Who could imagine that right here in Scarborough, Maine, there are several people who have traveled to Nepal and spent some time in that faraway and exotic country?

Doug Friedman is one of those travelers, and he recently presented a fascinating slide show at Scarborough Public Library. An enthusiastic audience gasped in appreciation as they viewed glorious pictures of the mountainous scenery. But there were also most interesting shots of Katmandu – its local markets, temples, and children – and of the hiking trail with its teahouses and small villages.

Doug complemented his wonderful slides with a running commentary on his trip. He explained that it took him 24 hours to reach Katmandu, flying via London. Although the country has been rocked by civil war (a recent article in the New York Times described how King Gyanendra was stoned as he drove to a pilgrimage site to take part in a Hindu festival), he felt perfectly safe, as the Nepalese are very conscious of the fact that tourists are the lifeblood of their economy. He spent some days in Katmandu, exploring the old part of the city with its Hindu temples (beautiful carvings in stone and wood) and prayer wheels (spun clockwise to send prayers written on parchment up to heaven).

He also hired a guide for $5 a day, a member of the Tomong tribe, who had been a schoolteacher and spoke some English. Then it was off – for a three-week trek to the base of Anapurna, followed by a two-week trek to the base camp of Mount Everest. They stayed in teahouses at night, eating dhal bat (lentils and beans), rice and sag (spinach). In order to have more contact with the locals, Doug often ate in the kitchen rather than in the dining room with the other tourists. He also carried balloons with him, to blow up and twist into animals – a sure icebreaker with the children.

Although conditions were certainly Spartan, Doug said that his treks were no more arduous than hiking in Maine. He spent only $3,000 for his six-week vacation, including airfare, the guide, food and gear. He strongly recommended his trip to anyone interested in experiencing an outdoor adventure.

Amazingly enough, during the question period after the lecture, it was revealed that another Scarborough resident had spent time in Nepal.

Emily Ward, then a member of the Foreign Service, volunteered that she was assigned to Katmandu back in the early 1970s. During her tour of duty, the old King Mahendra died and his son, Birendera, succeeded to the throne. The official coronation, a Hindu ceremony, because at that time the king was regarded as an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, was attended by thousands of local people as well as invited dignitaries from all over the world. Emily vividly remembers the parade escorting the king to the inner courtyard of the temple – the main street of Katmandu, filled with elephants adorned with gold and silver vestments, carrying the king and his entourage in howdahs on their backs.

In talking with Emily later, I discovered that not only had she served some months in Katmandu, she also had earlier in her career taken several vacations in Nepal from her posting in Calcutta, including a bike tour of the valley and a two-week trek with a fellow American, a member of the Peace Corps. For more details on that back packing trip, that occurred in 1969, you should ask Emily!!!

Mountains continue to fascinate. John Neff, one of the founders of the Friends of Baxter State Park, came to Portland Public Library’s Brown Bag Lunch series recently to talk about his book, “Katahdin: An Historic Journey.” Stunning slides of the mountain introduced his program, but most interesting for me were the tales he related during the rest of his program.

One story was about the men who logged the area long ago. They had been lugging their heavy boats over the rapids of the Penobscot all day, one portage after another, in hot weather with not a breath of air, and were exhausted. As they rested, waiting for the last boat to arrive, they looked up the river and saw that boat shooting the rapids! It had flown over the falls successfully, landed upright in the river and now two men were standing in the boat, paddling furiously, steering to the right, to the left, in and out as they negotiated the rapids.

Eventually, they came to rest in a little cove, ready to join the others and continue down the river. But the other men, their prowess questioned, had to rise to the challenge. Despite their exhaustion, they hauled their boats back over the portage and set off over the falls. Unfortunately, they were not as skillful as their compatriots, their bateaux overturned, all ended up in the water and one man drowned. Such was the life of the loggers on the Penobscot.

Don Curry has been connected with trolleys for over 50 years -as director of the Seashore Trolley Museum, conducting workshops and training sessions, and now, full time, restoring these relics of the past. He spoke to the Scarborough Historical Society in February and it was soon obvious that he is an expert, with all kinds of information on the cars, how fast they went, where they went, how much it cost to ride from here to there – in short anything you might want to know.

We saw many slides, including pictures of the scary S curve on the ride to Old Orchard Beach, and of trolleys on Congress Street in Portland and at Dunstan Corner. We heard about Riverton Trolley Park and how on the weekend people flocked to the park to enjoy the swings and horseshoe pits during the day and, at night, under the new-fangled electric lights, to attend performances at the Rustic Theatre and at the Casino.

He gave out fliers from the museum. which is open daily from Memorial Day to Columbus Day. It is now home to 150 trolley cars, five of which are in the process of being restored. Most important, 20 cars are in operation, just waiting for you to take a ride.

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