Nepal is a lot bigger then the Netherlands and despite its
problems it is a great country for a holiday. Jan Laan comes to Nepal
since 1983 and the past years he took a small group of people with him.
Next to this 3 week trip Jan collects also stuff for organizations in
Nepal. To existing organizations, but also to schools and villages. The
material is delivered personally by the group.
Next to the visits to the big cities Kathmandu, Patan and
Bhaktapur, the program contains a hiking of 10 days. From Kathmandu the
group travels by bus to Pokhara, which is 200 kilometers to the west, a
trip of about 7 hours. In the mountains the group sleeps in simple lodges.
After that the Royal Chitwan National Park is visited. The group sleeps
also in simple lodges and 5 days with excursions are organized. A trip on
an elephant, with the canoo, by jeep or on foot with Nepalese guides into
the jungle, looking for rhino's, crocodiles and tigers. Next to that
schools and other projects are visited and the participants can see what
is done with the Dutch money.
For trips with small groups personal wishes can be realized. For that we
work together with
Himalayan Glacier Trekking uit Kathmandu. Everything is possible. For more
information:
www.himalayanglacier.com.np.
Also possible: trips to Dolpo, Mustang, Tibet and Bhutan, also for
individual persons.
When you want to know more you can e-mail
Jan Laan. Pictures of our trips: see below.
Nepaltrip February/March 2011 (program can be changed.
Minimum: 8 persons)
Day 1: Departure Amsterdam 11.40 to Nepal
Day 2: arrival airport Kathmandu at 09.40 (QR352 QatarAir) transfer to hotel
Encounter
Day 3: sightseeing Kathmandu and visit Swayambunath tempel, afternoon off and
prepare for trekking max. 10kg (pp)
Day 4: morningbus to Hugdi, lunch in Jogimara (3hr) and walk to Hattibang,
overnight tent
Day 5: Hattibang to Jandala (not steep road) en we pass Jautesh, Changa and
Dinglang)
Day 6: Early sunrise to Siraichuli and breakfast in Jandala and walk to
Chisapanitar and see the sunset
Day 7: Sunrise and panoramaview in Chisapanitar and 7.30 walk to historical
village Gadi with fort
Day 8: Breakfast and walk to Shaktikor (3hr) and than walk to Sinti
waterfalls and cave, and back to Shaktikor
Day 9: Visit Muvic museum and between 9-10 transport by jeep to Sauraha,
sightseeing
Day 10: To Devghat by jeep and visit temple en Kali Gandaki
Day 11: excursions in Chitwan canoe and jungle walk, elephantride
Day 12: excursions in Chitwan (birdwatching.elefant wash, visit Taruvillage by
oxcar and hospital
Day 13: idem (visit on bike blind hostel and visit 20.000 lakes and school
Day 14: flight to Pokhara morning, visit old town of Pokhara
Day 15: visit with guide Tibetan Refugeecamp, monastery, tapestry, tibetan
tea, afternoon free
Day 16: early morning by bus or taxi to Sarangkot for sunrise to see mountain
of Himalaya (Macchapuchare 6991m, Dhaulagiri more than 8000), after walking
to Pokhara
Day 17: free day
Day 18: flight to to Kathmandu in Hotel Encounter, visit Durban Square?
Day 19: morning walk in Kathmandu or …., afternoon free
Day 20: last day Nepal, shopping en departure airport 16.20
Day 21: arrival Amsterdam airport 18.45
Chepang
One of the most backward indigenous nationalities of Nepal,
the Chepangs inhabit in the remote and sparse contours, outback and rolling
precipices of the districts of Makwanpur, Chitwan, Gorkha and Dhading. They
claim that they belong to Kirati group of people. They have their own
distinct language, which belongs to one of the Tibeto-Burman strains. Like
the Kusundas, the Chepangs are mostly hunters and gatherers. Their
subsistence economy is based on forest resources. They are emerging as
horticulturists also. Being landless, 95 percent of them forage for tubers
and for food. Today it is stated that they became landless mostly due to
lack of documentary evidences to claim land ownership. They also had a
system of kipat, communal ownership of land till the first half of the 19th
century. They are animists and their clan priests are called Pandes. It is
felt that their religion and culture are influenced by the Tamangs.
Less then 15 percent Chepangs are literates and almost 90 percent of them
are leading life under utter poverty. These days, there are some projects
run for chepangs, but are not becoming really effective so far. School
enrollment ratio of school going children is still very low and drop out
rate is very high. The census 2001 has revealed that the population of
Chepand is 52,237.
Chepangs, who live in the central regions of Nepal, are also known as
Chyobang or Chewang. Under the Chepang Development Programme, they are also
known as Praja. In their language, che means dog and pang means arrow (Dhungel,
2051). Because they are primarily hunters and they hunt with the help of
dogs and bow and arrows, they are known as Chepang. Also, as chyo means the
top of a hill and wang means stone in the language of the Chepangs, it
implies that those living in hills and in caves full of stones have come to
be known as Chyobang. According to a legend of the Chepangs, the Chepangs
are said to be the child of a queen, who gave birth to her child on a stone
and disappeared after leaving the child there (Praja, BS2056).
The abode of Chepang in prehistoric times was Sunathali of Dolkha district.
At present, the Chepangs are found in Makawanpur, Chitwan, Gorkha and
Dhading districts. A few families of Chepangs have also settled in the
plains of Bara and Parsa districts. The population of Chepang in the census
of 1991 was about 36,000, it is 52,237 in the 2001 census.
The Chepangs have their own language, which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman
family. According to Schafer and Toba, the Chepang language is close to the
languages of Thami and Hayu (Dhungel, BS2051: 42). The naming ceremony among
the Chepangs takes place nine days after the birth of the child. During the
ceremony the Chepang shaman (Pande) reads sacred texts over a cock, a hen,
thread coloured with turmeric, thin roti (bread) made of maize flour, totala
flower, egg, etc and takes them outside for worship. The child and its
mother are tied with the thread, and the child is given a name. Alcohol is
required during marriage. The boy's side must obtain the consent of the
girl's side before or after marriage. Special ceremony must be carried out
when the bride is brought and enters the groom's house. The Chepangs like to
marry within their own community. There is a practice among Chepang of the
son-in-law living in the father-in-law's house.
The Chepangs mostly bury their dead. The dead body is bathed and new clothes
and garlands of flowers are put on the body and wrapped with burial cloth. A
box is made of the barks of sal, in which the dead body is kept and buried.
Pollution is observed by some for three days and by some for nine and also
thirteen days. The death rites are carried out by the shaman (Praja,
BS2056). After the recitation of sacred incantations, Chepangs collectively
go to hunt and fish. They worship the bows and arrows used in hunting once
every year. Chepang men wear a single piece of cloth around their waist and
women wear clothes similar to majetro up to their necks.
Chepang are of two types, viz Pukunthale and Kachhare. The Pukunthale are
said to have had states, Chepang kings, land and even the Kipat system in
the past. They are considered a little more knowledgeable and adept in
Chepang society. The Kachhare are ordinary Chepangs. Chepang are divided
into many subgroups. Among Chepangs, women look after the household while
men look after the affairs outside the house. The shaman, who is known as
Pande, and Mahapande, takes the leadership role in almost all the relligious
and social activities of Chepang society. The Chepang have the practice of
propitiating ancestors (Kulpuja) and of Dewali. Chepang deities are
especially of three types: Tangkaling or ancestral deity, Namrung or the god
of hunting, deity related to land and Gaidu or the god of animals. The
Chepangs revere and worship the Simebhume in a special way. Chepangs adhere
to nature-worshipping shamanistic religion.
The Malla kings prior to Prithivi Narayan Shah, though they had conquered
the Chepang Pukunthale kings, had given them Kipat. Prithivi Narayan Shah
also had a system whereby the Chepang had to pay taxes. Thus, Chepangs have
been the owners of their land since time immemorial. However, due to their
practice of slash-and-burn farming in place of organized agricultural
methods, the condition of Chepang is dire. Farming is not enough to provide
for them. Hunting, fishing, collecting of edible shoots and roots are their
traditional occupations. The Chepangs are also adept at weaving baskets and
other items of bamboo, etc and in utilizing plants for beneficial purposes.
