Kathmandu, Nepal – September

First Impressions

My first time in Assan, the shopping district

I have been here for two weeks now and have not yet ventured out of Kathmandu. I am trying to learn the language a little better before I set out anywhere.

Anyone who tells you it is an easy language to pick up is lying. I have spent three months casually studying it and two weeks pouring over text books and still I can only just make myself understood in the most basic of situations.

Understanding the different dialects, formal V’s, informal address and slang words are a whole new story. I am being spoiled at the moment though as the people I am staying with have cable TV and all speak English so I have not had the trial by fire yet.

I am going to try to keep away from picturesque language as there is enough people waxing lyrical about this place already. This doesn’t mean that I am not inspired by the contrasts of luxury and poverty, beauty and filth, heat and rain, nature and industrial that is enough to send most of us to the notepad and paper. I am going to try to keep this as practical as possible.

Festivals

The 16th of August is the beginning of the month of Bhadau, which is the beginning of the festival season here. It started with the Snake Worshipping Day. In four days, it is Children’s Day and the King’s Mother’s Birthday.

In two weeks comes Khumbhshwar or “renewal of the sacred thread”. If this thread is then tied around the tail of a cow during Gia Jatra then you will go straight to heaven after you die.

These boys are dressed to look like cows!

Gia Jatra (August 27) is a festival celebrating all of those who have died in the previous year. It is a time of singing happiness, and joking where no one is spared, even the Royal Family. This celebration was started when one of the old kings wished to relieve his wife’s mourning over the death of their son. He ordered all households who had experienced a death during the year to put a banner over the door. A procession then passes door to door and children are sent onto the street dressed as cows.

The festival serves as a reminder that we all experience the touch of death in or lives whether you are king or peasant, and that this does not have to be a time of mourning.

There are many more festivals such as:

Krishnastami – Krishna’s birth celebration.

Pashupatina – where women fast to secure the safety and health of their husbands or husbands to be.

Indra Jatra – one of the longest festivals where most people have holidays.

Dasain – is the most important of the Hindi festivals in Nepal. It is at the end of September and celebrates the end of the monsoon and the start of the season of rest. When Nepal was mainly an agricultural society this was the time when the crops were growing, and people could take a rest from the hard labor of planting and harvesting.

Bhutan

I am planning to visit this county during my stay, but on a visit to the Australian embassy today I found out that as you have to pass through Assam (a part of India) to get there, it is strongly recommend that you don’t travel via land. This is due to the current problems with the communist uprising there.

The airfare is $350 US dollars round trip. This is relatively expensive, and no discount, student or otherwise, is offered. If you do plan to go via road, you will need a visa for both Bhutan and India.

I have not checked out prices of hostel accommodation yet but I have been told that it is very expensive to stay there. A recent ad in the Kathmandu Post announced a special price of $1010 US for five days or $1505 for eight days!!!! This includes transportation, hotels, full board guide and sightseeing programmes, all permits and return airfare.

I will get back to you all about visa cost for Bhutan and India.

Interesting News Articles

There is a Maoist uprising in North West Nepal. An article dated the 13th of August (The Kathmandu Post Vol. VII No. 175) states that yet another person has been killed by the rebels. It goes on to say that in the past three years, nearly 900 people “including Police officials, insurgents, and innocent public have died in the insurgency.”

Although this uprising is not well covered outside Nepal, this is not a reason to underestimate the seriousness of the problem. Seek advice before traveling here.

Important

There has been an outbreak of Japanese encephalitis in the west. If you are planning to trek in this area, or just to be safe, get vaccinated.

Also…

For those who like old books or old buildings, then take a look at the Library at the Ministry of Education – the left hand, less ostentatious entrance.

Women lining up at pashparunath to celebrate Teej.

This was a private building belonging to the Ranas (a family of despotic “Prime Ministers” who ruled between 1843-1947). The library was a private collection and has some beautiful old books as well as very esoteric texts, including texts in Sanskrit. It is furnished in the Victorian era complete with photos of tiger and rhino hunts and portraits of the family, and stuffed game.

It is located on corner of Kantipath and Tridevi Marg. Clearly marked and set well back from the road it makes a good oasis from the rush and smog of the city.

Also for a respite, you can escape for two hours from the hustle and culture shock at the English cinema located in Kathmandu plaza. Take the first major left off Durbar Marg if you are heading down towards the city and on the corner is the plaza. At the moment it is showing “Cruel Intentions”. Why do these movies get past the censors and not “Lolita” or “Eyes Wide Shut”????

Just to let you know, September 24 to October 4 is the SAF Games. The South Asian form of the Olympics in Kathmandu. Should be fun for sports lovers.

Advice

Bring Clearasil. The pollution plays havoc with your skin in the city and if a pimple gets infected from the water, etc., it will get festy and leave a scar. Also face wash and mild soap, because real soap dries out your hands when you are washing them at least 6 times a day it.

Bring panadol, panadine, naprogesic, etc., as although it is available here the quality is never guaranteed and it is relatively expensive. Chocolate (and other imported Western luxuries) is the same deal and I have heard that those mini Mars Bars are great to hand out to people along the trails although you can buy the large ones on most major trekking routes.

Hiking boots are a hassle to take off and put on when entering temples, or houses so bring or buy a pair of slip-on shoes. Each area in Kathmandu city is designated a day where the electricity is cut off for two hours. This is due to the fact that there is not enough water in the rivers to turn the turbines which generate electricity.

Trekking

The little I have found out is that you don’t need guides if trekking with friends in Pokarah. Although it will cost about $40 US dollars a day if you hire a guide and porters, this includes accommodation.

You can catch an air-conditioned tourist bus there for about 200 Nrs. It takes about 6 hours depending on road conditions. The best maps of the region are Mandala maps.

General Info Section

Kathmandu is a very rough translation of “wooden gazebo” as the ancient city had a building made out of the wood of one tree. In Patan, you can also find a temple which is said to have been made out of one block of stone.

This city has a rich history and I could fill this entire page of odd figures and quirky facts but I will leave that for you all to find out from locals and dodgy information pamphlets.

Accommodation

The accommodation here ranges from the divine to the dumps. A friend of mine managed to find a place in Thamel which had its own en-suite for only $5 US dollars a night. Others will cost in excess of $100. Outside the valley, one tour operator told me I could find dorm accommodation in tea houses for 20 rupees a night.

Airport

The airport is small and not as confusing as some. The visa clerk was impressed with the little Nepali I knew and was very friendly. In fact, I beat my Nepalese friend out to the terminal. They are not as stringent about declaring items or searching for drugs as they were a few years ago which makes it easier to get out of the airport.

When you get through visa and luggage check you have to run the gauntlet of touts for different services. If you don’t mind paying extra, this is probably the easiest way to find your way into the city and the first night’s accommodation.

Otherwise if you have a particular destination in mind you can catch a taxi unless you really want to plunge head first into the culture. If you do want to catch a bus there are old coaches leaving from the front of the airport but you have to walk about 300 meters to get there and while they are cheep (about 6 rupees) they are crowded and do not go directly into the city center. You have to change to a tempu (see below), so it can get a bit confusing.

Money

The currency is the Rupee (Nrs).

44Nrs = A$1

48Nrs = US$1

There are one hundred paisa to the rupee but inflation has made these nearly obsolete.

Budget

I have been living with a friend, so I have not been paying rent or buying food, or going out much, so I have been living on about 1000 rupees a week.

But realistically if you pay for low budget accommodation and stick to dhal bhat as your main food source, you could probably live on about 3500 rupees a week: 2400 for accommodation, 1000 for food and 100 for transport around the city.

This does not include all of the very expensive tourist activities such as trekking, or sight seeing. It is not unusual for tourist to pay up to 25 times the entry fee on certain attractions such as the zoo or a museum.

Bring an international student card if you have one as you can get a 25% discount on the already very reasonably priced internal flights.

Transport

The main mode of transport is the tempu. These come in three varieties, the black or karlo which seats two to three and is metered, about 6 rupees a km, I think.

The second, which may not be here when you get here as they are being phased out at the beginning of the next Hindu month, is the diesel tempu. These cost 4 Nrs anywhere along the route.

Then there are electric less polluting tempus which are usually white. These cost 5 Nrs anywhere along the route. Someone tried to charge me 40 Nrs when I caught one today, so be wary.

These travel in set routes into and out of the city. Other forms of transport are taxis (very expensive) and the coaches I mentioned earlier. All tempus are crowded and this is hard to get used to at first. To catch them at peak hour you must fight your way on as you run behind them.

Myself

I am a 23 year old “student” running away from the horrors of study (God only knows what will happen when I hit the real world). I have no travel itinerary, nor have I any fixed goals. I have learnt to plan for nothing immediate or expect anything to happen no matter how likely it is to happen or how hard you push to make it so.

I am booked to fly out on the 18th of January and between now and then would like to see Chittwan, Pokhara, Bhutan, and some dolphins.

I would like to go trekking but am pretty sure that the organised trek is not for me. While tea house trekking is becoming more popular it is always safer with others.

So, if anyone is interested in hooking up perhaps we can form a group of independent travelers.

E-mail me and I will get in contact.

I spent months trying to find non-leather hiking boots for this journey to no avail, so I am decked out in a pair of the typical Colorado’s.

I choose Nepal because I came here 12 years ago with my parents and have not been able to escape the memory. I also want to learn to speak Nepali.

Posted in: Nepan