“Parting is such sweet sorrow.” Indeed it is Shakespeare, especially when you are saying goodbye to Nepal a little country chalked full of wonders, both natural and man made. I found this quote and like it very much, “Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” I may be gone from the nation but I will not say goodbye because I will not forget the times I had there. It was a fabulous choice for my first Asian country and I feel sure that I will one day find may way back to this Himalayan wonderland.
Birdwatching as the sun rises
The week began in Chitwan though it was only for a very early morning bird watching session which provided some excellent planning time for my new novel very tentatively titled Home. We saw some eagles, cranes, herons, kingfishers and an assortment of other small birds, all this mixed in with the government elephant centre again. I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of rounding a corner and seeing one of those gentle giants strolling though the long grass. At any rate after bird watching I boarded a bus back to Kathmandu along with my two Swedish friends. This time sadly the front seats were all booked up and I ended up right at the back in the middle seat. (enough leg room but camped otherwise) As a little aside I would love for someone to explain to me why the back of the bus is so much bumpier than the front, I’m not talking slight differences. My ass was in the air regularly back there, but the same ride up front was only slightly unsettling. Any science folk out there who want to explain this to me?
We arrived in Katmandu at yet another unknown drop off point and split a taxi back to Alobar’s which really is the ultimate hang out social hostel in Katmandu. What with my 4 separate stays there it really did start to feel like home. The Swedish girls who had been in Nepal for almost 7 weeks now kindly offered to show me some secrets of Thamel. We walked through the crazed streets and they pointed out a few good restaurants before we settled at a small Tibetan place filled with at least 80 percent local people. I have to say, I love Momo’s but these were the best I’d had yet and I ended up returning to the place two more times. They also introduced me to a nice hot drink alternative since I don’t do tea or coffee. It’s basically hot Lemon water, with chunks of ginger in the bottom and honey in a small bowl for you to add to your liking. It was delicious and reminded me of my love for honey, something I almost never eat, for some unfathomable reason.
After dinner we headed to Pilgrim’s bookstore, an incredible oasis from the insanity of the city which sells not only books but every kind of souvenir and art imaginable. The original store tragically burned down in May but their recovery to me seemed admirable. I also picked up a copy of Shantaram a book that almost every traveller I have met tells me I must read. I’m two pages in, but I liked the two pages.
Woman with ducks.
The next day I headed to to Indian embassy for the second time and found out that my visa had been approved (I was almost hoping against it just to stay in Nepal another month) and I dropped off my passport, walked a goodway across the city and hopped on a local bus back to Bhaktapur. It went smoothly enough and soon I was back in this wondrous city of Temples looking for a place to spend the night. I ended up negotiating a nice private room down to a reasonable price and headed back out to the city.
I ended up spending a relaxing day strolling though the city, climbing various temples and really getting into A Storm of Swords. I was often bothered by local beggars but really that’s understandable. Traveller’s seem to get upset that local people see them as walking wallets, for me I don’t really blame them, just like being charged extra doesn’t upset me either. I’ve found in Asia you can always negotiate, so If you don’t like paying more then don’t pay it. But I can understand locals touting tourists since so many of us do happily pay more than what something is worth in the local economy. Some travellers I’ve met have talked about feeling robbed, my stance on that is they didn’t take your money, you handed it over at a price you agreed to pay, that’s on you, and frankly is a couple of bucks really worth bitching about, especially when you know how far that few bucks might go for local people.
I was also semi groped by a local well dressed man who turned out to be a prostitute, I figured since the sun was up I’d not worry about that sort of thing but he got some good upper thigh action before I got a chance to tell him that I was happy to sleep alone tonight. Quite an experience.
View from my rooftop cafe.
I headed back to my guesthouse with the setting sun and enjoyed a dinner on their rooftop alone, save for the occasional company of a snowy white owl, who had the frustrating habit of disappearing into the darkness before I could take any pictures, but I enjoyed Nepal’s take on a cheese burger which seemed like a fried and heavily spiced chicken patty and was actually delicious. It was up there on that balcony that I started writing Home. I finished only the first chapter before retiring to bed and waking up at 1:45 to watch Manchester United lose again. The struggles this year make me realize just how incredible Fergie was. (He was incredibly Fergilicious)
I spent the morning wandering around the town some more before heading out of the center to find some cheaper lunch and grab the bus back to Katmandu. I picked up a new wallet on the way back into town as I found one with Manchester united’s crest emblazoned in the leather for only a few dollars. I also found out that my power cord was fraying and only working half the time for my laptop. Apple has yet to answer my email sent 4 days ago and so I had to buy a new one.
I headed back to Alobars and then quickly out to the embassy where I picked up my passport and visa. I still get excited when I look through my passport and see all the stamps, and new visas just make the process even more exciting. At any rate I headed back to alobars and spent a quiet night relaxing and getting a goodnights rest, knowing that when I woke up the next morning it would be my last full day in Nepal, which has quickly climbed through my list of favourite countries visited to rest right near the top alongside Italy, Bosnia, Costa Rica, and Turkey. But these rankings change arbitrarily and I’ve really enjoyed just about everywhere I’ve ever been.
Friday morning I was headed out to buy a new adapter but got talked into a quick tour by a local guy who really was quite entertaining to talk to. He took me to see some fascinating tiny temples I’d never have found without him, weaving through crowded marketplaces and sometimes even going through people’s houses to get to little enclaves of hindu and Buddhist worship. It was fascinating including a strange tooth temple made entirely of coins nailed to a sculpture. In the end I met his art teacher, and his two little daughters, and ended up buying them rice, oil and some other essentials. Of course I overpaid, and I’m sure it’s some sort of scam but it reminds me of a quote from one of my favourite movies ever, The Brothers Bloom “the perfect con is one where everyone involved gets exactly what they wanted.” Really we all came out a head and I enjoyed the experience and got back on track to my plan for the day by about 1 pm.
Friday afternoon I followed another Swedish recommendation and after dropping 130 dollars on a new Macbook charger I headed to, of all places, the library. Tucked into the corner of Thamel this ancient building holds n inexplicable peace to it, as well as an impressive sense of history as you wander through the old tomes, both Nepali and English. You know that just outside are two of the craziest streets I’ve ever been on, but you forget instantly, and I ended up taking out my computer and writing a good section of chapter 2 of Home which I’m getting more and more excited about.
Leaving the library I returned to the Tibetan restaurant, gorged on momo’s and headed back to the hostel just in time to join an evening tour out to a Golden Hindu temple along side a river of burning Ghats and a forest full of monkeys. It seemed fitting that my first night in Nepal was spent on a tour led by the Serbian hostel worked and so was my last. We moved among the moneys, watched the tragic glue kids doing gymnastics to entertain each other, and watched people burn to ash on funeral pyres. They have a strange and inspirational view of death in this part of the world, something I’d definitely like to learn more about. I probably will when I get to Varanasi around new years.
After the tour we three of us stopped at Western Tandoori, a whole in the wall indian restaurant where we ate like kings for a couple of dollars. It was a great warm-up for what was to come on the morrow. India.
I also randomly met up with Lachland, my Australian friend from Cappadocia. I was sitting in Alobar’s and he just walked in. I find things like that incredible, and it serves to remind me that this is a smaller world than we like to imagine. I see both sides of the coin while travelling, the vastness of this wondrous earth, and the smallness of it too. It’s quite inspirational.
The next morning I woke up and headed to the Garden of Dreams, a pay to enter park near the library which is another oasis from the madness of Katmandhu. It was my 4th time in the town, and I found myself surprised at how sad I was to be leaving it behind. Regardless I packed up and took my shuttle to the airport, hopping on my air india flight to Dehli, and then on to Mumbai.
New Camera!
Dehli seemed needlessly hectic as I had to collect my bag, and clear customs, not to mention walking across a whole massive airport all in my brief layover time. Still I managed it and somehow even came out of the deal with a new camera and e-reader. Exciting I know. Hopefully you’ll notice a new higher quality of photo in the next few weeks, although the problem of the photographer still remains.
I arrived in Mumbai between 9 and 10 o’clock at night, and haggled my way into a reasonably priced taxi. Now, I had the address of my one night stopover near the airport printed out, but my taxi driver could not seem to find it. No problem though, the system in India is simple, simpler if less time efficient than GPS. Namely stop and ask random people on the street for directions. After a dozen stops, and a half a dozen uturns we found Kc Residency.
My friends.
I got a warm welcome from the friendly owner and a friendly guest and then I got shown the dorm. The hotel is tucked away in a tiny alley, under an overpass of sorts and the dorm at first glance was scary. It was definitely a local place and I was the only non Indian there. It was also very crowded and different then what I’ve gotten used to. Still, I decided to stay and not pay for a private room. It was a good choice. The bed was comfortable enough and the next morning my new indian friends convinced me to go out into the city with them.
Me clutching my backpack to keep it safe.
Sunday was spent as an introduction to India and thanks to my new friends I did things I’d never have been able to do, riding local buses, local trains and meandering through the impressive streets of Mumbai. It was a great if exhausting day, something about 30 degrees in December feels wrong to my Canadian blood. I suppose I shouldn’t complain though.
Slushies at the beach
We took a bus to the train station and then two crowded trains to get down into the center of Mumbai. We walked along the lovely boardwalk alongside the lovely, though incredibly polluted Arabian sea, had a lunch on the beach, and walked across a good chunk of the city arriving at a park just in time to watch the sunset on another beach. Sitting there with so many indian children playing around me with their parents, my mind wandered to the new book and managed to solve a problem with the story I did not know existed while also giving me the ending to a major section of the book.
View from the beach.
Beach scenes.
Locals playing in the water
We headed out of the park to catch another bus, but my good friend Deepak convinced me to walk,. We got halfway then hopped in a taxi with a friendly woman who paid her way and then left the taxi to us. The driver took us on a mini tour, whose highlight was a slow drive by of SRK’s bungalow. For those who don’t now SRK is Sharukh Khan. Brad Pitt of Bollywood and my favourite actor. Their happened to be a big wedding procession just outside his house, I hopped out and gladly accepted his proposal. Or tried to until my friend told me it wasn’t him proposing to me. (seems hard to believe I know.)
We eventually made it back to KC Residency after a few very sketchy Train jumps, hopping on and off crowded moving trains is not easy, but my other option was be left behind and I managed it unscathed. It was nice to make it back to the hotel which in a single day had begun to feel like home, we shared a delicious dinner all for a little over a dollar and then I somewhat reluctantly caught a taxi to the other hotel I’d booked in central Mumbai. It’s very nice too, but definitely more for tourists, which is both good and bad. I was exhausted and sweaty but all tolled I couldn’t have imagined a better first day in India. It was hard, busy and exhausting, but a total joy to experience and I’m excited for what the next 5 weeks may hold.
Loving the Zoom on my new Camera.
Today I woke and resolved to have a peaceful day which only sort of happened. Around 11 I headed out into the streets of Mumbai and found myself at the biggest museum of the city, which was once known as the Prince of Wales Museum. I wandered through countless exhibits of sculpture, paintings, and even a natural history wing full of stuffed animals (not the cuddly kind)
I then headed back out into the busy streets and had a wander, fining some very interesting architecture and more interesting people. I also managed to find a great small camera bag which fit my new camera perfectly, sold to me by a charming old man. Around 4 I made it back to my hotel and again ventured out, this time just to find dinner. I can’t get over how good the food is here and how cheap. Also how spicy a mild dish is. I don’t think I’ll dare try anything past medium, and I’m pretty decent at handling spice after so much Indian food both in Bradford and past relationships.
This is a barely crowded street.
Awesome looking reading room.
cool fountain.
Like every country I visit, I find myself wishing I spoke the language. Here that might be harder as there are so many languages but still, it would be useful. I’m looking forward to South America for this reason, and later on certain parts of Africa too.
At any rate, I’m exhausted in all the right ways and loving life. Tomorrow I think I’ll try to venture out to an island full of caves and monkeys. Hopefully it goes smoothly. Almost 5 weeks of india, then recovery on a thai island. Life is good.
Luke
Song of the Week: Beautiful Lasers by: Lupe Fiasco
The man is everything I dream of being as a rapper. Intelligent, clever, funny, hopeful and just all around gifted. One of my favourite songs by him. “Anything to keep me from Squeezing, The simplest things you really like summer, you really like music, you really like reading.”
Reading Log: Shantaram Gregory David Roberts. I’ve just started, but so far so good.
