nepal nibble 9/15/09: yak attack

so, as i've mentioned to some people, my schedule here is pretty nuts right now (full time job, about 20 hours of nepali/week) so my time to sight see, take pictures, and write well-thought out, informative, and entertaining blog posts (not to mention sleep) is limited. HOWEVER. i do run across all kinds of odd, sometimes delightful, often disconcerting, tidbits: nepal-related nibbles, if you will. so i'm going to post these more regularly while i write the others incrementally.

so the first thing i wish i had known coming to nepal:
yaks. not sort of hairy, harmless buggers, it turns out. according to my coworkers, who i'm pretty sure (?) were not just messing with me, if you end up in a meadow with a yak (bull), it will definitely charge your sorry butt. you can run if you want, but the only way you're avoiding this is if you can actually find a tree to climb, as yaks have incredible speed and endurance running over hills. i was told this shortly after being told i'll be going to the field in western nepal soon-ish, a place i now imagine to be 80% livid, charging yak by volume.

in the mean time, be sure to enjoy the nepal news links on the right, and this bonus video of an inexplicable yak situation.