Nepal Adventure - Kathmandu
Saturday Nov 6th we had our pre departure meeting and met up with the rest of our tour group for the Himalayan Encounters "Nepal Adventure". We'd decided to prebook a trek before getting to Nepal as we weren't sure of the safety situation and I have read a few very good reports on Intrepid travel. A few people we've met along the way in Thamel have smirked at the fact we are doing the silly tourist thing and that hiring a local porter etc is so easy and we won't pay through the nose. But, now that we've started the tour I'm glad we went down this route. Having other travellers to talk to along the way is ideal for us as we are going to be spending enough time in each other's pockets over the next 5 months!
There are only 7 in our group, when there is a maximum group size of 12, which is a sure sign of the downturn in tourism here. Aside from the two of us there are two Aussie ladies; Lynn, a nurse and Rhonda, a retired teacher. Both have left their hubbies at home to come on this trip and they do a lot of bush walking back in Oz. Fiona, from Sydney, also into bush walking! Mike, from DC, and a personal trainer. Starting to get worried when we were being introduced as I sense a distinct gap in our levels of fitness! Then there is Kate, an English girl who like us has been slack in terms of preparing for a 4 out of 5 elephant (physical rating) trek, by doing sweet F All!!
The first night just entailed an introductory night and we all went for a great meal in New Orleans restaurant in Thamel and were pretty happy we would get along well with each other. Day 2 was a cultural tour in Kathmandu around 4 sites. First was Bodnath Stupa. This is a Buddhist stupa, set on a now very commercialised square, built by a son in honour of his father that he accidentally killed in battle. (At least I think that is what the guide said, he wasn't very clear and reluctant to repeat himself!) Next was Pashupathi. This Hindu cremation site is set on the river Bagmati which flows into the holy Ganges. Cremation ghats are set up along one bank of the river, with a specific one reserved for use by the royal family only. Unbaptised children and leprosy victims are among the few that aren't cremated among hindus. Their bodies are laid on rafts and sent down the river. The site wasn't as disturbing as I had anticipated. On the way there we passed a group of men carrying a body towards the site. As you arrive you pass the obligatory hawkers and fake Saddhus before approaching the river. What we think were real Saddhus, more naked than the rest and completely covered in dust, immediately jump up when they see you approach and point at the camera for you to take their photo and pay your donation. I know they only make their money from donations but the whole idea of them having turned away from regular life for the holy one seems defeated by suggesting tourists use them as a spectacle. We were taken past the various small Hindu temples on the site to the cremation ghats. I'd promised myself that I wouldn't take photos but it wasn't what I expected. You remain on the opposite side of the cremations and there are so many tourists snapping away. Some were even posing for the camera smiling with a cremation scene in the background which was just downright odd! Anyway, I did take a sneaky one or two but none of the family we say preparing the body for cremation or the groups of women wailing. Passing these scenes made us feel pretty guilty as tourists observing private ceremonies. The site and the rituals our guide explained were fascinating. Professional burners light the fires and every piece of cinder must go into the river intended to make it's way to the Ganges. Right next to the cremation ghats is a building to house those who aren't expected to live for very long. The idea of this was just so depressing. The building shutters were all closed up so I can only imagine the atmosphere inside. All these people must spend their last few days in the dark with the sounds of the whailing women, sombre bells and crackling fires burning outside, knowing they'll soon be headed there.
The third site was the Swayambuth stupa (monkey temple) where 365 steps lead up to the Buddhist shrine. We decided to take the long way up and test our physical fitness for the trek ahead. I discovered mine was utterly crap and arrived at the top huffing and puffing! Even here there were some fake devotees at a shrine intended for family members offering prayers for the ill. The ritual is that if a family member is gravely ill others must come to the shrine with offerings and prayers. If that ill person recovers then they must come back and give thanks for another day. What we were told was a fake worshipper was really laying it on thick for the tourists, waving his arms in the air and dropping to his knees, but every now and then cocking an eye in our direction to make sure we were noticing him. I didn't see the collection basket but I'm sure there was one somewhere.
We finished up the day at Kathmandu's Durbar Square. The most notable site here was probably the house of the living Goddess (Kumari). Quite rightly human rights groups in Nepal have campaigned to abolish this tradition. Each major city in Nepal has one. She is a Buddhist girl worshipped by the Hindus, based on a very old myth. The present girl is only 4 years old and was selected from many children whose parents were eager for their child to be chosen to live this life in seclusion, only to be seen in public one day a year. When she hits puberty she will go back to "normal" life. But because of their past it is virtually impossible for them to be regarded without fear and to be treated normally because of their former "powers".
That's the cultural easy part over with. Next comes our warm up 3 day trek in the Kathmandu valley, intended to prepare us for the harder trek next week in Sikles area. Since moving into the Kathmandu guest house I have had a horrible cold I think caused by the damp rooms so I hope it clears up by then. It's the most popular hotel in Thamel among back packers but definitely not as good value as the last place we were in at the same price of $18+ per night.
There are only 7 in our group, when there is a maximum group size of 12, which is a sure sign of the downturn in tourism here. Aside from the two of us there are two Aussie ladies; Lynn, a nurse and Rhonda, a retired teacher. Both have left their hubbies at home to come on this trip and they do a lot of bush walking back in Oz. Fiona, from Sydney, also into bush walking! Mike, from DC, and a personal trainer. Starting to get worried when we were being introduced as I sense a distinct gap in our levels of fitness! Then there is Kate, an English girl who like us has been slack in terms of preparing for a 4 out of 5 elephant (physical rating) trek, by doing sweet F All!!
The first night just entailed an introductory night and we all went for a great meal in New Orleans restaurant in Thamel and were pretty happy we would get along well with each other. Day 2 was a cultural tour in Kathmandu around 4 sites. First was Bodnath Stupa. This is a Buddhist stupa, set on a now very commercialised square, built by a son in honour of his father that he accidentally killed in battle. (At least I think that is what the guide said, he wasn't very clear and reluctant to repeat himself!) Next was Pashupathi. This Hindu cremation site is set on the river Bagmati which flows into the holy Ganges. Cremation ghats are set up along one bank of the river, with a specific one reserved for use by the royal family only. Unbaptised children and leprosy victims are among the few that aren't cremated among hindus. Their bodies are laid on rafts and sent down the river. The site wasn't as disturbing as I had anticipated. On the way there we passed a group of men carrying a body towards the site. As you arrive you pass the obligatory hawkers and fake Saddhus before approaching the river. What we think were real Saddhus, more naked than the rest and completely covered in dust, immediately jump up when they see you approach and point at the camera for you to take their photo and pay your donation. I know they only make their money from donations but the whole idea of them having turned away from regular life for the holy one seems defeated by suggesting tourists use them as a spectacle. We were taken past the various small Hindu temples on the site to the cremation ghats. I'd promised myself that I wouldn't take photos but it wasn't what I expected. You remain on the opposite side of the cremations and there are so many tourists snapping away. Some were even posing for the camera smiling with a cremation scene in the background which was just downright odd! Anyway, I did take a sneaky one or two but none of the family we say preparing the body for cremation or the groups of women wailing. Passing these scenes made us feel pretty guilty as tourists observing private ceremonies. The site and the rituals our guide explained were fascinating. Professional burners light the fires and every piece of cinder must go into the river intended to make it's way to the Ganges. Right next to the cremation ghats is a building to house those who aren't expected to live for very long. The idea of this was just so depressing. The building shutters were all closed up so I can only imagine the atmosphere inside. All these people must spend their last few days in the dark with the sounds of the whailing women, sombre bells and crackling fires burning outside, knowing they'll soon be headed there.
The third site was the Swayambuth stupa (monkey temple) where 365 steps lead up to the Buddhist shrine. We decided to take the long way up and test our physical fitness for the trek ahead. I discovered mine was utterly crap and arrived at the top huffing and puffing! Even here there were some fake devotees at a shrine intended for family members offering prayers for the ill. The ritual is that if a family member is gravely ill others must come to the shrine with offerings and prayers. If that ill person recovers then they must come back and give thanks for another day. What we were told was a fake worshipper was really laying it on thick for the tourists, waving his arms in the air and dropping to his knees, but every now and then cocking an eye in our direction to make sure we were noticing him. I didn't see the collection basket but I'm sure there was one somewhere.
We finished up the day at Kathmandu's Durbar Square. The most notable site here was probably the house of the living Goddess (Kumari). Quite rightly human rights groups in Nepal have campaigned to abolish this tradition. Each major city in Nepal has one. She is a Buddhist girl worshipped by the Hindus, based on a very old myth. The present girl is only 4 years old and was selected from many children whose parents were eager for their child to be chosen to live this life in seclusion, only to be seen in public one day a year. When she hits puberty she will go back to "normal" life. But because of their past it is virtually impossible for them to be regarded without fear and to be treated normally because of their former "powers".
That's the cultural easy part over with. Next comes our warm up 3 day trek in the Kathmandu valley, intended to prepare us for the harder trek next week in Sikles area. Since moving into the Kathmandu guest house I have had a horrible cold I think caused by the damp rooms so I hope it clears up by then. It's the most popular hotel in Thamel among back packers but definitely not as good value as the last place we were in at the same price of $18+ per night.
posted by Nigel Barriscale at 10:08 PM
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