Some thoughts on Kathmandu

Since arriving back in Kathmandu from the peaceful oasis of Pokhara, I find myself longing to get out of this city. Don't get me wrong - there are many beautiful things to see here. I've done the "tourist tour" and visited the largest Buddhist temples - Swayambhunath and Bodhnath - which are beautiful. Swayambhunath is also called the "monkey temple" for a good reason. It is beautiful and we visit near sunset, unfortunately mostly viewing it through the lens of my camera. I must go back.

Today, I went back to Bodhnath, the oldest Buddhist stupa in Kathmandu. Pictured above, it is also a really peaceful and spectacular stupa. Thought I'd been two times previously, today I went towards sundown to experience the swarm of monks that circle it clockwise as the sun in setting. I decided to sit down as walking just didn't feel right. I faced the stupa and closed my eyes. A few minutes later, I felt someone standing in front of me. I opened my eyes and it was a monk dressed in his robes. He was smiling at me, and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was "listening to Buddha." He laughed and then sat down next to me and we had the most delightful conversation. He told me about his escape from Tibet, the monastery where he lives and we exchanged email addresses (!) so we can remain in contact. Dawa invited me to tour his monastery which I plan to do this weekend.

My favorite Nepal destination so far is the beautiful Pashupatinath. It's the largest and most important of the Hindu temples in all of Nepal. I learn in my guide book that it's devoted to Shiva, the destroyer, specifically to Pashupati, one of Shiva's more peaceful incarnations. Most striking about this place is that it's located along the Bagmati River and is a popular place for cremation ceremonies. It's a surprisingly beautiful event to watch. Watching from the far bank, I can see that logs are stacked on a small cement platform just above the shallow river. The deceased body goes through a series of rituals while their feet are touching the river, and the body is wrapped in beautiful cloths. The body is then carried to the cement platform and placed on top of the logs, which are then lit on fire. Once aflame, the family of the deceased surrounds the body. A family member takes water from the river, returns to the platform, circles the body in a clockwise direction, and then deposits water in the person's mouth. The family leaves the platform and the fire continues to burn. As the embers of the fire are nearly burned out, the still smoking logs and ashes are pushed into the river as an offering to Shiva. I have visited this place twice - the first time in a monsoon with Joanie, Megan, Alyson and Som; the second time this morning for about four hours. It is certainly a rich environment to ponder the realities of life and death.

The traffic in Kathmandu is CRAZY! I know it's probably crazy in most third world countries where the car is a relatively new introduction, but I've certainly never seen anything like this. The roads are narrow, at least 60-80% of the traffic is pedestrian, and there are bicycles, rickshaws, motorcycles, taxis, minivans, animals, tourists, Tiger Balm vendors (bought some!), transport trucks, and various animals. Certainly these streets were busy before the arrival of cars, but be grateful for a good ol' traffic jam in the USA.

As best as I can tell, here are the rules of the Kathmandu road:
1) There are no lanes.
2) There are no speed limits.
3) When traffic stops, honk.
4) If it doesn't move, honk again and hold it.
5) Drivers licenses and knowledge of city geography are optional for cab drivers.
6) The streets have no names, hence there are no street addresses.
7) Street names, as indicated by the "map" can change from one block to the next.
8) Whoever honks the loudest has the right of way.
9) It is fully acceptable for five people to ride on a motorcycle.

Here's a YouTube video on Kathmandu traffic, since I couldn't figure out how to upload my own.... mind-blowing!

I've had a few (um, let's just call them "interesting") experiences with Kathmandu roads and traffic. Here's one that I wish I had photos of to tell the story, but words will have to do. Returning from Pokhara to Kathmandu, Alyson, Megan and I decided to ride the "luxury" tourist bus. About 2.5 hours into our 6.5 hour trip, our bus suddenly stopped. Awakened from a nap, I looked around to see that there were cars in front of me as far as I could see. We waited for a while inside the bus, and after a few minutes our driver informed us that there had been an accident the day before, and the roads were closed because there had been a death. As the bus was heating up we decided to get out and look around. We walked around for a bit and talked to a few Europeans and heard a few more stories about what was actually going on. This much was clear: the road could be closed for five minutes or five days. No one knew. After about three hours had passed, our small group decided to walk ahead past the scene of the "accident" and see if we could get another bus heading to Kathmandu on the other side. About a mile past our bus, we came upon what had obviously very recently been a riot scene: a smoking transport truck that had just been torched in the middle of the road sideways, a public bus with all it's windows smashed and tires slashed, hundreds and hundreds of people - half looking angry and half just carrying on as if this was completely normal. I turned and said to Megan and Alyson, "Just walk fast and don't make eye contact." Well, in this situation, I will tell you that I have never felt like such a White Tourist. I was pulling my convertible backpack (surely a sign of a princess) and wearing my cute new skirt. Needless to say I didn't blend in very well. The good news is that we made it safely past the scene and shortly after we did, the traffic started to move. About an hour later, our original bus finally made it through the scene and it stopped to pick us up - certainly not something that a Greyhound bus in this situation would have done! We were grateful to arrive in Kathmandu almost 12 hours after our ride had begun.

On a happy note, I had mentioned to several of you my joy at having been invited by the Chhetri sisters to celebrate the largest Nepali festival Dasain with their family. Originally, I was thrilled at the invitation as it was just the kind of experience that I am asking for in my trip. Soon after, I looked up the festival only to discover that it included a massive public slaughter of hundreds of thousands of animals in one day. Eeeewwwww.... The festival turned out to be beautiful, and I didn't have to witness any killings, thank Buddha. Upon arriving at the celebration, the Chhetri "mama" gave everyone a tika to honor the goddess Durga's victory over all of evil.

The women of Empowering Women of Nepal (run by the Chhetri sisters) were all dressed up looking beautiful, and handing out sweets for us to enjoy. Then, the children who are also a part of the program came out to dance, giving us an enthusiastic, heartfelt performance. It was one of the sweetest moments of my trip so far. Absolutely a wonderful afternoon!
Despite the craziness of Kathmandu, I am grateful to have a wonderful hotel with a peaceful garden oasis. For now, it is my home and I've made a few friends who I've been spending some time with. It feels really great to just sit still for a few days while I evaluate my next move for the next 30 days in Nepal.

Joanie, Alyson and Megan are all now gone and I'm on my own. I hope (and think) that their trip to Nepal was as life-changing, eye-opening and awe-inspiring as mine has been so far. I will miss them, and am grateful to have had them with me.

With love,
Pam