Kathmandu: Chaotic, Challenging & Colourful!

I landed in Kathmandu last night - after too many hours on the plane from Hong Kong (something to do with the fuel being unbalanced, resulting in additional time sitting on the tarmac!) I actually have no idea how delayed we were - I was too tired - but to my relief the guy from the hostel was still there waiting to pick me up.

Arriving into Kathmandu after midnight, on a Friday night, was an interesting introduction... it was incredibly dark, and when the car turned onto a dark, narrow road, with very old run-down buildings I did wonder where I was going... I thought I was staying in the 'centre' of town?!  I now know that all roads in Kathmandu are incredibly narrow, but fortunately the cars all seem to be correspondingly tiny!  As we got into town, the streets were lined with young guys hanging out by there cars, the occasional skimpily clad girls, and when we pulled up outside my hostel there was an all-out screaming match going on (no idea what it was all about - but seemed to involve a couple of Western girls).  I woke up this morning feeling a bit anxious about what to expect - Kathmandu seemed like a much bigger challenge than Hong Kong.

Step 1 was to obtain some local cash (I had none).  Armed with a map, and the Lonely Planet recommendations on ATM locations, I set off down the road.  It was about 9am, and the streets were surprisingly quiet.  There are very few ATMs around, and the first mentioned in the LP was boarded up, the second was not working.  Just as I was wondering what to do (do money changers take credit cards???) I found a third machine - and after several attempts managed to extract some cash.

With that success, I thought I'd try to orient myself.  After only a few paces I was 'picked up' by a young guy named Uddab.  He asked where I was going etc etc, and I figured there was no harm.  Uddab explained that today was the Holi festival - so it was a public holiday, shops were shut, and that explained why the roads weren't overly crowded.  It's also called the festival of colours, and involves people throwing water bombs and coloured powders.  Uddab claimed to be a artist, and took me to meet his teacher at an art school / shop next to one of the temples; clearly an effort to get me to buy, but quite interesting (Thangkas are religious art pieces, and can take the form of a meditation image, a philosophical image, the story of Buddhas life, or the mandala - circle).  I didn't buy anything, and thought that would be the end of Uddab - but no!  He then proceeded offered to show me some more sights... it didn't take too long to figure out that this was becoming a guided tour.  However, it was actually very interesting, as we wandered onto the back-streets around Kathmandu, and got to experience the Holi festival in real action: the kids were having heaps of fun - and I had to eventually put my camera away and use the rain cover on my camera bag!  All the tourists here seem to get covered in paint, although I managed to confine to just my face.

The kids definitely enjoyed Holi

For lunch, I was taken to a traditional Newari restaurant.  I had done my reading in Lonely planet, so knew that the Newari ethnic group are from the Kathmandu valley, and eat more meat than other Nepalese, and use spices.  The food was dry beaten rice, dried spiced buffalo meat, and a potato curry - these were all on separate plates, but mixed together to consume.  It was very tasty, and I tried not to think about whether the hygiene of the place we were in was up to standard!

Finally, we went to Pashutatinath, Nepal's most important Hindu temple - it certainly wasn't my intent to go there today, but I was intending to go there at some point.  I managed to detact myself from Uddab at this point (I figured I could manage the standard tourist sites on my own).  After a slightly awkard conversation around money (i.e. we hadn't discussed it prior, and he said just to pay what I thought it was worth!!) Udabb left, and I enjoyed sitting in a quiet spot - while watching preparations for a cremation: it felt slightly odd for the (wrapped) body to be in view of so many people, and all the washing and blessing of the body was performed on the banks of the holy river.  I can't understand how washing anything in the water from that river could be cleansing - it's one of the most polluted I have seen! 

Pashupatinath

I made it back to the hostel mid-afternoon, and after much scrubbing (why did I assume the dye would come off easily?) I am now relatively clean, and sitting on the balcony at the hostel restaurant (overlooking the chaos and noise of the road below).  I felt exhausted after the day out: it was really full-on with everything being new and chaotic.



After Holi


I'm not sure when I will next add a post, as my computer battery is nearly dead, and the only powerpoint in my hostel room seems to be a bit dodgy (I don't think it actually works)... I'll be moving to the Raddisson in a few days, so will definitely be able to charge-up from there at the least.

Thanks to all of you who have sent messages: it's lovely to hear from home :)