Life in the Camps - Part two of the Bhutanese Refugee Series

"have fun" is not an appropriate greeting in this context.

"have thought" perhaps.

el d.

Dos pandara minut pashli - ready huncha tarkari.

Here's the first ever cooking vid made in a one-room appartment.

Have fun, enjoy the curry,
the d.

bhutan - what have you done? Part one of the Bhutanese Refugee series

Refugees in the Himalayas. Bhuddists driving out an ethnic minority.

A series of interviews taken in the camps in southeastern Nepal, where about 108.000 people still live without any citizenship.



This is explicitly not "dave's away" but something else entirely, as yet nameless. Any suggestions?

cheers,
the d.

Return from the Non-Blogosphere

I'm back. Haven't been anywhere in particular, but I managed to collect humongous ammounts of video in the last few weeks and have since been fighting with my urge to let it be and just enjoy life. But my good old spartan won, thanks to some motivational techiques I will leave undescribed as of yet.

Here's the first vid of a whole new series, something completely different and yet same same. Hopefully, you will enjoy these more mundane productions in the same way you did the first chaotic pieces..

Have fun,
the d.

AFK : going to Jhapa.

Yeah, really. Now it's time to pack that backpack again and get out there in the wild, wet and hot southeast of Nepal.

Yeah, still Nepal. I like it here, so I decided to stay a bit longer (End of June, actually). Manu, you knew it, didn't you?

I'll be back with lots of tasty footage and a new vid in a week or so. Wish me luck and absence of strikes (at least not too many).

dave out. (and away)

dave's away V - Why so serious?

Well, dear followers, readers, watchers and snoops,

here it is, the official version of dave's away V. I haven't published it on my blog yet (because I was waiting for anyone to get seriously pissed off), but that hasn't happened as of yet.

So, here it is. My own good self is mainly keeping my mouth shut in this one, and I let people speak who have a closer relation to the whole situation. (Namely, Ben Peterson and an anonymous student).

As to the current situation: It's all progressing peacefully. The opposition has produced a leaked video which seriously questions the Maobadhi's democratic commitment. It has clearly been around for some time (It's from 2006) and the fact that it got aired one day after Prachanda stepped down indicates the opposition had this ace up their sleeve and just waited for the right moment to play it.

Well, enough background, here's the vid. To the honourable CIA members and employees reading this: Have fun. (The US still labels the democratically elected UCPN(M) a "Terrorist Organisation" so I have no idea how much trouble I can get in just for posting some pics. )




cheers,
the d.

2 Videos in 3 Days! Praise the FSM! Arrr!

Yes, that is the great leap forward! I will attempt to produce 2 Videos in 3 days.

The FSM, in its unending glory, has delivered my bowels from their wavering consistence.

Pasta Nobiscum,
Pasta Infinitum,
Pasta Arrabiatum,
RAmen.

As I'll continue my travels soon (towards the east, Jhapa) I'll have to finish my work before that. So I shall work like the madman that I am for the next three days, and deliver 2 (two) new episodes of that all-time classic, dave's away. Orrr I'll be beaten by reactionary power shortages, but hey, that's what generators are for.

So, I'll write no more and get to work!

cheers,
dave

dave´s away EP II : The Journey to Enlightenment

Oh yes, dear followers, friends, family, freaks, felons and other interested parties: 
The DAVE has been enlightened. 

And he will share his wisdom. 




Yet another happily bullshit-filled episode of dave´s away. Footage taken from the mountains between Trisuli and Ghurka, Nepal. No Bulls or Goats where eaten during the production of this video, but they where interviewed and slightly annoyed. 
We had some chicken, though. 

Madness. Fiction, Reality and Bullshit.

Well, I got bored after some time at the festival, so I decided to write some fiction. 

Currently to be viewed at The Dave Continuum  (Click at your own risk). 

If I feel like it, a second mini-chapter/aggro.stream might just materialise.

The reality there was, for many of the participants, blurry at best. Look out for that vid, coming up in 2 weeks or so... Will be fun. But first, I´ll finish episode 2 of davesaway, of course.

Other news: Diarrhea thwarted, Back´s still hurting from sleeping in a tent. 

These festivals do give you a whole new outlook on life. Like, how beautiful it all sounds when a 50 kw soundsystem is NOT massaging your eardrums for a while? And how nice to know that you were in one of the buses with newer tires? (On two others of the party caravan, the good rubbers noisily evaporated after a steep downhill drive. Those drivers sure know when to plan a rest stop.)

And yes. Thamel doesn´t feel touristy anymore. The organizers had the whole crowd of consumer hippies herded to the feeding station, three times a day. Only. Three. Times. A. Day. 

Yes, fixed feeding times. 

(I just decided to cope with it by not eating there.)

The happily participating minority of (mostly male) Nepalis had a good time between admiring the glorious european feminine fashion ideal of wearing next to nothing while bouncing up and down, and selling bullshit as hash to the stoners. 

Yes, actual, dried, bullshit. I think that´s where the expression evolved from. 

enough BS for a comeback, 

d out.

sex throughout the ages, previous pics (!) and luxurious lines.

I´m writing from the cozy, somewhat thamel-y New Orleans Cafe (kisses for that hint, my dearest!), which offers free WiFi, real coffee and power. Yes, power! (The nepali word for electricity is "line", by the way.)

So, this place will be my main place of residence the next couple of days. Got the visa sorted out yesterday, by the way, and will hike to the nepali immigration office later today. 

Now, for some pictures, for those of a more optical inclination: 

Yes, this is ancient chiseled graffiti, found on the stone steps of some trail in the mountains. And yes, it says "puti", or "f*ck". Apparently, ages change, but peoples basic interests (and forms of expression) don´t.

This is yours truly, on the top of a mountain (quite foggy, one hell of an ascent) next to a Stupa donated by a Peter Steiner (A sibling of the anthroposoph fascist?) of Germany. Most of the people in this region are Hindu, by the way. On the way up, as I was struggling with the steep steps, heat, moisture and my own aching knees, a whole school class of local kids strolled casually up the mountain, hollering and cheering all the way. And this on a trail any school in Austria would never consider for a hike (because of the probable high body count). Somewhat demoralizing, that. 

And now, Sex!
Ah, isn´t this refreshing? Apparently, Shiva and Parvati decided to incarnate as doves, and happily proceed to procreate in the Ghorka temple/fortress. 
This is the dark side of Phokara: Bitumen, anyone? There´s practically no public recycling system, other than the occasional roadside burning of plastics.

so far, so good/bad/ugly - dave´s away.

day four.. or five.. was it six? Ahmmmm...

Hello there, again.
Nepal isn´t Cuba, that´s for sure. Getting anything done here is even more of a hassle. About 10 hours in the last two days were spent with trying to correct an error the Indian Embassy in Austria made. Un-frickin-believable, the ammount of time they take to do anything.I know my passport number by heart now. And all other details.
Other than that: Hippies still exist in Nepal. And they´re somewhat fun and somewhat freaky.. (yeah, what else) But, nonetheless, their mongolian overtone singing sessions are really fun. Good vibes.
By the way, what cheered me up after exiting the Indian embassy today: "Rape me" by Richard Cheese.
One completely loses touch of time here. What day is it? No idea. People go to bed at nine, mostly. And the power goes on and off, and on again, whenever the gods dictate. Otherwise, Kathmandu´s good to me. I got a place for 250 rupees, about 2 euros, per night..
Well, I´m heading up into the mountains tomorrow, although I did try to avoid it for some time, this is apparently what I have to do... A non-touristy route from Khatmandu to Pokhara.. So, probably no new posts for twenty days.
I´ll try to finish my first vblog entry later today, and perhaps even upload it, too.
cheers,dave

Kathmandu, day 2- Cubas internet is faster.

You won´t believe how slow this net is. Basically, on the first 2 attempts, blogger refused my connection due to inactivity. Yay!

Otherwise: Flight was fine, I´m alive, everybody, and I´m looking for a cheap hostel for tomorrow (paying way too much at the moment)

As the power is off about 100% of the time, recharching my camera etc.. is going to be nearly impossible.. as are further posts.. I´ll try, from time to time, but I guess the bulk of my Nepal material will be posted from some posh lobby in India, as soon as I get there.. 

So, Namasteee everyone, 

dave out.