We flew direct from Bangkok to Kathmandu on Thai Airways, and I must say, they are pretty much the best airline I've ever flown, at least in terms of customer service. Sarah agrees. We got seats on the right side of the plane on the off chance that the Himalayas would show themselves through the mass of monsoon clouds. They never did (though I might have seen a peak in there), but I was able to see the vast flat deltas of Burma and Bangledesh sliding by below.
Anyway, soon after taking off the flight attendant came by with a hot towel, followed by refreshments and some peanuts. A little while later, lunch arrived. We'd signed up for the vegetarian meal (everyone in the States knows that these options are a joke), and when it arrived, it had cut fruit, a pommelo and avocado salad, a roll, a rice-stuffed bell pepper, and a lentil and okra dish! Wow! It was all awesome, especially the bell pepper. then came the choice of white or red wine with the meal (we both got red-- and I ended up drinking both of ours). Once the meal was over, trays were cleared and coffee and tea was served. Pretty sweet. THEN they came by with a snifter of cognac! I had to get everything, of course. I love this sort of thing. There was one point when I had a Coke, wine, coffee, and cognac all on my tray at once. About thirty minutes before the flight ended, the attendants came by and gave Sarah an orchid corsage. Oh, and we weren't even in first class, by the way. The first class passengers must have gotten full body massages and had a spa if us unwashed masses in the back were treated as well as we were.
My drink array on Thai Air - Coke, coffee, wine, cognac
Anyway, we descended out of the clouds and into Kathmandu Valley -- a green bowl surrounded by high hills on all sides, with brick and concrete buildings haphazardly spread over the valley bottom. Immigration took forever for some reason, but once we were through that, we were whisked off by taxi through rutted, potholed alley-like roads to our hotel. Quite a change from Bangkok, as I mentioned earlier.
Our hotel is located on the outskirts of the Thamel district, the main tourist area of town. This is the low season for tourism here, with the monsoons in full swing. Compounding the low tourism that is the large fluctuations in political power happening right now. For those of you who don't follow Nepali news, about a month ago the monarchy was dissolved and a new government that includes the Maoist rebels was formed. Big changes for this little country. The violence from the rebellion seems to be over, but the government is still very much in flux.
For the last three days we've been dodging crazy traffic and wandering the alleys and backstreets of Kathmandu and surrounding towns. Old Kathmandu is a confusing mass of very skinny streets in between tall buildings, and rickshaws, motorbikes, and cars all crowd into the small space, making simply walking quite a stressful experience. The neat thing is that down every back alley, a huge courtyard or plaza or temple appears. Some courtyards are reached by tunnels you have to duck to get into. On one of our walking tours, we even came upon the plaza that was home to the tea house where Cat Stevens wrote his song "Kathmandu"!
It has been quite a switch to go from the clean, well kept Buddhist temples to the crazy, intertwined Buddhist/Hindu beliefs that meld so well here in Nepal. Everything is more real, in a way. By that I mean the people here aren't aloof from their belief systems -- every nook, cranny, and hole-in-the-wall is a temple to Ganesh, Shiva, Buddha, etc. -- and nothing is well-kept. Ash, incense, red powder, candle wax, smoke, offerings, trash, and colorful fabrics line the recesses of the worship areas, and the area surrounding each one is full of activity -- cows, dogs, monkeys, goats, children, crazy holy men, beautifully dressed women and all manner of other things are in constant motion. It's a lot to take in, especially for foreigners who are used to the order and cleanliness (and dare I say tedium?) of Western places.
We visited many places in the Kathmandu valley during the last few days, including the world's largest stupa (a type of Buddhist temple. This particular stupa is Tibetan, and reflects the traditions and beliefs of the many, many Tibetan refugees who have settled (and even flourished) in Nepal. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful (especially in comparison to the chaos outside the plaza), with a cobblestoned walkway all around the circular stupa lined with shops and cafes. The Tibetan Buddhist chant "om mani padme hum" echos peacefully out of the shops selling singing bowls, incense, rosary beads, and beautiful tapestries, while people walk in a clockwise direction along the outside of the stupa's wall, spinning the many prayer wheels there. It's hard not to get caught up in the centrifugal force of the walk -- it literally feels like you are going against the current if you try to go the other direction, even though it isn't a crowded place.
The temple in the next photo is another similar structure, though it is set at the top of a hill overlooking Kathmandu. Locally it's called the "monkey temple" for the rhesus macaques that hang around and amuse the visitors. I did see one monkey take a swipe at a woman who was trying to place an offering in the alcove in which the monkey was currently sitting (and eating the offerings). His photo is included here. The view over Kathmandu was quite amazing, so we sat and enjoyed it for quite a while. There were dozens of Black Kites riding the thermals and sitting in the trees around the hill, while House Crows, House Swifts, Oriental Magpie-robins and other birds moved through the brush and around the buildings. Sarah and I both found this particular stupa to be very relaxing; perhaps it was because of the beautiful filtered light of the afternoon, the worshipping devotees giving offerings, or the hundreds of prayer flags fluttering in the breeze. It certainly wasn't due to the many steep steps to get up there. =)
Swayambhunath stupa (the monkey temple)
a monkey eating the offerings
Swayambhunath Temple (the monkey temple)
Cheeky monkey!
Sarah turning the prayer wheels
Pashupatinath Temple and cremation ghats (platforms)
These cremation ghats were pretty interesting. Many people are cremated here -- you can see the smoke from a couple bodies in the left hand side of the photo. Most of the Nepali royal family was cremated here a few years ago after the Crown Prince bizarrely gunned them all down and then killed himself. In addition to the ghats, there are lots of side temples where holy men gather. They are the crazy looking, dreadlocked guys in the next couple of photos. I'm not sure what they do all day, but it seems to involve a lot of laying around and smoking pot. They definitely serve a purpose in the workings of religion here, because they are supported with alms by devotees. The more enterprising of them (and probably some fakes) cruise around the tourist areas and waylay visitors with red dye to the forehead, for which you are then supposed to give them a "donation". Talk about pressure sales. We soon learned to avoid them if possible, though the one I have a picture with at the end of this post was nice enough. He liked that my beard was approaching the size of his.
Sabhus (holy men) - they look like hippies
More Sabhu - Durbar Square, Kathmandu
At Pashupatinath Temple
The Maoist guerrillas are now a part of the government here
Hot fermented millet beer - yum!
Now that's a special you can sink your teeth into!
Durbar Square, Kathmandu
Beard brothers!
After four days in Kathmandu, both of us were very ready to escape the exhaust and dust and crowds of the place. We are both a little concerned this is a foretaste of what it'll be like in India. Exhausting!
Contrary to what I originally thought, Kathmandu is warm and tropical. For some reason I assumed it was colder, or at least more temperate. Since it sits around 1500 meters, it was high enough to have cool nights, so we enjoyed the slight temperature respite after Southeast Asia. Now we're off to Pokhara for the next stop in our trip.
-Matt!
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