Tansen

Tansen is a relaxed town set in the hills, just north of the terai. At one time, it was the center of an important kingdom that rivaled Kathmandu, but its fortunes fell and it became a trading town between India and Tibet.

The town does not attract quite the masses of Pokhara and Kathmandu, so foreigners are little novel, though not uncommon. Lonely Planet hypes it quite a bit, which will always draw some people, though not being Kathmandu, Pokhara, or Chitwan, but close to all three, most seem to pass by, which was fine by me.

I was still quite sick my first day there, so my one day stop become two and my first day was spent mostly in town. I hiked to the top of a small hill behind the town, Shreenagear, which had a couple of statues and lookout to the mountains. It shows the great height of the peaks, to be so far south and still seem so close, so towering.

After that, I napped for four hours. It was sad to think that only a few days earlier, I was walking up mountains with a big pack and now I couldn't even climb up a small hill unladen. After my nap I had my cheapest lunch in Nepal. For a grand total of 40 cents, I ate two samosas, two other things that were the same as samoas, but smaller and another deep fried sweet thing. At home a samosa can cost two dollars, at this price here, if I wanted, I could buy about 30!

I went for a short walk in search of an internet cafe, but found none that were open. In the process, I got lost. The town was a maze. You pick a place out on the map, memorize the route, then find yourself in some weird random place. Then, as you try to find the way back to where you started, you end up where you meant to go in the first place. This led to some cool temples and other discoveries. I saw the palace, which was getting rebuilt after being destroyed in the civil war. This was enough for my energy again, so I headed back to the hotel for some lemon tea. I waited for nearly a hour for my tea before I left for another restaurant. I walked until I saw a dark concrete place with no sign, but some tables and people eating, so I stopped for some food.

"Do you have a menu?" I asked.

"No, just dal bhat and tea."

"How much?"

"70 rupees."

I thought for a moment, was one dollar worth it for a big meal and a cup of tea? "Ok." So in one day, I had the cheapest dinner and lunch I've ever had in Nepal. The random place had dal bhat that was significantly better than the tasteless crap at the hotel. It was just what I needed for another restless coughfest that night.

Then next day, I was feeling a bit better, so I risked the seven kilometer hike to Ranighat, which is known as Nepal's Taj Mahal and is the main tourist draw of Tansen. The map was ineffective and the accompanying directions didn't match the map. I walked for a while until I saw a painted arrow with "Ranighat" written under it. It's direction differed both from the map and the directions. I asked the locals who didn't speak English how to get there by pointing in a random direction and saying "Ranighat?". They'd either agree or point someplace else. Eventually, I met a school teacher who was walking to his school near there.

"Your map. It is bad. It is wrong."

"I know that! I have to ask everyone the way."

The route was actually quite simple, it was mostly one path twisting down through a valley. The hike was pleasant and all downhill, which meant the way back would be all up. I was probably too sick for the seven hour jaunt out there, but after days spent in bed, I was itching to do something.

Ranighat's appearance surprised me, because I was expecting something bigger. A building dubbed as Nepal's Taj, implied a level of grandeur. It was actually the lack of grandeur that was its appeal. Built by Khadga Shamsher Rana in 1896 for his dead wife, it now lays in ruin along the Kali Gandaki, one of Nepal's holy rivers. Khadga Shamsher Rama was a rich politician who was exiled to Tansen after trying to overthrow the prime minister. His fortune was gone after his second attempt and his grand palace was abandoned.

The grounds and stone carvings are all weathered away, the outbuildings are collapsed, yet the mansion's outside is strangely up-kept. The blue and white paint was fresh even though the inside is completely empty. Like most abandoned buildings in the states, this was now a local hangout for the area's teenagers, who find it a great place to smoke bongs all day. Ranighat was neat, but I'm not sure it was worth the trouble getting there. Thankfully, the hike itself was nice.

Climbing back to Tansen tested my strength, but my tiny village dal bhat helped. The woman filled the curry after each bite until I had to shoo her away because I was too stuffed to even finish what I already had on my plate. Close to Tansen, I hitched a ride on a tractor, which may have even taken me farther from my destination, but I was fine with it: there are not too many times when I figured I'd get to hitchhike on a Nepali tractor.

That night, I stopped at the fancy restaurant in town, the Nanglo West, which specializes in Newari food. I ordered a Newari snack platter since it had nothing I'd heard of on it. There was a big bed of chewra, a crunchy, flat rice that was the perfect texture compliment for the other dishes. With it was a cold potato yogurt salad, a legume curry, buffalo choela, which was covered in chilis, spices, large chunks of ginger and garlic, and bhatamas, a dish of spicy, oily soybeans. The last two dishes I had tried in Pokhara already. Delicious!