The weekend: mountains, 5 star hotels and trekking

So, after that crazy Friday night, Karen, DC and I managed to drag our tired butts out of bed at 5 am Saturday morning to catch the "moutain flight". This flies next to a really beautiful section of the himalayas. However, I was a little dissapointed that it didn't get closer. I was picturing flying in between peaks! It was beautiful though.

Ladies and gentlemen, Mount freakin' Everest.

(The tallest one, duh)

So then we returned to the house, ate, napped a bit, and Karen and I set off for Nagarkot. This is a five star hotel about 2 hours drive away from Kathmandu, straight up a mountain. Man, were those roads windy. But this hotel is like 25 dollars per night in this crazy economy, and has great food and spa services. The view from our balcony was so amazing that I took a video of it instead of a picture. And now the video won't upload on this connection, so you'll all have to wait. Picture a 180-degree panorama of the himalayas and the kathmandu valley. Now make it twice as beautiful as you were picturing. You're still not close. So I got a massage, which was a bit uncomfortable (and painful - ease up on my calves lady!) and a facial, which was divine. And I was able to - oh glorious joy of joys - take a hot bath in our room! Man did I miss those!

The next day (Sunday) Karen and I trekked to Bhaktapur, a town not far from Kathmandu. One hour uphill (ouch) to a gorgeous lookout, and two more hours downhill. The path was a bit treacherous at some points, but I did very well. And then I wiped out walking across a perfectly flat field, so some local farmers laughed at me.

Karen and I in trekking mode. Don't I look outdoorsy

and tough?

An example of the beautiful views on the trek down. Notice the
stepped fields to allow locals to farm on mountainsides.

So we got to Bhaktapur and our trekking guide also showed us around the Durbar (temple) square there. Then we cabbed it back to good old dirty Kathmandu. We really did this in the wrong order, because I could really have used that hot bath and massage after the hike instead of before, but ke garne?

Friday: crazy random awesomeness

So we've finally reached the end of orientation week, and it seriously went out with a bang. We finished language classes and said goodbye to our awesome teacher Anjala. I can now say several useful words, though still can't really construct an actual sentence. So I end up saying things in restaurants like, "Tea. Milk, isn't it? Don't like much spicy. Little". For those of you really interested, that would sound like so: "Chiyaa. Dut, hoina? Piro manpardina. Aliali".

Anyways, so Friday was the day we finally got to get all dressed up in our saris. Two volunteers returned from trekking to Everest basecamp just in time to join us. Us girls had no clue how to put these saris on, even with much instruction, so our housekeeper kindly did it for us. We looked pretty good, I'd say. And I have never, in all my life, no matter how dressed to the nines, gotten so much male attention. Seriously ladies. Come to South Asia and put on a sari, and prepare to have litterally every male in a 6 mile radius approach you to politely tell you how gorgeous you are, and even offer to die for the sake of your beauty. No, really.

So we went to this traditional Nepali restaurant for a fancy 8 course dinner and various cultural demonstrations. One was a dance wherein the male dancer chased around the female dancer and finally caught her, threw her over his shouler, and carried her out of the room. This represents capturing a wife! And the Nepali guys we were with participated by yelling out things in Nepali, which were later translated for us to mean "Over there, get her!" and "no, no, leave her there, I'll get her!". Ah, cultural differences.

Our group seated at the chulot (dinner) on the floor,

as always.

This was one of the demonstrations. This guy brought out this

giant peacock puppet who started to peck at everyone. Then

Neer (right of the pic) was like "he's looking for money". Oh, of course.

Karen and I in our saris. How cute are we?


Our group at the chulot. Alan's on the far right in the back.
He's dressed in the traditional men's outfit.

Then we decided to just keep our saris on for the evening, since they took so long to put on in the first place, and plus we looked quite pretty. So the guys took us to a Dhori, which is a combination dance hall/concert. Basically, it's like a call and answer performance between young women and men, something about love or marriage or something. So we walked in, and we were the only women in there that weren't on stage! And the men went nuts! I'm not bragging here, people, I want you to get a feel for what went on. So one grabs my hands and starts spinning me around on the dance floor, but I have no idea how to do this dance, so it's awkward, right? So the guys started trying to show us how to do these dances, but I think we were pretty bad.

Rajiv attempting to teach me to dance. I was just following him,
so maybe I was doing the guys part? That's DC bustin' a move
on the right, and the performers in the background.

So then more men start talking loudly to Karen about how beautiful she is and Rajiv got really nervous and was like "We must leave now. These men are drunk, and you are in saris. Come." So yeah, we left after like 15 minutes there. Fun though. So then we went to Tom and Jerry's pub, still in the saris, to play pool for awhile.

Karen getting the most wear possible out of her sari.

So then (yes, the night went on) Neer tells us about the club, Cube, where all the cool locals go. It's prohibitively expensive to get in, so only the Kathmandu elite can go. But Neer, being the connected young man he is, says he knows the guy who's planned the party there and he can sneak us in. I ask, "what's the party for?" He looks at me slightly confused and answers, "...Friday." Of course. So we're waiting outside of this warehouse type building, freezing in our saris, and they open a chain link gate to let us in, but all these people start pushing me to get in, and I almost get left outside. And Neer's yelling in Nepali and pointing and me, and it's all crazy! So I get in, and we go inside, and it's this amazing fancy club, like any great club in Montreal! Definetly well hidden. So we danced until really late and had an amazing time. All in all, a freakin' awesome evening!

Karen, Rajiv, me, and Neer at Cube. Seriously, how white do
I look between those two?

Wednesday, Thursday...things start getting a little bit murky...

So it's been quite awhile since the days I'm posting about, and I'm starting to forget what went down exactly! Luckily I have my pics to remind me. So we went to pashiputinah, which is essentially temples built around a river. Who can guess what the river's for? Anyone? That's right, cremation! And yeah, we visited on a funeral day. Lots of people, Nepalis and tourists alike, were watching these people walk around the body, crying and screaming "Aamaa!" (mother) over and over. Evidently it is polite to watch this in Hindu society, but it made me extremely uncomfortable, as you can imagine. I insisted that we leave before they lit the fire. The area around the temples was beautiful as always though:

Several shrines all in a row

Isn't this tree awesome? It's said to contain souls, so no one

will cut it down.

Buddhist art...don't ask me to explain it.


This is at a different temple...a buddhist sthupa. This is
my attempt at an arty under-the-prayer-flags shot.

Child monks (bottom), and others, walking around the sthupa.

In other news, I've had what's known as the Kathmandu cough since I got here. All foreigners get it due to the crap air quality. Also, new foods I've tried: Yak cheese, buff (buffalo meat) and wild boar. All of these are better than you might expect.

Tuesday: language and not too much else

So, tuesday we had language class for a few hours and then a free afternoon. I don't remember what we did. We probably just hung out or walked around Thamel. So I thought I'd use this post to discuss something about Kathmandu. It's cold. Obviously it's not nearly as cold as Canada is right now, but it does get down to near zero at night and in the mornings and evenings it's quite chilly. Here's why this is a problem for us hearty Canadians: Nepalis don't actually heat their homes. So if it's zero outside, it's zero inside. They've adapted by using scary gas flame space heaters and wonderful, wonderful yak shawls. Seriously, yaks must be warm all the time you guys. They've lent me this ugly orange sripey shawl and I often greet it in the morning by purring "hello lover" at it. Must get one for next Ottawa winter.

Once you go yak, you never go back

Also, here's a pic of Karen's from Tom & Jerry's bar. Clockwise from top left: Me (duh), Rajiv, Neer, DC, Karen. Soo much fun!

Monday: monkeys and temples

So on monday we dragged our asses out of bed at 5 a.m. to hike half an hour, and then climb over 400 stairs (no, seriously) up to a buddist temple (Swayambu) for the sunrise. It's known as the monkey temple because, well, lots of monkeys live up there. They eat the offerings that people leave at the shrines. No one seems to mind.

Monkeys!

This is a giant prayer-wheel, mid spin. There
are hundreds up there. There are thousands of written
prayers inside the wheel, so spinning it is like saying a
prayer thousands of times. Convenient, no?


Sunrise over Kathmandu

This view does not capture either the steepness, or

the sheer number of stairs. The top of the picture does

not include the horizon, just to give you a better idea of

the angle.

Swayambu. Those are the eyes of Buddha, watching

over the valley. One represents wisdom, and one

represents compassion.

Lots of little shrines. People leave seeds, coloured paste,

and flowers. Then the monkeys eat it all.

Then later that night we went to a pub in Thamel: Tom and Jerry's. We played pool most of the night. And guys, you have never played pool like the pool in this pub. The tables are all ripped up, and a series of plastic pipes run from all the holes. But the pipes are pretty rickety, so sometimes balls fall through cracks, or get stuck. Then you have to walk around the table, shaking all the pipes, or dropping other balls down to knock them through. Kathmandu billiards is quite the game of patience. I got a few good shots, and was dubbed a "#1 warrior"! Also I've never been in a bar before where you can argue about the price of drinks after you've finished them. Or where the Nepali instinct towards super-hosting makes the bartender insist you have "just one more, please, little one, please". Hee-larious.

Beginning of orientation week

Ok, so I haven't posted lately because I've been so busy doing so much stuff! And loading photos takes like 10 minutes each on this connection, and also the power and/or internet is sorta spotty sometimes so it's gonna be awhile before I can catch up. Let's start with Sunday of last week, shall we? Rajiv (volunteer coordinator extraordinaire) and DC (cook/house manager/comedian) took us on a tour of the market area, Durbar square (temples area) and then to buy saris! Let's take a look:

Karen and I on a rickshaw in the market. Our driver

looks rather put out, doesn't he?

This is in the market area, surrounded by dental clinics.

Essentially it's a really old (like hundreds of years) piece

of wood. People nail coins to it as an offering to the toothache

god. And then they go to the dentist.

Spices! So cheap and plentiful, I may have to bring back

a suitcase full. I may become an independent saffron trader.

Me, Karen and Allan at this little temple in the market where

you're supposed to feed the pidgeons. You can kind of

see how freaked out I am by them here. There are way

more than you can see. Thousands, actually.

This is the window in durbar square where we got to

see a living goddess (but weren't allowed to take a picture

of her). Middle top. She's a 9 year old girl. The goddesses

are the incarnation of Kali, and...actually, just check here.

Street kid with street puppy in Durbar square. The street

kids here are so young, and frequently huff gas to get stoned.

It's really sad.

The perfect microcosm of Nepal: Temples, pidgeons and

cows. The guys on the far left are holy men. Except they're

not. They're dudes who dress as holy men and then ask

tourists for money to take a photo. Real holy men won't let

you take their photo.

There is a monkey god under this red shawl. But his eyes

must be covered, because he is the god of bachelors and thus

is not allowed to see the:

Erotic temple art!!!

It's a little dim in these pics, but trust me, they're naughty.

Lastly we went to buy saris. This is not the one I got.

Also, the veil is just for brides. It's pretty vegas.

The man who sold us our saris (and tailored them specifically to us) then gave us tea and cookies. Then he left his shop and took us to several different shops/stands to buy us matching bangles, tikas (those forehead jewels) and necklaces. He insisted on them matching perfectly and negotiated the best prices for us. Then back to the shop for more tea and cookies. All of this was at his insistence, by the way. It was like having a personal stylist who could only speak enough english to say "please, please" as he led you by the arm from shop to shop. Pretty hilarious, really.

More to come!

Checking things out...

So the gang's all here. If you can call three of us a gang. It's me (who you know, presumably), Karen and Allan. Karen's 34, and kind of on a quest to find herself after her divorce. Super nice, but trying to convince me to go trekking, which I'm unsure about. Allan's somewhere between 50-60, and a douche. Sorry Mom, I don't know what else to say. He's not un-nice, but he's just been everywhere, knows everything about everything, won't hear anything against his opinions without getting really upset, and talks constantly. And all his stories are about him winning fights, fending off lustful ladies who want his bod, or single-handedly rescuing African villages. He's even mentioned his IQ on 2 seperate occasions. No, seriously. Don't know how much longer I can stand him.

Managed to do some walking around to check out the area. Here are some photos:

Notice anything off? This made me go "WTF?" but the swastika's

apparently a hindu symbol for interconnectedness or something.

There's also a symbol identical to the Star of David meaning

knowledge. Not two symbols you usually see together, but that's

Nepal for you.

A view from our rooftop of some of the city. Even though

it's the capital and most modern city in Nepal, not one

single Western-style office building exists here.

A view from a rooftop café in Thamel. Thamel's the

tourist area of Kathmandu. We went out to a pub there

last night and got a taste of true Kathmandu culture:

drunken Brits bellowing along to "Wonderwall".

Some kids near our house. They play in the streets and

yards a lot. They look kind of somber, but it was all crazy

giggling, followed by serious pose, followed by giggly

excited shrieking at being shown their photos.

Kathmandu (for reals this time)

I have arrived. Even though it is like 8000 o'clock my time I am suddenly very very awake. It might be an obvious thing to state, but it is really different here. It's a full on 3rd world country. And it's so real. It's gonna take me some time to soak this in. The house is freaking gorgeous and appears made entirely of stone and marble, making it cold even though it's 30 degrees out. In their "winter". Didn't see the guy at the airport with my name at first and kind of freaked out, but he came and found me and gave me a 'welcome to nepal' necklace make of marigolds. Then a crazy taxi ride through the city. The roads are full of cars, motorbikes, bicycles, people, stray dogs, sacred cows, rickshaws and carts full of colourful stuff. There is nothing resembling lights or stop signs or straight roads, so it's kind of a free for all. They drive on the left here, but if you're blocked, give the right side a try! Luckily no one can get up to a speed that would do any real damage in all the confusion. Once when we were stopped a kid ran up to the window saying "ok, give me packet, I very hungry" about my welcome cookies, but I had been warned not to do this. Still felt bad though. Things not expected: The pollution, which makes your throat hurt, and which looked like a big brown cloud over the city when we flew in. Also, the lack of any embarassment about picking your nose. And I mean getting in there!

My bed, hard as a rock, but still somehow comfy

The sorta-dirty tantric art in my room

The view out of one of my windows,
directly into someone else's house

The view out of my other window, at the street

Doha

Man, moving ahead in time zones is wierd. It's like going to the very near future. I really feel like I've been travelling for 2 days, but really it's been not even 24 hours yet. Anyways, I want to always travel on Qatar airways. Swank! My huge plane had like a dozen people on it, so I had 2 seats to myself. The food was super-schmancy, the bathrooms awesome, and you can choose from a ton of movies, tv shows and music in Hindi, Arabic, English or French, to watch on your own little tv. And why yes, I would like a hot towel, thank you! The airport's kinda blah though. Maybe that's just cause it's 2 am here so not much is open, but the bathrooms are gross. Use some of that oil money to buy new toilet seats, Qatar, 'cause if the're duct taped together, it's not so good.

More essentials: Snapple and Diet Coke, Qatari-style

K-k-k-k-k-k-Kathmandu

So I'm here, alive and well, and completely overwhelmed. I've been writing down things I wanted to say throughout my crazy journey to get here, and I'm gonna post them in order.

Heathrow
People are not kidding about the delays, lineups and prices here. Holy crap. I paid $16 for scrambled eggs and toast. I also waited an hour in line for the wrong check in counter: "This is emirates! You want Qatar!" Geez, sorry lady. Then at security my entire carry-on was unpacked and searched, including my unmentionablundies. And dudes, it was paaaacked, so it took me a good 1/2 hour to repack it. But then through security. No wait, shoes off for x-raying. But then done. No wait, a 4th examination of my passport! Finally got through though. Anyways, things seen: several chocolate bars the size of textbooks or larger. What's the deal with that? Several redonk high end shops:

Gucci

Hermès

(I got so embarassed after taking those pictures at my geek-itude that I had to go wait at the other end of the terminal. Also couldn't take any of Armani, Cartier, Burburry, etc, without appearing to be taking photos of strangers.)

A 'Take That' 'back4good' super ultimate edition, which was hilarious. Also, the store "Glorious Britain" - like shopping in the home of a delightful British stereotype! There: stuffed Paddington Bears (aw!), toy Bobby hats (hee!) and several postcards, including one in the shape of Princess Diana's head (um...in poor taste?).

...uncomfortable...


Hee-larious

Must remember to hit it again with April. Managed to find the essentials though:

Made in GB!