Day 142 - Shopping in Kathmandu

Honestly, I've been in Kathmandu for such a long time, taking walks through the city as if it were routine, that sometimes I forget what I did the previous day! I'll try to recollect...

It was another "administration" day as I made myself a checklist of things I had to do before leaving the country in a couple days. It included getting a haircut, purchasing some last minute souvenirs to ship back home, writing postcards, shopping for socks and underwear (it's cheaper here!), possibly purchasing some artwork, blogging, updating my budget, and planning my Europe leg of my trip.

Spent the day in Thamel again, meeting with a friend at my Hostel who was with her group of American and Canadian friends. They were all English teachers in Korea for a couple years, saving enough money to travel and explore the world. Seems like a perfect option for someone who wants to travel! I hope in the future, it won't be too difficult to gather a group of friends and/or family to travel somewhere far away, but it only seems harder the older we get. I would love to come back to Nepal and do a trek with all my close friends and family!

At night, I had dinner with a friend back home in Los Angeles! He was in between jobs and decided to come to Nepal to do some trekking, rock climbing, and other adventurous activities before jumping right back into the corporate world. We shared some of our similar experiences in Nepal, as we both pretty much did the most popular touristic things. It's always nice to see a familiar face back home...so come visit me!!!

Rarely any Street Lights in Kathmandu...

Chapati Lunch Set

Dinner with Matt!

Day 139 - Shopping in Thamel

We needed to get out of the hostel since we'd been so lazy the past two days, so Neils, Aki, and I headed to Thamel in search of a rock climbing wall to release some energy. I had finished my book The Alchemist, which I absolutely loved and decided I would read some more of Paulo Coelho's books. His stories are so effortlessly depicted, and there are so many questions the reader asks himself. It's always great to finish a book contemplating the things you are doing with your life and how to make it better.

We found the rock climbing wall, but they didn't have any shoes that were big enough for Niels' feet, and I didn't know how to belay yet, so we couldn't really do anything unless we found some shoes. We were unsuccessful searching for shoes in Thamel. They had a lot of mountaineering shoes, but none for basic rock climbing. We will try again tomorrow at another rock climbing facility and hopefully they have bigger shoes... I spent the rest of the day just perusing the shops and buying small gifts for people.

Day 134 - Walking through Thamel

Today was a recovery day walking through the congested streets of Thamel. The first thing we decided to do was book a bungee jumping excusion off a bridge 160m into a gorge near the Tibetan/Nepalese border. The tour company is called The Last Resort...not sure if that is at all comforting to hear... I went back on forth about whether I wanted to do this, some of it out of fear, and some of it out of wanting to share in such an exciting activity with close friends, but again, it' a rare opportunity to do it in such a location as Nepal/Tibet that I couldn't miss out! Last night, I researched on what common accidents occur with bungee jumping...not sure if that was smart to do either! Most accidents occur with harnesses that aren't properly worn, with bruises and burns occurring. I also read about a guy in Thailand whose bungee cord broke off and he fell into the river below. He survived because he landed on his chest and not on his head, but sustained some pretty bad injuries... Let's hope all goes well when I do it!

Afterwards, we headed to lunch, but not before I tried to get cash out with my debit card...I ended up locking my card because I entered my pin incorrectly three times! I'll have to contact my bank to see how to fix this. Hopefully I won't have to jump through hoops to access cash or I'll have a problem in the next few weeks. If you know me, you know I'm not going to use my credit card to get cash advances and sustain heavy interest rates and bank charges.

I got my first haircut in over 2 months by a Nepalese barber. He did a great job, and only used scissors and razor blades to cut my hair, and it only cost 100 rupees! It was probably the best haircut of the three times I'd gotten them. Nepal>Thailand>Vietnam.

The rains came in the afternoon, and I had to make a couple stops at teashops to dry off and get out of the cold. It seems that monsoon season just won't go away. Kathmandu suffered an earthquake and some massive flooding when I was in Pokhara and Sauraha, but the monsoon season should have been over earlier than now.

At night, I stayed at the hostel and had some more incredible food. This time, it was a Buffalo Masala with rice, and a pumpkin vegetable soup. I'm definitely in food heaven. I've been so spoiled with all the food options, from the local momo stalls and dal bhat, to the western steakhouses, to the masterchef dinners at my hostel.  

Rainy Days in Kathmandu

Buffalo Masala with Rice

Jam Sessions at the Sparkling Turtle Hostel

Day 119 - Kathmandu to Pokhara

Another early day wakeup to catch a tourist bus to Pokhara. The ride was bumpy and the bus had weak suspension as we climbed up and down the mountains and valleys to Pokhara, which is lower in elevation compared to Kathmandu. The drivers here are pretty fearless as they pass each other on the roads, and I saw a couple accidents on the ride there.

Upon arrival in the city, we met with a guy from Finland who was also planning on doing the Annapurna Base Camp trek. Since he was alone, we asked if he would like to join us. Other people on the bus were already in groups or had hired their own porter and guide. We were told we wouldn't need a guide on this trek since it was fairly easy to navigate and the locals were more than happy to help us with directions.

The city of Pokhara itself was a lot more calm compared to Kathmandu, as expected. It is located next to a huge lake called Fewa, where most of the tourist area is located. Similar to Thamel, there were tons of trekking shops, restaurants, and guest houses, but since we came right before the busy season (which starts in October), there wasn't much activity in the shops.

We spent the day relaxing before having dinner at a Japanese restaurant, which was a little pricey, but it was the first Japanese meal I'd had in a while. We met up with our new trekking buddy, Aki, who was in a similar situation as both Niels and me. We all quit our jobs and were on a 6-month traveling excursion. Niels was nearing the end of his trip, with Nepal being his last stop, and Aki was just starting his own journey in southeast Asia, with Nepal being his first stop. Tomorrow we'd all get our Annapurna Conservation Permit and TIMS (Trekkers' Information Management System) Cards before we begin our trek.

Early Morning in Durbar Square

Drink like a Gorkha Soldier?

Day 118 - Swoyambhunath and The Kumari

I woke up this morning at 7am to a rat crawling on top of my body. Now I know how I would react to a situation like this, and no, I would not scream like a girl. I left the window open through the night to get some air flowing, and the rat managed to climb through the window on the fire escape. My bed was right next to the window, so the rat naturally crawled on the bed...and on top of me. When I woke, I quickly pushed the rat off me, and it ran back through the window, or at least I hoped it did. I searched the room to see if it was still there, but I think it was gone. Luckily, after I calmed down, I was able to go back to sleep. What a great first experience in a Nepalese guest house!

I met with Jonas and Rachel in the morning to head to the Swoyambhunath, which is another stupa also nicknamed the “monkey temple” because of the numerous monkeys that hang around the area. We climbed the steep steps to the top, and the stupa looked very similar to the stupa I saw at Boudhanath yesterday. Maybe this is what a typical Nepalese or Tibetan stupa looks like? We saw the whole of the Kathmandu Valley from the top, which provided panoramic views. I ended up running into a friend I made while traveling in Myanmar, Niels, from Holland, who just arrived in Kathmandu yesterday. We got in touch through facebook and planned on doing a trek in the Annapurna area together. Small world? We didn't even plan on meeting here, and I wonder if we would have bumped into each other even if we hadn't contacted each other through the internet.

The four of us walked around Thamel, which is the major backpacker/tourist area. There were numerous trekking shops scattered throughout the area, along with many different restaurants and Nepalese souvenir shops.

Afterwards, we headed back to Durbar Square to catch the festivities. We met up with Sophie, who was hosting another girl from the United States who just arrived as well. She was from Maine, and had just graduated from high school and was going to volunteer in Nepal for a while – such a rarity for an American to do that! We also met up with another Cser from Austria who I had kept in contact with over the past few months because we both planned on being in Nepal around the same time. Funny how I was alone in India less than a week ago, and now I'm in the company of some great people from all over the world.

We sat on top of one of the temples to watch the Indra Jatra festival, which seemed very unorganized. We must've waited for about 2 hours before the Kumari showed up in a wheeled cart. She was whisked through the city so everyone could see her. It wasn't much of a festival in the end, but more of a showcase of the little girl.

Niels and I decided that we would head to the city of Pokhara tomorrow to plan our trek in the Annapurna area. We would hike for around 12-days to the Annapurna Base Camp, which would be at its highest around 4,100 ft. The weather is perfect right now to trek, and it is a couple weeks before the real trekking season starts, and when more tourists will come.

Swoyambhunath

Touristy Thamel

A Tiny Glimpse of the Kumari in the Wheeled Cart

Day 116 - Arrival in Kathmandu and a Live Cremation Ceremony

Things have really gotten better since arriving in Nepal, but one last rant about India! The process of leaving the international airport in Delhi was quick, with a lot less security checkpoints compared to Srinagar. One thing that didn't make sense was exchanging currency at the airport. Apparently, it is illegal to bring 500 and 1,000 Indian rupee notes into Nepal and they could get confiscated upon arrival if they are found. This is due to recent counterfeiting of these Indian Rupee notes in Nepal. But for some reason, if you are travelling to Nepal, you cannot exchange your Indian Rupees to US Dollars, or any other currency for the matter... How does this make any sense? We can't get rid of these notes, but could possibly get them confiscated upon arrival! I ended up just changing my larger Indian Rupee notes to smaller ones to avoid the confiscation...

Upon arrival, I was picked up by a couchsurfer who offered to house me for a couple days. He took me to another couchsurfer's home, a French woman named Sophie, who was so kind and accommodating! We talked a little about her work at an NGO, and some of her experiences traveling the world. She has been living in Nepal for the past two years, and Kathmandu is one of her favorite cities to live in. She lived in Los Angeles for a year, but didn't like it too much.

She took me to Pashupatinath, which is the largest Hindu temple in Nepal. The Bagmati River runs through it and flows to the Ganges River in India. The water was filthy, where people bathed in it, used it as holy water, and also dumped cremated bodies into it. We witnessed a couple of public cremation ceremonies while we were there, with different platforms used for the different castes the deceased were a part of. The whole process was shocking to watch, and I got a little emotional just watching the people mourning. But then again, Sophie and her friend John told me that they sometimes hire mourners for these ceremonies. Sophie also told me that the priest who performs the cremations has to eat a part of the dead body as a part of the process. I didn't get a chance to witness this, although I don't think I would want to. It was also noted by a tour guide that kids 5 years old or younger who have died do not get cremated, but get buried at the bottom of the river because they don't have the opportunity to achieve nirvana because they didn't live long enough in the world...

There was a bull statue is in the middle of the temple as well, and legend has it, that the God Shiva and the bull agreed to have sex with each other, first Shiva would “have sex” with the Bull, and then in return, the Bull would “have sex” with Shiva. When it was time for the Bull to “have sex” with Shiva, the God ran into the temple complex, and now, the Bull waits outside for the God to come out... Interesting how some of these stories come about...

We headed back to Sophie's place, but not before having some delicious Tibetan Momo's (Buffalo Meat Dumplings). They reminded me of Chinese dumplings and I look forward to more of these in my travels through this country.

At the end of the night, John and I headed to Thamel, which is the big backpacker area for some really good sirloin steak! It would be the first time I had a western steak in my entire trip, and every bite was savory and mouthwatering! I already love the food available here too! I ended up walking back to Sophie's place alone and in the dark, and it took about 30 minutes to get there, but was so easy because all the locals were so helpful when I asked how for directions.

Swimming during Cremation Proceedings

Cremations on Platforms for Different Castes