Our last days in Nepal

Our last day in Nepal. We are feeling a bit reflective. We plan to have a quiet day – make the short walk from Krishna Guest House just outside the Bhaktapur city gates to the National Art Gallery, pick up a few things, print some travel vouchers, post a few more photos, check emails and do some yoga. We need to pack our bags and head to the airport tomorrow morning at 5:30am to catch our flight to India. I am happy to be moving on, but we will miss Nepal.

Our last bit of time here has been influenced somewhat by the political climate of the day. Constituent Assembly elections take place on Tuesday and there has been conflict and violence as a result (stories of cars being torched, window smashed in a taxi, demonstrations). We read the Himalayan papers that are published in English, talk to people, and glean what we can. Last Monday there was a general strike – banda. It was a day we’d intended to travel, but everything was shut down, shops and transport. Tourist busses were running, but there was also some uncertainty and rumours that vehicles breaking the curfew would be attacked. We talked to many different people; hotel managers, restaurant workers, police, tourist police, bus operators…. But it was very hard to get any consistent story. Mostly, I think, we were getting opinions. The banda had been organized by one of 2 factions of the Maoist Party, and that name alone is enough to generate a bit of discomfort for us! The situation is complex at best. In the end we chose to stay in Kathmandu a bit longer than planned and just wait to see how things shaped up. The day of the strike proved to be a great day for walking – no cars or buses belching out fumes and kicking up dust.

Walking, we’ve discovered, suits us. It is a great way to experience the hustle and bustle of a city, or get a bit out of a city, all the while getting a glimpse into how people live. Our Lonely Planet guide book has great walking tours that we often follow (although keeping on track here in Bhaktapur has been quite a challenge). We’ve walked on city roads that are dirt and dust, strewn with chunks of rock. We’ve walked on roads so old they are made of bricks in beautiful patterns, worn so smooth by the passing of so many years. Some roads have been made of what almost look like slate tiles, and many have little iconic pieces fit in (like lotus flowers) or alternating patterns. Yesterday, mostly because we were off track, we walked a narrow path through what I think were terraced rice fields, farm workers on either side of us. Sometimes we are walking through tiny, narrow corridors between old brick buildings, ducking through low entryways only to find ourselves in a courtyard or square with some significant shrine, prayer wheel, or statue of the Buddha. We walk in the spirit of our trekking.

In both Kathmandu and Bhaktapur (about 20 km east) there are outlying small towns with major temples well within walking distance. So our final days here have been temples, shrines, a few museums, and durbar squares (durbar means palace – thus the Durbar Square is the royal palace square). We’ve seen artifacts from the 5^th century (464 AD – the oldest inscribed stone tablet in the Kathmandu Valley – Sanskrit). The beautiful Patan Royal Museum (oddly enough developed with funding/partnerships with Austria) was a highlight. Set in the Royal Palace itself, with its impressive 17^th century Newari architecture we toured small galleries of mostly religious icons (generally stone and wood carvings, or metal) some from the 9^th and 10^th century. We learned about Hinduism, Buddhism, stupas, how reposse metal work and “lost wax” casting are done. There were displays of tantric texts, primary deities, and we even learned how to better interpret the meanings of different symbols, hand and feet positions assumed by different gods. We are finally starting to recognize some of the major deities (Shiva, Baihran, Ganesh, Vishnu). We went to the Pashipatinuth Temple (most important Hindu temple in Nepal) with its cremation ghats (Nepal’s “Varanasi”) and were quite mesmerized watching funeral rites along the Bagmati River, the building and burning of funeral pyres, all while we sat among the 11 shrines to Shiva. This is so unlike anything we know in the west and the entire proceedings are done very publicly.  It is an experience that is hard to put words to – all we could really come up with was “wow, that was quite something”. It is deeply profound and thought provoking. We walked to the Bodhnath Stupa – largest in Asia, where Barry had an almost magical experience choosing a very special singing bowl (we since found out that only 2 stores in the Kathmandu Valley sell the “good” hand-made 7 alloy ones, and we ended up in one of the two!). We also were amazed to learn that they can be used for all sorts of healing. The bowl has been sent home, and Bar can’t wait to get his hands back on it. We’ve learned to walk around stupas in a clockwise direction to bring good luck, which is easy to do, because if you go the other way you are so clearly going against the flow of traffic! These have all been imposing structures of great beauty, and in a way we barely grasp their religious significance. It is mostly through watching local Nepalis that one gets a sense of their importance – historically and to this very day.

Temples and shrines, and more temples and shrines. They are everywhere and range in size from a small rock, to a grand, large structure. I’ve been fascinated by the ritual the Hindu women go through in the early morning – carrying small platters of offerings (rice, flowers, + ?) to the shrines. Religion is simply a large part of life here. In truth, however, we are a bit on temple overload. We spent hours walking up to Changu Narayan Temple yesterday (a wrong turn took us about 3 km out of our way – always interesting however) and by the time we’d got there, had some lunch, and made our way into the site (most of these famous sites are Unesco World Heritage sites) we mostly sat and watched. We read our brochure a bit, took some pictures, but felt a bit worn out by all we’ve been seeing. There is just so much history, architecture,  and iconography to take in.  

Bhaktapur is a most welcome change from Kathmandu. It was recommended to us by a German man who had been to Nepal 4 times. We met him in Olympic National Park in Washington. He told us to get out of Kathmandu and go to Bhaktapur. Now we know why. There is a large, beautiful Durbar Square here and two other toles (squares). There is a totally fascinating potter’s square – we watched people kneading dark clay, and working wheels sitting on the ground in the square (which in November, after the harvest, is also being used to dry grains). There is a communal firing “shed” where pots are fired in straw and other materials; there are no kilns as such, and I think it takes a few days (eavesdropping on European tour groups). The streets are quite beautiful and so much calmer. Our guest house is fantastic. The people are helpful and kind and seem very intent on providing good service. From what I can gather, they are most interested in providing us with a good experience and providing exceptional service so that we will recommend them, or come back to them ourselves. I read somewhere, maybe in the Lonely Planet, that Nepal has 3 religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, and tourism. We can go into a restaurant, pay 8$ for a meal and are treated like we are in the most expensive restaurant in TO. Servers are exceptionally polite and meals, generally are great (again, lots of carbs – my traditional Newari meal winning the prize for “most interesting” meal).

Our days have a distinct rhythm, to some extent determined by temperature. Rooms have no heat, it is cold in the morning and starts to cool down again by 4pm. Recently I’ve unpacked my lightweight down jacket and its getting good use (especially at dinner – many restaurants have outdoor patios, or themselves have no heat).  When we return to our hotel room after dinner (not much night life here) the best way to keep warm is usually to get into bed. Some nights we might bundle up, sit in a lobby, and use wifi. But even still, come 9pm at the latest we are usually turning out our light. As a result we wake up early – hmmm, now we are awake, it is dark out and again, still cold. That is when a lot of these posts get written. This morning, I typed with my down jacket on over my T-shirt nestled in my comforter waiting until 7:30 at which time we can venture out onto the sunny patio where our hostess brings us hot (instant) coffee. We are both probably getting more sleep than we have in a long time. Meals have become highlights – sitting in rooftop cafes, sipping hot, sweet tea in the sun, eating momos, some version of rice, curry or noodle. Life has a somewhat relaxed pace and we are free to choose what to do every day. My biggest challenge right now might be boredom with my travel wardrobe!

I enjoy typing these posts, and trust that I’ll enjoy reading them again sometime in the future. I’ve noticed that when I’m walking I’m often imagining how I would describe the experience in writing, so it always feels good to tell these stories. Also better for me to get some of the details down while we are here. Loading photos, on the other hand is time consuming – our tablet is more restrictive than a full laptop. For example, we have yet to figure out how to resize our photos (useful advice from both Geoff and Mary). As I said before, with limited night life (or in the case of Kathmandu – none that really appeals to us) photo work has become a good evening activity. We’ve been here long enough now to actually have established some routines!

So on to India – time to shake up those routines. We figure we are in for another round of culture shock and lots more adventure. Today is day 1 of malarial meds – all of you out there who take the time to read these, please pray for our continued good health. XOXOXO D

Post script; As it turned out, the strike did impact us. Saturday about 4:30 pm our guest house host approached us and told us that it was most likely safe for us to take a taxi to the airport at 5:30am the next morning, but it would also cost us about 15$ US - higher than normal. The newspapers these days do have stories of buses and cars being torched and petrol-bombed. Police presence during the day, in more populated cities tends to keep a lid on things, but early in the morning there is less surveillance. Tourists, and tourist buses are generally considered safe, and both the taxi driver and our host were fairly sure we would not be stopped or have any issue, although there was potential risk to the taxi driver coming back from the airport on his own. In the end, we opted to play it safe and an hour later took the cab to the Airport Hotel (for 3 times the cost of our guest room), and walked across the street this morning to catch our flight. All happened without incident!