Sunday 4 July 2010

FROM THE CHRONICLES OF AN ANCIENT MARINER-MAY 08

It was a cold day at the start of the year, I was giving a slide presentation at the Burrs Country Park. may old friends came and went and then from the cool water 'Pete' came. I had taken him on some river in Nepal 2 years previous and he had a poem for me.

It is not the experience of everyone but he seems to have a love hate relationship with Daal Bhat, The classic food of Nepal. It made me smile when I read it, hope it will make you smile also.

Daal Bhat is a Nepali dish
Its made from rice and lentil
And if your stomachs not too strong
Its effect is truly mental
Daal makes its way in deadly skill
Your inner organs start to spill
You hope this feeling just won't last
And hold tight-and then a blast
Of all the meals that went before
Some much longer-some of yore
First a ripple, then a flood
The feeling really is not good
A moral then- a tale to tell
Avoid Dall Bhat-avoid like hell.

This tale drags on-it just get worse
I cant escape the dreadful curse
In Kathmandu-the orchard caff
Has service poor, indifferent, naff
The food arrived at varied space
Without much sequence-rndom pace
Tibetan stir fry was my choice
Well tasty said an Aussie voice
In no time flat, spices sublime
Attacked my stomach-head-my spine
Back to the hotel then I sped
Collapsed fermenting on the bed
Teh hours that followed were a pin
Ill not try stir-fry, not again
The walls-the ceiling and the floor
and spots of yak met on the door
That toilet was a sorry state
I sat in there to contemplate
I sat for long in quiet station
And almost wished for constipation
the journey home was a great strain
With several moments on the plane
When distant rumblings were heard
Was it the engine-was it a bird?
For forty hours I had no food
Weary, weak-the general mood
upon the scales, surprised I found
In body weight I lost 9 pound
Kayaks and water-high hills above
In Nepal these things I'd loved
The people stoic, smiling, strong
they work so hard to get along
I'd go back soon, good times to find
But always-always on my mind
The fears that linger in my head
I'll leave spiced food and stick to bread
Forget your Daal Bhat, stiry fry and roast
For my good health-I'll stick to toast.