Impressions (By Justyna)

The monsoon has not happened, all weather reports say it will probably not happen till July now, which although has been good for our climb, is not good for Nepal and India agriculturally but also heat wise. The temperatures are soaring and when we arrived back in Kathmandu to find the hotel we had booked had air con that was not working, we left and had to find another place. I know it sounds like we are spoiled, but honestly after almost 3 weeks of living in some rather rough places, heat, mosquitoes, rat droppings etc, both of us were looking for a bit of luxury. which was very opportune as I happened to have spotted a lovely boutique hotel in Kathmandu (the Ambassador Garden Home), which also happened to have a special deal on (stay 2 nights, one night free) so although it was far more expensive than the $5 per day we had been paying, having a clean, pleasantly furnished, and cool room as a sanctuary in the madness and intensity of Kathmandu, was a blessing in disguise. It even had satellite TV (which like everything in Nepal was temperamental) but kept Triston a very happy bunny being able to watch CNN and BBC news, and both of us reveled in old films on HBO like Wyatt Earp, which we watched whilst having a civilized drink, in bed.

Our last four days in Kathmandu were memorable. Apart from some excellent shopping / bartering on view which we have both now perfected, playing the good cop/bad cop routine and being able to buy a few choice items, we also did other touristy things. Triston really wanted to see Nepal's most important Hindu temple, Pashupatinath, which we decided to stupidly visit by bike. note to self, cycling in Kathmandu not recommended if you want to keep your sanity. Anyways, the temple itself we were only allowed to watch from across the putrid river, being non-Hindu. it was very disturbing, for both of us, even though T has already experienced some similar places. This, like Varanasi in India, is were people get cremated, on plinths just in front of the temple, depending on your caste, on how grand your cremation. all this then gets dumped in the river, where people also bathe as it is sacred. there was ntohign beautiful about it, although the temple complex is over 500 years old, and architecturally stunning, it was pretty grim to say the least. everyone at the sacred temple, it seems, has an angle; we were constantly touted, being offered goods, guides and what I also found horrible and neither of us can understand, is how even priests dressed in their sacred orange robes, come up to you to give you a blessing (put flowers on your head and a tika on your forehead) without you having a say in it and then demand money for it. I basically got cursed as we only had 100rupee bills (quite a lot for a blessing) and Triston gave the two priests who cornered us one bill to share, which they were not happy about.

We also went to the medieval world heritage city of Bhaktapur, perfectly preserved, no cars allowed, and this was truly stunning. Walking around the little higgledy piggledy houses, cobbled streets, amazing buildings like something our of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we really imagined what it must have been like centuries ago. Apart from the tourist cafes, guest houses and some shops, everything else seemed like it had not changed for centuries. Although lots of poverty was very apparent and yet again one could not escape the begging children and adults (at least no lepers and limbless people this time) juxtaposed by the ticket and guide touts, it was a really amazing experience.

Speaking of begging, two pretty awful things happened to us which shocked me. In Kathmandu one morning when I was having a conversation with a fabric seller, this little boy appeared. although he was very dirty, he was obviously not starving, but was probably the most desperate beggar. Poking Triston constantly, even though both of us said 'sorry no money, no food' he suddenly lunged at my feet and started to kiss them. I was so shocked that I could not deal with it and almost ran away and just felt traumatized. The Nepali tourist office heavily discourages tourists to give into beggars, whether it be food, money or sweets (which the children often ask for) and although at times heartbreaking, T and I never gave into the protruding limbless stumps which are flexed for more effect, or just the doe eyed kids who walk up to me and immediately grab my purse asking for sweets, or the wily teenagers who ask where you are from and whichever country they tell you the capital and expect a reward for their efforts. but this one shocked me profusely. Triston also had his fair share of incidents, the worst being a mentally handicapped girl in Bhaktapur. She came up to him (in school uniform) and tried to have a conversation holding out these two deformed carrots, while dribbling saliva from her mouth. And suddenly grabbed Triston's hands and kissed them and then demanded rupees. For me, these have been the most difficult things to deal with and I feel so awful about the amount of either really desperate people we have seen (as some of them surely are) but others obviously live off the begging quite comfortably (cleanly dressed women in lovely saris, holding chubby babies, coming up to us to ask for money for milk - desperate with their gold jewelry hanging off their grabby hands? I think not).

Anyways, we had a few lovely evenings, listening to a couple of live bands, eating more Nepali food and having a few cocktails (I have become a total lightweight having not drunk at all during our trek). We both really loved our time in Nepal, a very beautiful, vibrant, interesting place. Would we live here? No, as it is just too crazy and at times unsettling. but it has been a wonderful experience. Back to Delhi tomorrow and onto other adventures, though both of us admitted we were getting quite home sick and miss out sanity in Shinchi.

(below) Justyna shopping in Bhaktapur