WEEKEND IN MUSSOORIE: OCTOBER 6-8, 2007

I decided that it was time to venture away from the secure comforts of the campus and to escape to the hills for a weekend. Mussoorie sometimes called queen of the hill stations is relatively close by. So I headed out on Saturday Oct 6 at about 9:00 am to catch the bus to Dehradun about 40 km away. At Dehradun I hired a taxi to take me the rest of the way a further 35 km. I arrived at about 2:00 pm. The first order of business was to find myself a hotel. I eventually settled on the Hotel Rockland. It was a pretty good deal with hot and cold water at Rs 500/- ($12.50). I then set out to explore the town and walked from one end of the mall to the other. Mussoorie is reminiscent of Newcastle in Jamaica but a bit higher at 6000 ft (1830m) much more commercialized and much larger. Mussoorie was founded in 1823 by the British as a refuge from the heat of the plains which is still its main raison-d’etre today. Some of the old British Buildings are still there but most of the original buildings are submerged by newer generally banal structures built in recent years to accommodate the influx of Indian vacationers intent in escaping the heat of the plains!! By Oct 6 the weather on the plains had moderated, children were back at school and the off season had started, still there were lots of people around! The temperature was pleasant and a sweater or jacket was enough to keep one comfortably warm. In my usual fashion I meandered around the bazaar or the mall as it has always been called. On of my stops was at Cambridge Book Store where a certain Mr. Ruskin author was hanging out. Ruskin is one of the rare Englishmen who decided to remain in India after independence. There was also another author there a lady who writes on gardening and such stuff. Unfortunately, I have forgotten her name. The other character I met was Sikh storekeeper who was preparing for immigration to Winnipeg to join his uncle who owns three taxis. He expects to work for his uncle driving one of the taxis. I warned him that Canadian police enforce traffic laws much more strictly than in India and that he must always obey the rules of the road or he could easily loose his licence, of course he will first have to learn the rules! Driver education is a weak element in the Indian driver licensing system.

Sunday I went on a drive through the country by taxi to Dhanoli (50 km, both ways). I shared the cost with a French student and his Ladakhi girl friend. The highlight were views of the snow covered Himalaya. At Dhanoli we visited a herbal garden. They also grew a lot of flowers for the market mainly marigolds. In the evening I had supper at a Tibetan restaurant where I met a couple of young Canadian lady travellers who had just started their Indian adventure. They were planning to live on the cheap. I hoped it all worked out well for them.

Next day I joined a bus tour to Kempty Falls some 15 km to the northwest of Mussoorie. I was the only foreigner on the bus. One of the other passengers thought I was Indian because I was talking Hindi but he couldn’t have been listening all that well! The tour was over by 3:00 pm. After the tour I returned to the hotel picked up my knapsack caught a bus to Dehradun and another to Roorkee reaching home at about 7:00 pm in time for supper.

I am attaching a few pictures that will give you an idea of the place.

Phil Helwig,
Roorkee
Nov 24, 2007

Return to Sri Lanka

One of my plans while in South Asia was to return to Sri Lanka where I had lived for one year (1962-63) as a CUSO volunteer. The occasion came about sooner than I had expected when the boss asked me if I would like to attend an international conference on small hydro to be held in Kandy from Oct 21 to 23. The arrangement was that he would cover the conference fees and I would be responsible for the rest. It seemed a pretty good deal.

We left the campus on Saturday October 20 at about 9:30 am. There were four of us Dr. H.K. Verma and wife and Dr. M.F. Sharma who we met at Muzaffanagar on the way. It was a pleasant drive with a couple of comfort stops along the way. For much of the trip we followed the Ganga Canal left bank road, a picturesque route that kept us away from the crowded country towns. Although the road was narrow this detour did not cost us much additional time as there was little traffic. We arrived in Delhi at about 4:00 pm. It was Saturday and traffic was light. This allowed us to get through the city quickly and to reach the airport with lots of time to spare. Our flight with Sri Lankan Airlines left on time. I had the choice of a vegetarian or non-vegetarian meal for supper. I decided to become a carnivore for the remainder of the trip.

We arrived in Colombo at about 11:30 pm. There were no hang-ups going through customs and I was not asked to buy a tourist visa that would have cost me $ 50:00 US (versus $3:00 for my Indian friends). I was not sure what happened. Were conference attendees exempt or was it because I was listed as a member of the Indian contingent? Or was the official on duty simply tired and inattentive? Getting organised took a bit of time until we sorted out where we were to spend the night. We eventually set out for Palm Village Hotel at 30 minutes after mid night supposedly this hotel was close to the airport but it took us the best part of an hour to reach our destination. We travelled via secondary roads that had not seen any maintenance for many years and our rate of progress was slow perhaps 15 km/h on average (?). It appeared to me that when a country is embroiled in a civil war repair of secondary roads gets a low priority. It was pleasant once we got there and we all had a goodnight’s sleep. After breakfast we set off for Kandy the conference location, and incidentally, where I lived in 1962-63. With the exception of Regal Theatre I recognised nothing. The conference hotels the Topaz and Tourmaline were on hill tops that were jungle 44 years ago. Hotel Topaz where I stayed was excellent and the food first rate, offering Sri Lankan and Western dishes and some Indian selections. I concentrated on the Sri Lankan dishes that I had so much enjoyed when I lived in Sri Lanka in the 1960’s. The fruit selection was somewhat disappointing but many of my favourite fruits were out of season although I was later able to find sweet sop, mango stein and cherimoya in various markets. I enjoyed the conference immensely mainly for the social/networking opportunities as the technical content was a bit thin. The largest contingent was from Sri Lanka as one would expect followed by India, Nepal and Norway the conference co-sponsors. But there were representatives in one and twos from Austria, Bhutan, Iran, China, Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania, East Timor, Philippines, Nigeria, Peru, Sweden, U.K. and Uzbekistan. There was one German and one Canadian (me) who were both counted as Indians on account of our affiliations! I particularly enjoyed meeting the Nepalis. None were friends who I had known before but all knew one or other of my Kathmandu friends and colleagues from earlier days. Who knows I may get some future business out of these contacts!! I should mention that we were treated to the requisite number of cultural programs and I joined a half day trip to the elephant orphanage at Pinawela and then to a small but very elaborate Chinese built power plant - after all this was supposed to be work! The conference concluded on October 24.

After the conference I took a week of holidays to revisit old haunts and try and look up old friends. I decided to remain another day in Kandy to see the sites, notably the Dalada Maligawa (or Temple of the Tooth) where Lord Buddha’s tooth is preserved. It is worth noting that this famous Buddhist Temple also included statues to the Hindu God Shiva recognising the common roots of both religions.

From there I went by taxi to see Victoria Dam. This arch dam is one of the key elements of the large Mahaveli Irrigation System. At first the guards were reluctant to let me go to the dam but they eventually changed their minds. Evidently I did not look much like a (Tamil) tiger, so I was allowed to go up to the lookout but not to take any pictures. In calmer days they would have entertained large numbers of visitors and had laid out a spacious parking area and built a fine restaurant overlooking the dam. In those days visits into the dam’s inspection tunnel were also a regular part of the Victoria Dam experience. Behind the dam is a large lake in which, I was told, supports an important fresh water fishery. I ended the day with a quick visit to Royal Botanical Gardens Peradenya that is surely one of the loveliest public gardens anywhere.

Next day Oct 26th I set out by train to Nuwara Eliya at about elevation 2000m. There were no observation car seats available so I went second class. I was able to get a seat among a group of high school athletes from Kuranegala and their teachers, the girls were competing in karam and the boys in rugger. It was a pleasant 2½ trip. In Nuwara Eliya I stayed in McLeod Lodge, formerly the summer home of the Bandaranaike family (Mrs. B was prime minister of Ceylon/Sri Lanka in 1962-63 when I lived there). It is a large house but otherwise quite ordinary. The two days I stayed there were overcast and it rained each day from 1:00 pm until 7:00 pm and it was chilly besides: shades of Newfoundland! On my second day there I walked around Nuwara Eliya Lake and visited Victoria Gardens. Then in the afternoon I went by taxi to visit a tea factory and to see several nearby waterfalls. In the 1960’s I had passed through Nuwara Eliya many times but this was my first proper visit.

I left on the morning of October 28th again via train with destination Colombo. Again no luck with observer car tickets, it seems you must plan ahead for such comforts and planning ahead is not one of my strong points! So again it was second/third class but this time no seat. So I stood up or cotched, on the edge of a seat, for most of the four hour trip. However, I had the pleasure of meeting the Obeysekera family and Manori their charming daughter who teaches maths in an international school; in Colombo. I also met some members of the Kuranegala High School rugger team who had lost their match in the quarter finals and were going home early. The girls karam team seemed to be doing better. While travelling by train I saw two Canadian locomotives the Newfoundland and Vancouver City. These locomotives were given as aid by Canada under the Colombo Plan in the 1960’s and are still providing good service 40 odd years later. At least a dozen were supplied one for each province and a couple or more named after cities.

In Colombo I stayed at the Mount Empire Inn a small but comfortable two star hotel but with a singularly uninspired name. The name didn’t resonate with me and I had a hard time remembering it. Fortunately, the address was more distinctive! It is one thing to get lost in a foreign country but it is much worse to lose your hotel!! On my first day in Colombo I tried contacting friends from the old days. I was only able to track down Tamitegama (Tami) unfortunately he was away in India. However, his wife Lorraine invited me over to join her and some friends for lunch. It was a gourmet affair of finely prepared Sri Lankan and South Asian dishes and good company too. Both Tami and Lorraine are both very active in the Sri Lanka Alzheimer’s Society and provide much needed services to patients and their families. While in Colombo I also visited the Dehiwala Zoo. The zoo has an excellent collection of birds and animals particularly monkeys, but several displays were in shabby conditions. Clearly money for zoos is also a low priority. While I was there the Tamil Tigers staged a spectacular raid on the air force base near Anuradhapura and destroyed 17 to 20 aircraft (mostly helicopters I guess). The cost to replace this equipment was said to be in the order of $ 400 million! So shortage of money to repair secondary roads or to find mates for lonely animals at the zoo is likely to continue.

After a couple of days in Colombo I headed south to Hikkaduwa on October 31st for a proper beach holiday. Hikkaduwa is quite a tourist town spread out along kilometres of fabulous golden beaches. The town has recovered well from the tsunami of 2004. It would appear that businesses probably were favoured when relief money was given out. I think the more robust structures survived quite well although ground level furnishings were destroyed or simply floated away. The famous railway carriages are parked in the railway station and are slowly rusting away. Elsewhere foundations and the few standing ruins are already overgrown with vegetation as if this tragic event happened decades ago. The proper tourist season had not yet started so hotel guests were few. Swiss, Austrians and Germans seemed to be the most adventurous as Sri Lanka’s civil problems tend to scare tourists away. Actually, the south and central areas that I visited are mostly free from the strife that afflicts the North-central, Eastern and Northern provinces. I stayed at Sunil’s Beach Hotel and spent a couple of lazy days in Hikkaduwa. I swam mostly in the Hotel pool because the sea at this season was too rough, except for at sheltered location some distance from the hotel where I swam once. I also went on a short cruise (30 minutes!) in a glass bottomed boat to view fish life in a reef. The reef took quite a pummelling in the tsunami but appears to be recovering. The fish are relatively abundant but in fewer varieties than one would normally see in a coral reef. I also went on a sunset paddle around a lagoon to see the bird life and supposedly some spectacular rookeries. Spectacular rookeries there were none and the surroundings a bit too affected by human activity to be ideal places for roosting. A visit to a Buddhist temple was more interesting. Nonetheless it was a pleasant and tranquil time and I saw quite enough flying creatures birds (crows, egrets, kingfishers, fly catchers and bats – big flying foxes and smaller bats) to make the venture worthwhile. On my last day in Hikkaduwa I attended the dedication of a new restaurant, according to some traditions the first guest is supposed to bring good luck. I hope this is true for Mr. and Mrs. Lionel who are owners of this establishment.

I took my old note book on Sinhala language and tried to communicate. I could recall a few phrases such as: mage badda piruna (my tummy is full), keyada wyasa? (how old are you?) mama maha nuwara-ta hitiya (I used to live in Kandy) and not much else come to think of it! I got a many laughs for my efforts but I can no longer communicate in an effective manner in Sinhala.

I returned to Colombo on November 2nd again travelling by train. Travelling by train is incredibly cheap. The trip from Hikkaduwa to Colombo about 100 km cost about 90 cents Canadian.

The following afternoon I caught the plane back to Delhi, spent the night in a Karol Bagh hotel and returned to Roorkee by bus the next day, Sunday - November 4th.

I am attaching some photos for you to enjoy.

Phil Helwig
December 7, 2007

September in Roorkee.

On Sept. 23 I went in to the bazar to buy a new pair of shoes since my fine Italian shoe were in dire need of repairs and I needed an extra pair while the repair work was being done. I bought a new pair for an excellent price of Rs 250/- ($ 6.00) but I had scarcely gone a hundred metres before this new pair started to fall apart. So back I went to the shoe store where I was able to exchange these cheap shoes for something better plus Rs 50/-. On the way home I stopped at a confectionary to buy some sweets as I expected to entertain one of the neighbours in a day or so. I ate one of the sweets which was enough to precipitate a bout of tummy trouble. This was the last of three incidents in September.

Earlier I was in a collision with a scooter and fell on the roadway getting scrapes and bruises to my left shoulder and elbow, knees and small puncture wounds to both palms and two fingers one on each hand. Luckily there were no concussion, sprains or broken bones. I am now fully recovered. The cost to repair my bike was about 80 cents (CAN). It was my fault as I did not signal that I was turning since I though no one was behind me.

Then I had another small mishap. In the night I stepped into a ditch which should have been covered and took another tumble. The damage this time was limited to a few scrapes to my right hand which was holding on to my umbrella. I am pretty well recoverd from this as well. Hopefully I will avoid such dramas in October. The good news is that the weather has turned and the temperature is quite pleasant in the mornings and evenings and the sky clear all day long. This is the start of the best season. I will be going to Sri Lanka for a conference and will take a short holiday after that. So long for now.
Daddio

PS
Yahoo is driving me nuts so I am using my gmail account. However please use Yahoo for sending messages.

ARCHES: STRUCTURES OF STRENGTH AND BEAUTY

By P.C.Helwig
Telegram Special for Engineering Week: March 3/2001

Have you ever traveled on Route 91 between Colinet and Placentia? Did you stop for a visit to Cataracts Provincial Park? If you didn’t, you should have – because you would have discovered the beautiful Cataracts Bridge (see Photo 1), which is the centrepiece of the Park. This elegant structure was built exactly 75 years ago. The contractor was H. Simmons, from the Colinet area, and design engineer Rudolph Cochius, apparently from Montreal.

The arch is a structure of strength and beauty and of ancient lineage. Builders of ancient times had few choices of building materials. Their preferred building materials for durable construction were stone or fired bricks rather than wood; since wooden structures were vulnerable to fire, rot and termites. Simple structures in stone could only span a few metres, the extent of a single slab, since stone is weak is tension. Ancient builders discovered that this shortcoming of stone, or masonry construction, could be overcome if the structure was formed in a curved or “arched” shape, with each stone supported by its neighbor. With the proper shape, external loads would be supported entirely in compression by the stones forming an arch ring of wedge-shaped (voussoir) stones, thereby benefiting from the great strength of stone in compression. This type of design permitted very much larger spans between supporting pillars and abutments than was possible for simple stone structures.

Historians differ in their opinions about the discoverers of the principle of the arch; some suggest the Sumerians of Mesopotamia (ca. 14th century B.C.) but most credit the Etruscans (ca. 5th century B.C.). However, it was the Roman engineers, who capitalized on the advantages of arch structures to build some of the most useful and enduring structures of all time. Consider the Puente Romano at Alcántara, Spain, (see Photo 2) built by Caius Julius Lacer, in 104 A.D. for Emperor Trajan and still in use after almost 1900 years. Another spectacular structure is the Pont du Gard Aqueduct (see Photo 3) in France, built in 18 B.C. to supply water to Nemansus (now Nîmes). It operated reliably for about 300 years, eventually ceasing to function through lack of maintenance.

The Romans also perfected construction of the dome, a three dimensional form of the arch. Their greatest dome is the dome of the Pantheon (Temple for all the Roman Gods) in Rome that was built in A.D. 102 for Emperor Hadrian. In 609 it was rededicated as a church to Madonna and All the Martyrs and is still in service today. With a diameter of 43.3 m (142 ft) it is slightly larger than the dome of St. Peters, in Rome and still one of the largest, if not the largest, masonry dome ever built.

For all their accomplishments, it appears that the Romans never developed a scientific understanding of the structural behaviour of arches, and that their understanding and rules of practice were entirely derived from practical experience.

The first concerted attempts to develop the science of arch behaviour were not taken up until the 1700’s, when this question was explored, both theoretically and experimentally, by the greatest engineers of that era, notably – Hooke, Coulomb and Castigliano. The challenge was to apply the new rules of Newtonian mechanics and elasticity to describe the behaviour of the masonry arch. However, it wasn’t until a century later – the mid 1800’s that a complete rational design method was available in the standard engineering text books. Co-incidentally, about the time that the masonry arch construction was losing favour to construction in other materials, cast iron, steel and concrete!

Interestingly, the study of masonry arch bridges was revived in the 1940’s when military planners and highway engineers in Britain became concerned about the strength of aging masonry arch bridges, built in the horse and buggy era, to support modern traffic loads. Prof. Jacques Heymann of Cambridge University extended this work in the 1980s, using modern plastic analysis and was able to show that 90% of Britain’s 70,000 masonry arch bridges are safe for modern traffic. To replace them all would have cost about $14 Billion (CDN).

Arch dams form another interesting category of arch structures where the applied load is transferred by arch action into the valley walls. While the earliest arch dams date back to the 1600’s in Spain, technology of arch dam design and construction was largely developed in the twentieth century.

The modern arch dam, built in concrete, is a structure of complex geometry and subject to a variety of loading conditions, from water, ice and temperature. Now-a-days, arch dam design is always carried out with the aid of computers. The arch dam is the preferred design where a river is confined in a gorge or steep sided valley. Arch dams figure among the highest dams ever built, such as Inguri (Republic of Georgia) 272 m, Vajont (Italy) 262 m and Ertan (China) 245 m. Paradise River Arch Dam, completed in 1988, near Monkstown, (see Photo 4) is small compared to these giants, but at 43 m in height, it is 78 % as tall as Confederation Building. The volume of concrete required in its construction was 3,240 m³ compared to about 15,000 m³ that would have been required if constructed as a conventional concrete gravity dam. Except for the parapet walls and spillway overhang, no reinforcing steel was used in its construction.

Therefore, in addition to strength and beauty a further attribute of arch construction is efficiency!



Article contributed by Phil Helwig, P.Eng. AMEC E&C Services Limited. Phil was the designer of record for the Paradise River Arch Dam. (Phil can be contacted at hydrophil2003@yahoo.ca)

More information about arches can be found from the following sources.

a) Book/Magazines:

“Testing Times for Arches”
by Bill Harvey
New Scientist – May 15, 1986 issue.

“Bridging: Discovering the Beauty of Bridges”
by R.S. Cortright
available from
American Society of Civil Engineers
(www.asce.org)

“The Masonry Arch”
by Jacques Heyman
Wiley and Sons
Rexdale, Ontario
A basic knowledge of calculus and statics is required to understand this book.

b) Video Tape:

“Building Big”
5-part video series
$69.95 U.S.
Available from
American Society for Civil Engineers
(or wait for a re-run on PBS Television, one episode features domes, another bridges).

c) On the internet:

www.britanica.com/arches about arch structures in general
www.myron.sjsu.edu/ROMEWEB/ENGINEER about Roman engineering
www.usbr.gov/cdams about U.S. arch dams
www.ot.nimes.fr about Pont du Gard Aqueduct

d) Government of Newfoundland
Ms. Lynn Evans
Director of Public Relations
Dept. of Works, Services and Transportation
Confederation Building
St. John’s, NF Tel: (709) 729-3015 about Cataracts Bridge

e) Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
Mr. Trevor Arbuckle, P.Eng.
Manager – Hydro Generation
Bay d’Espoir, NF (709) 882-2551 about Paradise River Arch Dam

CENTRAL AMERICAN ADVENTURES - 2003.

My original plan was to write up a weekly progress report to e-mail to Canada but the computer at the internet café would not co-operate so I finally gave up. Hopefully, now that I am back in the office, with help available, I will be luckier.

To begin, I had for sometime planned a lengthy visit to Guatemala to study Spanish. Why Guatemala (?) that itself is a long story, suffice to say it started in Whitehorse in 1996 where I met a young fellow who highly recommended the place also mentioning the cost of Spanish language courses to be very affordable. Subsequently, several other people recommended the country and especially the schools in the second city of Quetzaltenango. On a more practical level, a friend of a friend living in Quetzaltenango recommended three Spanish schools. I then checked them out on their websites and selected Instituto Centro America (ICA) - Escuela de Español, which was in the middle of the price range. The program included five hours of instruction daily with an individual teacher, a program of recreational and/or cultural events in the afternoons and weekends plus room and board with a family. All this for $ 200 (Canadian) per week!

To complete this introduction, I would like to mention the following facts about the place:
• The local name for Quetzaltenango is Xela: pronounced Shayla. This name is used throughout Guatemala for the City. Quetzaltenango is also the name for one of Guatemala’s 22 departments (provinces) and is normally used only in reference to this department.
• Xela is located in a high mountain valley at elevation 2,270 m (7,450 ft.) and the weather is cool at nights (down to 2° C) but very pleasant during the day (18-20o C).
• Xela is in an area where the majority of the population are Maya Indians.
• Xela has a population of about 500,000.
• Most of the tourists are Spanish language students studying at one of the 22 private language schools in the City!
• A curious practice common in Central America is to call the dry season, summer and the rainy season, winter. Therefore, summer in Guatemala lasts from November through May and winter from June through October contrary to the calendar definition for countries in the Northern Hemisphere!

I left Montreal on Saturday, January 4 at 6:00 a.m. via American Airlines to Guatemala City via Miami reaching there at 1:00 p.m. local time (CST). I was met at the airport by Hipolito and taken to Dos Lunas Guesthouse, a five-room establishment in the suburbs near the airport. Next morning, Sunday January 5, I traveled by Galgos Bus (tourist class!!) to Xela via the Pan American Highway. The trip took four hours with a half hour rest stop at a restaurant midway. The highway was in excellent condition as were all the major roads in the country. After arriving at Xela, I hiked the two blocks from the bus terminal to the school office to meet the Director, Enriquez Diaz, and he took me over to my “family” - the Lopez’s, whose house was a couple of blocks from the school and adjacent to the Xela Branch of Gallo Brewery!

The school was in a rather ordinary building with classrooms, or rather cubicles, arranged around a courtyard that was sunlit from 9:30 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. Classes were from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a snack break at 11:00 a.m. Snacks of local delicacies were on sale most days, prepared by one or other of the teachers to earn a little extra pocket money. Lunch, the main meal of the day, would be at 1:30 p.m. and would be eaten at “home” with the student’s family. A program of cultural activities was organized in the afternoons and weekends.

During the first week, there were about nine students with numbers increasing by twos and threes for each of the following weeks. Except for the last week when a gang of about 24 students showed up from a U.S. college on a “semester abroad” program. The student body was very diverse with students from the U.S., Germany, Holland and Japan. The students were either recent grads or still studying for their degrees. Their motives for studying Spanish were almost as diverse as their origins, from learning Spanish for travel to preparing themselves for careers in law, medicine, social work, international trade or international development. Several anticipated that they would need to speak in Spanish fluently to effectively serve Hispanic clients in the U.S. They were a very fine group of young people and studying and traveling with them was one of the highlights of my experience in Guatemala.

My own program of study focused on two areas of language, learning the verbs - especially the numerous irregular verbs, and conversation/vocabulary acquisition. I had a different teacher each week, Irwin, Leyti, Miguel and Fernanda. We covered a lot of ground but still needed another week to tackle the subjunctive form of the verb! One of the clear benefits of this kind of program is that I was able to practice what I learned in class with my family in the evening. Other learning opportunities came about in negotiating ordinary daily chores such as, shopping, ordering meals in restaurants, dealing with folks in the Laundromat, the barbershop and the hardware store, etc. The hardware store caused me the biggest problem when I went to buy a tube of magic glue. I remembered the word for magic but forgot to look up the word for glue before going to the store! I finally got what I wanted but it took a while.

I will now mention some of the most interesting after hour activities. The first of these activities was an afternoon trip to Zunil a small town about 40 minutes by “chicken” bus from Xela. We visited a flourishing co-operative that produced woven produces for tourists and export. We also visited the shrine to San Simon a traditional Maya god whose personage has been incorporated in the popular (but not official) form Roman Catholicism. Syncretism is the word I think!

A novel adventure was a visit to the Prision de Mujeres (Women’s Prison). More correctly, this was a detention centre for mainly first time offenders awaiting their day in court. The school was providing support for the women during their period in the centre, which could last many months. Mostly it was an occasion for socializing and checking out their basketball skills. One short plump lady was amazing; she could hit the basket from just about anywhere on the court!

Another town we visited was Salajaca, which is a major traditional textile producing center. We visited a dyeing plant and weaving operation there. The oldest church in Central American is located in this place but was not open to the public since it was undergoing renovation.

We also visited Fuentes Georgina thermal springs about 10 km, beyond Zunil, where the warm waters are trapped in a swimming pool. This was a perfect way to recover after climbing to the top of a nearby ridge.

Another afternoon we walked from the outskirts of Xela to another thermal spring billed as a natural sauna. I went along for the walk but skipped the sauna experience.

On my first weekend I joined a group of other students on an ascent of Volcano Santa Maria. This was a major undertaking as it involved a climb (and return) of about 1200 m+, vertically to reach the top. We started at 6:00 a.m. from the school traveling by pickup to the beginning of the trail 5 km outside of town. A Canadian friend Graham (a.k. Felipe) also joined us. It was a steady climb of about five hours for me to reach the top (about one hour slower than the kids!) but I made it. Graham decided that he was not fit enough to follow us and turned back half way up. The view from the top was spectacular and well worth the effort. The elevation at the top was 3770 m (12,400 feet). This is similar to the highest points I reached in Nepal, but of course in Nepal that is where the mountains really start. Near the summit, the ground was frozen, in fact the condition of the trail in some areas, where the ground under foot was a combination of black mud and ice, was especially treacherous. I survived the worst, only to fall flat on my face in a section of track that was almost flat! We returned to the school at 5:30 p.m.

The other major expedition organized by the school was a daylong visit to Panajachel, arguably one of the most spectacular natural sights in the whole of Central America. Panajachel is the largest town on the shoreline of Lake Atitlan a lake trapped between an inland range of mountains and a coastal volcanic range. We were six (I think) including our guide Miguel. With Miguel’s assistance we rented a boat for the remainder of the day and cruised the lake visiting Santiago Atitlan, San Antonio and Sta. Caterina, in addition to Panajachel. We lunched at Sta. Caterina on freshly caught fish from the lake. We traveled by local buses also called “chicken” buses by trekkers, but there were no chickens. Travel by bus is amazingly cheap and we only spent about Q 12 (about $ 2.50) for 140 km of traveling to and fro.

Two other events at the school were also memorable, a conference by an ex guerilla fighter Comandante Tino and a folk dancing concert by young Mayan students.

I also arranged a few activities on my own, notably:

• A tour of El Canada Hydroelectric Development with Graham (Felipe) Seward. Of interest: the site investigation for this development was carried out by a friend and former colleague Dave Besaw, while Graham was previously in charge of the construction phase of the Trishuli Devighat Project in Nepal ( I was responsible for the design phase). It’s a small world indeed.
• An interview with an expert on Maya culture and language.
• A visit to Antigua, for a couple of days before leaving Guatemala. Antigua is a World heritage site and was, at its height, the capital of Spanish Central America. It was destroyed by a series of earthquakes during the 1700’s when the capital was relocated to present day Guatemala City. Antigua would have been very wealthy in its heyday and evidence of this are the numerous ruins mostly churches, some of which have been restored while restoration work is continuing on others.

I left Xela on Thursday, January 30 to Antigua, where I spent two days as a tourist. From there I continued to Guatemala City for my last night in the country, before leaving on February 2, for Nicaragua.

The finale of my adventures was a short visit to meet friends in Nicaragua. This trip was only for four days, but courtesy of ATDER (Asociation de trabajadores de desarollo rurale). I was able to see quite a bit of the country, mainly in the area northwest of Matagalpa. ATDER is an NGO working on small development projects in rural Nicaragua, mainly water supply and mini-hydro projects. I was able to visit a couple of their projects and to meet some folks involved in the hydro business there.

Overall, I had a most interesting and rewarding vacation and am very pleased with my progress in Spanish. My comprehension is good and conversation skills adequate to work in Spanish as an engineer, if the occasion should ever arise.

I am attaching a few pictures to complete this account. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Philip Helwig

April 6, 2003

TRAVELS IN VIETNAM 2005

I went to Vietnam as a sub-consultant to SNC-Lavalin (Vancouver) with in the position of Team Leader on the 110 MW Ban Chat Hydropower Project. Our base was Hanoi and our client was Power Engineering Consulting Company # 1 of Vietnam (PECC1). We were there to review and to advise on their designs for two projects (two teams): Ban Chat and Huoi Quang projects. I came as the replacement for the original team leader who had health problems. Later I took over as waterway design expert as well as the engineer assigned by SNC-Lavalin lacked the necessary design experience to do the work. The terms of reference and expectation of the client were far from clear and it seemed to me that there was little interest in many of the areas defined in the terms of reference. PECC1’s design was basically satisfactory and many of our suggestions concerned refinements in details that offered potential cost savings or simplification to construction. Most of the suggested cost savings were minor when compared with the overall price tag and were of little interest to the Vietnamese Director, Mr. Hung. His main interest, when all was said and done, was to access SNC-Lavalin’s expertise on the design and construction of RCC (roller compacted concrete) dams an area in which SNC-Lavalin is well experienced.

The easy interpersonal relationships which were the norm in Nepal were unfortunately absent in Vietnam. The several consultants working with PECC1 from Canada, Russia and Switzerland each worked in separated ghettos with limited contact with Vietnamese counterparts. Eating arrangements at lunch time were likewise segregated, foreigners at their assigned tables and Vietnamese at other tables, so much for solidarity of the proletariat!!
Communication was also a problem as few people spoke English or French, even in the professional classes. Vietnamese is a very difficult language to learn for foreigners and probably Vietnamese find European languages likewise incomprehensible. We relied enormously on our secretary/translator Tuyen as translator and advisor on protocol.

With the exception of the bureaucratic machine that was PECC1 there was little evidence of that Vietnam is a communist country on the contrary one gets the impression of a vigorous capitalistic economy with every conceivable consumer good on sale in hundreds of small shops lining the streets. The economy seems to be growing quickly and the standard of living improving apace. The country is now in the scooter age and the streets are saturated with scooters and motor cycles. Street crossing in day or night was guaranteed to provide a thrill. If the Vietnamese cannot resist the allure of the automobile one can predict monster traffic jams in Hanoi in the near future.

Altogether my assignment lasted seven weeks from Oct 3 to Nov 20, 2005. During this period I stayed in Hanoi and explored the city, checked out the restaurants, attended one show at the Hanoi Opera and joined the Indian community and friends for Diwali festivities. On my final weekend I made contact with a language school and looked forward to a part time volunteer job during the second phase of the project that unfortunately did not materialize. The limited traveling I did was at the completion of my assignment. An account of these travels is given below.


Sunday Nov. 20:
I packed up my belongings at Asean Hotel, stored books; extra stuff and computer then took an ordinary bus from Hanoi to Ha Long Bay. The trip lasted from 11 am to 3 pm with a stop for lunch. At Ha Long Bay I hooked up with a friend of the bus driver who took me over to Ho Toy Hotel on hotel row. In this part of town there are several small hotels that all look alike and have similar names therefore it was important not to lose the business card of the hotel!
Across the road was a small café/hotel with only one guest. Stopped there for a coffee and met the owner, her son, daughter-in-law and new baby. I was invited to join them for supper at no extra charge and then to watch the Vietnam vs. Thailand international football match on TV. Vietnam won.

Monday, Nov.21:
After breakfast of Vietnamese beef noodle soup, I joined three young ladies, a Dane, her Danish/Vietnamese friend and the latter’s cousin. We spent most of the day, from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm cruising among the islands of Ha Long Bay. We visited two of the islands, the first to explore a large cave and the second to climb to a lookout on the summit from which we had a splendid view of the bay and its many rocky islands. This area is now a famous tourist destination and is a “must-see” destination in Vietnam. There were tourists from several countries including: France, China, Korea, Japan, etc. It was passed the peak season, so tour boats of which there is a substantial fleet were only part full or tied up. Our boat with a capacity of 18-20 had only the four of us as paying passengers. It is indeed a spectacular place, but would be better still if there was less haze in the air. I was told that, on clear days of the rainy season it is much better. I joined my host (Mr. Fix-it) for beer and sausages followed by a Vietnamese supper at the German restaurant near my hotel.

Tuesday, Nov 22:
In the morning I took it easy and treated myself to a fancy breakfast in Hanoi Restaurant Dong 85,000 ($ 6.00) and then wandered along the beach until lunch which I bought on the sidewalk for Dong 9,000 (65 cents). In the afternoon I returned to Hanoi in a mini bus with back-packers from Ireland and Canada (Montreal). It took a while to find a hotel in downtown Hanoi but finally I settled in to Freedom Hotel at US $20.00 per night. Later that evening I visited my favorite restaurant the Green Tangerine and dined with an Australian couple I met there. They are writers. We discussed books and engineering as we ate.

Wednesday, Nov 23:
I breakfasted at Mocha’s coffee house where I met a young American lady working in the textile industry. She was in Vietnam to recruit a compliance inspector to monitor factories manufacturing garments for her company in the U.S. Spent the rest of the day organizing my trip to Nepal. That evening I had supper at Mama Rosa’s Restaurant where I bumped into a Canadian foursome from Quebec City. One of the group was a Ms. Pinsent from Grand Falls (NF). She has lived many years in Quebec City and speaks flawless French. That evening I decided to take in a concert at the Opera House where the Budapest Opera Orchestra was playing. Unfortunately, the tickets were “sold out” and only scalpers tickets were available at ridiculous prices $100!! I’ll wait until I visit Budapest to hear this orchestra.

Thursday, Nov 24:
I had breakfast again at Mocha’s and this time met a most interesting group of Americans: Suel Jones from Alaska a volunteer with Vietnam Freedom Village, Dan Rocovits – World Village foundation both organizations dedicated to repair some of the damages of the American War. Later a couple of young film makers joined us. They were researching the history of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hopefully, we will see the results of their efforts on PBS someday soon. My project today was to visit and photograph the Long Bien Bridge and Sông Hông River (Red River). This bridge is very famous as it was the sole link to the coal fields of Haiphong which were vital to the Vietnamese war effort. The Americans made many attempts to take the bridge out, but the Vietnamese displayed extraordinary ingenuity in making repairs and were able to put the bridge back in service with extraordinary rapidity after each attack. The result is a curious looking bridge that appears as if each section was designed by a different engineer!! After a late lunch I attended a concert at the famous water puppet theatre a unique production in which the puppets all float in a shallow pool of water.
Then at 6:20 pm I left for the airport en route to Bangkok and Kathmandu.

After a three week vacation in Nepal I returned again to Hanoi on Dec 12.

Monday, Dec 12:
I got up early to avoid problems at Bangkok Airport. The flight from Bangkok to Hanoi with Thai Airlines was routine. Hanoi on arrival was overcast and cool so I could comfortably wear my new Nepali jacket. Staff at Asean Hotel were glad to see me again.

Tuesday, Dec 13:
For my last full day in Vietnam I decided to join a group tour to visit Perfume Pakoda, that is not a pagoda at all but a cave which has been a place of worship for many centuries.

Wednesday-Thursday, Dec 14:
I left Hanoi at 1:30 p.m. for Taipei, a trip of about two and a half hours arriving around 5:00 p.m. I checked into Transit Hotel until 9:30 p.m., then caught the plane to Vancouver at midnight arriving at 6:00 p.m. on Dec 14, thus regaining the day lost on the trip out! After supper and a movie on television I fell asleep and did not wake up until 2:00 p.m. so much for the benefit of an extra day!

Thursday, Dec 15:
I went over to SNC-Lavalin’s office for a debriefing session then caught Air Canada’s 2:00 p.m. flight to Montreal arriving just before midnight. So ended this most recent of Asian adventures.

I am attaching a few pictures that I took myself and also a power point presentation on Hanoi that Nicole found on the web. Enjoy.


Best wishes (belatedly).

Phil Helwig

Sept 22, 2007

Travels in Nepal 2005

TRAVELS IN NEPAL 2005

Thursday, Nov 24:
I started my last day in Hanoi with breakfast at Mocha’s. This time I met a most interesting group of Americans: Suel Jones from Alaska a volunteer with Vietnam Freedom Village, Dan Rocovits – World Village foundation both organizations dedicated to repair some of the damages of the American War. Later a couple of young film makers joined us. They were researching the history of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Hopefully, we will see the results of their efforts on PBS someday soon.

My project today was to visit and photograph the Long Bien Bridge and Sông Hông River (Red River). This bridge is very famous as it was the sole link to the coal fields of Haiphong which were vital to the Vietnamese war effort. The Americans made many attempts to take the bridge out, but the Vietnamese displayed extraordinary ingenuity in making repairs and were able to put the bridge back in service with extraordinary rapidity after each attack. The result is a curious looking bridge, as if each section was designed by a different engineer!!
After a late lunch I attended a concert at the famous water puppet theatre a unique production in which the puppets all float in a shallow pool of water. After the concert at 6:20 p.m. I left for the airport en route to Bangkok and Kathmandu. The flight from Hanoi to Bangkok is a short hop of 1½ hours. In Bangkok I stayed at the Amari Airport Hotel.

Friday, Nov 25:
I left the airport with about 1½ hours before boarding time to allow for “procedures” but the red tape was much more protracted than I had expected and I was at risk of missing my plane until an official helped me and some others jump the queue. On our fight into Nepal we were rewarded with the best views ever (for me) of Mount Everest and the other mountain giants. However, on landing I was disappointed in finding Kathmandu blanketed by a thick haze, with no mountains in sight in a season famous for mountain views. On board I traveled with an American acrobat and entrepreneur based in Bangkok. He was visiting Kathmandu as a volunteer to work with street kids. He traveled with his own transportation in the form of a mono cycle. Wisely he took a cab from airport as there are too many potholes for safety, worse even than St.John’s at winter’s end! After getting my visa and some cash I headed of to my accustomed Hotel Ambassador arriving at 12:30 pm. I spent the afternoon getting oriented by visiting CIWEC Clinic, the British Council and Canadian Co-operation offices.

Saturday, Nov. 26:
At breakfast I joined some Tibetan students who were in town studying English at the nearby British Council. I then headed down to Asan Tole market to buy some Nepali books to replace those left in Canada. On the way back to the hotel I dropped into Royal Nepal Trekking Agency on a whim and decided to make a deal with them. The plan is to trek in the Annapurna Natural Reserve but probably, not all the way to Annapurna Sanctuary. This area is adjacent to the area which Trevor and I trekked through in 1992. It is one of the most popular trekking routes so we should be meeting lots of other trekkers. The risk from Maoist guerillas is considered low as there is a truce in effect. I also went to the barbers so that I would not be mistaken for a yeti!

Sunday, Nov 27:
I was picked up along with my guide Min at 7:00 am as planned. We then extricated ourselves from Kathmandu and its smog and headed off to Pokhara. Along the way we went through several army checkpoints, but as I did not look like a Maoist (or yeti) we were let through without any fuss. On arrival in Pokhara we went directly to the Tourist Office and soon had my trekking permit in hand after paying a R 2000/- ($ 33.00 Can) fee. After a too long snack we set off again to Nyapul (New Bridge which is none too new!) and thence to Biretani – an easy stroll of about 45 minutes (2 km?). We checked into an old style lodge. There were only four of guests, myself, an ancient lady professor from Berkley (78 years old) and our guides. This lady is veteran of Nepal but I think this will be her last trek.
(Distance walked = 2 km, elevation 1050 m).

Monday, Nov 28:
At around 8:30 we set off following Modi Khola in the upstream direction. At first it was easy going until Saulebajar, then it was a steep uphill climb to Chane, then a stretch of easy going of about 1 km and finally a long steady climb to Gandruk. Most of the way we traveled with a Gurung lady who was also going to Gandruk to visit her ailing father. She was a chatterbox and “chewed” Min’s ear for most of the 5 hour trek. It was good practice for me to try and figure out what they were saying. She spoke excellent Nepali and so listening was a good lesson for me. If I could travel 1000 km with her it would improve my Nepali wonderfully. At Gandruk we checked into a fancy hotel, which even promised hot water, but by the time we arrived the hot water had all been used up. There were many foreign trekkers – two groups about 20 people in all. The Dutch were prominent. Mountainous Nepal is quite the opposite of flat Holland!! (Distance walked = 10 km elevation = 1950 m).

Tuesday, Nov 29:
Today we trekked from Gandruk to Chomrong. This involved a climb to a spur at about 2200 m then a descent down to Kyumnu Khola (1400 m) then a climb up to Chomrong at 2150 m. Chomrong is just below Annapurna South and lies in the shadow of this giant peak. The view of Machupuchare from Chomrong is also excellent. We were promised warm water, but as on the previous day, the warm water was all gone by the time we arrived: such is the penalty for being a slow poke. Once again we saw many Maoist slogans on rock faces but not as many as yesterday. My ability to decipher these massages is limited but I did get the impression that the Maoists all seemed to be good at grammar and handwriting. Although at a similar elevation as Gandruk, it was noticeably colder here ( 5oC), perhaps this is because it is closer to the ice fields. (Distance walked, 9 km elevation 2000 m)

Wednesday, Nov 30:
Today we started out with the intention of hiking to Landrung, but Min was in poor condition having consumed too much rakshi the night before with his friends. I hiked ahead of him and thought for sometime that that I had lost him. However, we eventually reunited at Jinudanda where we decided to stay here to take advantage of the geothermal springs nearby. After lunch, I set off to visit to the springs. Most of the walk was through jungle. There were lots of birds singing in the trees but they were hard to see and I wasn’t able to identify any of them. The hot springs have been developed into three pools the first of which was occupied. I went to the third pool and had fifteen minute soak in the nude as there were no spectators around. The temperature was pleasantly warm and fresh unlike most other geothermal springs where the water is usually tainted with H2S. After supper the locals put on a show for us, not high theatre but fun anyway. Here electrical supply was via a photo voltaic system. This provided enough light for reading before going to sleep. (Distance 6 km elevation 1300 m).

Thursday, Dec 1:
Today we retreated mostly downhill until we reached Modi Khola again at another Nyapul. In this case the new bridge was a make-shift affair of four logs side-by-side and will surely not survive the next monsoon flood. We then climbed back up hill towards Landrum where we had lunch before continuing to our day’s destination at Thoka Village. Among the guests at the lodge were a group of four French trekkers. They had got together over the internet to plan their excursion and the first time they met face-to-face was when the arrived in Kathmandu. Their guide had got them some ganga (marijuana) and they invited me for a smoke but I declined! There were rumours of someone buying goats in the district which was a prelude that the army was planning a visit. Sure enough a contingent of troops came marching through in the early hours of the morning, or so I was told as I wasn’t willing to poke my nose out of my warm sleeping bag to see for myself. Hopefully this is not a prelude for problems to come. (Distance 7 km, elevation 1600 m).


Friday, Dec 2:
The decision today was whether to walk all the way out or spend another day in the mountains. Eventually I decided to stay another day in the mountains and hang out at Pothana, a village about a half day’s hike from Thoka from which a panoramic view of the mountains was promised. The walk was fairly easy except for a steep climb to the pass at Deuladi. We lunched at Deuladi from where we could see the peak of Daulagiri in the west, the only place on this hike from which this giant peak is visible. From Deuladi onwards we traveled on an easy path following a ridge into Pothana: after a short ramble of 1½ hours. From Pothana we did indeed have a panoramic view from west to east: Annapurna – Malaku – Lamjung Himal. Later in the evening we were joined by a group of Australian trekkers 4 girls and 2 guys. That night we had a party with dancing and songs since it was the last night on the trail for all of us. This village was the only one on the journey that did not obtain its power from a renewable source but relied on a small diesel generator. Lights were provided from 5:30 to 9:30 pm only. The cooks working from a small primitive kitchen provided supper for a wide variety of choices: dhal bhat, spaghetti, pizza etc, with minimum delays. It was a very impressive performance. (Distance = 7 km, elevation 1800 m).

Saturday, Dec 3:
Today’s trek followed a ridge line route from Pothana to Dampus from which we had splendid views of the Annapurnas, Machupuchare and Lamjung Himal. After Dampus the path became very steep as we descended to Phedi on the Pokhara to Baglung road. On the trail we were accompanied by two ladies from Thoka our erstwhile hostess and her girl friend. We shared the taxi ride into town and later I joined them rowing in Phewa Lake. The actual rower was supplied by the renter of the boat! I think I was the only one on board who could swim. That evening I had supper at Takali Inn including a glass of fiery apricot brandy produced in Takali territory (possibly at Tukuche, where Trevor and I visited in 1992).
(Distance 5.5 km elevation 1000m).

Sunday, Dec 4:
We got up early for a quick breakfast and then took a taxi to the bus station to catch a “tourist” bus to Kathmandu. The trip was a lot chillier than expected as the sky was overcast with low lying clouds which did not lift until mid day and my window was loose and let in the cold. The trip took from 7:30 am to 2:30 pm with stops for breakfast and lunch. After reaching Kathmandu I returned to my base at Hotel Ambassador. Later in the afternoon I took a cab towards Baudha to look for my former Nepali teacher and friend Prakash Sharma. I found his ausadi pasal (drug store) and soon found him, his wife Prema, youngest daughter and grand daughter also. We chatted for awhile then agreed to meet later at a more convenient time and place, knowing one-another’s co-ordinates.

Monday, Dec 5:
The first business of the day was to call the Canadian Co-operation Office to get SNC-Lavalin’s phone number and address as Vancouver was asking for information from me. Later in the morning I walked down to NEA’s office to look-up Sulpya. He was quite surprised to see me as he thought I was still in Vietnam. We chatted as he attended to business and later took me over to Regmi’s office after which we all went to Nangol’s for lunch. Sulpya brought me up-to-date on his project work and duties of his current position of Director – Power Trading Dept. including dealing with independent power producers. In the evening, Sulpya invited me over for dinner and sent his jeep to pick me up. His wife prepared a delicious Newari meal and I had the pleasure of meeting his talented and charming daughter.

Tuesday, Dec 6:
In the morning I went to visit Dr. Nepali at his project office to earn about his 20 MW Chimile Project, that is effectively a 100% Nepali effort. Dr. Nepali acknowledged his gratitude for the education and technology transfer via the CIWEC program. His application of this knowledge validates the objectives of the program. There are several other small, medium and one large Nepali hydro project that have been designed and constructed by Nepali engineers to standards equal to any other country all using know-how obtained via the CIWEC program. I think Canadians can take pride to their contribution to hydropower development in Nepal. Later in the day I went over to SNC-Lavalin’s project office. I was surprised to see Rekha Sakya in the secretary’s office and also met Nagakoti, both of whom I knew from the days I worked in Nepal. There were others too who remembered me although I did not remember them. I met the principals in SNC-Lavalin’s current project which was about managing environmental assessment studies. I was also invited for a party the following evening by Mr.Sanjive.

Wednesday, Dec 7:
At lunch time I met with Aarti, Tamang and Sulpiya to plan a reception for my last evening in Nepal on the following Sunday. After lunch I went shopping for souvenirs in Thamel - along Freak Street to be exact! That evening I was invited to supper by Mr. Sanjive – Administrator for the CEAM project. I expected something simple just for Bill Altimas and myself, but the whole project team was there for a real feast. I ate rather too much of the appetizers and couldn’t do justice to the main course when it arrived (what’s new?).

Thursday, Dec 8:
After a leisurely breakfast I decided to play tourist and headed out to Baudhnath to visit the famous stupa and nearby Tibetan temples and bazaar. As always it was a pleasant place to hang-out for an hour or two and to enjoy a rooftop lunch at Stupa Restaurant. In the afternoon I visited the Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN) since this was a business trip!! I was given a though briefing on their activities and plans for the future. IPPAN represents owners, developers and service industry companies interested in developing small hydro plant up to 5 MW (nominally) for selling power through the NEA grid. The mini hydro industry, less than 100 kW normally, have their own association and are mostly involved in supplying power in remote areas to trekking lodges, villages and rural industries (usually to flour mills). In the evening I treated myself to a fancy dinner at the famous Chimney Restaurant at Yak and Yeti hotel. The meal consisted of borsch soup and chicken stroganoff prepared according to the recipes of Boris Lissanovich the father of tourism in Nepal and all-round interesting character.

Friday, Dec 9:
I started the day checking my e-mails only to realize that my accounting for the days was somehow off and that I had missed a day in my calculations. My reception planned for Sunday would have to be advanced to Saturday evening instead. I guess when you are having a good time it is easy track of the dates. Aarti undertook to adjust the arrangements and ensure that every one was advised of the change in plans. At 11:00 a.m. or so I interviewed Mr. Kalwar an engineer planning to emigrate to New Zealand on a scheme organized by Mahenna Bhatt an Englishman of Indian origin. For my pains Bhatt paid me in beer and chapattis at a very good restaurant I might add.



Saturday, Dec 10:
This was my last day in Nepal and my social calendar was jammed: first brunch with Bhojraj Regmi and wife Sutindar, then lunch with Bishnu Neopane and finally my supper party. At Regmi’s I learned more about the functioning of his department and was interested to learn that they have a mandate to work as sub contractors both inside and outside of Nepal. They had submitted a couple of bids in collaboration with Indian firms but without luck so far. One of the features of globalization is that it could be interesting for foreign firms to sublet design work to his group to benefit from the relatively low wages of Nepali engineers and technicians. Bishnu meanwhile has gone into tourism in a big way with the Last Resort Bungee Jump and Lodge at a site near the Tibetan border. He is doing quite well with it.

In the evening I hosted a supper at the Soalti Hotel’s Bukhara Room. The menu was on an Afghan theme. Altogether there were:
Tamang and wife #2
Bhojraj and Sutindar Regmi
Prakash and Prema Sharma
Saraswati Rajbanduri and husband
Aatri Rai and Dr. Rai
Maski and wife.
And myself.
Excellent place and food but expensive at American prices.

Sunday, Dec 11:
Final packing and breakfast. Saraswati came over and left a gift for me, while Regmi sent over a souvenir program from the opening of Modi Khola Hydropower Station. Had a pleasant flight on Thai Airlines - good food and service as befit business class! Had a wonderful view of the Ganges-Bramaputra delta and the many mouths discharging into the Bay of Bengal. Stayed overnight at Amari Hotel Bangkok Airport.

Monday, Dec 12:
Was up early to avoid any problems at the airport. I flew again with Thai Airlines. The flight was routine. Hanoi on arrival was overcast and cool so I could comfortably wear my new Nepali jacket. Staff at Asean Hotel were glad to see me again. My stay in Hanoi was short this time and I left a couple of days later on Wednesday, Dec 13 arriving back in Canada in Vancouver on December 14, 2005.

Thus ended my latest Nepali adventure

Phil Helwig

At home in Roorkee

AT HOME IN ROORKEE SEPT 3, 2007

In this note I will describe my life style working and living on the campus of Indian Institute of Technology - Roorkee (I.I.T. Roorkee for short).

First of all: about work. I work as a consultant for the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC). I am working on the preparation of standards and guidelines for the small hydro design and planning. To start with the definition of small hydro is very broad ranging from 25 kW to 25 MW. I am primarily responsible for the Civil Engineering Sections of the Standard. Given the diversity of site specific problems and the wide scope of application, standard (or prescriptive) solutions are seldom possible so the focus is more on guidelines than standards per se. At present I am the only person working on this project but ultimately the draft documents I prepare will be reviewed and revised by others so that at the end of the day we will have a truly consensus based document. Indian engineers rely on standards to a greater extent than engineers in Canada. Some of the available standards can be incorporated in our SHP standard but for the most part new standards and guidelines are required. The work is not particularly exciting but it forces me to go back to basics which will ultimately enhance my own understanding especially on designs particular to Indian conditions, typically involving sediment problems. Standards writers must be correct and up-to-date!

AHEC has a dual role, firstly: it is responsible for graduate programs in small hydro technology and river and lake environmental studies and secondly: it offers consulting services for small hydro developers. At present AHEC has twenty plus projects on the go, mostly mini hydro projects (<>

Hope this finds you all well and flourishing,

Phil Helwig

June 12 trip to the mountains

This is just a short note about my recent trip into the mountains ostensibly to inspect two small hydro plants and visit a couple extra. The trip took me up into the mountains generally following one or other of the tributaries of the Ganges. We started from Roorkee on Tuesday, June 12 at 8:00 am in the midst of a heavy down-pour. The rain had pretty well petered out by the time we reached the outskirts of Rishee Kesh (an hour's drive from Roorkee). We climbed steadily most of the day until reaching Chamoli in the afternoon where we stayed over night in the Irrigation Dept. Bungalow. An adjacent farm is being developed as a herbal garden to supply medicinal herbs to aurevedic doctors. All the good Jamaican stuff, milk weed, lantana, periwinkle and ganja is not valued but grows wild of its own accord. The next day we started out for Hemkund (Ghagria Village). We were late starting and were further delayed at Joshimath where the traffic was being organized into convoys as the road ahead is narrow. We finally started on the trail to Hemkund at 2:00 pm. As it happened we had just enough time to cover the 13 km ascent before darkness. It took some time finding suitable accommodation but in the end two rooms were located. Hemkund (Saheb) is a pilgrimage site for the Sikh's associated with Guru Govind Singh. We scrambled around the following morning inspecting the small hydro plant and measuring flow and the main plant parameters. We completed this and had our lunch by 2:00 pm when we started our return. I was the last out at sunset (I climb and descend at about the same speed!!). After a long drive and late night supper we settled for the night at Gopishwar - the ideal elevation at about 900 m neither too hot nor too cold. The next day we took it easier within the intention of touring a couple of hydro stations. One we could not find and the other, Rajawati was quite interesting. We then returned to Gopishwar for lunch and to drop off our first client. After fixing some camera problems and formalities at the Electricity Company's office we finally got on the road again heading for Gaurikund the starting point for our next adventure. As usual we started late (4:00 pm) and arrived at Gaurikund at 10:00 pm. The highlight of the drive was our drive through a forest reserve and cloud forest at a maximum elevation of about 2750 m (9000 feet). We saw a deer, fox and a pair of pheasants in this zone. Fortunately, hotel rooms had been reserved for the small village was overflowing with pilgrims of every age and condition. The recommendation was to be ready for a 6:00 am start. So we started at 7:00 am.!! The trail from Gaurikund to Kedernath is 14 km long but with a vertical rise of 2000 m. We decided to be smart this time and rented horses. We stopped a couple of km short of our destination to inspect a small hydro plant at a Shiva Ashram and got fed for free when the work was done. The last two km were on an easy grade and we impressed everyone with our stamina!! We bedded down in a government guesthouse. Once the sun went down it became so cold that our sole activity was to huddle under the quilts to keep warm. The next day we inspected the small hydro station at Kederanath and evaluated possibilities for its expansion. It rained which slowed down our work. We got every thing done and spent our second cold night at Kederanath. The religious went for puja at 4:30 am but the profane (yours truly) preferred to stay in bed to dream of the warmth of my bed in Roorkee. Chanting in Sanskrit starts at 4:00 am with the benefit of a load speaker. Kederanath is one of the most important pilgrimage sights for Hindus and most be visited by over 500,000 annually during the yatri season. It is snow bound in winter. All classes and ages are represented. For the old and infirm travel is via sedan chair with four porters all marching in step. For the young via basket on a porter's back for the rest of us two legs or four (horse). Some are well dressed some, some less so, notably the sadhus rely on warming thoughts and a thin layer of ashes in extreme cases. Its a great place for a foot doctor. Hope you enjoy this account.
Phil Helwig