Saturday, April 09, 2005

In and Around Kathmandu

We had a pretty good storm last night. About 12:30 last night, I woke up from booming thunder and a nice, strong rain. It was nice to see/hear after no moisture at all in India.

Up about 7:30, showered (beautifully hot!) and met Shawna and 8:00 for breakfast. The restaurant at the hotel had a breakfast smorg, so I did it. She ordered off the menu.

About 9:00, we walked to Durbar Square, a World Heritage Site, got a guide to take us around and explain all the Hindu & Buddhist things that were there. It was ery interesting. The most interesting thing was Kumari, Hindu Living Goddess. The Kumari is a Newari Buddhist (Newari is the term for the native population in Nepal). She is chosen at a young age, 3 or 4 years old, and must satisfy 32 physical requirements, as well as being strong in mind (not getting scared in a dark room, while people try to scare her my making scary noises and having to listen to animals being sacrificed). And her astrological chart must not conflict with the Kings. At our guides request, she appeared on the balcony, where we could see her, apparently a rare sight, especially for foreigners. (My Let's Go said a couple of years ago, she stopped appearing for tourists altogether.) She only stood there for about 7 seconds, and we were not allowed to take pictures. She will continue to be the living Goddess until she hits puberty, at which time she will be taken back to he village, trying to adapt to a normal life, and a new Newari will be chosen. I believe she is about 7 years old now. This is a pefect example of the fusion of two religions in Nepal.

After Durbar Square, we started walking to Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple. We got about half way there, then a taxi offered us a ride for only 30 rupees, so we took it. Swayambhunath is the holiest place on earth for Newari Buddhist, it was built more than 2000 years ago. It's a temple, pagoda complex atop a hill in Kathmandu. We walked around, had lunch up there, and bummed around until 3:00, when the monks start chanting in the monastery. They allow tourists in to watch the chanting, which was pretty cool to see (I got video).

We started walking back to Thamel, got most of the way there, then decided to get a cycle rickshaw the rest of the way. I didn't know exactly where we were (streets here have no names, and go in circles), but figured we were close...we were, around a corner, and we were back in Thamel. We could have kept walking and got there ight away. Oh well.

AFter we got back, I headed to Ultimate Descents Nepal and booked the 12-day rafting trip! It leaves on April 13. Two days transportation, then 3 days of trekking to teh put-in point on the Tamur River, then 6 days of rafting, I believe it is. http://www.udnepal.com/nepal_rivers.htm for information. I'm doing the Tamur River.

It was wupposed to leave earlier, but the Maoists rebels called a nationwide strike, and pretty much all ground transportation is at a halt right now. For those not in the know, the Maoist insurgents are a group of rebels fighting with the government. A couple of months ago, the king of Nepal fired the government, took control, and Maoist insurgencies have increased during that time. It's a time of political instability (which is why we see police and army everywhere...even walking around Thamel sometimes).

The weather was nice all day, partly cloudy, not too hot. Late in the afternoon, dark clouds moved over, it got windy, cooled down a bit and started raining. The weather is beautiful here!

Back to the hotel and was sitting in teh lobby, and saw a posting for a trek to Everest Base Camp on the board. I went over and started reading it, and a couple of older women (50-55 perhaps) asked me if I was doing the Everest Base Camp trek. I said no, I just saw it and was reading about it, and they told me they just got back from that same trek. I was kind of shocked...if two old women could do it...I certainly could! It's a 12 day trek, including everything. And this is the time of year to do it to, April/May is the only time that Everest Base Camp is "open for business"...the rest of year, it's pretty desolate, because April/May is the only time of year Everest can be summited. It got me all excited to do it! I could trek to Everest Base Camp! How incredibly wild would that be??????????????

I'll have to see if there's another one going after I get back from my rafting.

There's so freaking much to do here. I don't know what to do. I want to do Everest Base Camp. I want to go to Pokhara (another city in the mountains) and parasail. I want to go canyoning! I want to go visit the jungles in southern Nepal. I want to go overland to Tibet. I want to bungy jump 160 metres! I want to do everything! I'm definately coming back to Nepal again in the future!!!!!!

And you know what? I think my mom could even enjoy it here. I'm sure it's no Hong Kong, but there are shops galore, the restaurants are fabulous, the hotel I'm at is swanky, if you want to pay for swank. There's so much to do. There are huge resorts in the mountains to lounge and relax.

There are tons of olde tourists here. I'd say 70% are older tourists (45-50 years old and over). And there all here for adventure, just like the old ladies that did Everest Base Camp.

I want to remark about women in Nepal too. In India, women have a role...stay at home, look after children, cook, clean...they traditional things. It's the mans job to support the family and work and make money. I really had zero interaction with Indian women in India. Nepal is much more progressive, women work in the shops. Women are allowed in the army. I've seen a number of uniformed women in army fatigue, carrying machine guns. And they're very cute too! Our guide at Durbar Square said only in the past 4 or 5 years have women been allowed in the army. Nepal is a fascinating country.

I expected things to be very similar to India...but they are not. Everything is so different.

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