. 18th. I am now 28 years old. Wow. Most of the people from ISER were Kathmandu and so unfortunately we couldn't have a big celebration as I had hoped. But the cooks came through. They got a cake that said "Happy Birthday Nek Carter". I loved it. They asked what I wanted for dinner and like a child I said pizza and ice cream. We also had some beer to wash everything down. It was a small affair but perfect. The morning of my birthday I received a group call from my friends in Ann Arbor, MI. Jenna had asked a lot of our friends to come to her house. She called me and then everybody wished me a happy birthday at the same time over the speaker. It was awesome and really set the tone for the rest of the week.
Then on Thanksgiving, the cooks made a special meal as well. They work hard to make my stay as pleasant was possible. They made chicken (which I didn't eat because of the whole vegetarian thing -- but the other guests at it), corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, green peas with almonds, and a special vegetarian souffle. This was followed by apple pie with vanilla ice cream! Not bad at all.
My work has been going slowly. I still don't know what the verdict is on my application to camera trap. The application is in the Ministry of Forests and is slowly working its way through the bureaucracy. I hope to know the result before I leave Nepal. I have my fingers crossed. The other aspects of my work are going slowly but surely. Till next time.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Hello friends and family,
Sorry for the long gap in between posts. I must say that it was, in part, deliberate. Since my last posting on October 4th I have been working mostly on my camera trapping application to the wildlife department. I thought that it would be important to get the application submitted before or during the Global Tiger Workshop that was taking place in Kathmandu on October 27-30th. Prior to the workshop a colleague of mine and I started meeting with people (wildlife managers, naturalists) in Chitwan who would have insights on the permission process and also inform us about the general state of tiger conservation in Chitwan. I think we were successful. I met with lots of folks in Chitwan who are quite knowledgeable about tigers and tiger conservation. Then I went to Kathmandu to try and meet with the members of the wildlife department including the Director General. I think I was very successful there as well. I met with the several people from the Department and they gave me some feedback about the application. I got some support letters for the research and submitted the final application just a week ago or so. At any rate, I couldn't bring myself to write a blog when I was so focused on that process. I was also very fortunate to be in Kathmandu for the first couple days of the tiger workshop. I was able to meet with tiger conservationists who I would not have had the opportunity to meet in any other way unless I traveled to their neck of the woods. I met with Dale Miquelle, the program director for Wildlife Conservation Society--Russia. I have been looking forward to meeting him for some time. After I graduated college I cold sent him an email stating what my interests were (tiger conservation) and if he had any volunteering activities for me in Russia! Ha. He actually wrote me back and told me to go to graduate school and keep pursuing my interests. I have written him periodically throughout my graduate schooling and he has always quickly responded with very thoughtful emails. I can honestly say that he is the only person that has ever been so considerate and reliable with his emails. At any rate I feel like he took me under his wing a little at the workshop and introduced me to several other conservationists there. It was great! I made some contacts and learned about global tiger conservation in the process. Before I left Kathmandu I went to the famous and popular Swoyombhu Stupa, also known as Monkey Temple. It is a giant temple for Buddha that sits up on a hill overlooking Kathmandu valley. Its most striking feature are the giant painted buddha eyes on the side of the building. Unfortunately, they were renovating those walls and so I didn't get a chance to see them. Nonetheless, the temple is a fun and interesting place. I took lots of pictures of monkeys running around without a care in the world.
In late October I also experienced the Tihar festival. It is 4 days long and celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. Specifically, the first day is dedicated to crows, the second day to dogs, the third day to cows, and the last day to brothers. No one was at work so I was mostly alone at the guesthouse. However, Rishi, the caretaker, came over once in a while to check in on me and feed me sometimes. He also took me around his neighborhood on his motorcycle. When we pulled up to his house I saw a dog wearing a colorful lei and in between his eyes was a white patch of fur with a bright red streak of dye. This is a tika given to people (and animals apparently) as a blessing. I didn't know about the second day of Tihar being dedicated to dogs so naturally I was tickled pink over the idea of a dog with a lei and a tika. I called Jenna and told her to put a tika on Ronin. Amazingly, the dog in Nepal didn't seem bothered about his accouterments at all. In fact, after watching him some I got the distinct feeling that he knew that day was all about him and he was quite proud of himself. On the 3rd day of Tihar my friend Krishna asked me and Alex (other researcher staying at guesthouse) to come to his house for Tihar. Krishna explained to us that the thing men anticipated the most about Tihar was gambling. Apparently, men play a card game called 'marriage' all day and night in big groups virtually during the entire Tihar festival. We sat in on Krishna and his friends playing. The game is surprisingly complicated. So that night I asked Krishna to teach us how to play. Krishna also told us that gifts are supposed to be exchanged between the brothers and sisters on the last day of Tihar. I was not aware of this and so the next day when Krishna informed us that his wife, Sabitha, would be our 'sister' for the day I immediately went to the market and picked up a little handbag. Most of Krishna's family came over for the celebration. It was lots of fun. I got a traditional Nepali hat from Sabitha in addition to a blessing and the tika (see pictures).
I am now back at the guesthouse working on other aspects of my research. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to do any field work. I am hoping to start a survey about community forest management policies next week which will enable me to get out and about in Chitwan. I have been cooped up in my room a lot working on applications and letters and emails and calling various people. I have also been playing lots of Badminton with several of my colleagues. That has been a blast. In fact, I look forward to it each day. We go out right after the work day and play on a nice court next to the guesthouse. Its good exercise and fun. Till next time. Check out the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/nhcarter07/ and the album is VariousThingsInNepal.
Sorry for the long gap in between posts. I must say that it was, in part, deliberate. Since my last posting on October 4th I have been working mostly on my camera trapping application to the wildlife department. I thought that it would be important to get the application submitted before or during the Global Tiger Workshop that was taking place in Kathmandu on October 27-30th. Prior to the workshop a colleague of mine and I started meeting with people (wildlife managers, naturalists) in Chitwan who would have insights on the permission process and also inform us about the general state of tiger conservation in Chitwan. I think we were successful. I met with lots of folks in Chitwan who are quite knowledgeable about tigers and tiger conservation. Then I went to Kathmandu to try and meet with the members of the wildlife department including the Director General. I think I was very successful there as well. I met with the several people from the Department and they gave me some feedback about the application. I got some support letters for the research and submitted the final application just a week ago or so. At any rate, I couldn't bring myself to write a blog when I was so focused on that process. I was also very fortunate to be in Kathmandu for the first couple days of the tiger workshop. I was able to meet with tiger conservationists who I would not have had the opportunity to meet in any other way unless I traveled to their neck of the woods. I met with Dale Miquelle, the program director for Wildlife Conservation Society--Russia. I have been looking forward to meeting him for some time. After I graduated college I cold sent him an email stating what my interests were (tiger conservation) and if he had any volunteering activities for me in Russia! Ha. He actually wrote me back and told me to go to graduate school and keep pursuing my interests. I have written him periodically throughout my graduate schooling and he has always quickly responded with very thoughtful emails. I can honestly say that he is the only person that has ever been so considerate and reliable with his emails. At any rate I feel like he took me under his wing a little at the workshop and introduced me to several other conservationists there. It was great! I made some contacts and learned about global tiger conservation in the process. Before I left Kathmandu I went to the famous and popular Swoyombhu Stupa, also known as Monkey Temple. It is a giant temple for Buddha that sits up on a hill overlooking Kathmandu valley. Its most striking feature are the giant painted buddha eyes on the side of the building. Unfortunately, they were renovating those walls and so I didn't get a chance to see them. Nonetheless, the temple is a fun and interesting place. I took lots of pictures of monkeys running around without a care in the world.
In late October I also experienced the Tihar festival. It is 4 days long and celebrates the relationship between brothers and sisters. Specifically, the first day is dedicated to crows, the second day to dogs, the third day to cows, and the last day to brothers. No one was at work so I was mostly alone at the guesthouse. However, Rishi, the caretaker, came over once in a while to check in on me and feed me sometimes. He also took me around his neighborhood on his motorcycle. When we pulled up to his house I saw a dog wearing a colorful lei and in between his eyes was a white patch of fur with a bright red streak of dye. This is a tika given to people (and animals apparently) as a blessing. I didn't know about the second day of Tihar being dedicated to dogs so naturally I was tickled pink over the idea of a dog with a lei and a tika. I called Jenna and told her to put a tika on Ronin. Amazingly, the dog in Nepal didn't seem bothered about his accouterments at all. In fact, after watching him some I got the distinct feeling that he knew that day was all about him and he was quite proud of himself. On the 3rd day of Tihar my friend Krishna asked me and Alex (other researcher staying at guesthouse) to come to his house for Tihar. Krishna explained to us that the thing men anticipated the most about Tihar was gambling. Apparently, men play a card game called 'marriage' all day and night in big groups virtually during the entire Tihar festival. We sat in on Krishna and his friends playing. The game is surprisingly complicated. So that night I asked Krishna to teach us how to play. Krishna also told us that gifts are supposed to be exchanged between the brothers and sisters on the last day of Tihar. I was not aware of this and so the next day when Krishna informed us that his wife, Sabitha, would be our 'sister' for the day I immediately went to the market and picked up a little handbag. Most of Krishna's family came over for the celebration. It was lots of fun. I got a traditional Nepali hat from Sabitha in addition to a blessing and the tika (see pictures).
I am now back at the guesthouse working on other aspects of my research. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to do any field work. I am hoping to start a survey about community forest management policies next week which will enable me to get out and about in Chitwan. I have been cooped up in my room a lot working on applications and letters and emails and calling various people. I have also been playing lots of Badminton with several of my colleagues. That has been a blast. In fact, I look forward to it each day. We go out right after the work day and play on a nice court next to the guesthouse. Its good exercise and fun. Till next time. Check out the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/nhcarter07/ and the album is VariousThingsInNepal.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Back from India!
I am back from India! I had a good time. It certainly was an adventure. I had to change plans midway through. I originally was going to Gaumukh (mouth of the Ganges). They required permission to go and I, of course, did not have the permission. Fortunately, I met a fellow traveller who told me about a great hike not far from from Gangotri. I should say a word or two about Tom, the guy I met in Gangotri. He was a breath of fresh air and I was very glad to have met him. He had been a securities trader on Wall Street when he felt compelled to drastically change his lifestyle. He was not happy and knew that there were many other things in life to explore and learn about. He sold most of his possessions. For the last 3 years he and his wife have been living in various countries and immersing themselves in the respective cultures. He is very much into trekking and everywhere he and his wife went he would go trekking for long periods of time by himself. They have lived in several countries including Samoa, Indonesia, Nepal, and India. Probably more but those were the ones I remember. He (and his wife apparently) is very spiritual and it seems to me that he is attracted to the ascetic lifestyle of a guru who pursues higher consciousness by shedding the material lifestyle. We had a long conversation about such issues while waiting in Gangotri to find out about permission. I think it takes lots of guts to make life-altering decisions such as the one Tom made. Lots of people are confronted with decisions such as these and choose to take the easier (but ultimately less satisfying) route.
The new destination, recommended to me by Tom, was Dodital. This is supposed to be the site where Ganesh, a major figure in Hinduism, was born. It is about 3300 meters up and is basically a pretty little lake that rests up against mountains. One could continue up the mountains over the pass and continue trekking. While hiking up to the Dodital I stayed in Agore the first night. It was a little village on the mountain side. It was incredibly picturesque and idyllic. I stayed in a great resthouse. After arriving at the resthouse the woman of the establishment made me some delicious food and prepared my room in between periods of threshing. It had a great view and was accented with rose bushes in the front yard area.
The second day to Dodital was 16km. It was a great hike and saw some wildlife. Notably, I came across a troop of Common Langurs. That is new! I was fed at a little 'daba' which is a shelter for travelers which may or may not have somebody there to make food. What I discovered was how easy it is to backpack/trek in this region. You don't really have to bring food or a tent. They have little villages and dabas everywhere that can provide food and shelter. In fact, in places like this, providing shelter and food is probably a great source of local revenue. Once in Dodital, I stayed in the temple dedicated to Ganesh for one night. The monk came to me and asked me to stay there and told me it was free of charge. He prayed for me. He prayed at the tiny alter all day and ate very little. That is a tough life. The next day I went up to the pass (Darwa Pass) to see the view. It was only 5km from Dodital but it was a really tough hike for me. It went up to 4150m. I saw some lots of eagles. In fact, on several occasions, a combination of eagles and vultures got REALLY close to me. I got to thinking that they were just waiting until I keeled over. I was having to stop to catch my breath every few minutes and they were probably thinking that I was good meat. hehe. I stayed another night in Dodital this time at a really pleasant daba. The guy who ran it always had a fire going and was cooking food constantly for other travelers. It was comfortable staying there.
Then I had to go 22km and roughly 2km (6,000 ft) back down the mountain. That was a tough hike and my new boots did a number on my heels. The next couple days were a mess of buses, trains, and automobiles to get me back to India/Nepal border. All in all, I had a blast and am glad that I had the opportunity to explore north eastern (state of Uttarakhand) India. I will post pictures soon at the picasa web album site (http://picasaweb.google.com/nhcarter07).
Now it is time to take care of business!
The new destination, recommended to me by Tom, was Dodital. This is supposed to be the site where Ganesh, a major figure in Hinduism, was born. It is about 3300 meters up and is basically a pretty little lake that rests up against mountains. One could continue up the mountains over the pass and continue trekking. While hiking up to the Dodital I stayed in Agore the first night. It was a little village on the mountain side. It was incredibly picturesque and idyllic. I stayed in a great resthouse. After arriving at the resthouse the woman of the establishment made me some delicious food and prepared my room in between periods of threshing. It had a great view and was accented with rose bushes in the front yard area.
The second day to Dodital was 16km. It was a great hike and saw some wildlife. Notably, I came across a troop of Common Langurs. That is new! I was fed at a little 'daba' which is a shelter for travelers which may or may not have somebody there to make food. What I discovered was how easy it is to backpack/trek in this region. You don't really have to bring food or a tent. They have little villages and dabas everywhere that can provide food and shelter. In fact, in places like this, providing shelter and food is probably a great source of local revenue. Once in Dodital, I stayed in the temple dedicated to Ganesh for one night. The monk came to me and asked me to stay there and told me it was free of charge. He prayed for me. He prayed at the tiny alter all day and ate very little. That is a tough life. The next day I went up to the pass (Darwa Pass) to see the view. It was only 5km from Dodital but it was a really tough hike for me. It went up to 4150m. I saw some lots of eagles. In fact, on several occasions, a combination of eagles and vultures got REALLY close to me. I got to thinking that they were just waiting until I keeled over. I was having to stop to catch my breath every few minutes and they were probably thinking that I was good meat. hehe. I stayed another night in Dodital this time at a really pleasant daba. The guy who ran it always had a fire going and was cooking food constantly for other travelers. It was comfortable staying there.
Then I had to go 22km and roughly 2km (6,000 ft) back down the mountain. That was a tough hike and my new boots did a number on my heels. The next couple days were a mess of buses, trains, and automobiles to get me back to India/Nepal border. All in all, I had a blast and am glad that I had the opportunity to explore north eastern (state of Uttarakhand) India. I will post pictures soon at the picasa web album site (http://picasaweb.google.com/nhcarter07).
Now it is time to take care of business!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
To India!!
Well, this will be my last entry before leaving to India for about 8 days. I am traveling to Gangotri. About 18Km from Gangotri up in the mountains (foothills of Himalayas) is the mouth of the Ganges river which feeds most of the Indian subcontinent. The Ganges originates from a glacier and I believe (but don't quote me) is the largest snow/ice fed river in the world. Naturally, it is one of the holiest spots for hindus and has a rich origin myth that I will describe in more detail after I come back. It is also one of the four pilgrimage sites for devout hindus. I believe there is a famous temple built in Gangotri in the mid 18th century to celebrate the river as well. I chose to go here after talking to my friend Luke. He spent a year (?) or more traveling throughout India and learning about the culture. He recommended going to Gangotri and I didn't have to deliberate very hard. The point that sold me was that I would need to hike through the mountains for a couple days to reach the site where the river originates. I think this will be very exciting. I just spoke with Bivash Pandav, the big cat specialist from WWF-Nepal, and he is from that area. He said that the hike is gorgeous and that you can see lots of critters. In fact there are actually tigers in the area. Woo-hoo! I think he means nearby not exactly where I will be. Unfortunately, it takes an all night train ride and all day bus ride to get to Gangotri. But hopefully I will get a chance to see some of the Indian country side.
I am writing this from Kathmandu again. I few days ago I came up from Chitwan because there was a possibility that I would be able to have that mystical meeting the Director General of the DNPWC to discuss my tiger camera proposal. Invariably, I was not able to have that meeting. In the meantime, I have been working on a proposal to fund the survey portion of my research. I went shopping yesterday for a few things. Got something for my friend, my mom (sorry mom can't tell you), and myself. I got a great small painting of the goddess of wisdom which I thought was fitting (hehe). I am staying in a different hotel called Yak and Yeti. It is nicer that Hotel Himalaya and much more central. However, like before, I get bored in a hotel even after doing work. I want to be doing field work and not so much computer work. I can do that anywhere. As I mentioned before, however, I had a very productive meeting with Bivash. He does lots of good work on tigers and has very good connections with people in Nepal. He gave me several very good suggestions which significantly improve my proposal and he also agreed to provide technical support for the project. Additionally, he said that if I continue having difficulties with getting permission that he would try throwing his weight around. The nice thing is that I have a couple people, including Bivash, who are willing to throw their weight around if I can't get permission this time around. The frustrating thing is that I will have to wait until after the Dasain festival (during which time I am in India) to keep pursuing it. It is foremost on my mind and it is hard for me to be productive in other aspects of my research because I keep hoping that we have a meeting soon.
I am picking Alex (SDSU doctoral student) today from the airport and then we are driving back down to Chitwan. He is conducting some interesting research on plant decay/growth rates and resource use by local people. He intends to collect this data in order to parameterize an Agent Based Model (too much to describe here, you can look it up if you are interested) that he is developing for the study site. I am looking forward to having some company in Chitwan. It can get pretty lonely there. After dinner the cooks lock up the guest house (!) and then leave the premises making me the only person there excluding a couple guards. Of course, the power goes off, internet goes down, AC turns off, lights go off in various combinations at various times leaving me with nothing to do and no one to talk to. I am not looking forward to the drive down to Chitwan though. The drive from Chitwan to Kathmandu several days ago was horrific. It was the first day when everybody goes home for the Dasain festival. Think about traveling by plane during Dec. 20-24th in the U.S. Like that, but on a mountain road. I am pretty sure I developed black lung while sitting in the traffic for hours on the way up. I am afraid that it will be the same on the way back. Yay! Then the next day I travel from Chitwan to the border of India to catch the train. Hopefully, that will be more eventful. The real work will take place when I get back. I will only have slightly more than 2 months to do a lot research and I have not been making as much progress as I hoped but I am not necessarily behind schedule. I just need to pick it up.
For clarification, I am leaving to India on the 25th and will be traveling by train to Dehradun and then I am taking a bus from there to Gangotri on the 26th. On the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th I will be hiking around. Then on the 1st I take a bus back to Dehradun and on the night of the 2nd I am coming back to the border area of NEpal and take a taxi from there to Chitwan on the 3rd. I think that I will be incommunicado unless I find the internet somewhere. Expect to hear from me sometime around the 3rd or 4th.
I am writing this from Kathmandu again. I few days ago I came up from Chitwan because there was a possibility that I would be able to have that mystical meeting the Director General of the DNPWC to discuss my tiger camera proposal. Invariably, I was not able to have that meeting. In the meantime, I have been working on a proposal to fund the survey portion of my research. I went shopping yesterday for a few things. Got something for my friend, my mom (sorry mom can't tell you), and myself. I got a great small painting of the goddess of wisdom which I thought was fitting (hehe). I am staying in a different hotel called Yak and Yeti. It is nicer that Hotel Himalaya and much more central. However, like before, I get bored in a hotel even after doing work. I want to be doing field work and not so much computer work. I can do that anywhere. As I mentioned before, however, I had a very productive meeting with Bivash. He does lots of good work on tigers and has very good connections with people in Nepal. He gave me several very good suggestions which significantly improve my proposal and he also agreed to provide technical support for the project. Additionally, he said that if I continue having difficulties with getting permission that he would try throwing his weight around. The nice thing is that I have a couple people, including Bivash, who are willing to throw their weight around if I can't get permission this time around. The frustrating thing is that I will have to wait until after the Dasain festival (during which time I am in India) to keep pursuing it. It is foremost on my mind and it is hard for me to be productive in other aspects of my research because I keep hoping that we have a meeting soon.
I am picking Alex (SDSU doctoral student) today from the airport and then we are driving back down to Chitwan. He is conducting some interesting research on plant decay/growth rates and resource use by local people. He intends to collect this data in order to parameterize an Agent Based Model (too much to describe here, you can look it up if you are interested) that he is developing for the study site. I am looking forward to having some company in Chitwan. It can get pretty lonely there. After dinner the cooks lock up the guest house (!) and then leave the premises making me the only person there excluding a couple guards. Of course, the power goes off, internet goes down, AC turns off, lights go off in various combinations at various times leaving me with nothing to do and no one to talk to. I am not looking forward to the drive down to Chitwan though. The drive from Chitwan to Kathmandu several days ago was horrific. It was the first day when everybody goes home for the Dasain festival. Think about traveling by plane during Dec. 20-24th in the U.S. Like that, but on a mountain road. I am pretty sure I developed black lung while sitting in the traffic for hours on the way up. I am afraid that it will be the same on the way back. Yay! Then the next day I travel from Chitwan to the border of India to catch the train. Hopefully, that will be more eventful. The real work will take place when I get back. I will only have slightly more than 2 months to do a lot research and I have not been making as much progress as I hoped but I am not necessarily behind schedule. I just need to pick it up.
For clarification, I am leaving to India on the 25th and will be traveling by train to Dehradun and then I am taking a bus from there to Gangotri on the 26th. On the 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th I will be hiking around. Then on the 1st I take a bus back to Dehradun and on the night of the 2nd I am coming back to the border area of NEpal and take a taxi from there to Chitwan on the 3rd. I think that I will be incommunicado unless I find the internet somewhere. Expect to hear from me sometime around the 3rd or 4th.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Warm welcome in Chitwan
I was picked up from the Hotel in Kathmandu by Bamdev, who is my friend and the cook at the ISER guesthouse. It was not such a bad drive down to Chitwan. There was some congestion and traffic jams and the road condition was pretty atrocious at times but all in all it went smoothly. We were driving a tiny tiny little car. Probably only had a two-stroke engine in it. We came upon this part of the road where cars were having to share one lane because there was some construction on the other side. Our driver let one big truck drive by from the opposing direction and then our driver proceeded to zoom by when another big truck tried to push through the bottle-necked road past us immediately following the previous truck. We were at an impasse. The truck would not back up and I thought for sure that our driver would have to back up and let the giant truck by. Instead our driver deliberately zoomed right up to the very front of the truck and just held down the horn giving the other driver a very stern look. It was pretty hilarious. Cars started stopping behind us and laying on the horn. The truck eventually had to relent and backed up just a smidgen for our little car to go by. As we were passing they exchanged some 'not too pleasant' words.
I arrived in Chitwan late afternoon. It is significantly hotter in Chitwan than it was in Kathmandu. Uncomfortably hot. So having the AC working is a must...especially for the foreigner with no tolerance to heat. Invariably there was a problem with the electricity in the evening when no one was around. I had to call someone over and they got most things working by the end of the night.
Today, I went out with two assistants from ISER to speak with members of community forests in the area about the potential for collaboration on the tiger research. Both community forests were very positive about working together on the project. At the first community forest we had an unexpected guest. A rhino! It just casually walked nearby eating the grass. It did so for quite some time. Check out the pictures to see how close it got to us. Within just a few feet! One of the community forest members assuaged any fear I may have had by saying that this particular rhino is an old resident and that it does this quite regularly. The best part was when the rhino got very close it paused from eating for a moment and huffed softly as a warning to everybody. This instantly broke the calm and everybody stood up quickly and nearly bolted away. In a couple of the pictures with me in it you can see the people to my side bunched up near the back of the enclosure. We also couldn't leave when we had wanted to because the rhino had sauntered over towards our motorcycles and continued to eat grass for a while.
I arrived in Chitwan late afternoon. It is significantly hotter in Chitwan than it was in Kathmandu. Uncomfortably hot. So having the AC working is a must...especially for the foreigner with no tolerance to heat. Invariably there was a problem with the electricity in the evening when no one was around. I had to call someone over and they got most things working by the end of the night.
Today, I went out with two assistants from ISER to speak with members of community forests in the area about the potential for collaboration on the tiger research. Both community forests were very positive about working together on the project. At the first community forest we had an unexpected guest. A rhino! It just casually walked nearby eating the grass. It did so for quite some time. Check out the pictures to see how close it got to us. Within just a few feet! One of the community forest members assuaged any fear I may have had by saying that this particular rhino is an old resident and that it does this quite regularly. The best part was when the rhino got very close it paused from eating for a moment and huffed softly as a warning to everybody. This instantly broke the calm and everybody stood up quickly and nearly bolted away. In a couple of the pictures with me in it you can see the people to my side bunched up near the back of the enclosure. We also couldn't leave when we had wanted to because the rhino had sauntered over towards our motorcycles and continued to eat grass for a while.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Wow! It has been a year and four months since my last post. Quite some time. A lot has happened since then but this blog is dedicated primarily to my time and experiences in Nepal during my research and travels. So at the expense of chronological completeness I will discuss what has happened to me during the last few days that I have been back in Nepal. This is the first time I have been back to Nepal since my last time with my girlfriend, Jenna, in the summer of 2008. I miss her companionship.
To all those who have traveled overseas you can agree that it is a tiring and disorienting experience. I traveled 7 hours to Amsterdam where I had a several hour lay-over. The Amsterdam airport is nice, clean, spiffy, and all around not too bad a place to hang out for a few. The next leg was to Bahrain, Bahrain. That is a sovereign island nation in the Persian Gulf directly east of Saudi Arabia and north of Qatar. The airport was not anywhere near as large and comfortable as the Amsterdam airport. However, it was immensely better than the Delhi airport. I was thankful for that. Jenna and I had to spend 12 or so hours in the Delhi airport the last time we traveled to Nepal. It was not fun. Refer to previous posts where I'm sure I describe the experience in more detail. However, I did manage to find a tiny Chilis Restaurant in the Bahrain airport?? Ha. It stuck out like a sore thumb and I was drawn to it like a fly. I stayed there for a couple hours eating salad because they did not have any other vegetarian fare and used the free internet. Perhaps, there is hope for the Bahrain airport! Then while getting on the plane to Kathmandu they told me my seat was changed. Lo and behold I was sitting in the first class. Not sure why but...awesome! I finally got to Kathmandu I think a million hours after leaving Detroit. At least my brain felt that way because I was traveling over a couple nights and my sleep patterns got all messed up. My friend and the program manager from the Institute for Social and Environmental Research (the place I will stay at in Chitwan and a collaborator on the research) organized to have a hotel taxi come pick me ('Neil Karter') up. My transit to Hotel Himalaya was smooth. I arrived to the Hotel about 9AM. I felt awake and sent some emails and tried getting things in order. My major objective for the first few days that I was in Kathmandu was to meet with several folks from wildlife agencies that will hopefully be interested in collaborating with me on a tiger camera trapping project. This is because their expertise and logistical support is vital for the project. Also, it is necessary to have local collaborators to receive permission for this kind of research from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) in Nepal. The truth is that dealing with certain elements of the government structure in Nepal can be maddening. I suppose this isn't just a unique quality specific to Nepal. One thing I learned from last year was that I need to devote a great deal of time building relationships with lots of people and institutions before I can actually officially submit an application to conduct my research. As someone just expressed to me it is like nothing happens, more nothing, more nothing, and then all of a sudden within a 24 hour period all the decisions are made, papers signed, and you are on your way.
Unfortunately, I have been utterly unsuccessful in organizing meetings with people from these wildlife agencies until today (14th). Several people I wanted to meet are not even in Nepal at this time. Arggghh. I was supposed to meet somebody yesterday. I arrived full of excitement to finally start doing something only to find that he was not in the office. I called him and he said that he was called out on a last-minute meeting that he absolutely had to attend. He was deeply sorry and we re-scheduled to meet for today. Needless to say I was a little miffed. I thought that I would try to get some work done in the hotel if I was not able to meet with these people. But they are doing large-scale renovations. In midday the sound from the saws, drills, hammers, etc. start to chatter my teeth. So my productively has been nearly zero. Not to mention that jet lag can be a nasty beast. I was doing fine on my first day of arrival until 4PM arrived. I just remember a wave of exhaustion rolling over me and next thing I knew I was awake at 3AM. The same thing happened the next day. I think that I am just about re-calibrated though. I was able to get to bed around 10PM last night. Albeit with some red-eyed stubbornness.
Today I finally had a fruitful discussion with two prominent wildlife researchers. I am hopeful about the proposal and am planning on meeting the Director General of the DNPWC along with several other folks on the 20th. The DG is the guy who will grant permission so this is a big deal. I want to have everything lined up, t's crossed and i's dotted. In the meantime, I am planning to travel down to Chitwan tomorrow morning. I hope to meet with several tiger researchers down there and to begin discussing collaboration on the camera trapping research from the community forest user-groups. The community forest user groups are groups of local people who are granted the authority to manage nearby forests according to their priorities and needs. My hope is to have the forest guards from these groups assist me in selecting sites with known tiger activity to place camera traps. This is the most efficient way to do it. The forest guards are intimately familiar with the nearby forests and the doings of the resident animals including tigers.
What are camera traps? They are cameras designed to take pictures of an animal as they cross the path of the camera which is posted on a tree or post. In the case of tigers they have been used for at least 2 decades. If you set up two cameras on opposite sides of a trail then you can obtain a picture from both sides of an animal. This is particularly useful for tigers because we can use the stripe patterns of both flanks to accurately identify individual tigers. In other words, I would be able to say that a picture of a tiger at one trap is the same tiger as that caught at another based on the unique stripe pattern. The methods behind camera trapping have not changed much but the theory and analytical techniques have developed significantly such that camera trapping is often used in scientific studies of animals that are elusive and rare. Most importantly, camera trapping is non-invasive. This means you don't have to sedate an animal which can be dangerous and is no doubt a taxing experience for the wild animal. Of course the trade-off is that camera trapping data is no where near as fine, detailed, and informative as, say, collaring a tiger with a GPS collar which records its position on the globe every 5 minutes or so using a satellite orbiting the earth. The camera traps are constrained to the locations you set them and may or may not bear fruit.
Currently, I am sitting in my hotel room with earphones on to drown out the construction noise. The most magnificent thing is that I am also watching the Detroit Tigers game on TV!!! I was skipping through the channels which are 90% percent indian and came across an ESPN affiliate. It just happens to be airing the tiger's game. How cool is that! Periodically check out pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/nhcarter07
If you want to see pictures from our (Jenna and I) trip to Nepal in 2008 go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/jenna.a.jones1
I have posted just a few from this Nepal trip so far. I will post many more later. As I was walking around outside the hotel I saw an elephant with a couple of guys loading tree branches on its back. Jenna and I saw several elephants down in the rural areas near Chitwan National Parks but we had never seen an elephant walking around the capital city of Kathmandu. It was fun. I love elephants. They are just so unique and intelligent.
Till next time. I hope all are well.
To all those who have traveled overseas you can agree that it is a tiring and disorienting experience. I traveled 7 hours to Amsterdam where I had a several hour lay-over. The Amsterdam airport is nice, clean, spiffy, and all around not too bad a place to hang out for a few. The next leg was to Bahrain, Bahrain. That is a sovereign island nation in the Persian Gulf directly east of Saudi Arabia and north of Qatar. The airport was not anywhere near as large and comfortable as the Amsterdam airport. However, it was immensely better than the Delhi airport. I was thankful for that. Jenna and I had to spend 12 or so hours in the Delhi airport the last time we traveled to Nepal. It was not fun. Refer to previous posts where I'm sure I describe the experience in more detail. However, I did manage to find a tiny Chilis Restaurant in the Bahrain airport?? Ha. It stuck out like a sore thumb and I was drawn to it like a fly. I stayed there for a couple hours eating salad because they did not have any other vegetarian fare and used the free internet. Perhaps, there is hope for the Bahrain airport! Then while getting on the plane to Kathmandu they told me my seat was changed. Lo and behold I was sitting in the first class. Not sure why but...awesome! I finally got to Kathmandu I think a million hours after leaving Detroit. At least my brain felt that way because I was traveling over a couple nights and my sleep patterns got all messed up. My friend and the program manager from the Institute for Social and Environmental Research (the place I will stay at in Chitwan and a collaborator on the research) organized to have a hotel taxi come pick me ('Neil Karter') up. My transit to Hotel Himalaya was smooth. I arrived to the Hotel about 9AM. I felt awake and sent some emails and tried getting things in order. My major objective for the first few days that I was in Kathmandu was to meet with several folks from wildlife agencies that will hopefully be interested in collaborating with me on a tiger camera trapping project. This is because their expertise and logistical support is vital for the project. Also, it is necessary to have local collaborators to receive permission for this kind of research from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) in Nepal. The truth is that dealing with certain elements of the government structure in Nepal can be maddening. I suppose this isn't just a unique quality specific to Nepal. One thing I learned from last year was that I need to devote a great deal of time building relationships with lots of people and institutions before I can actually officially submit an application to conduct my research. As someone just expressed to me it is like nothing happens, more nothing, more nothing, and then all of a sudden within a 24 hour period all the decisions are made, papers signed, and you are on your way.
Unfortunately, I have been utterly unsuccessful in organizing meetings with people from these wildlife agencies until today (14th). Several people I wanted to meet are not even in Nepal at this time. Arggghh. I was supposed to meet somebody yesterday. I arrived full of excitement to finally start doing something only to find that he was not in the office. I called him and he said that he was called out on a last-minute meeting that he absolutely had to attend. He was deeply sorry and we re-scheduled to meet for today. Needless to say I was a little miffed. I thought that I would try to get some work done in the hotel if I was not able to meet with these people. But they are doing large-scale renovations. In midday the sound from the saws, drills, hammers, etc. start to chatter my teeth. So my productively has been nearly zero. Not to mention that jet lag can be a nasty beast. I was doing fine on my first day of arrival until 4PM arrived. I just remember a wave of exhaustion rolling over me and next thing I knew I was awake at 3AM. The same thing happened the next day. I think that I am just about re-calibrated though. I was able to get to bed around 10PM last night. Albeit with some red-eyed stubbornness.
Today I finally had a fruitful discussion with two prominent wildlife researchers. I am hopeful about the proposal and am planning on meeting the Director General of the DNPWC along with several other folks on the 20th. The DG is the guy who will grant permission so this is a big deal. I want to have everything lined up, t's crossed and i's dotted. In the meantime, I am planning to travel down to Chitwan tomorrow morning. I hope to meet with several tiger researchers down there and to begin discussing collaboration on the camera trapping research from the community forest user-groups. The community forest user groups are groups of local people who are granted the authority to manage nearby forests according to their priorities and needs. My hope is to have the forest guards from these groups assist me in selecting sites with known tiger activity to place camera traps. This is the most efficient way to do it. The forest guards are intimately familiar with the nearby forests and the doings of the resident animals including tigers.
What are camera traps? They are cameras designed to take pictures of an animal as they cross the path of the camera which is posted on a tree or post. In the case of tigers they have been used for at least 2 decades. If you set up two cameras on opposite sides of a trail then you can obtain a picture from both sides of an animal. This is particularly useful for tigers because we can use the stripe patterns of both flanks to accurately identify individual tigers. In other words, I would be able to say that a picture of a tiger at one trap is the same tiger as that caught at another based on the unique stripe pattern. The methods behind camera trapping have not changed much but the theory and analytical techniques have developed significantly such that camera trapping is often used in scientific studies of animals that are elusive and rare. Most importantly, camera trapping is non-invasive. This means you don't have to sedate an animal which can be dangerous and is no doubt a taxing experience for the wild animal. Of course the trade-off is that camera trapping data is no where near as fine, detailed, and informative as, say, collaring a tiger with a GPS collar which records its position on the globe every 5 minutes or so using a satellite orbiting the earth. The camera traps are constrained to the locations you set them and may or may not bear fruit.
Currently, I am sitting in my hotel room with earphones on to drown out the construction noise. The most magnificent thing is that I am also watching the Detroit Tigers game on TV!!! I was skipping through the channels which are 90% percent indian and came across an ESPN affiliate. It just happens to be airing the tiger's game. How cool is that! Periodically check out pictures at
http://picasaweb.google.com/nhcarter07
If you want to see pictures from our (Jenna and I) trip to Nepal in 2008 go to
http://picasaweb.google.com/jenna.a.jones1
I have posted just a few from this Nepal trip so far. I will post many more later. As I was walking around outside the hotel I saw an elephant with a couple of guys loading tree branches on its back. Jenna and I saw several elephants down in the rural areas near Chitwan National Parks but we had never seen an elephant walking around the capital city of Kathmandu. It was fun. I love elephants. They are just so unique and intelligent.
Till next time. I hope all are well.
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