From: margulis@inf.ethz.ch (Eugene Margulis)
Subject: Nepal Trip (part 2 of 2)
Organization: Dept. Informatik, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, CH
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 20:38:19 GMT


  This is the second part of my travel log to Nepal. The first part
  was posted a few minutes ago. 

  ----------------------------------------------------------


  Nepal Trip    PART 2 (of 2)
  ===========================

  by: eUgEnE Margulis


  04.03.92	Tatopani  
  (Rest Day) 

Most trekkers use Tatopani and the hot springs there for a rest day.
Tatopani literally means ``hot (tato) water (pani)''. There many of
trekkers that make only a short circuit from Pokhara to Gorepani to Tatopani
and back to Pokhara via Beni. There are others that either go up towards
Jomosom or returning from Jomosom. There were also a few who did the
whole Annapurna circuit and crossed the Thorong-La pass from Manang to
Muktinath. Most of those were telling horror stories of 14 hour
crossing of the snowed up path. According to the books, one should not
attempt to cross the path (5300m) before late April due to snow and
weather.  Tatopani is a great place to meet all these people and get
the information on the conditions of the trek further up.

This day I explored the town and the surroundings. The main street of
the town is about 60m long and is the part of the route to Jomosom.
There are several lodges, shops, a school, a bank, a post office and a
medical centre. There is electricity and plenty of it due to the small
hydroelectic plant nearby. But there is no telephone. As I was walking
through the ``downtown'', there was a traffic jamm. Two large caravans of
donkeys, horses and mules met in the middle, all shops were open,
shopkeepers and the caravan drivers were busy loading and unloading the
donkeys, weighing the sacks of rice on the huge man-sized scales
attached to the walls of the houses, moving some donkeys from one part
of the town to another, fixing the horseshoes, arguing, shouting at
each other and the donkeys.  There were so many donkeys and mules that
crossing the street was almost impossible, and to walk along one had to
climb on the low stone walls on either side of the street.

Most trekkers that are having a rest day there spend the day in or
around the hot springs. The hot springs are directly down by the
river.  There are several hot springs there (4-5), the two largest ones
are officially maintained and cleaned from time to time. If the water
is too hot they feed in the regular cold water from the river to bring
the temperature down.  There is a little kiosk near the springs where
you are supposed to pay 20NR usage fee and the sign advising you to do
so. However, when I read the sign and went to pay my 20NR to the
character in the kiosk, he was very surprised, but took the money. He
also sells drinks, tea, cleans the pools, controls the water
temperature, and can shave you. By the time I got to Tatopani I had not
shaved for 5 days, so I asked the guy to shave me. He pulled out an old
rusty razor, got water right out of the springs and used some brown
laundry soap. In spite of all that he did an excellent job, not a
single scratch!

  05.03.92	Tatopani    Dana    Ghasa    Lete    Kalopani 

I left early this day, at about 7:20, since the walk to Kalopani is a
long walk and involves climbing up to about 2900m. The path up the Kali
Gandaki valley goes through a number of small villages, the first one
is Dana. It is extraordinarily stretched out. The first houses with
``Dana'' signs appear as close as 40 min away from Tatopani, and last for
the next hour and a half. As you walk up the river valley the Nilgiri
in the front disappears. Tuckche peak and the Annapurnas are seen to the
right.  In Dana there are several water mills that are still used to
grind grain into flour.

Just before Dana there is a suspension bridge over a small river that
joins Kali Gandaki. The bridge did not look very safe and had gaping
holes in it. After wondering for a while whether it is crossable, I
noticed that the donkey trail leads down to the river and crosses it
over the large boulders, at the shallow part. I started walking down
towards the river when I saw a group of Nepalis crossing the bridge,
gesticulating that I should walk down, under the bridge and on the
other side of the river.  I followed that advice and thanks my goretex
boots even my feet did not get wet. It seems that the locals deem the
bridge to be unsafe for donkeys, (a donkey costs over 10,000NR) but
would walk over it themselves. So, the rule number one - if it's unsafe
for a donkey it's unsafe for you.  Another donkey related rule is that
if the trail forks - take the one with the donkey shit on it. It shows
that the caravans are driven there and therefore you are on the right
track. I have successfully applied these two rules on my way to
Kalopani, crossing a number of suspension bridges.

It was about 1pm when I got to Ghasa. I had a lunch at a lodge there.
The most expensive item on the menu is water. The further you go, the
more expensive the bottled water gets - it has to be carried by
porters. A bottle that costs 15NR in Kathmandu costed me 55NR in
Kalopani. This is a very significant amount if you consider that a
single room at a lodge there costs only 25NR.

The trail from Tatopani to Kalopani is not particularly steep, but
climbs constantly, nothing like the part from Hille to Ulleri. There
are two steep climbs, one just before Ghasa and one after Lete, but
both are relatively short. The stretch from Ghasa to Lete is along the
left bank of the river and provides a good view of Annapurnas. The path
there is laid with roundish, large size rocks - ankle twisters. The
river itself looks very weak and small, but one only needs to look at
the left bank of the river to imagine how it looks during the mansoon.
The left bank is at least a 100m cliff, completely razed by the
current.  After climbing up to the plato after Lete the weather changes
noticeably.  There is a small pine forest and the snow line of the
mountains looks very near.

In Kalopani the views of Nilgiri and the Annapurnas lit up by the
sunset are amazing. I stayed there in ``See You lodge''. The lodge has
a large table with coals underneath to keep your feet warm. There I met
an old Scottish couple. Jimmy Thin, an ex-bookstore owner from
Edinburg, told me how he hitchhiked in Switzerland in 1949 wearing a
kilt, and how he was arrested for crossing the road at the wrong
place.  He seemed to be proud of his achievements. I told him about my
impressions of Switzerland and about a Scottish friend of mine that
lives up to the Scottish standards of (mis)behaviour in der Schweiz.
Jimmy Thin was not surprised that the things in CH are still the way
they were in '49. I was not surprised that CH in '49 was pretty well
the same it is now.

Kalopani has no electricity, so it was ``good night'' at 8pm.


  06.03.92	Kalopani    Lete    Ghasa    Dana    Tatopani 

The plane situation in Jomosom was not clear yet, the strike was still
on. I wanted to spend some time in Kathmandu, so I decided to return to
Tatopani. In the morning I left my pack at the lodge in Kalopani and
went up the river, towards Larjung and Tukche. The river widens up on
the plato and I walked along the dry river bed (the path goes along the
left bank of the river). There were many caravans crossing the dry
river. I walked up for about an hour, then turned back, picked up my
pack at Kalopani and went back to Tatopani.

The return trip was very uneventful, except that I talked with a Nepali
that runs a little road-side restaurant and lodge. He said that a few
years ago he bought a piece of land on the left bank of the river for
16,000NR and turned it into a field. But one day the field was gone -
the whole river bank was razed by the river after a mansoon. I asked
him if he got any compensation from the government, he said that all he
got was 50NR and 10 kilos of rice. He runs the little restaurant now
and tends the second field he has, this one is a bit away from the
river.  He has 4 children, all go to school except for the older
daughter who had to stop the school after four classes to help him at
home. The school is 2 hours walk away, in Dana, and the children go
there every day. Up to the sixth grade the school is free, including
books, uniforms, stationary, etc.

When I got back to Tatopani it was already after 4pm and Kamala lodge
was full. I stayed at a lodge across the street, but ate at Kamala. This
was not appreciated by the guy who run the lodge, but the restaurant
at Kamala is much better.

  07.03.92	Tatopani    Beni 

The walk from Tatopani to Beni was long, but enjoyable. There are not
many villages on the way, so it is a good idea to carry plenty of water
or water purification tablets. The path follows the rocky left bank of
the river. Sometimes the trail is cut through the rock and one ends up
walking almost in a tunnel with the one of the sides open. There is not
much climbing on that part of the trek. As I approached Beni, there was
lots traffic: donkeys, porters, etc. At one time a large group of
porters carried a suspension bridge cable. The cable was at least 200m
long and there was a porter every 5m or so. The whole procession snaked
along the hills, sharp turns, descents and ascents on the way. It
requires a lot of coordination to even pick up the cable - about 40
porters are involved, there are so many turns on the path that any
porter may see only 2 or 3 of his neighbours. To carry it, they all
have to walk with the same speed.

Beni looks like a western ``cowboys and indians'' town, with a single
street and 2-3 story houses on each side of it. Almost no people
(perhaps due to heat), lots of dust. I could almost hear the tune from
``The good, the bad and the ugly'' and half expected Clint Eastwood to
ride in any moment.

In Beni I stayed in Namaste lodge. The lodge is run by a large family.
The whole family lives in the same house: adults, children, goats,
chickens, trekkers and mosquitos. One westerner using a dental floss was a
great entertainment for the locals. When he gave some of the floss to
the locals then the whole happily flossing family became a great
entertainment for the trekkers. I got very little sleep there, there
were billions of mosquitos and they were everywhere.


  08.03.92	Beni    Kusma    Pokhara 

After about 4 hours of walk I reached the end (beginning) of the
new road that is being built from Pokhara to Baglung. At that place
the road is nothing more than a large trail blown along the side
of the mountains. That is where one can catch a ride on a truck back
to Pokhara.

The end of the road, the ``terminus'', in some ways reminded me of some
science fiction movies depicting old decrepit star bases out
in nowhere, with all various space creatures simply wanting to get out
of there. This place was dusty, completely gray and yellow - no tree or
grass could grow there. It was full of all sorts of tired, dusty,
unshaven, dirty people and animals: Tibetans, locals, Buddhists,
trekkers, truck drivers, children, cows, goats, chickens, porters,
laden donkeys. All were moving, shouting, talking, hissing, whistling,
eating, drinking, spitting, washing, meditating, sleeping, arguing,
selling and buying. Although there were a few buildings, most of the
people were outside. The buildings were nothing more than randomly
assembled wooden or metal frames with plastic wrapping and signs like
``Eagle Fooding and Lodging'' or ``Hotel Lucky''.

Suddenly a man looking official (he had a shirt that was white no more
than 3 days before) appeared and said that there would be two trucks
going back to Pokhara at 1pm and that we could seat on the top of the
cabin for 200NR.  That sounded like a reasonable deal for a 4 hour
ride. Shortly a truck appeared and I, along with several other
trekkers, climbed up on the roof. This is probably the least dusty
place in the truck outside the cabin. After we made ourselves
relatively comfortable, the truck moved up the street, turned around
and stopped.  There was a big commotion outside the truck and in the
back of the truck.

Apparently a local thief pickpocketed the truck driver's vallet and
among other things stole the permit required to drive the truck on the
unfinished road. Some of the people from the crowd caught the thief,
but not before he managed to destroy the evidence - he tore up the
permit, money, and everything else he stole. Needless to say that the
crowd was a bit upset - in the worst case that could mean that we all
would have to wait until the new permit is issued or until another
truck comes.  That would mean overnighting in this god-forgotten place.
The thief was caught and tied in the middle of the back compartment of
the truck.  Lots of people were shouting at him, and he was pushed
around a bit before they managed to tie him up. He asked for water and
someone poored water from a jug in his mouth, his hands were still tied
up. I was afraid that they would hang him right there or at least kick
the shit out of the guy (there was no police around). I was quite
surprised that the whole incident ended up in a lot of shouting, but
nobody had actually hit the thief. Eventually the truck moved and the
thief was dumped at the police station instead of the permit. In any
western so-called ``civilisation'' that I know of, the thief would
never get out of the situation without being administered a good amount
of crowd justice.

  09-10.03.92	Pokhara 
  (Rest day; Island) 

In Pokhara I stayed at ``Bedrock'' hotel, where I got a separate room
with a private shower. I was splurging by Pokhara standards - I paid
100NR (about  2) per night. The price took a lot of bargaining, the
owner even showed me the hotel booklet for the US and European travel
agencies, where the same room was advertised for  29.95!! So, although
the room was pricy by Pokhara standards (one can get a room with
shared facilities for 50NR), it was still a very good deal by
international standards.

Pokhara is a great place to rest and to eat after the trek. There is
more food variety there then in the whole of Switzerland. There you can
get everything: Chineese food, Indian, Tibetan, chicken kiev, Swiss
fondue (eek!), even something called ``kwality ice-cream''.  Besides
eating, doing laundry and meeting (drinking with) all trekkers you met
on the trek before, there is little else to do in Pokhara.  I rented a
boat and paddled to the tiny island on the lake. The island has a few
trees and a Hindu temple in the usual run-down state.  The Hindu temple
is apparently quite significant, it is used during a festival, once a
year, for an animal sacrifice.

  11.03.92	Pokhara    Kathmandu 

The bus trip back to Kathmandu was just as much fun as the bus trip to
Pokhara. I ended up sitting at the end of the bus, behind the rear
axle. That meant that all the road bumps were amplified. There was also
a Nepali guy who was travelling with his family and tried to impress
them (and me) with his knowledge of air travel. He said that he worked
in airport and once went to Germany. So the whole conversation was
something like:
  
	- Lufthansa is good. Service very good. Frankfurt - Munich
	  43 minutes, 727. Frankfurt - Bonn 24 minutes, 737. Good
	  plane, Lufthansa good....
   
Eventually I pretended to fall asleep, but he kept on waking me up with
the new information on air-schedules.

He was also very interested in prices of things. How much does it cost
to fly to Kathmandu? 1500 Dollars ????? Wow!!!!! How much is your
watch? 40 dollars??? Wow!!!! How much did you pay for your camera? 400
dollars??? Wow!!!! How much is your salary???? They all seem to think
that everyone who comes to Nepal is millionaire. Even the more educated
people never seem to ask how much I pay for my room in Zurich or how
much does it cost to go to a restaurant in Switzerland. The truth of
the matter is that although the average salary in Nepal is only 1500NR
per month (about  35US), it is just as sufficient for the basic
necessities there (food, lodging, etc.) as  1500 per month in the US. The
straight exchange rate is very misleading.  The things that are really
more expensive in Nepal are the luxury items - cameras, watches, cars,
air travel. These are the items that are not produced in Nepal and cost
as much as they do in the West. So, for most Nepalis, these are
completely out of reach.

Once the bus stopped in a big traffic jamm. I walked out and asked the
``airline expert'' what was going on. He said ``No problem, no problem!
One bus a little bit jumped! No problem, no problem!'' Apparently a bus
went of the road, but not quite off the cliff and had to be pulled back
on the road. It took about an hour after which the traffic resumed.

When I got to Kathmandu, the bus was again surrounded by the hotel
peddlers, but this time I just fought through and took a moto-ricksha
to Kathmandu Guest House. The guest house was full so I started to walk
around looking for another place to stay. I had to fight off all the
characters trying to persuade me to go to their hotels. One of them was
extremely persistent, so in the end I told him that I would look at the
room at his hotel but if I don't like it he will pay me 20NR. To my
surprise he said OK. At this point I was obliged to go. The room was
clean, but I did not like the state of the facilities, so I told him I
would look elsewhere. I did not mention the 20NR, but he suggested to
look after my pack while I look for another place. I found another
place, for  5/night and came back to pick up the pack. I wanted to give
the guy 20NR for looking after my pack (I also felt bad for not giving
him the business). I was a bit embarrassed when he did not take the money
saying that he was just acting as a friend and did not want to get paid
for that.


  12.03.92	Kathmandu 
  (Kumari; Kathmandu Bazaar; Faxing in Nepal) 

In the middle of Durbar Square there is a house of living goddess - Kumari.
Kumari is a young girl, selected by priests at the age of 4-5 to be the
``living goddess''. She continues to be Kumari until she reaches puberty or 
otherwise looses blood (cutting a finger, etc). She is confined to the
special temple - house in the middle of the Durbar square and is looked
after by a number of servants. During the main public activities she
shows up in the window facing the square all dressed up and with special
make-up. She also shows up from time to time in the window facing the
inner yard for the groups of tourists or for anyone giving a sizable
donation, but it is forbidden to take pictures of her. When a girl stops
being Kumari, she is given a large amount of money and is free to do
whatever she wants. From what I heard, the ex-Kumaris grown up in almost
total isolation from other children have hard time adjusting to the
normal life. It is also believed to be a bad luck to take an ex-Kumari
as wife.

The current Kumari is new, she is only 5 years old. I mixed with a
predominantly geriatric group of French tourists to listen to the guide
(as much as I could understand) in the inner yard of the House of the
Living Goddess. After the usual ``look to your left'', ``look to your
right'' everyone was told to move their cameras down and the Kumari
appeared on the balcony, behind the railing.  She was a little girl,
dressed up and with lots of make-up. An older woman, probably a
servant, ushered her towards the railing in front. The girl moved
closer to the railing, clasped the metal bars, and stood there watching
the crowd of tourists clapping. I felt bad, because it seemed that the
poor kid was definitely very unhappy and was just about to break up crying,
her eyes full of tears. She run away after a few seconds. But I would
imagine that the whole show is repeated all over at least a couple of
times per hour for every group of tourists. I hope that she cuts her
finger soon.

From Durbar square I walked along the New Road to Kanti Path, one
of the main roads in Kathmandu. Across it there is a large field that
serves as the largest bazaar for locals in Kathmandu. One can buy
anything from clothing to live goats there. When I walked there, I saw
no other western travellers at all. The market is somehow
departmentalised: one part is designed specifically for clothing,
another for chickens, another for fast food, etc. There is a row of
tailors with old-fashioned pedal driven sawing machines. There is
another row of barbers that squat on the ground and would shave you as
you squat in front of them. There is a row of hair dressers where you
actually got to sit on a chair and have a standing mirror in front of
you.  There was a raw of strange looking people selling things like
rocks, pieces of wood, powders, dried plants and roots, animal bones.
One even had dried bat wings. I could not figure out what was all that 
for and tried to speak to one of them. Immediately a crowd formed around
us, all curious (I was the only foreigner on the whole market) and
trying to help, but in this place almost noone spoke English. Eventually the
man told me that what he was selling was ``medicine''.

Telephone calls from Nepal are easy to make if there is a telephone
around. There are dozens of private telephone communication offices in
Kathmandu and Pokhara. The only problem is that the international phone
calls are very expensive. A call to outside of the east Asia would cost over
500NR for the first three minutes and 200NR for each additional
minute.  It is much cheaper to send faxes from Kathmandu, that costs
only 180NR per minute and the faxes can be sent from almost any private
communication office.


  13-14.03.92 	Kathmandu 
  (Swayambunath; Dakshinkali; Stolen Valet) 
	
In the morning I went to Swayambunath, just outside the central part of
the city.  Swayambunath is the most famous and probably the most
beautiful stupa in Nepal. It is situated on the hill overlooking
Kathmandu valley. The way to the stupa leads along the staircase through the
forest on the sides of the hill. The forest is full of monkeys that
will steal any exposed food if you are not careful. ``Swayambunath''
literally means ``monkey temple''. There are several huge Buddha statues
at the foot of the hill protecting the temple.

Next morning I went to Dakshinkali with a tour from Kathmandu Guest
House.  Dakshinkali is about 20km from Kathmandu and has a Hindu temple
dedicated to the goddess Kali. Every Saturday there is ``festival'' 
when the local Hindus come there to sacrifice an animal. It is believed
that if a Hindu commits any of the 8 predefined sins during the week, he has to
bring an offering to Kali on Saturday. In front of the temple there is
a long line-up of people with chickens or ducks under their arms or
goats on the leashes. The place is crowded, everyone is very festive,
wearing the best clothes, lots of kids playing around. The people
patiently stay in the line-up that slowly moves towards the altar. At
the altar, each owner of the animal pours some water on the animal's
head, gives a few rupees to the priest and gives the animal to the
butcher. The butcher spends about 5 seconds with it after which
the animal (its head separated from the rest of it) is returned to the
owner. The blood of the animal is drained as the actual offering to the
goddess. The owners then take the animal home and serve it for dinner.

Although there is lots of blood around, the whole procedure is not a
sacrifice as one would come to expect. There is very little ceremony,
the whole procedure seems very routine and the animals that are
sacrificed are not wasted. The sight, however, is not for animal
rights activists or pet owners.

I got quite involved taking the pictures of the ceremony and it took me
a few minutes to realise that I no longer had the valet in the side
pocket of my pants. It was not just lost since the pocket was buttoned
with two buttons before. The thief who stole it must have been a
professional - instead of cutting the buttons off and making his job
easier he actually unbuttoned the pocket. I did not loose much - about
$30.- worth of Nepali rupees and my driver's licence. Passport,
foreign exchange etc. were all safe in my neck pouch. But since the
driver's licence was lost I needed to go to the police office to file
the official report. That took me two days. The police office is
located on the Durbar Square in Kathmandu and first I had to file the
application for the report. That involved describing what was stolen,
when and how it happened. I also had to bring a passport size photo and
a 1NR stamp (they would not take 1NR!). After this is done, they
``investigate'' for a couple of days. I was told to come back after 2
days and pick up the report. When I came back the report was waiting
for me. I was expecting much more red tape, I was even told that some
people who had their cameras stolen had to pay certain percentage of
camera costs to the police in order to get the report (the police is
well aware of the baggage tinsurance). I did not have such unpleasant
experiences, but then I only lost my driver's licence that had no
commercial value.

  15.03.92	Kathmandu 
  (Royal Museum; Erotic Carvings) 

On the Durbar Square there is an imposing white building that used to
be the Royal Palace. It is a Royal Museum now. Most of the exhibits
inside are related to the life of King Tribhuvan who ruled the country
from 1920s to 1950s. He was the first Nepali King ever to travel
outside of the country and his visit to India in 1947 was an extremely
controversial one. According to the tradition at the time no Nepali
monarch could set foot on the foreign soil.  The exhibit in the museum
is not really exciting: the King's shoes, the King's hat, the King's
desk etc. But there are lots of photographs that offer some glimpses on
the Nepali history at that time. This museum is not one of the main
tourist attractions and I saw much more locals there than tourists.
There are wonderful views of the Basantapur Square from the upper
floors. One thing that I found quite interesting in the museum is the
room that had items related to the King's hobbies. There was a bicycle,
a violin, a grammophone, a photo camera and a complete set of dark room
equipment. I had a feeling that the King was really bored with his
royal duties and tried to find other, more interesting things to do.

Every temple in Kathmandu and Bachtapur and many buildings there have
some intricate wood carvings: window shutters, doors, even the wooden
beams that are parts of the walls. Often the carvings have some
religious nature - they depict Shiva in one of his many reincarnations,
or some other religious scenes. Many temples have erotic carvings that
cover all possible aspects of sex. They are very explicit and leave no
room for doubts. It seems that the society in Nepal in the past had
much more liberal and advanced attitudes towards sex than the western
societies of the present. Many temples in Kathmandu have carvings like
that. The two that most people see are the one on the Durbar Square and
the small temple just before the bridge near Pashputinath temple (both
are described in the Lonely Planet guide).  There is also a small
temple in the court-yard, just across the street from the Immigration
Office that has some of the better preserved carvings. In Bachtapur on
the Durbar square there is a small temple with carvings that show
copulating elephants.


  16-17.03.92	Kathmandu 
  (Bicycle riding; Pashputinath; Bodnath) 

I rented a bicycle early in the morning and went to Pashputinath and
Bodnath temples. The bicycle ride in Kathmandu is itself an adventure.
One can get a ``regular'' bike, 1 speed, very heavy but comfortable for
about 30NR per day or a mountain bike for about 100NR. I rented the
cheaper one and rode to Pashputinath. When riding a bike in Kathmandu
it is important to remember that the right side of the road is actually
the left side (unless you or the ongoing traffic feels otherwise). It
is also extremely important that the bicycle bell works and is loud.
When riding do what Nepalis do: ring the bell whenever you need it but
no less than once every 2 seconds to make sure it still works. The ride
to Pashputinath takes about 20 min and saves at least 3 hours of
walking through a very dusty part of the town. Pashputinath is a Hindu
Temple and only Hindus are allowed on the temple grounds. All others
can watch from outside and from the hill on the other side of the
Bagmati river. There are lots of smaller temples all over the area and
the place is practically swarming with beggars, sadhus (Hindu holy men)
and many other mysterious characters that are only partially present on this
planet. 

Bagmati is one of the tributaries of Ganges and therefore is a holy
river for Hindus. In March at the end of the dry season it was very
shallow, the river bed was exposed and most of the river was a brownish
mud stream with vile smell. But holy is holy even if it is dirty -
there where people bathing, women doing laundry, washing dishes,
bathing their kids.  All that within 5-10 meters of 5 cremation piers,
2 of those in action at the time.

The surroundings of the temple are also used as a huge public toilet
and smells that way. That is very unfortunate since it is full of
smaller temples, each is definitely a work of art. Since it was the
beginning of the Holi festival, there was much red powder all over.

From Pashputinath I walked to Bodnath, the largest stupa in the
world. Bodnath is not as intricate as Swayambunath, but the sheer size
and the colours are impressive. The huge Buddha eyes are seen from
everywhere.  The colourful Tibetan prayer flags are flying on the lines
strung from the golden top of the temple to its sides above the white
dome. There is a large Tibetan community nearby and right next to the
temple there is a building housing some sort of Tibetan monastery. When
I was there the doors were open and I peered inside. There was a large
group of boys and young men (ages from 10 to 30) dressed in saffron and
magenta gowns, sitting cross-legged in front of low tables reciting
prayers. An older man, dressed in similar but a bit more elaborate
clothes sat on the side on a huge chair that looked like a throne. He
had a yellow half-moon shaped hat and was leading the prayers. Another
man, old with white hair, sat right in front on an even more imposing
throne. He was not participating in prayers but was sorting a bunch of
white silk scarfs that two assistants brought to him. When he was done
he gave the scarfs to the assistants and they distributed them among
the young men. They accepted the scarfs without interrupting the
prayers. The scarfs are called ``khatas'', they are given by lamas
as a blessing to their followers.

I also noticed that along with the scarfs the young men were given
money, so that was possibly a pay day ceremony. I wanted to take some
pictures, but it was too dark and I did not want to disturb the
ceremony using the flash.  Even looking from outside, seeing this
abundance of colours and hearing the chants of the prayers was like
having a religious experience.  Outside, however, the non-religious
life was going on - two young Buddhists (10-12 years old at most)
dressed up in the saffron and magenta gowns were having a water bomb
fight.


  18.03.92	Kathmandu 
   (Holi Festival) 

Holi festival - the festival of water and colours, began a week before,
on the 12th of March. The festival lasts for 7 days and culminates on
the first full moon in March. This time that was March 18th. The
beginning of the festival is marked by erecting a three tiered umbrella
on Durbar Square in the front of the Old Royal Palace. The umbrella is
made of white cloth with coloured strips of fabric attached to it and
is mounted on the bamboo stick of about 10m high. The umbrella was
hand-carried by a crowd of people for several hundred meters. A dressed
up military detachment was participating in the procession.  There was
a gun salut, Kumari appeared on the balcony and the bystanders cheered
when the umbrella was finally fixed in the upright position. Next to
the entrance to the royal museum on the Durbar Square, Hanuman (the
monkey-god) was dressed up in red and for the next seven days people
were offering special prayers to him.

The start of the festival marks the beginning of the 7 days of
related activities that mainly consist of throwing water and coloured
powder on each other. The first six days are relatively restrained, the
only real participants are the children. Most of them are ``armed'' with
water balloons, water pistols, spray guns, sprinkles, pouches with
coloured powder etc. Street vendors are making brisk sales of all types
of water propelling weaponry (including some home made items such as old
bicycle pumps modified into water cannons).  As the seventh day neared
the kids started attacking young women.

On the last day of Holi, the whole city became a battle-zone. This is a
national holiday, so that everyone can take part in the activities.
Foreigners in Thamel do get a special attention, but they also
participate in the activities along with the locals. Walking along the
street means being drenched in water. All roofs in the city are
occupied by people of all ages having fun throwing water and coloured
powder on anyone passing by down on the streets. But the ``war'' is not
limited to the ``roofs vs. streets''. People on the roofs first drench
and paint each other; then (when there is noone on the streets) they
will engage a nearby roof in the activities.  There are also gangs of
kids walking on the streets with water guns, water balloons and
coloured powder that would attack those on the roofs or anyone (or
anything) they meet on the streets: locals, foreigners, rickshaws,
cars, cyclists.  The only people that manage to venture on the streets
that day and stay dry are the police. They walk in patrols of 5-10
officers making sure that water fights do not turn into the real ones.
One could stay reasonably dry walking right next to one of those
patrols.

I was determined to take pictures of the festivities, even if it meant
getting my camera wet. Initially I walked very cautiously, next to the
walls of the buildings so that I could not be seen from the roofs. I
was very pleasantly surprised to see that the locals never made an
attempt to throw the water or powder at me when they saw that I carried a
camera.  After taking a few pictures, I ended up on the roof of ``Tom
and Jerry'' (pub) drenched and coloured, a bucket of water in my hand,
fully participating in the activities of the day (my camera safe in a
plastic bag inside my backpack).


  19-20.03.92	Kathmandu 
  (Pumpernickel; Book shops; Bachtapur) 

After being drenched at the Holi activities the day before I needed a
day of rest that I spent sitting on the roof of my hotel, reading a
book, drinking tea at Pumpernickel and browsing book shops.
Pumpernickel is probably the most popular cafe among the trekkers in
Kathmandu. It has an outside garden where one could sit for hours. The
staff is friendly and helpful and all speak fluent English and Hebrew
and understand at least a couple of other European languages. There is
a bulletin board there where you can leave letters/notes to other
trekkers. Everybody goes to Pumpernickel at least once.

There more book shops in Kathmandu that anywhere else I have been to
(and that includes Cambridge, MA). They all have excellent selection of
mountaineering books and lots of popular paperbacks. They all do a lot
of business in selling and buying used books. Most books are much
cheaper in Nepal then they are in the west. The new popular guides
(e.g. Lonely Planet series) are the same price as in the West, but the
used ones are available for half price. Lots of books are published in
India and those are dirt-cheap.  A  brand new Indian printed copy of
the Bezruchka's guide is available for 100NR (about $2, it is about
$19 in the States). I bought lots of books there, fortunately I flew
back directly and did not have to carry my pack for a long time
anymore.

Next day I woke up early in the morning and went to Bachtapur, about
15km from Kathmandu. I went with a local mini-bus, the ride costs 2.5NR
and takes about 20min. The bus is packed like a can of sardines but the
ride is fast and there are no stops. Bachtapur is the ``city of
devotees'' and has lots of famous temples. I walked around for a few
hours and noticed that many temples are used for many purposes, not
only for the religious ones. People are drying grains on the temples, tie
up goats to the figures of lions guarding the temples, etc. Most temples
are ``guarded'' by figures of ancient wrestlers that are supposed to be
10 times stronger than the strongest man. Then by lions that are 10
times stronger then the wrestlers. Then by elephants that are 10 times
stronger then the lions, and so on. There are usually 5-6 such pairs
guarding the entrances of each temple. In spite of their strength, the
``guardians'' cannot prevent people from spreading laundry on their heads
and backs to dry. I liked this pragmatic and humorous attitude towards
religion.

  21.03.92 	Kathmandu 

This was my last day in Kathmandu and I was busy duing the last minute
shopping, trying to get rid of the last rupees I had. I bought lots of
clothes, spices and some souvenirs. I also bought a silver decorated
monkey skull that looked particularly evil. It now stands on my office
desk casting evil spells on everyone within the radius of 10m. I could
have bought a carved and silver decorated human skull for only $45, but
I run out of cash and did not want to change more.

  22.03.92	Kathmandu    Frankfurt    Zurich 

The flight back to Frankfurt was uneventful, the weather was clear and
the views of terrain in the eastern Pakistan and Iran were amazing. I
arrived in Frankfurt late at night, my connecting flight to Zurich was
only next morning. Here I got the first culture shock of being back in
the west:  it was so fucking clean, that it was revolting. The cost of
staying overnight in Frankfurt was also shocking - 100DM (about $60) -
almost two weeks hotel cost in Kathmandu. Frankfurt to Zurich plane was
filled with business suits full of self importance, reading Wall Street
Journal and The Financial Times, looking as if they all had umbrellas
stuck up their asses.

I was back at my office in time to go for lunch.






-- 
Eugene Margulis 	margulis@inf.ethz.ch		+41-1-254-7232