India had prepared me for this. Dirt, dust, exhaust, spit in the street, persistent vendors. But none of it has been on the same scale of those northern cities of India. Many people wear masks to protect themselves from getting sick. I probably should have done the same as I came down with the flu last night that has persisted throughout today. Nothing too serious. I am just achy and have experienced very restless sleep sessions. I’ve laid low in my hotel room in Thamel, the tourist section of Kathmandu.
Brendon Graf, the climbing instructor from the The American School in Switzerland Summer Program, arrived in Kathmandu with his partner Sarah on the same day as I. They were previously traveling in Turkey. We went to the Monkey Temple together. Most days, however, we did our own thing and met up for dinner in the evening where we recounted our days at TASIS over a good meal; Kathmandu has a great restaurant scene.
On Thursday I explored Kathmandu’s Durbar Square and points south. Much of Durbar Square was damaged in the earthquakes. Even more of it was damaged in the last major earthquake in 1934. Sadly I found Durbar Square more of an overpriced tourist trap than a worthy destination. There is rubble everywhere in Kathmandu. Most of it has been neatly stacked into brick piles.
I had lunch on Freak Street, which is where the tourist hangout scene used to be in the 60s and 70s. You can guess how it got it’s name. But there’s not much there anymore. The popular tourist area is now in Thamel.
Brendon, Sarah and I walked to Swayambhunath on Friday and waited around for the sunset at the top of the Monkey Temple. It was windy and chilly, and thunder and lightning threatened to ruin our plan. But the weather didn’t affect our enjoyment of our study of the multitude of monkeys running all around us. We tried to grab a bite to eat and shelter ourselves, but like a number of restaurants I have visited, this one had no fuel to cook food.
Nepal is in the middle of a fuel crisis that has shown recent signs of getting better. The shipments from India have not come across the border because of protests in the south over the new constitution. India says that the truckers are afraid to cross the border, but most Nepalis think that India has been in cahoots with the Madhesi, an Indian ethnic group that lives on the southern plains of Nepal. The Madhesi are upset over arbitrarily drawn borders to new states that would divide up the ethnic group into separate states. They fear they will become marginalized and believe the new document favors the hill peoples of central Nepal.
A new prime minister was recently elected and people are hopeful that he can reach a deal with the Madhesi and with India. Nepal has frantically tried to reopen border roads with China that were damaged in the earthquakes and to improve ties with the nation to the north while tensions with India continue.
On Saturday I visited “The Garden of Dreams,” a small but very attractive little park. And on Sunday I walked to Patan to visit its own version of “Durbar Square” and the surrounding streets. Patan was a lot further of a walk than I anticipated and I came back in the dark. The most dangerous thing about walking at night here is stepping in unseen potholes in the sidewalks on the unlit roads. That, and getting lost, which I did.
On Monday I rented a bike and rode through Chabahil on my way out to Bodnath, which possesses the largest stupa in the Kathmandu area and apparently the 4th largest in Asia. Here you can visit Buddhist temples and eavesdrop on their prayer sessions. On the way back I swung through Pashupatinath with its sacred temple for “Hindus only” and its smoky ghats were they cremate the deceased on the banks of the holy but disgustingly dirty Bagmati River.
I would still like to get to the medieval town of Bhaktapur, but it’s a bit further and I wasn’t feeling well today. I am also looking into a four day kayaking clinic. I’ll start the Everest Base Camp trek in the last few days of October.
Nights in Kathmandu have been a little chilly. Generally Kathmandu runs 5-10 degrees colder than Pokhara even though the two cities are at the same elevation.