January 15, 2010 – Kathmandu, Nepal
A funny thing happened on the way to India.
As usual, we were excited and anxious to move on to our next destination. Sadly, Gonkie, our beloved pink mascot, was apprehended at the Johannesburg airport by local police! In truth, he was a little worse for wear, his head was held on with a toothpick and frankly, we just got tired of carrying him around, so two of Jo’burg’s finest policemen helped us stage a picture of Gonkie being detained. And they, in true South African form, were quite happy to play along but only if we bought them drinks!
Anyway… back to India or at least our attempt of India. We could never be accused or convicted of committing premeditated travel, but as it turned out, this was the best oversight ever!! After 25 hours of travel through Nairobi, Ethiopia (& 6 airplane meals…ugh!) we arrived in Delhi at 9:00 in the morning, only to have the nicest people refuse to let us into their country! And, with the same conviction of Arthur “Big Guy” Carlson from WKRP when he said “As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly”…we believed we didn’t need a visa to enter India! With all the Indian immigrants in Canada we figured we had a open door policy agreement! After much shock, tears (Ann’s) and dismay (Tim) of being jilted and denied (Apu from Kwik-E-Mart)….”ding, thank you…come again”, we had the option of returning from whence we came (South Africa) or to go to Kathmandu and apply for a visa. So, in the spirit of Bob Seger…”We heard that Nepal is really cool this time of year. We’ll raise our whiskey glass and give them a toast” (Kathmandu video) and we headed to Ka Ka Ka Ka Katmandu. We felt stupid for not checking out the visa requirements but we must compliment the India immigration officials for their patience and understanding. After enjoying another 4 more hours of airport ambiance, we flew into the “hippie” city of 3 million people and 4 million motor vehicles! Breath taking views while landing and then met with lots of armed military security. We needed cash to purchase a visa and I was escorted by a lovely young machine-gun toting soldier…she looked about 15 to a secure currency exchange booth. With a landing visa in hand, we approached the tourist information booth and were quickly hooked up with a “great place to stay…the Blue Horizon”…it turned out the guy just happened to work there!! But it was a nice place and we found all the Nepalese people extremely gracious and friendly…especially the guy we gave the equivalent of a month’s salary to, for carrying our bags 15 feet!
Anxious to catch up on some sleep after our long journey, we bedded down under the weight of the heaviest blankets ever!! But we needed them! The electricity is on scheduled roaming black-outs all across Nepal!! Meaning you have heat for maybe 5 – 8 hours a day and showers are usually cold because of the wide use of solar heating which struggles against the fog and smog, particularly in Katmandu. Our congenial Sherpa host, Rambo (not of Rocky fame), arranged some trips for us and we were also able to get our India visas sorted out after a four-trip process to the Indian embassy.
Kathmandu is a city of Hindu temples, Buddha stupas and Monasteries. The streets are crowded, dirty & dusty with the relentless honking of horns. We took a tour of the city and were privileged to see the Living Goddess (she brings you good luck). This is a rather bizarre tradition known as Kumari Devi where a young pre-pubescent girl is worshiped as a manifestation of the divine female energy. The current little girl is now 6 (chosen at age 4) and as the “winner” of this highly sought after crown, gets to live in this old, decrepit looking ancient temple. She is brought up by attendants, never plays with kids her own age, schooled on her own and is only allowed to go outside the temple 13 times a year, however… her feet must never touch the ground!! Once she reaches the age of menstruation she is replaced but the state looks after her as long as she never marries. All seemed reasonable to us…kind of like the Canadian senate!!
Nepal is considered to be one of the world’s poorest countries with about 31 percent of the population living on less than US$1 a day. As a result, the temples and stupas appear to be very run down and unkempt. All are generally surrounded with thousands of pigeons, dogs, scrawny cows (gifts to the Gods), monkeys (hence, the Monkey Temple) and the ubiquitous street vendors selling the same wares, and…lots of garbage. How, through the smell of burning sheep wool (yet another ritual), this is spiritual and peaceful for worship….we’ll never know!
Witnessing the funeral pyres on the cremation grounds of Pashupatinath, the holiest Hindu temple on the Indian subcontinent was mesmerizing, humbling and shocking. Hindus believe in both rebirth and reincarnation and it is a popular belief that to die and be cremated in this temple will release one from the cycle of repeated rebirth and death. During the ritual, the feet of the body are dipped into the river, then the body is laid out on blocks of cinder wood, the eldest son circles the body with a flame 3 times then performs the most important and most difficult ritual of his life. He lights an oiled cotton wick which had been placed in his parent’s mouth and lignite’s his parent’s funeral pyre. The ashes are then swept into the Bagmati river which eventually flows into the sacred Ganges in India. This was quite the macabre scene; clothes from the body need to be unsnarled from the river debris, the curious are snapping pictures, the wailing scream of a woman upon hearing of a parent’s passing and all the while a group of kids were playing soccer in a makeshift field alongside the river. And, in a city of 3 million, this ritual occurs 20-30 times a day!
Everest
The good fortune of being “diverted” away from India continued and in the most spectacular fashion…the Mountain flight. Simply put “freakin’ amazing”! And, believe it or not, Everest is actually outshone by the magnificent spectacle of the Himalayan range of mountains that stretches out before you – a sight that will fill you with awe and wonderment! We flew out on a Beech 1900 turbo-prop that could only go as high as 25,000 ft, still well below the peak of Everest at 29, 028ft! We’ll let our pictures tell the rest of the tale.
Pokhara
Early morning fog is notorious for delaying flights out of Katmandu so we were once again treated to quality-airport time. But, we eventually made it to Pokhara where we had 2 days of trekking. Pokhara is a peaceful lakeside city close to the Annapurna mountain range. With Dil, our trekking guide, we “trekked” to Sarangkot a beautiful village best known for its sunrise, where on a clear day you can see an unobstructed view of the Himalayan mountains of Annapurna, Dhauligiri & Fishtail. Paragliding is popular here too but we only watched this time…fantastic views of the mountains and the city below. Our trek was more of a leisurely walk but gave us a chance to experience some true Nepali culture and meet the locals…all with the backdrop of the Himalayas and fresh mountain air.
We booked the “Luxury” bus back to Kathmandu, a 200km journey that takes body-numbing 7 hours! Only 9 of us on a huge bus that creaked and swayed along a rough mountain road, never void of people or animals. We’ve thought many times about documenting the toilet facilities (or lack thereof) encountered throughout our travels. And, really they haven’t been all that bad; toilet paper seems to be in short supply; hygiene has certainly varied but the “Luxury Loo Stops” made on this journey would rate right up there with the worst so far. We literally pulled over onto the side of the road, at the designated pit stop, and were directed left or right according to gender. Stepping gingerly around previous stop’s “deposits” the men simple pulled out on the side of the road, while the women had to climb down a rocky bank that allowed for more “privacy”. Ann’s remark of this being “uncivilized” was met with amusement by the bus driver and his “runner”.
Arriving back in Kathmandu, we returned to our meat-locker accommodations and the next day collected our India tourist visas! We loved the Thamil area with its blaring music, horns, the stick-handling through the maze of street vendors and rickshaws, and periodically it being plunged into darkness with the rolling blackouts… but most of the time savoring the great food at amazing prices!
We booked a flight to Dabolim, in the Goa region of southern India. But, before leaving Kathmandu we had dinner at some sort of Nepalese karaoke restaurant. We never really figured out what was going on but basically the young women catered to the predominately male crowd while a collection of dancers and singers entertained. Then, for no particular reason, groups of men would get up on the dance floor and start to gyrate, dance and sing. All rather bizarre to us. But then, so is their comfortable nature with each other. It is very common to see the men holding hands, walking arm in arm, always laughing and affectionate with one another. Sort of like Arthur. Or maybe St. John on a Saturday night!!
So with our Indian visas in hand, we once again negotiated are way through the Kathmandu traffic on the way to the airport. Security being ever tighter and at times seemingly illogical…they confiscated a tiny roll of scotch tape and one breastfeeding security official just waved Ann through…we waited for our flight to Mumbai which of course was delayed due to fog.
As much as we enjoyed our exile to Nepal, it was amazing 14 days, we look forward to moving on and we’re definitely looking forward to warmer climes and hot curry!
Namaste and thanks for tagging along…see you in India!
Comments
Tim, the birthday boy!:
Thanks to all for the kind birthday wishes!! And a special thank you goes out to the beautiful and thoughtful Lori A. for posting it on the blog…you know how I love the attention!!! Speaking of which, I must mention my gorgeous and loving life & travel partner, Annie, who serenaded me with her own version of “Happy Birthday” at the hotel’s Cocktail Lounge. Truly a moving and memorable moment I will cherish forever…although she is now banned from the lounge!!
And, we want to thank everyone for the continued blog comments, emails and phone calls. They mean a lot to both of us and are greatly appreciated!! It is great to have you along for the ride in spirit!
Love, hugs & high-fives…Tim
Lori:
Hey!! Thanks Ann for singing to Tim!! I wish I had been there for that…. LOL Thanks for the email Tim – great to get an update. Please give Jessie a big hug for me…..Write soon. Miss you both. xoxox
Lori
dnb:
Wow…is that Mount Everest?
It’s so small, wow I thought it bigger, but in your pictures, it’s so small.
is it supposed to be that small? Can’t believe how small it is. Can that be right? Gee!
Was that uptown or downtown Kathmandu? If it was uptown, pretty nice place.
Fly safe.