Kathmandu

Thursday, 24 January 2008

I had one day (today) in Nepal, so I planned to make the most of it!

I spent the whole morning walking around lost.

My couchsurfing.com host, Richard, told me that because Kathmandu is not so big and there's a ring road around it, if you walk long enough you end up back in Thamel, the tourist part of town. Thus, he concluded, you can't get lost. The day started off well; I went to Durbar Square to people watch and soak up the atmosphere. The square is neat but kind of small and dirty. It's also a a great place to get hit by a motorbike. More fun is walking through the maze of narrow cobblestone streets in the area, where you catch sweet glimpses of everyday life.

I spun around for about 2 hours, wary of copping out and taking a taxi since I only had a wad of 1000 rupee bills which the ATM machine spat out at me. By noon, I weakly navigated to Durbar Marg, one of the main drags in central Kathmandu. Treated myself to Viennese chocolate cake and a cappuccino, which was fabulous. Then moved two storefronts down, where I had a veggie sandwich. Alas, no avocado, no sprouts, no cheese. But the bread was somewhat crusty.

With my newfound small bills, I took a taxi to Pashupati Temple, one of the major Hindu temples of the world. I didn't know that Hindus are ritually cremated at death, and this temple almost always has one in progress. Eager "student" guides pointed out the platforms for cremation, and I tried not to inhale as the smoke billowed and followed me around the various temple structures.

The temple was beautiful and atmospheric, although the experience was somewhat sullied by the constant approach of would-be guides. "This is the holy man," said Progress, a student wearing a jean jacket and fully reflective aviators, as he gestured to a lightly smiling man wearing saffron and orange, with a face dusted white. "Why we call him holy man? Because he pull heavy weight with his dick. Why he pull with his dick? Because it make him lose the sexy feeling, and this we call 'holy man.' " Guiding me towards another temple, he explained "now we visit Milk Baba, this holy man live only drink milk for 25 years." Peering into Milk Baba's empty room, he questioned a bystander in rapid Nepali. "Oh, Milk Baba not here, on tour in Colorado."

I finished the afternoon by walking to the Boudhanath Tibetan Buddhist Stupa. Like a mini Jokhang Square, Tibetan pilgrims circled the giant stupa while twirling their prayer wheels and browsing the surrounding shops. I sat at a rooftop cafe and enjoyed the people-watching for a good two hours, before making my way back to Richard's. Definitely a highlight of Kathmandu.

Richard and I had Japanese for dinner (yum!), and then we squeezed in a quick trip to Bhat Bhateni, a four-level supermarket with all sorts of imported groceries, knockoff clothing at reasonable, haggle-free prices, and more. Picked up chocolate and a pair of jeans. Yum!

And so concluded my one-day trip to Kathmandu. I never did make it back to Thamel!