Way Back in September: Day 1: Nepal

Okay. While I'm writing, I may as well try and get as far as I can...The first week of September, I took a last-minute trip to Nepal because my project was running into so many delays. A fellow ICDDR, B intern (K.) was already going, so it seemed easy enough and I need to get away from Dhaka and the office and everything before I screamed - I don't think that's appropriate here.

Anyways, we took Biman Airlines, notoriously know for it's untimeliness and the fact that its not commissioned by the World Organization for Planes (or whatever it's called). Everything turned out fine and we ended up in Nepal, inact and on-time (surprising!).

I fell in love with the country before the plane even landed - it was just absolutely breathtaking and while I wish I could post pictures, my computer has subsequently crashed and that's just not possible anymore (I did grab one in time and will attach with a later post). Kathmandu sits in a sit just below the Himalayas, so matter where you looked, majestic mountains rose from the fog and mist around us - an amalgamation of blues, greys, and purples. Absolutely stunning. We had come during the end of the rainy seasosons, which meant that the view wasn't as clear as it could have been and the Himalayas were hidden by the clouds...Granted, I was so blown away as it was, I couldnt even imagine what we would have seen had we come during the winter - peak mountain viewing time.

The owner of the hostel we were staying at picked us up from the airport, which was great! Although he had never been outside of the country, his accent was definitely not South Asian - some words were British, some Aerican, and some Aussie all mixed with his Nepali accent to make something...weird is all I can ascribe to it. Coming from Dhaka, Kathmandu was paradise. Although we were staying in the tourist district, the noise was monomal, there was barely any trash on the ground, and the putrid smell of public defication was absent. Just standing there made me happy and more relaxed. The city was also less hectic and less crowded - no honking of cars or CnGs or anything. And people were wearing Western clothes (!) Things I had forgot existed. Now, granted, we were probably in the tourist section of town, but there were definitely Nepalis who were ascribing to all the things I have described.

Side note: before going to Nepal, I had found out that Marijn, an exchange student who had gone to McGill with me was also there - somewhere. I had sent M. my details and had never heard back, but knew he was going to be in Kathmandu Saturday. I was waiting on pins and needles. As we described our plans to the hostel owner and how I was going to meet up with this Dutch guy, he, funnily enough, told us that M had just been at the hostel the day before! How did we know we were talking about the same blue-eye, blonde-haired beauty? The hostel guy described him "yeah, the guy who never stops smiling?" I knew it was him.

Since we only had an evening left by the time we got there, we decided to hit up Durbar Sqaure. Durbar = Palace and back in the day of Nepal (around the 15th century), the land was divided into three kingdoms - Kathmandu being one of them (Polan and Bhaktapur being the others). [Side note: an invasion by outsiders to all three kingdoms occured in 1768 which unified the kindgoms to what Nepal is today.] The Durbar Square was where the kind lived and reigned from, so the small block is filled with temples and old buildings that resemble courthouses and town halls. This sqaure dates from around the 17th - 18th cenutries, but in 1934 there was an earthquake that kinda destroyed a bunch of the buildings. Although the section was quite touristy (you had to pay to "get in" and everyone kept asking if you needed a guide and people wanted you to take their pictures for money - come on guys, the whole thing was like one city block by half a city block), it was still one of those places that if you lived here, you would come on a weekend and read a book or sit and people watch. If you are ever there, I suggest climbing the tall stairs and just looking down watching the sunset. Again, unfortunately no pictures.

While walking to this place many things amazing me: 1) the amount of people who spoke English - A LOT. One little boy, probably around 12 asked me what coutry I was from. When I said Canada, he replies "capital: Ottawa" and then starts telling me about snow. When the boy asked K., he stupidly replied Zimbabwe (he's from the Netherlands in reality) and the boy replies "capital: Harare" I felt like we were on a game show; 2) how every time you turned a corner, there was a shrine or temple just sitting there, being worshipped, covered with garlands and candles. It was like everything around you was sacred - how could you walk anywhere? It's also such a great mix of Buddhist and Hindu shrines - it seems much more harmonious than other places I've been. And the fact that it was so "out there" - for everyone and anyone to see and worship; 3) The presence and dominance of women - women driving motorcycles, women selling nuts in the street, women just everywhere. Although I never really saw a huge presence of women in Dhaka, it wasn't something that struck me as so odd. However, now comparing it to the overwhelming amount of women here and the openness with which they walk around, I was srtuck by how deserted Dhaka actuallly is - a complete different role of women.

Getting back to the hostel, the owner tells me my Dutch friend is back - early! I bounded up the stairs like a kid in a candy store and after two years, got to see him! We spent a couple hours talking before we had to hit the hay, but just that little bit of time could definitely hold me out for another two years!