Kathmandu - Capital of Ancient Himalayan Kindom

Saturday 24^th June 2006

Greetings from KTM, no longer the Royal Kingdom of Nepal, since the recent

There were shrines, butter lamps, incense, bells and later some monks dressed in maroon robes

changes. Nobody here seems to know what the official name of the country is! Howard, the tour leader, is a very likable fellow, and that’s a really good start. He’s been here a number of times and seems to know the ropes. I'm impressed with the preparation for the trip and the helpful info, given to each one of us, such as what has to be done where and how - all before the event - e.g. How much money in which currency is needed for what and where? Before leaving the airport, he gave out a photocopied mud map of the area surrounding the hotel with business names of places along the streets. No good giving the street names in this city, as there are very few signs. Clearing immigration was a bit of a strange experience. We did NOT have to pay for a visa as we are only going to be here for a short time, 3 days. Last time I was here, two years ago, it cost me USD110 to stay a couple of days. It really should have cost USD80 if we had been made to get one this time – it doesn't add up!!

Anyway, safely through customs, we were met by our Nepalese guide Bhim and driven to the Vaisalli Hotel in Thamel, a central area of KTM. Driving from the airport into the city there were still sand-bagged gun emplacements but not nearly as many as I remember from the last time I was here in 2004. As we skirted the palace people were again allowed to walk along that side of the road and definitely there were not the armed foot soldiers standing every 50m around the high security wall, there to guard the despot king within! Bhim commented that the locals seem to think everything is much better as a result of the recent changes. They are glad their voice is now being heard and listened to. Although it is the rainy season and not many tourists come at this time anyway - the shopkeepers and hotels say travellers are staying away in droves. As tourism is an important economy driver - the locals are doing it tough. They are all eagerly awaiting the main tourist season of Nov-Feb and praying to their gods that the outside world is not still afraid of visiting this truly wonderful place.

Checked in with no problems. Rooms are OK but dark. Dark brown carpet, deep orange-brown fabric on chairs, black furniture and black woodwork but very light curtains, which let the light in from around 4.30am. Light fittings lean at leery angles on the walls and light up dimly when turned on. The 40w globes do the best they can but not much candle power reflects off the dull room colours. We had an hour to spruce up before Howard took us on an hour-long stroll – it was basically around his mud map. It’s Saturday, the day of the week that many shop-keepers take off so quite a number of shops were boarded up with colourful wooden shutters or metal roller doors. All the usual sights and sounds and smiling Nepalese faces greeted us everywhere. Mangy dogs and gaunt cows lazed all over the place. Rubbish and red brick rubble needed to be negotiated as well. It is the rainy season so the air is heavy with the smells of the place but at least the air is not dust laden. Though there mightn't be any dust in the air to limit vision, there is cloud instead. Most of the group had had enough after an hour’s walk so they headed back to the hotel. Not Howard, Wendy - a lovely country lady from Narrandera who hasn't been out of Australia before – and me! We walked around for another 2 hours getting back to the hotel at 6 having stopped for a local beer at the ‘New Orleans’ Bar/Restaurant which is only a couple of turns from our hotel. My Nepali is coming back and I was able to order three cold beers please, to the delight of the young guys waiting on us. A few more pigeon Nepali exchanges and we were friends for life! Back to the room for a shower and clean-up before wandering back onto the streets for the short stroll to KC's where we had dinner - curried chicken with a side dish of herbed and spiced rice and a beer. All that cost Rs450. There are Rs52 to the AUD.

Sun 25 June 2006.

As mentioned earlier it gets light very early. I woke as it got light and tossed and turned for some time before giving in and getting up. Anyway, I could no longer put up with the fight I was having with the two grey (long ago they had been white) top sheets on the bed. For some odd and unknown reason, the bed was made up sideways - one sheet overlapping the other half way down. After a shower, I ate, or rather drank, one of the 2 sweet mangoes I bought yesterday. They cost me Rs180 (AUD3.75). I think the vendor saw us coming! And now, even having written all this, I'm still waiting for my 7am wake-up call. I'm still going to have an hour to fill in before breakfast, to be had a little way down the muddy street at the Pumpernickel Bakery that we walked past yesterday. Probably have to watch some CNN news to fill in the time.

Later:

The day panned out very well. First stop was Swayambhunath or the Monkey Temple. I had not been there since arriving for the first time in KTM way back in1979. I seem to remember that my son Peter (as a very little boy) was scared of the monkeys who paid us quite a lot of attention. Now, there don’t seem to be as many.

Today, it was raining, so we were all driven to the top with the option of walking down the many steep and slippery concrete steps. Swayambhunath is a Tibetan stupa. Hundreds of prayer wheels line the road to the top, all recessed into a wall. These are spun by devotees who walk the wall spinning each wheel along the way. The really devout only progress along the wall by prostrating themselves, getting up, walking a few steps forward before lying down full length on the ground again. The only concession to comfort is a heavy apron-like garment and ‘slippers’ for their hands - and we often think it is an impost if we have to walk to the shops! Most of our group put on raincoats but they were all just as wet as I was after walking around for the best part of an hour - they from the inside because of the sweaty conditions - I from the clean warm rain. It was in the high 20's with 100% humidity. I needed a hat for the camera. Many more prayer wheels with pilgrims walking around the top section of the complex. There were shrines, butter lamps, incense, bells and later some monks dressed in maroon robes sitting cross-legged in a long narrow room chanting mantras. Just as we arrived, temple horns shattered the serenity and the sanctity of the place. The rapid ringing of the bells and the beating of a large, richly decorated drum added to the cacophony of sound. After taking our shoes off, it was permissible to walk around a narrow walkway behind the monks and take video and photographs. A donation box eased our gawking curiosity. All too soon, it was time to head down those steep steps taking in misty views of the KTM valley floor on the way. We passed under hundreds of strings of the colourful prayer flags – an ever-present part of such places of Buddhist worship.

From Swayambhunath we moved to the largest stupa outside Tibet - Bodnath. This huge white dome juts skywards topped by its ever-staring eyes. On top of that again is a gold plated cupola with lots of significant Tibetan symbolism. Again there were pilgrims circumambulating the structure - of course always in a clockwise direction. Some carry their own handheld prayer wheels which are spun continually in one hand while the other hand counts rosary beads usually made from the seed from santalum trees. Others walk close to the wall spinning the large fixed wheels.

It had stopped raining by now. Four hours had passed since we had left the hotel and we were getting a bit hungry so we headed straight for Bhaktapur at one end of the KTM valley. Bhaktapur, along with KTM and Patan were once three separate kingdoms. When I lived in KTM, (mid ’79-mid ’81) Bhaktapur was being renovated with the help and money from the Swiss. Work from that project has finished but more recent work continues. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site now, as it should be. Magnificent buildings including temples, palaces and homes have been faithfully restored using traditional methods and materials. We sat and looked down on one of the many squares over lunch - a vegie curry, rice and a beer. Rs375 (AUD7). After lunch we walked the streets and enjoyed talking with a couple of guys in their late teens or early twenties. One was a thanka painter. The other just wanted to practice his English as he was studying humanities, majoring in English, at the Bhaktapur University. After a very busy, interesting day, it was a tired lot that got back to the hotel around 5.30 having battled the knock-off peak hour traffic. Although it was Sunday, it is a working day for the Nepalese. Saturday is their day off. The difference in the volume of traffic between the two days was incredible. But I must say, that after being here a day or two, my observation is that the whole place is very much cleaner than last time I was here. Perhaps the dirtiness of yesterday was due more to it being a Saturday, than anything else. Streets are swept and I've seen a number of rubbish trucks. And the air pollution has to a very large degree gone. For one thing, there are not nearly as many trucks in the streets. And there used to be another huge offender - hundreds, no thousands, of little blue tuk tuks. For years, these two-stroke monsters belched inordinate amounts of black smoke from the combustion of their dirty Indian fuel. Now, the tuk tuk smoke has been eliminated. They have all been replaced by slightly larger vehicles that burn LPG gas. This has been a huge improvement. Any pollution here is made much worse because the KTM valley is surrounded by 7000 feet high peaks. The grime never has a chance to get out; it sits as if trapped in a saucepan with a heavy metal lid.

After a shower and a clean up, it was time for dinner. We went back to the ‘New

Orleans’ where Wendy, Howard and I had a beer last night. I had a traditional KTM valley dish, Chicken Sandeko, (sliced chicken marinated in garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger) which came with chapati bread and iodine soaked greens. Towards the end of our meal, a grey-haired Nepalese guy approached our table and asked if anyone was interested in a short interview with him to gain some tourist impressions of Nepal, in particular KTM. Well, the group ducked for cover as one, but as you can perhaps guess, not me! I declared my hand at the start by saying that perhaps I was not a good subject as I had lived in KTM 25 years ago. I probably should have predicted that rather than being 'put-off', the intended interview suddenly grew from a couple of lines to an article I just had to write for him and his magazine. So another job to be done on arriving home, or perhaps, on the way home - during some of those inactive hours spent sitting in an aircraft or lounge. World Cup football is just as big here as anywhere else and fortunately, with the time difference, the games are on at the reasonable hour of around 8.30pm. But first, I had to tune the TV and just got that fixed in time to see Beckham score that rather impressive goal. England deserved to win as Ecuador wasn't really up to the task.

Monday 26 June 2006

Woke along with first light, again! The sparrows and cawing crows began their tirade at around 4.30. I had tossed and turned but not as restlessly as the previous night as this time I scored only one top sheet for the night. Next thing I knew it was 5.10, then 5.40. So I gave in, got up, abluted and got stuck into my other mango. Just as juicy – just as delicious. Must get some more – hang the cost! This morning we drove to Pashupatinath, where one of, if not the most sacred Hindu temple in Nepal is situated. It has stood on the banks of the Bagmati River, which flows through the KTM valley, for centuries. Many Indian pilgrims visit, something all Hindus hope to do at least once in their lives. It is very auspicious to be cremated at this place, on the burning ghats at the edge of the river because the Bagmati eventually flows into Mother Ganga, the most sacred of all rivers to a Hindu. There were two ghats already burning as we arrived. Another body, wrapped and tied in a white sheet, lay on the ground, waiting to be put onto a pyre, which was yet to be built. The family was still registering the death and paying the necessary dues. I think I should go the same way! Even with the airfares to get me back to KTM, it would be cheaper than ‘disposal’ costs at home. Here it costs a mere Rs16 for everything including the wood - a tad under 25 cent Australian! I've been to Pashupatinath many times, and yet it is so vast that we were taken to areas I had not visited before. It is a fascinating place – no doubt about that.

I broke away from the group at lunch time. They went to Durba Square in the city. I've been there many, many times so I decided the hotel sounded good. On the way I tried out my residual pigeon Nepali on the locals. I've had some of them saying that I speak it without an accent - I think they are pulling my leg. Perhaps it is largely because Nepali is such a 'regional' language even the locals don't expect a paschimi (Westerner) to be able to say anything other than 'Namaste' – good-day.

I had lunch, not very adventurously, at the ‘New Orleans’ Bar/Restaurant, the same place where we had dinner last night and where I had a drink the night before! A bit like the fly on the dog's tail which said, "When you are on a good thing, stick to it"! You know, actually, it is little known fact that a relative of mine from Ballarat first drew that cartoon for Mortein! In those days, he got nothing for it. Just think, with all those royalties, I could be a millionaire!

Right now, I'm in an Internet 'place' with 'fast connection', so we will see if I can send this or lose it! It's looking a bit thundery, so who knows how long the power might last. I've sat here for 2 and a quarter hours. My back doesn't like it, so I'm going to finish and try to send these diary notes off to you. Let's hope it gets through. We fly to Lhasa tomorrow morning. More from there.

David