Into the BAT CAVE

2012 August 10 to Mahendra Guffa Cave

Mahendra Gufa Cave

Another little adventure today. Bikas class was canceled, not sure why, maybe because the buses weren’t running, so he and two friends agreed to accompany me to the two nearby bat caves. (No, not Marvel comics.) First I did some laundry (phew!) and hung  it on the roof of this three storey house and that’s when I noticed that MacchePuchre, one of the 22,000-foot Himalayas, had broken through the clouds. I lived in the shadow of this great shaped peak for two years, but during the monsoon months it’s hard to get a peak of it except for rarely and then only for half an hour. His cousin is Susan and his other friend walked with me. They have picky tastes in  cell phones (iPhone or Samsung Galaxy) and motorbikes (no old ones), but they don’t mind walking with umbrellas in various colors. I say this only because American gender norms are a little different, though in essence similar. I remember when I first got to my village, Sisuwa, the first teacher that befriended me and showed my around held my hand all day. In America, need I explain to my audience, this would be seen as sexual preference, but not in Nepal, where it seemed quite natural. I have seen many women this trip holding hands, but fewer men this time around. Are we spreading our values of fear globally?

Barcelona jersey, Bikas and friends

Bikas and his cousins all wear football (soccer) jerseys, from Barcelona and Manchester  United, etc. They know the players too. (I had a chance to see the US Women soccer team earn a gold medal over Japan today, a relief after losing to them in the World Cup two years ago.)

We walked in the sun, them mostly speaking Nepali, though  Bikas is so thoughtful that he will often turn to me and tell me the subject at least. For instance, the exam to be admitted into nursing school was stolen and so Sapanam, Susan’s 19 year old sister, may have to retake the test. Bikas is going back to England in six months, so doesn’t have to worry so much about all these Nepali exams.

The only way out of the first cave

Bikas and James before the Bat Cave

The further we walked into the hills, the more I noticed changes that were like walking back in time 35 years. First, the construction of the houses is more crude, with stone walls held together with a little cement and some red clay and dung and straw. It holds up well enough, but over time can look a little weathered. Next, I notice more traditional women’s clothing, saris, heavy hanging gold jewelry, popular ways to store wealth before banks came to Nepal. Finally, it is a more agrarian life, with people planting rice in wet fields and millet (or kodo) in dry fields, people drying shucked corn in the sun, and every patch of ground useful for growing vegetables or something. Likewise, communities and neighbors plant a field together, with the landowner providing lunch. The next day all the neighbors go to anothers’ house to plant, and so many hands make light work and good neighbors. That interdependence on one another evaporates when people start to take salary jobs in town. Lamachaur Village and the way of life here seem far less social than 30 years ago, where people worked together in the fields, sang songs as they worked, and sat up late on porches talking and smoking cigarettes into the night. Now the wealthier villagers don’t sit on the porch but watch television whenever the electricity is on, which is 10 to 14 hours a day, but quite unpredictable. Some people come by to see each other’s televisions or to talk, but not how it was in the old days. A way of life is changing. I mentioned to Bikas that all one has to do is walk up the mountains for a day and the old way of life is still there. He agreed but with some exceptions. In the hills, people don’t have internet, but they all have televisions and cell phones. He made the point that for the US, technology developed over 100 years, but in Nepal the change has been so rapid that it is dizzying. I wouldn’t mind the rapid changes in tech if it were not for what I perceive to be concomitant changes in the culture.

Low rock ceiling: duck down!

MachePuchre appears from the clouds

We walked to Mahendra Guffa, which was wet and a little scary under the ground. Still, it was an easy enough walk in and at the end there was a holy man to give each of us a tika, or red spot in the middle of one’s forehead, which is a kind of blessing, I think. Next we went to the bat cave. Only one boy came in with me, and I tried to watch my step as I descended down the very wet steps. I didn’t see any bats, but ceiling got lower and lower, and I hit my head repeatedly. Then the way became treacherous and slippery. I found myself climbing technical rock climbing faces without being in any kind of shape, without much light, and unprepared. I ascended a rather dangerous technical rock climb, pushing myself to the physical limits, breaking my glasses, and feeling fortunate to have the upper body strength to drag myself up onto the wet ledge that was about 14 feet above the slippery rocks below. But the exit from the cave was incredibly narrow, and I didn’t feel my shoulders or hips would fit through the opening, though later I saw a large guy had made it through. But I turned around, as I have been told no one wants to do a search for my replacement, and had to lower myself slowly back down the slippery vertical climb. I was also worried because I was in a place that seemed hard for medical teams to access, so I just slowed myself down and was as careful as could be. I noticed my muscles shaking  and the adrenalin flowing from one of my near falls. I didn’t think I could be any more scared than in a Kathmandu taxi ride, but I was mistaken.