Greetings from Kathmandu 18 Months Later
Hello! Back in kathmandu & not surprisingly, it's
pretty similar to how it was in 98 (i guess that's a
good thing...) have spent more time this trip
venturing out beyond the city - have seen a number (3)
of small villages - in one, my guide heard one person
comment in nepali as we passed that i was very white -
truly an ego boost(i suppose that's what living in
chicago will do).
i even got to scare a tiny child (not on purpose, i
swear) - she was quite cute & i was "namaste-ing" her
(namaste means hello) and she started to cry & hide
behind her mother - whoops. what made it worse was
that a village man walked by & told her in nepali that
i was going to steal her away from her mother.
excellent. needless to say, she cried
harder...(connie, jeff, lisa & mike, contrary to what
you may think i don't make all small children who come
near me cry, i swear!)
have learned that pigeons are not the only critters to
beware of when you're walking down the street here.
fortunately, the very large boy monkey on the top of
the door frame did not spray anyone when he unleashed
about a gallon of urine onto the sidewalk below, but
it was a close call for one indian woman.
saw everest as we flew in to kathmandu & apparently
will get an even better view when we're flying to
bhutan tomorrow.
got to stay at the quite posh yak & yeti (kathmandu's
only 5 star hotel, believe it or not) and have been
living on indian food & bananas. nepalis are not
known for their cooking skills (nor are the tibetans
apparently, but i gave that a shot, too) and they
haven't had a gourmet renaissance in the last 18
months. i have also learned that this is "a bad time
of year to eat meat" - EXCELLENT. (lots of
pre-monsoon flies) needless to say, i'm going to be
going all veg from now on.
went to my friend tsedo's house today & had tea with
his dad (his mom has already gone to darjeeling to
take care of her grandchildren while jamling and his
wife head to bhutan for the wedding). it was really
neat to get to see the inside of a private home here.
my hunch that they are well off (tsedo has 2 cars and
a motorcycle) were confirmed & their home is just
beautiful (palatial by kathmandu standards) with
gorgeous carved front doors and two pretty vicious
looking dogs guarding it. it was very interesting to
see the shrine room they have - i didn't realize it,
but all tibetans have one - it was extremely
elaborate, as nice as some of the ones i've seen in
big temples.
tonight, the wedding festivities begin, with a
reception at the hotel where we're all staying (i've
moved over from the yak & yeti, but did manage to
swing the club floor - wee ha!)
think i may have seen two dead people (separate
occasions)on the side of the road, but can't be
sure...
found a great place for thai food here if any of you
are ever in kathmandu.
okay, time to go back to the hotel & shower up for the
reception. i'm alive, well (apparently no food
poisoning yet, but this is kathmandu, after all) and
beside myself w/excitement at the thought of going to
bhutan tomorrow.