WHAT CAN YOU DO IN KATMANDU?

WHAT CAN YOU DO IN KATMANDU? 

Just about anything!!   Be Hindu, Buddist, Driver, Gambler, shopper or school child & more.

UNBELIEVABLE!!! INCREDIBLE!!! FASCINATING!!!

Arrival at the airport included confusion about which line was the correct one to obtain a Visa for Nepal; waiting for the Immigration folks write down the country, name and number of each passport, then copy the numbers onto a pad with carbon paper, passing to another clerk to hand write each visa. As it was 2 am, from HK time, we were really tired and exasperated. Local folks with Habitat for Humanity T-shirts on were a welcome sight. They helped us tremendously. My bag was not found; I feared it had been taken off the plane in Dhaka, but after 10 minutes or so, a fellow came back to the baggage pile (I mean a pile, no fancy equipment here) as he had left his & taken mine accidentally.

We walked outside where instantly there was a barrage of nearly 100 anxious men who wanted to help carry our luggage. Again, thanks to those with Habitat shirts on. Sharon had exchanged some money to Nepalese rupees so we could at least tip those who helped. Bags were piled on top of a very old beat up van, 9 of us climbed in to be shuttled to various hotels. One rather ugly American let it be known that his bags were too important to be touched by the locals or put on the van top but, as they were too large, he relented. Maximum speed of the van was really only about 25 mph so no chance of things strapped on falling off into the dark night.- streetlights not found. We finally got to our rooms, exhausted.

Wednesday morning after breakfast I met others from who have come to build houses for Habitat. One couple from Seattle offered to share a cab to city central; which we did for about 1 mile until the cabbie hit a guy on his motorcycle who flew into the air. My heart stopped! His helmet saved him. He stood up & the street fighting began. 3-4 policemen arrived shortly & the yelling subsided only slightly, shirts stopped being pulled off both the motorcyclist & cabbie who started up his car again, only to find he was in huge trouble. The young cyclist seemed OK. My friend paid the driver, we left the scene & we walked into town. After about 20 minutes the folks from Seattle had to leave Katmandu for a flight to Pokhara so left me to enjoy sights, sounds and smells of Katmandu alone. One problem------ a tall blonde woman is not alone in this place of lovely, friendly, many poor brown people for more than 5 seconds. Often I felt as if many of the 4 million people in the Katmandu Valley were staring at me. If I were they, I'd stare at me too.

The shopkeepers expect me to buy as “business is slow today”. They must be hoping I will make up for all their troubles, including poor sales, even if true. I soon met a young man named Bim, father of 2 girls, a certified Trek Guide who offered to take me on a city tour. We walked everywhere. He spoke very good English. We had a great day, visited many temples that hold shrines & hold statues for both Buddha & Hindu. Bim helped me shop, introduced me to a private house of special fabrics and I did get a 5 headed marionette puppet for my collection. We stopped on a rooftop restaurant for delicious Dal--- Nepal style lunch. As there was only one table, we were joined by more Habitat folks-this time from New Zealand.

In the afternoon, we walked a mile or two through local streets to the oldest Temple in Katmandu—the Monkey temple. It was hot, sunny, and yes, I did walk up the 365 steps, one for each day. I took lots of pictures today. You will seem them soon —camera download is next project. I love the people here. Kids, adults, little children seemed to enjoy the camera, as long as I show them what the photo looks like. This is when I wished I had a printer in hand to give them a photo. I am certain that would be a rare treat for many Nepalese—to have a nice photo of themselves.

After walking several miles today, I enjoyed a refreshing swim in a pool designed in traditional Nepalese architecture at the hotel, had dinner with more Habitat volunteers from Boston & Washington state, & started up this computer.

Tom, thanks so much for suggesting I bring all the adapters---the one for Nepal is different from HK. Who knows which one will work in Vietnam.

I am very tired tonight. Oh! Why? A group of Indian men were gambling in adjacent rooms, shouting, banging on doors all night, I hardly slept. The desk clerk (who told me he never gambles) says that it is “a cultural thing” that Indians like to come to Katmandu to gamble in the casinos then also set up for a few days of gambling in their hotel rooms. They sure made enough noise & apparently continued it all day as well. Several guests, including me, complained. I was among a few who moved to another room on the “quiet floor”.

Hopefully tonight I won't be affected by a noisy “cultural thing”.