India and Nepal 1987
Kathmandu
Monday 12th October
I spoke too soon yesterday. We were evicted from the comfortable seats and packed along with ten others in the driver's compartment. It was hell in there. I survived by shutting my eyes and pretending I was in a hard hull inflatable in a Force 6. The road was the worst I've seen anywhere, quite unbelievably bad - merely a tight formation of potholes, mainly dusty but with the odd stretch of mire. After daybreak we at least had the distraction of watching the scenery. It was beautiful - terraced like Kashmir but with steeper gradients. Among all this grandeur there were delightful human touches - a laughing boy playing a hose over his naked little brother, a swing, a table-tennis table, a girl skipping, a solitary road worker carefully filling potholes with turfs. I tried taking photographs but I don't hold out much hope for the results.
Anyway, we're here in Kathmandu, at last. To be precise, we're in Kumari's Restaurant in Freak Street. Cathy and I have just dined on vegetable moussaka and mashed potato with cheese sauce accompanied by hot lemon and a pot of hot chocolate. Yum.
(Our hotel is the Century Lodge - Rs35 double + 10% tax. Currency conversion is US$1 = Rs21.90 which is fairly advantageous.)
Tuesday 13th October
First day's wandering around Kathmandu. It's just as the guides say - a lively blend of the mediæval with the modern. You walk down a street that could be mediæval York, with intricately carved wooden balconies leaning out towards one another, and then hear Cyndi Lauper from one of the shops.
We dealt with Royal Nepal Airlines first, and brought our flights forward to 1st November. Then we wandered slowly up from Durbar Square to the Thamel area; in particular, Narayan's Restaurant, which had an incredible menu (especially to our India-conditioned eyes). I had spinach canelloni, banana cream pie and banana lassi. All I could eat for Rs45 - £1.25.
Next stop was to commit ourselves to US$104 for two days white water rafting, then a day and a half's safari in Chitwan National Park, including three hours' elephant ride to see rhinos, and a canoe trip through crocodile-infested waters. Then it's off to Pokhara for a few days' trekking. I think this might be the centrepiece of our trip, in more than just time.
But back to Kathmandu. We wandered slowly back to New Road, past temples and markets, crowds of schoolchildren, and many shops selling jerseys, packs, T-shirts and books or tapes. Bought material to make a blouse for Cathy, then found Pie Alley which begins in the 20th Century and ends in the 15th. From the end, at the river, there is a tremendous view of mountains all around.
Back here at Kumari's I had toasted cheese and gateau basque, and I can definitely say that today I have overeaten.
Later...and also overspent. I've been working out by budget (now a ritual for at least three of us). Summary: US$180 changed so far in Nepal. $40 left (after cost of rafting and Chitwan, $70 to be changed, This means I have to live on $7.80/day - that's Rs170: say accommodation 20, food 80, transport etc 70. Not much.
Wednesday 14th October (Day 41)
Hired bicycles from the hotel (Rs10/day and cycled to Patan - 10 to 15 minutes, past a Chinese trolley bus, across the river and up a hill. I came upon Durbar square, which at first sight appeared a jumble of temples and buildings, with no form, but after half an hour's wandering separated itself into amazing woodcarvings, golden statues and doors, and human activity. For once I've got a detailed photo log - essential. 33 pictures at Patan today, then some on the way back, of the countryside. All the lads were coming home from school, people were still working and shopping, and aircraft flew low overhead. (Concorde took off this morning, and all the children in Kathmandu are playing with dart-shaped paper aeroplanes.)
This evening we wandered down Pie Alley, and I bought Alasdair's Christmas present - a "Tiger Moving Game" played on a brass board with 4 tigers and 20 goats. It's all brass, and I think it's right up Alasdair's street (price: Rs200 - £5.58). We also saw a good collection of small paper maché masks for Rs45 (£1.25).
We're now in the Lunch Box, back in Freak Street. John Martyn's on the stereo, and our salivary glands are working overtime in anticipation. The place is full of travellers, as predicted, but none we've met before.
15th October
Walked up to Swayanbhunath Temple, outside Kathmandu.
More on Tibet
On the bus to Kathmandu we were befriended by a young Tibetan who was on his way from Darjeeling (his home town) to Kathmandu to do a Puja for his father, who died a year ago. He told me about the Tibetans in exile, how they would never go back to Tibet, about the culture gap that existed between him and his father (who was a monk, of a sect allowed to marry). He doesn't see Tibet ever being independent, and thinks that many exiled Tibetans are feeling guilty about their trade in relics from Tibet. On the plus side, he thinks the Tibetan culture will never die.
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