Last day

My last day in Nepal turned out to be quite a busy one. My flight was not until late in the evening, so I had time during the day to do something, but had no plans. A Thai group had arrived at Sanu House, and at breakfast Sarita said she was taking them on a tour, and anyone else could come if they wanted.

Again, we had the adventure of travel by bus.

First, we went to Swayambhunath, a large complex of Buddhist temples and stuppas, also know as the Monkey temple because of the large number of monkeys there.

Next we packed into a small bus and drove the Kathmandu's Durbar square. I'd been there before, but this was interesting because it was so packed for festival time, and there was a kind of car and motorcycle rally going around waving flags and shouting, and groups of people in traditional costume.

Next we took a bus to the village of Kirtipur, on a hill on the outskirts of Kathmandu. There is an old stuppa there, dating to the 1500's. There is also a couple of temples, with a fantastic view over the city.

Things were really festive in Kirtipur. Just about every block had a mandala done in colours on the road.

Everyone was outside, and tons of people were driving around, shouting, banging cymbals, etc.

It is also a time for the men to get together and gamble.

We took the bus back to the house, and got there by about 4:00 pm. Sarita said to be in the kitchen early for dinner, as there was going to be a ceremony for festival that we would all participate in. When I entered the kitchen, I found every sitting place decorated with a design on the ground in front of it, with and arrangement of fruit, flowers, nuts, and candles. Quite a sight. We had to sit in order by age, men on one side, women on the other. Then Sarita's sister came around to each person, put the red dot on the forehead. We were then given a handfull of flowers and grain to hold in our hand. For each person, she lifted all the fruit on the ground in front of them. The person put handfull of flowers and grain over it, and then took the fruit in their hands and lifted it to their head saying 'namaste'. Then each person got an egg to eat, and spoonful of rice and yogurt to eat from their hand. Finally, the plates were passed around and there was a dinner of rice and couple of different types of masalas. What an amazing thing to experience!

On this trip I've seen so much, and this was a really special end to it. I felt very priviledged and grateful to have experienced everything. However, the trip was over. About half an hour after dinner, I got my bags, said the good-byes, and got a cab for the airport.

Jazzmandu

I was lucky in that the annual jazz festival, Jazzmandu, was taking place the same time as I was back in the Kathmandu area. Not ony that, but there was a concert in Patan the evening of my first day here. It took place in the courtyard of the Patan Museum, a spectacular setting.
The band was Condenza, and it experimented with fusing Eastern music with Western jazz.
A funny thing was that when they were setting up the stage, and all the lights were up, the power went out. Boom! Total darkness. It came back on, but it started you wondering about how the concert was going to go. Actually, it was fine. After the first set, just as they finished saying they were going to take a break - boom! Darkness again. Talk about timing.
The music was a really cool mix of east and west. There were Indian style musicians seated in front - sitar, drums etc - and jazz musicians on either side. There was a famous Nepali singer who sang in the classic Indian style, but would sometimes modulate is voice differently so it had a slightly more western style rythm that matched the saxophones. Very cool. By the end, it was like a big jam session with the musicians all trying different things.

Back to Kathmandu

From Chitwan it was another 6 hour drive to Kathmandu. The traffic was better, at least until we got to the city. I think normally this would be done by a van, but I was the only person who added this 'Chitwan Extension' to the tour, so the tour company just got a car and driver. I think the driver stayed somewhere near Chitwan while I was there.
From Chitwan in the south, the road goes north and connects with the east-west road between Pokhara and Kathmandu. It follows the Trisuli river for a while, which is fairly large and in a steep valley. There is a Trisuli Adventure Center where you can go river rafting.
On the way I notice more things. For example, at first I thought there were shanty towns built on the side of the road. Then I realized that these were villages that were here before the road. When they built the road they just laid down some asphalt through the middle of the village, leaving the dirt floors where garbage collects on the side. The houses are simple small wood structures with corrugated roofs, and people continue to live as they did before, bathing and cooking outside their houses. The stoves are all this terra cotta coloured, low square shape with a ledge and a hole in the side for wood and pots on top. People walk up and down easily despite the crazy traffic going by. Once in a while there is a group of school children whose nice uniforms stand in contrast to the rustic surroundings.
Along the way there are swinging pedestrian bridges across the river that connect the villages to the terraced hills on the other side.
After a few hours the road starts up the long winding hills to Kathmamdu, and eventually you come over a pass and see the Kathmandu valley below. The pollution is quite bad. On the road, once in a while we'd pass a truck belching thick black smoke. I had the window open, and when I got to the hotel I realized by forehead and ear were black with soot.
Once in Kathmandu, I take a few more hours to explore the rest of the old part. Namely, I walk all the way down the market street until Durbar Square. This is a group of large pagoda-shaped temples surrounded by some open space. The size of the area is quite a contrast from the narrow market streets that lead to it. I wander around taking it all in. There are as many Nepali hanging out on the steps of the temples as there are tourists milling about.

One interesting thing is a smaller square ornate building with a courtyard. Apparently a young girl is always kept there, looked after by priestesses, who is supposed to be a living embodiment of a godess, and she makes appearances from time to time.

market at night

I came back to the old market area this evening. It gets dark about 6:00 pm so the markets are open well after dark. Just as hectic, maybe even more so. It could be more busy than usual because it's festival time and the shrines are open.
I tried to take some pictures.

pashupatinath and boudhanath

This morning was a sight-seeing tour that was part of the package for the trek I'm doing. We went to Pashupatinath, an important Hindu temple of Shiva, and to Boudhanath, a large Tibetan Buddhist stuppa. It was great to see these sights, as they are two of the most interesting things in Kathmandu, but they are out of the centre of town so would not be as easy to get to on my own.

We first went to Pashupatinath. This is a temple to the god Shiva, and many Hindus try to get there at least once in their lives. It seemed to be a large, spread out complex occupying both sides of a river. The first, most striking thing you see as you approach along the river is the public cremations. The funeral pyres are set up along the sides of the river, and several were going when we were there.

Our tour guide explained the process, the timing of the ceremonies and cremation etc. While public cremation is very different to Western eyes, I didn't feel anything negative about it. Rather, I felt rather conscious of invading peoples privacy by being there. But then, even that may be my own cultural background speaking.

We continued on to see various statues and structures of the temple grounds, and places built into a cliff where sadhus, or spiritual hermits, go to meditate. We also saw a shelter where sadhus live, where each gets a small space to occupy while they are there.

We then went to the Boudhanath stuppa, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist stuppas, and many Tibetans have settled in the area around it. I love the 'all-seeing eyes' or 'wisdom eyes' of Buddha, that are painted on all sides, and which are characteristic of Buddism in Nepal.

We also went into the adjacent monastery, and a school for painting Tibetan thankhas.

After the tour we came back to the hotel, where we were given our duffel bags to pack our stuff for the trek. The baggage weight limit for domestic flights has been reduced to 10 kg, and it took some ruthless paring down of gear to get it down to that.

evening of first day

I walked to the tourist / backpacker section called Thamel, just beside the old market area I was at today. Dense narrow alleys clogged with people and honking cars and scooters. Packed full of internet places, restaurants, and shops selling everything from Tibetan Thankhas to trekking gear.

first day in Kathmandu

I arrived in Kathmandu very late last night, wasn't at the hotel until about 1 am, but woke up early. So today was seen through kind of a jet-lagged haze.

Very hot today, probably almost 30 degrees during the day, even though it got quite cold at night. In the morning I met briefly with the tour leader, to give information and pictures required for the trekking permit. I then walked to the old, central part of town, about 2 km from the hotel. Not really knowing where I was going, I ended up straight into the bustling, chaotic main market street, with a maze of tiny alleys branching off everywhere, and a shrine, temple or stuppa on every block.

The biggest festival in Nepal is starting about now, and stuppas are being freshly painted, and there is a lot of activity around the shrines. It's an interesting blend of Hinduism and Buddhism, and most shrines have images or statues from both religions. Practices that would be used, say, in Tibetan Buddhism, like lighting butter lamps, are also used at Hindu dieties without discrimination.

I was shown around for a while by a local guy who was full of information about all the different shrines. Of course it was about asking for money afterward, but it was worth the interesting tour and being able to navigate the maze of streets.

Back at the hotel, there was a group meeting for the trek. There are nine of us. We didn't state nationalities, but I detected Australian accents. It's also an older group. Everyone seemed friendly and easy-going.