The Spirit of Traveling For the Free Birds
Recently, a friend of mine shared an interesting story with me.
“I live in a country, where, when I wake up in the morning, I hug the mountains. I live in a land that gives me a surreal experience of traveling, where people I meet are humble and kind. I live in the brighter side of the world,” said a friend of his to an American, while on a drunken spree.
“Where do you live?” he asked .
“Nepal, land of magnificent mountains and 10,000 gods,” he exclaimed. The American was not ready to believe him, who seemed to be boasting about his country after just a few shots of tequila. “I know you are bluffing, we have such beautiful countries in the world, and you are talking about this tiny country shelved in between China and India. It’s not possible. There is no such country.”
The man was desperate to give proof about his country’s beauty. However, this was a time when Viber, Facebook, Wechat were yet to be invented, and he was a desperate man, patriotic on a drunken night, which meant serious talk. He called up his wife in Nepal at midnight, and said “Send me that photo right away, the one where I am standing on my terrace, just below the mountains. Right now! It’s important.”
The wife exhorts all her efforts to send him just that one photo. When it arrives, the man shows it to the American, and says, “Now, what do you have to say?” And, just like he had described, the photo has this splendid mountain growing out of the buildings, while at the front, the person in the picture seems more like he is giving a smirk to the American who didn’t believe in him a while ago. “Woooh! This looks amazing. You have to take me to this place! I am sorry man, but please take me to your country.”
I have heard many such stories. This story does sound like a cheap triumph, bragging about living in Nepal. But the truth is, Nepal though beautiful is still unknown to many around the world. Although the beauty here has its ways of giving good hugs, it still remains a secret to many. The recent earthquake did hype Nepal a lot, scaring away many tourists, but our country is still beautiful and can charm you with its surreal-ness.
So, here we bring to you yet another travel issue. We go down memory lane with Evangeline Neve’s Fifty Years of Trekking in Nepal, and we pay tribute to the man who catalyzed tourism in our country, Boris Lissanevich, in the story One Lifetime is not Enough.
This issue is a call to all the free birds out there getting ready to be on the move once again.
Srizu Bajracharya
Sub-editor
