March 31, 2003 Kathmandu, Nepal
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Yesterday I took a bus back to Kathmandu. I was glad to take my leave of Krishna, who tried to rip me off at every opportunity. The day was uneventful, except that the oxe cart taxi broke a wheel on the way to the bus stop, so we had to walk. The oxe carts here have wheels with tires, which I find sort of funny. In Myanmar they had wooden wheels. It seems the more high-tech system is more delicate.
Back at the International Guesthouse I threatened to look for a cheaper room, and got a room with private bath for 500 rupees, or $6. Prices here are certainly not set. Then my first order of business was dinner at the excellent Fire & Ice for the pizza I'd been craving for four days. I'll have to eat here often before I leave on my trek.
Since I've finally finished all my chores, I decided to check out my surroundings today. I walked through the dirty, noisy streets packed with people, bikes, rickshaws, motorcycles, dogs, goats, cows, and cars, across the river filled with garbage to the Swayambhunath Stupa, know to travelers as the Monkey Temple. I climbed the many steps to the top, thanking Buddha the whole way that in Nepal you can keep your shoes on, to check out Nepal's take on a Buddhist temple. Since in Nepal the Vajrayana flavor of Buddhism is practiced, as opposed to the Theravada variety of South East Asia, a Nepali stupa is about as similar to a Burmese paya as a Catholic church is to a Baptist one. The most obvious difference is the design of the central stupa itself, a big white dome with a tower on top, adorned on its four sides with the ominous eyes of Buddha. Also, it looks like there is a strong Hindu influence, with many shrines to Hindu gods. Another prominent difference are the prayer wheels that surround the temple: by spinning a wheel you say a prayer. There are a couple that must be ten feet high. Turning one of those bad boys must be like saying 100 Hail Mary's! My guidebook corroborated that this type of Buddhism, Newar, as opposed to Tibetan, has become Hinduized . I didn't much care for the monks I saw, who walked around with their robes open, revealing their stylish yellow shirts, and sported stylish sunglasses.
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I kept walking across Ring Road, leaving the urban chaos behind. I followed a dirt road up into the hills to a village to look at a Hindu temple. Some kids befriended me, and guided me there. Turns out today is a festival, and there was a continuous stream of villagers bearing trays of puja offerings, and carrying unlucky chickens, or leading goats. They gave the offerings to an image of Vishnu, then slit the animals' throats, which then flopped around as blood sprayed everywhere. The god only wants the blood, so the people got to keep the carcasses. My guides then led me up to a little cave, then showed me the village swimming pool.
Next I wanted to walk up Nagarjum, the highest mountain in the valley at 2096 m. I wasn't having much luck asking directions, since I couldn't pronounce the name right, so I ended up going down side trails past fields and women bathing. Like in Myanmar, everybody washes in the open, women with their loogis (sarongs) pulled up to their shoulders. It still makes me a bit uncomfortable. I finally found a trail up, which led to a dirt road, which I followed for two hours. The top was nowhere in sight, and I was out of water, so I turned back. I walked for about six hours up and down hills, and my feet really hurt and my legs were sore. Hopefully I'll be OK on the trek.