Unit -19
Travel and Tourism
Reading
Discovering West Nepal- The Wild Frontier
Megan Leung
Before you
read
a. Have you
ever visited western Nepal? Describe your experience.
Ans:-
Yes, I have visited
western Nepal. In 2073 B.S., I visited Ghalegaun and Bhujung which is popular scenic
tourist destination with an elevation of 2,100 metres above sea level in
Lamjung District. The village is
situated at approximately 108 km northwest of Kathmandu and 12.5 km northeast
of Pokhara, The beautiful tourist village is surrounded by Annapurna Circuit. It is located in the north central part of Nepal at the foothill of
Lamjung Himal. The path up to Ghalegaon from Basi Sahar, Lamjung was really
difficult. The home stay service there was really amazing. I liked the way the
hosts welcomed us. The typical food I had there is still memorable.
b. Do you
like travelling? Why do people travel?
Ans:-
Yes, I like travelling. People travel to different places for different
purposes. Nature lovers travel to different places to observe the beauty of
nature closely. Educationalist and researchers visit different places for
educational purposes. Researchers travel to different places for their research
projects. Folk song composers travel to different people for collection of folk
songs and music. Sociologists and anthropologists travel to different places to
study people and society and so on.
c. Do you
know the name of this temple? Where is it located?
Ans:- The name of this place is Muktinath which is located
in Mustang district of western Nepal.
Ways with words
Active Sentences |
Passive Sentences |
They destroyed the
building. |
The building was
destroyed (by them). |
Are they meeting
him at the station? |
Is he being met at
the station (by them)? |
She handed me the
plated. |
I was handed the
plate. The plate was
handed to me. |
I enjoyed taking
the children to the park. |
Taking the children
to the park was enjoyed by me. |
They agreed to
postpone the meeting. |
It was agreed to
postpone the meeting. |
I don’t like people
laughing at me. |
I don't like being
laughed at. |
She likes people
taking her photograph. |
She likes having
her photograph taken. |
Who build the Taj
Mahal? |
Who was the Taj
Mahal built by? |
A. Find the words from the text which
mean the following.
a. became fuller and
softer by shaking- fluffed
b. sound mental
health - sanity
c. consisting of or
easily breaking into small pieces - crumbly
d. neither very hot
nor very cold - temperate
e. land that does not
have enough water to support the growth of plants - arid
f. only slightly warn
- lukewarm
B. Find the meaning of the following
words in an English dictionary, write their word classes and use them in your
own sentences.
hazy, frontier, lush, flip-flops,
altitude, fatal magnificent
i. hazy (adj) -
misty/foggy; It was a beautiful day but quite hazy.
ii. Frontier (noun) -
a line or boarder separating two countries; The success of science and
technology is extending the frontier of knowledge.
iii. Lush (adj) -
luxuriantly growing vegetation; She glanced around the lush hills.
iv. flip-flops (noun)
- light sandals; I love wearing flip-flops in summer.
Altitude (noun) -
height above the sea level; The air temperature differs at different altitudes.
v) fata (adj) -
causing death; Her husband's death is fatal blow on her.
vi) Magnificent (adj)
- extremely beautiful, elaborate or impressive; The was a magnificent sunset
this evening.
C. make a list of the Nepali words used
in the text and write their English equivalents.
For example: didi (Nepali) - elder sister (Engish)
bideshi (Nepali) -
foreign (English)
Tatopani -
lukewarm water
raksi - wine
bahini - younger sister
mathi - up
tala - down
sutne - sleep
panipuri -
water balls/water bowels
pani - water
Comprehension
Answer these questions.
a. How did the author feel when she saw
a colorful rooster in the western Himalayas?
Ans:- When the author saw a colorful rooster in the
western Himalayas, she felt as if it fluffed its roseate flumes at her as
though to say "Yes, bideshi, it's all real." Furthermore she felt the
roster glancing her for a brief moment and winked at her.
b. How does she describe the houses on
the trails of western Nepal?
Ans:- Most of the houses
are made of stone above a river, under a rock, that look too crumbly to live
in.
c. What does she mean when she says
"I walked towards a village 15 kilometers further as the crow flies"?
Ans:- She says, "I
walked towards a village (Sibang) 15 kilometers further as the crow
flies." It means the distant between the two villages is 15 kilometers
straight.
d. Describe the village Thankur in
brief.
Ans:- In the village named
Thankur, there are only two houses. The village is located in an arid region.
There is not much human mobility. Shiny and rainbow colored large birds called
Himalayan monal are found there.
e. What happened when she reached Jumla
and how was she relieved?
Ans:- She was ill by the
time she reached Jumla. She had suffered of an unknown virus and a bad tummy.
She met an American who gave her medicine. She also had water bowels there. The
medicine and water bowels helped her recovery.
f. How does the author describe the
bucket water in Khali Lagna?
Ans:-
In
Khali Lagna she is offered a bucket of water in the outhouse by a woman. The
surface of water is frozen but the water underneath the layer of ice is
surprisingly lukewarm.
g. How was Rara Lake
on the day she reached there?
Ans:- The quiet lake was
filled with freshwater. Himalaya was glistening in its dark blue glory
welcoming the visitors. The ground was decorated with magnificent sky scrapping
pine trees with giant pine cones. Aquatic bird coots were moving over the
crystal clear water, sometimes diving under water and reappearing again.
Critical Thinking
a. It is said that travelling a place
equals to reading three books. Do you agree? Why?
Ans:- I agree with the
statement "Traveling a place equals to reading three books." People
learn variety of experiences like cultures, rituals and places through
different sources. Chiefly, reading useful books and traveling to new areas
provide us with a huge amount of information. Basically, a group of people
think that books help us to know this information. However, some people believe
that self-observation during a journey give us a better understanding of what
we wanted to learn. I strongly believe that traveling can help someone much
more than anything else. Since, traveling has so many benefits in comparison
with just reading a limited number of texts.
First, books only gave you a
general view about the subject and you have to accept the writer’s
understandings toward subject of the book. As a result, it provides you with a
one side judgment which cannot assist you to deduct a good concept of the
book’s main subject. For example, when you begin to read a book to learn
something about a specific matter like Nepali people's culture and rituals you
can just extract some general ideas about them which may not satisfy you in a
number of issues. In addition, books do not cover every aspect of an experience
and you can only learn about the parts of the subject that included in the book.
Second, generally, books were
gathered or written by a small limited number of people who reflect their own
ideas and understandings about the book’s subject. As we know history had many
misconceptions and diversions. So, if someone tends to learn some reliable
information, I totally believe that he must observe that matter himself and
asks a lot of related folks which hold true reliable information. Therefore,
traveling is the best way for executing of this act.
Also, in some occasions books and
texts provides us with controversial and vague info about something that we
wanted to learn. It may write so many things around the subject but won’t give
us a straight conclusion. Furthermore, it may write by a radical writer who
wanted to cover his own ideas. This can lead to a huge misguidance for the
readers who haven’t seen the fact closely.
In conclusion, books and traveling
are two major paths which we could use for finding and extracting new
information in our life. Each of these has its own benefits and deficiencies.
However, I think that traveling may provide us with more accurate information.
b. The author spent five-week long walk
along the western Himalayas. Do you think it was adventurous? Why?
Ans:- In this travelogue,
the Philippine freelance writer, Megan Leung describes her adventurous
experience of visiting western Nepal under the title "Discovering West
Nepal- The Wild Frontier". Any journey becomes adventurous when the
traveler visits a new, unusual and exciting place. In this travelogue, the
author describes her adventurous journey of West Nepal which covers 25% regions
of Himalayan area of Nepal. She explores
hidden oddity and marvelous natural beauties flourished in West Nepal. She
chooses to travel such a place where few tourists have gone. She chooses to
walk through Dhaulagiri Circuit which is geographically, a steep slope with snow-capped Himalayan peaks,
including Mt. Dhaulagiri which is the sixth highest peak of Nepal and the
world’s seventh highest mountain. In this trek she has to walk up and down from
one lush green hill to another, through warm temperate forests, under giant
spider webs, to explore natural beauties and Nepalese culture and lifestyles. Trekking
through glaciers, crossing rivers, walking through arid regions, spending cold
nights at high altitude, walking in the snow being frozen is a challenging
task. That’s why this journey is really and adventurous one.
B. Complete these sentences using the
verbs given in the brackets.
a. Letter are
delivered by the postman every day. (deliver)
b. This bag was
found in the bus yesterday. (find)
c. The gate is
locked at 7:00 pm every evening. (lock)
d. I was invited
to the party last week. (invite)
e. The telephone was
invented by Graham Bell. (invent)
f. Muna Madan was
written by Devkota. (write)
g. How much money is
stolen in the robbery? (steal)
h. Do you know cheese
is made from the mill? (make)
i. I was born in Kathmandu,
but was grown up in Dhangadhi. (grow)
C. Change the following sentences into
passive.
a. I didn't fix the problem
Ans:- The problem was
not fixed by me.
b. Police protect the town.
Ans:- The town is
protected by police.
c. John's mother raised him in a small
town.
Ans:- John was raised
in a small town by his mother.
d. Someone painted the building last
year.
Ans:- The building
was painted last year.
e. Alexander Fleming discovered
penicillin in 1928.
Ans:- Penicillin was
discovered by Alexander Fleming in 1928.
f. Some students study grammar on the
internet.
Ans:- Grammar is
studied on the internet by some students.
g. Someone had broken the window by
3:00 p.m.
Ans:- The window had
been broken by 3:00 p.m.
h. A strange man was watching us.
Ans:- We were being
watched by a strange man.
i. Tokyo will hold the Olympics in
2020.
Ans:- The Olympics
will be held in Tokyo in 2020.
j. We are working on the report right
now.
Ans:- The report is
being worked on right now.
k. My manager has told him to arrive
earlier.
Ans:- He has been
told to arriver earlier by my manager.
l. They could not have made the
mistake.
Ans:- The mistake
could not have been made by them.
m. I hope they are going to hire me
soon.
Ans:- I hope I am
going to be hired soon.
n. I don’t like people staring at me.
Ans:- I don’t like
being stared at.
o. She likes people waving at her.
Ans:- She likes being
waved at her.
p. Who told you the story?
Ans:- Who was the
story told to you by?
Who were you the
story told by?
q. Is he repairing the bicycle?
Ans:- Is the bicycle
being repaired by him?
1 Comments
can't we get travelogue?
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