“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the small things hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great and immeasurable.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

During my first trip to India in 2011, I took a quick detour north and spent a week in Nepal, ending my time there in the southern district of Chitwan, whose name in Sanskrit means “heart of the jungle.” The moment I want to share today is from a village in Chitwan called Sauraha, and the story itself is taken straight from my journal.

One note before we get to the story — five years after my time in Nepal, I’m struck now by my focus on the cost of meals in this journal entry. But I think that what I was getting at was that for me, the higher-priced restaurants I’d been to in India and Nepal also felt more removed from the very cultures I was wanting to connect with. The smaller restaurants and street food stalls felt closer to the ground; their owners more open to connection; each meal significant in its simplicity.

A love for this simplicity is one of the greatest gifts my time in Asia gave me — or as Rilke says above, a love for “the small things…great and immeasurable.”

October 4th, 2011, Belahiya/Sonauli border crossing:

I spent all of yesterday planning to sketch in the afternoon. I thought about setting up a chair at the back of the Chitwan Forest Resort and painting the field of rice paddies and a few trees. I thought about getting out another bicycle and returning to the small river I’d crossed the night before in that gentle dug-out canoe. But when the time came to pick up my sketchbook and paints, I found that all I really wanted to draw was the Yabes Restaurant.

Yesterday morning after returning from the elephant ride, I set out for breakfast. My first night in Chitwan, I’d paid a total of 211 rupees for a veg enchilada. I’m not saying it wasn’t good — two massive flour tortillas, heaps of veggies, shredded cheese on top. It was okay for one night, at least. After the chaos of Kathmandu, to sit in a simple outdoor restaurant comprised of six brick booths, white paper lanterns, in the middle of palm trees and sweet-smelling flowers — it was worth it.

But for breakfast, I knew I could do better. I followed the manager’s directions to the ATM — “Take a right at the elephants,” he’d said, referring to a statue of two elephants just up the street — and the first restaurant I came to was a little family-owned place.

It wasn’t much — just two small wooden tables set under the tin roof of their front porch, and a three-shelf glass counter that formed the division between shop and home. I could see a bed right in the front room, next to the single-burner gas hob and counter. The menu was a sheet of white paper displayed behind the glass. For 40 rupees, I could get two eggs and four pieces of toast — whereas the hotel charged 190 rupees for their continental breakfast. For another ten rupees, a cup of milky chai.

I was sold.

I spent an hour there that morning, watching the family’s 3-year-old boy push himself on a homemade swing — just a length of cloth with rope around it, hung from the rafters of the roof. I went back for lunch — eating a delicious veg fried rice for 50 rupees — with another cup of chai, of course. And when it came time to eat dinner — there was no question of where I was going.

Night had already fallen like a cloak over the town, but the front room was still open. I walked up to the counter, but hesitated when I saw the mother breast-feeding the toddler. They’re out of dal so I order noodle soup. The second eldest daughter prepares it, for 25 rupees. It’s ramen in a delicious broth with the same cut onions, chives, potatoes, tomatoes — and delicious.

Finally, I sketch the front of their house — not because it’s the most beautiful or central scene in Chitwan, but because it’s the place that feels like home.

5 Comments

  • Hi Candace. What a great feel good experience. Thank you for sharing this, and yes, the small, simple things are the most memorable. I believe you can feel at home anywhere, if you let it happen. So many times these ‘hole in the wall’ places are the best. And to think that you are actually supporting a family. Even here in Canada we have found these places with honest-to-goodness home cooked food and family hospitality with very reasonable prices as a bonus. They are the ones we want to return to as you’re not only feeding your tummy but the experience is feeding your soul.
    Again, I just love the things you do and you infuse everything with such thought and feeling and connection. It is very spiritual, Candace.

    • “I believe you can feel at home anywhere, if you let it happen.” This is such a wonderful thought and way of putting it, Treava–thank you so much for sharing it with us. Thank you as well for pointing out that by visiting these smaller restaurants, we’re usually supporting a family, too–that’s such a great thing to keep in mind. Finally, it’s an honor for me to share these stories and moments of connection with you, Treava, so I’m very happy and humbled to hear they resonate with you. Thank you again, and have a wonderful holiday season! 🙂

  • Chitwan was one of my special places in Nepal. I’d go there on my own for a few days away from hectic Kathmandu. The air was warmer, purer. I would always stay at the same little guesthouse at the edge of town and sit watching the tourists bathe with elephants and the red sunsets over the river from my little balcony. Once I got chased by a rhino in the park, but that’s another story! Thank you for taking me back to a wonderful memory of my own!

    • I love hearing that Chitwan was such a special place for you too, Brittany–and if I shared my first journal entry from there with you, it would read almost exactly the same as what you just said 🙂 I remember arriving in Chitwan from Kathmandu, and immediately feeling that same sense of openness and purity…it felt like a tremendous gift. Thanks so much again for sharing about your own connection to Chiwan!

  • I love how it felt like home so quickly. I think you are able to settle into places very easily.

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