Kathmandu street scenes

We had several days on our own in Kathmandu, so we decided to explore some of the city on foot and promptly got lost in the jumble of narrow streets that wind their way in every direction, except the one you want to go in. Next day we armed ourselves with a map and fared much better.

The first interesting sight we came across was a Hindu shrine with a fairly large tank, (a man made holding pond, typically with a monument on a central island) on which a couple of turtles were sunning themselves. The odd thing was the street dog, lying in the only tiny bit of shade on the island with no apparent way for him to get out of the pond. We wondered how he got there, and were concerned, but to our relief, he was gone the next day.
We also came across this old Banyon tree growing right out of the roof of a small shrine. Note the policeman, which you encounter everywhere, sometimes with not much more to do than smoke a cigarette.

These men, perched on top of this large wooden cart, that was in my guess 40 ft. tall, were assembling it in preparation for a Hindu new year parade. The whole assembly fit together like a giant set of Lincoln logs.

Many of the buildings had a lot of ornate decorations in brass and carved wood.

Street vendors were numerous. Here a lady has set up her sewing machine on a busy bridge, next to the fruit and vegetable seller, and the "mini-mart" under the umbrella.

This picture was taken from our guest house window to show how most people get their water. This well is dug down below street level, where the women collect the water in large containers, which they have to carry back up several flights of steep stairs. Later on our trek we would see people hauling water like this for long distances, up to their isolated mountain homes.

As in India, motorcycles are a major means of transportation. We often see whole families on one bike, or crazy items carried, but don't often have the chance to get a picture as they go whizzing by. Char got lucky this time as these guys were loading up this over sized carpet for delivery. The last we saw of them, they were holding up traffic, with blaring horns, as they wound their way through the busy streets. The driver must have had a pretty stiff neck by the time they reached their destination.

Kathmandu, Nepal

We took advantage of Char's two weeks off for spring break to escape the heat and humidity of Chennai, and took off for Nepal, where we had made arrangements for an "easy" four day trek in the hills. At Delhi we just made our connecting flight after a frantic run through terminals that seemed to have no end. Our destination was Kathmandu where we had several days to explore before we started our trek.

Kathmandu is a typical large Asian city. By western standards it is dirty and crowded, with crazy drivers blaring their horns, and shrouded in perpetual smog. On the plus side, the weather was perfect and there were many fascinating sights to see, good foods to eat and cool stuff to shop for.

Our guesthouse was located in a section of the city called Thamel, a world in itself, catering to tourists, the only place we have been where we saw as many white as dark faces. People had come from all over the world, primarily from France, Germany and other European countries, but also from the other Asian countries.

If you have any hippie in you, Thamel is a place not to be missed. We spent days exploring it's dark narrow streets that are lined with shops full of unusual handmade clothes, nick nacs, jewelry, and eating at restaurants serving up everything from traditional Nepal Curries, to Mexican. Though I don't think I look the hippie any more, I was often a target for street peddlers (who I politely declined) offering hash and marijuana, which grows like a weed around the villages.

The many colorful peddle rickshaws add to the ambiance around Thamel.

There is also some fascinating architecture around the city. Many of the buildings have elaborate entry doors, hand carved typically with Hindu deities. Other buildings have covered wooden porches that are supported by flying buttresses, all covered with ornate hand carvings. Sadly many of these centuries old buildings are in disrepair, and we can only hope they won't be knocked down to make way for a new shopping mall.

Many goods are carried through the city in the traditional style by porters who carry incredibly huge loads by means of a sling over their forehead.

Back at our guesthouse rooftop before a day of visiting some of the world heritage sites tomorrow.