Kathmandu Archives - Wandering North

Asia Nepal Nepal Trip 2016

Viva Nepal!

I arrived back in Kathmandu from Nagarkot mid-afternoon and felt pretty pleased with myself because while the first time i arrived in Kathmandu it was just a confounding tangle of streets and tributaries, this time i was able to give directions to the taxi driver to find my hotel.

I spent the majority of that day in my hotel, partly due to a thunderstorm but mostly due to the hotel i was staying at. As has become my habit, i booked my last two nights in a fabulous hotel. This time is is the Hotel Dalai La. It is gorgeous. Fancy and with a terrific courtyard restaurant. I felt so sloppy on arrival with my dirty clothes and my dirty self, as i had not showered for six days, but not only were they polite to me, but they upgraded me to a superior room. I spent the evening luxuriating in a needed hot shower and watching movies.

This morning, after breakfast, i taxied to Swayambhunath, aka “The Monkey Temple” a hilltop collection of Buddhist and Hindu temples surrounded by trees and countless, curious monkeys. Arriving at the temple involves climbing up 365 steep stairs, flanked by Buddhas and frequented by those ubiquitous monkeys.

The temples at the top are similar to others i have seen on this trip, but it was splendid how crammed together they all were and how busy they were with pilgrims, people praying, and making offerings.

I walked around for quite some time, watching monkeys steal food from people and visiting craft shops (me, not the monkeys). One man, attempted to open my chakras by hitting a large healing bowl with a mallet and moving it about my head, chest, and back. I felt vaguely uncomfortable, which may or may not be the feeling of open chakras.

I descended the mountain, wandered around a few more stupas, spinning prayer wheels as a went, then taxied back to Thamel.

From there i just walked aimlessly for a few hours, weaving with the traffic, declining offers of of guides, rickshaws, taxis, and pashminas. I walked through an area that sold nothing by dentures, then another that sold only textiles. It is all endlessly fascinating.

But come to an end it must. I am now in the excellent courtyard of my hotel having a cigar and dinner and that will be it for me for Nepal. I fly back to New Delhi in the morning. Nepal has been amazing and i have seen only a sliver of it. The takeaway from this is: selecting vacation destinations based on Eddie Murphy movies is an excellent idea.

Asia Nepal Nepal Trip 2016

Pashupatinath

This morning i went for coffee and a lassi and then haggled my way into a taxi to Pashupatinath, an important Hindu temple and surrounding area on the banks of the Bagmati River. The temple itself though was not the draw. What makes the site so interesting is that on the banks of the river dead bodies are ritually cremated and then their ashes scattered in the river.

The site itself is interesting to explore, as the river banks are dotted with temples and shrines, with sadhus (elaborated decorated Hindu holy men) lounging about, Hare Krishnas speaking with spiritual gurus, and monkeys scampering. And then there are visitors, like me.

I felt like kind of a dick when i entered through a side entrance and found myself shoulder to shoulder with grieving families right at the side of the pyres. I watched as two bodies were carried out, covered in golden cloth and marigolds and laid on the pyres and as they were then covered with straw and set alight. I didn’t stay too long in the particular spot and i felt so conspicuous – plus, i wanted to take photos but would dare doing so in the thick of things, so i moved up above the activities and then stood on a bridge over the river.

You can see in the picture above the blackened feet and head sticking out. It didn’t smell bad but was so smokey that it was difficult to breathe in some places.

I saw it all a bit out of sequence, but before the bodies are laid on the pyres, they are carried to another part of the river and their feet are dipped in the water, to make sure they are really dead, i was told.

Leaving Pashupatinath i went to Bodhnath, which is the largest stupa in Asia and is a centre of Tibetan Buddhism, sadly the spire on top of the dome was damaged in the earthquake and had to be taken down. Reconstruction in underway. While this did diminish the beauty of the monument, the area was still a delight with Buddhist temples and monasteries and inviting shops selling handicrafts, incense, and tea. Incense burns everywhere as do tiny butter lamps.

I had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant that provides free meals to monks (lentils, vegetables, rice, and yogurt).

Asia Nepal Nepal Trip 2016

Kathmandu – Durbar Square

After breakfast this morning i set off on foot in Kathmandu from Thamel to Durbar Square. This was no easy feat. My map was mostly useless, due to the tangle of signless streets, so i headed vaguely south. The air was wonderfully cool and the city was fairly peaceful. Several wrong turns and false starts later, the temples emerged in front of me, shrouded in pigeons. Success! The journey though was also terrific, taking me through less touristy neighbourhoods and past scenes of daily life.

Durbar Square is at the heart of Kathmandu and is home to numerous temples, shrines and palaces. It is also busy with locals, worshiping, selling wares, and lounging on the steps. Sadly much of the square was badly damaged in the earthquake last year. The largest temple was completely destroyed and many others damaged. There are piles of rubble and wooden supports holding up the remaining buildings, but it is still amazing to explore.

Many of the statues and much of the ground are still stained with the colors of the Holi festival early in the week. People selling singing bowls, prayers wheels, and religious bric-a-brac. People feeding the hoards of pigeons. Rickshaw drivers waiting for their next fare. Women selling nuts and marigold chains.

It was delightful. The oddest moment was visiting the temple that is home to Kumari, the living goddess. I was told that in minutes she would be making her daily appearance so i decided to hang out and wait. How often can one see a goddess in the flesh? Worshipped by Nepali Buddhists and some Hindus, she is believed to be the reincarnation of a particular goddess. The Kumari is selected from a particular caste when she is very young, like 4, and is picked based on various physical characteristics (i.e. Eyelashes like a cow, neck like a conch, etc.) and following a series of trials (including spending the night in a room filled with severed animal heads without fear). Once selected she serves as the goddess until puberty, at which point she is replaced. No photos are allowed. She finally came to the window on the 2nd floor and sat for our viewing. She was dressed in what appeared to be fine robes and wore dramatic makeup (think Jon Benet Ramsay meets Amy Winehouse). She sat for a minute, if that, looking bored, and than disappeared. Weird and a little awkward.

While waiting for Kumari, i met a nice English woman traveling the world. We hung out for bit and had coffee (the first truly good coffee i have had on this trip), wandered around and saw the rest of Durbar Square, and then went for lunch on “Freak Street” (so named because it was popular with the hippies who traveled to Kathmandu in the late ’60s and early ’70s). For lunch i had my first mo mos: delicious steamed dumplings served with spicy sauce, sold everywhere.

Parting ways with my lovely lunch companion, i wandered around the streets just north of Durbar Square, taking in the sights and crowds. There are shrines everywhere. The streets were so busy that it wasn’t always possible to get pictures, but i did ok.

I decided to take a rickshaw back to Thamel. My first rickshaw! It was very fun snaking through the streets, a bit above the chaos, on the bumpy wheels.

Arriving back, i walked over to the Garden of Dreams, a small and elegantly landscaped green space on the edge of Thamel and sat until i was bored.

I didn’t do much for the rest of the day. A walk, a delicious dinner of traditional Nepalese dal bhat, and a cigar in a pleasant courtyard decorated with flowering shrubberies, prayer flags, and twinkly lights.

Asia Nepal Nepal Trip 2016

Nepal – Arrival in Kathmandu

The first time i seriously started planning the logistics and itinerary for visiting Nepal was about 6 months before their devastating earthquake that happened just about a year ago. The the earthquake happened, the Kathmandu valley was devastated and many were dead, so that particular trip planning was put on hold.

Then, in December, i was at home watching an ’80s favourite movie – the Eddie Murphy classic “The Golden Child”. This is a movie generally recognized for its place on many lists of worst movies, but i like it. In the movie Eddie Murphy travels to Kathmandu and, inexplicably, they filmed the movie’s Nepal and Tibet scenes not on a Hollywood sound stage, but in Nepal. Seeing the tiered temples, prayer wheels, monks, and magic made me think: “It’s time to go to Nepal.” And one week later my flight was booked.

I did decide to spend a few days in Delhi on the way here, but here, in Kathmandu, i arrived yesterday afternoon. I immediately knew i loved it.

Flying in, the city looked like a mouthful of yellowed, broken teeth. Driving through it it looked equally ramshackle, but so interesting. We passed the river where bodies are ritually cremated in the open. Next to that is a temporary carnival with a ferris wheel so rickety even i wouldn’t dare to ride it. The rickshaws are all decorated with flowers and colored cloth and bits of mirror. Women wear colorful silks and the older men wear hats like woolen tea cozies. The narrow streets are hung with prayer flags and for sale everywhere are so many appealing looking textiles and handicrafts. It is busy, but less chaotic than New Delhi.

The area i am staying in is called Thamel and it is the backpacker area. A maze of narrow streets with trekking gear, souvenirs, hostels, and cafes and restaurants with ‘peace’, ‘karma’, and ‘yeti’ built into the names. I am staying at the Karma Traveller’s guest house. My room is a bit cozy and has a nice patio with flowers.

A few things of note. In Nepal the year is currently 2071 and their time is 12 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Vancouver. It is a poor country and, sadly, women are treated very poorly, particularly outside of the cities. I’ll spare you the depressing details. Electricity here is a problem and comes on and goes off for certain times every day, as well as randomly. It is primarily a Hindu and Buddhist country. Nepali is spoken here. In less than 24 hours i have now said ‘namaste’ about 1000 times. Mount Everest is here, and yetis. That’s enough. I’m not an encyclopedia. I’m not even wikipedia.

So last night i went for a wander before it got dark. It was busy and completely delightful. I had a bit of dinner at a garden restaurant listening to traditional, live Nepalese music and watching cricket on tv. I promptly threw up my dinner (which was weird, because for the first time in days i feel not at all sick). I settled my stomach with my first cigar in Nepal; fittingly, a Ghurka.

This morning i got up early and went walking in the crisp (albeit polluted and dusty) air and got breakfast. And here i sit. My plan now is to walk to Durbar Square. More to some.
Namaste (1001).

Tag: Kathmandu