Katmandu
Leaving Bangkok is always a sad experience no matter the fact I’m coming back in awhile. I bought a cheap ticket to Nepal including a long layover in the Delhi International airport transit lounge. Mosquitos molested me more so in the Delhi airport than anywhere in Thailand. I realized part of the problem was I was wearing a black shirt. To them it looks like a good place to hide.
The plane to Katmandu was delayed an hour due to low fog in Katmandu and below minimal standards set by the safety branch of the Jet Airways but managed to take off and land like a 4-wheel drive Jeep Cherokee with wings. Applause from the back seats sprouted smiles up and down the isles of Premier class and economy. Just FYI, if you’re staying for a while and want a SIM card Ncell at the airport is popular. I didn’t think about it at the time and was whisked off to the Buddha Garden Hotel in Thamel. (ph. # +977-1-4229935, email: thebuddhgardenthamel@gmail.com). The garden does have a Buddha in it and the garden is also the restaurant and bar. The food is great and I’ve had my fair share of sweet tea sitting under the trees and canopy relaxing out of the dust and chaos of the streets. I was told by a trekking guide friend to get a 3-month visa in Bangkok rather than stand in line and deal with it at the airport.
Thamel is a major tourist area with many levels of accommodation, shops, markets, restaurants, and live music venues tucked in the alleys. The streets don’t have sidewalks and are narrow so there’s a constant health concern with motorbikes, cars, rickshaws and people all walking and moving in different directions. There is a pretty steady blaring of horns and I’m not exactly sure why, some are warning blasts and others are full on when traffic comes to a confusing stand still because a cow lay down in the street.
I planned to stay in Katmandu for three days and make a loose plan. With the help of friends and acquaintances a plan bloomed and I’m on it but I wanted to see the city before I left. Knowing I’m coming back through this way more than once I don’t have to Katmandu all at once but there were a few things recommended to me that gave me something to start my exploration.
I met a great guy with a motorcycle who had a government tourist certification and was finishing up his emergency training to on an emergency rescue squad but until he received his final grades he was still making a living as a tour guide. Bishal is his name and I found out how knowledgeable he was about his country and the religions that worship side by side without quarreling for centuries.
I was about to attempt walking to Patan Durbar Square from Thamel when one of the managers at the Buddha Gardens looked at me funny and recommended I take a taxi. I pushed on into the street and realized how difficult it was walking a few hundred meters. I asked a taxi driver how much to take me to Patan Durbar and he said 700 rupee. I smiled and said thank you and walked away. He hollered after me, ‘How much you want to pay?’ Bishal was walking out of a teashop to intercept me and spoke in good English politely asking me where I wanted to go and I told him. He thought about it for a minute and offered more sights, a history lesson and translations if need be including Patan Durbar for a 3000 rupee, $30 USD, and all on a motorbike with dust mask and helmet. My time is short here and I saw this as a way to take in some points of interest in half a day. It was high noon and there were some thunderclouds on the horizon. Bishal’s phone number is +9803171826 for anybody who wants a quality guide with a sense of humor and more information than your brain can handle in a day or two. We took off for Swayambhunath Temple, aka, the Monkey Temple where there are three types of religious architecture all sharing a hilltop opposite Katmandu City and overlooking a majority of Katmandu Valley. A Nepali wood building, Tibetan Buddhist Stupa with eyes facing in the four directions, and a Hindu pillar, aka Sikhara, which literally translates ‘mountain peak’. There’s also an enormous Vijra, or Thunderbolt Septor cradled at the top of a set of stairs that are said to be approximately 500 stairs. It’s a long way up. The original stupa was destroyed and then this stupa was built on top of it almost 1500 years ago. There are obviously a lot of ‘holy’ monkeys roaming around. Prayer flags are stretched out over a second tier of Stupas on the roadside of the hilltop.
Our second stop was Patan Burbar Square. The roads in Katmandu are a mix of dust and rubble and then sections of pavement on the more arterial roads in and out of the city center. Katmandu is made up of three separate kingdoms that grew together over the last six hundred or so years. Patan Burbar was one of those kingdoms. The red brick and intricately carved tropical hardwoods are really something let alone the multiple points of worship. Even the Kama sutra is honored on a fertility temple adjacent to one of the palace entrances on the square.
To get into the square costs 500 rupee and the pass is good for a month or just wear it in and they aren’t going to bother you if you return after a month. It’s not high security and it’s rightfully free for the Nepalese. We wandered around for a solid hour or more. There is so much to see and lots of cafes bordering the fringe.
We moved on to the river where there are ceremonial cremations of family members. Flat rounds about two meters across made of concrete punctuate the walkway where bodies are placed and then burned. The ashes are then often put in the river. We went to separate places were this happens. The first one was quiet but the second area was very active. Tourists and foreigners aren’t allowed on the same side of the river so most watch from the far bank. We entered from down river and it instantly hits your nose.
The thunderheads were upon us and it was time to get back before the rain started to fall. It began about halfway home and we got a flat. Pulling in to a small shop two twelve year olds attacked the back wheel and I stood out of the rain and watched these two boys take care of business. Before the rain got heavy we moved on after about twenty minutes. The rain hit and we pulled over and stood under an eve with everybody else. The wind picked up and a twister hit the deck spraying water horizontally. Branches flew of trees, chunks of bamboo fell in the street and the wind swirled pushing people into open doors and shops. Lights flickered and the wind and rain passed after twenty minutes and the sun popped out and we made a dash for it. The rain gutters began over flowing; purging and spewing blacken rainwater up and out of the gutters on to the streets turning a few areas into instant lakes 5-6 inches deep. We drove on and Bishal dropped me off at my hotel. I took down his number and said I would get in touch if I wanted to do anything the next day or in the future visits to Katmandu.
I was supposed to meet some people at a bar called Sam’s Bar and I quickly showered, changed and wandered down to it. Sam’s is an upstairs bar with an open-air patio, excellent music and a professional owner/bartender nicknamed V. There is no food just good solid drinks, music and a great place to sit and chat with friends. On Fridays and Saturdays a lot of locals also come to Sam’s and it can be standing room only between 9 and midnight when the bar closes. Most of the shops close around 9 pm so don’t forget to eat.
Heading into the jungle near Bardia in the far west of the country to the National Park. My trek friends recommended Wild Trak Adventure run by a guy named Johnny who specializes in nature and photography. http://wildtrakadventure.com/. I’ll let you know how it goes.
