September 1, 2010
The flight into Kathmandu is cloudy. We can see nothing, much less mountains. The rain causes such poor visibility that we enter a holding pattern for a half an hour until it clears enough to land. Not an auspicious beginning. We’re coming to Nepal at the end of monsoon season, off-season for trekking because of the unpredictability of the rain and weather, and that’s what has us most worried about this trip. So this is not a good beginning at all.
Narayan kindly gets us to where we need to be to get a Nepal Visa, $40 American cash, and helps us pick up our luggage and then says goodbye as we meet Tsering Sherpa.
Side note: The word Sherpa in the West denotes a job. In Nepal it is a race, language, job and name. Sherpas are of Tibetan descent. And if you are a Sherpa, your last name is Sherpa, and sometimes Sherpas are Sherpas in the Western meaning of a porter.
Tsering is a smiling man in his mid-40s, joined by his youngest son Dawa, a handsome young Sherpa who reminds us of Elvis. They drape us each with a white silk scarf, the kata, a traditional Tibetan prayer scarf that is a blessing for the start of any enterprise or relationship and indicates the good intentions of the person offering it. Then they manage to pack our overstuffed bags into a small SUV that we all pile into.
We head to the Yak and Yeti, the original five star hotel of Kathmandu. It was started by a Russian expat, Boris Lissanevitch, once a professional ballet dancer. For many years the Yak and Yeti was the main hub for trekkers, Everest expeditions, and most mountaineers. Lots of trekkers still start and stop here, though it’s now a bit on the seedy side and smells of mold, even in the new wing.
We drop off our bags and clean up a bit. Then Tsering picks us up for lunch. We head to a local place and get our first dose of the Nepali national cuisine, dal bhat. This really means rice and lentils, which is what a Nepali would traditionally eat twice a day pretty much every day. Our version is a little fancier, rice and lentils, but also varied curried veggies. Skeletal cats freely wander the rooftop restaurant begging for food.
We reload in the SUV and head out to visit a couple of temples. The first is the Boudhanath Stupa. It is the largest stupa in Nepal and the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. It is the center of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu. It was probably built in the 14th century. The temple is huge, and definitely in use. People walk around constantly spinning the prayer wheels. We see women practicing yoga, and monks are preparing for the evening service. Colorful prayer flags cover the temple, blowing in the breeze.
The stupa is topped by what we will see often, the benevolent eye of Buddha. It’s nice to know that the Buddha is benevolent, rather than vengeful or even mischievous, and we spin the prayer wheels too. I don’t know what Anita and Lisa pray for, but I ask Buddha for clear skies and safe journeys.
We pack back in the SUV to head to another temple.
Side note: Driving in Kathmandu is a sport. The streets are unmarked, more than half the vehicles are small motorcycles often carrying 3 people plus baggage. There seem to be no rules but honk and go, and motorcycles weave in and out of traffic freely. Chickens and dogs line the edges of the roads, which are filled with trash. It is a loud, busy, crazy dirty city. Meat sits uncovered and unrefridgerated for sale (no wonder Narayan warned us off meat) . Ni leans over and mentions that Indiana Jones would feel right at home. It’s true. The streets just beg to have Harrison Ford burst out of a dirty local pub, jump on a stolen motorcycle and evade capture by jumping into a pile of chickens. Or us. The streets are begging us. Indiana Jones indeed.
We pull up in front of Swayambhunath, or the monkey temple. As we pile out and a baboon tries to climb up Anita, we see that it is aptly named. Huge golden images of Buddha, Green Tara and Shiva (?) sit in front of us guarded by a male and female lion (we know the sex of the lions as they are graphically anatomically correct). But by this point the three of us are shutting down. 30 plus hours on planes and in airports are finally catching up. Ni has a headache and we’re all tired. So we beg off of the rest of the temple tour and head back on a bumpy, loud ride to the Yak and Yeti to repack our bags and fall into a much needed sleep before heading out for the real adventure in the morning.
Pics: Anatomically correct lion
Buddha at Monkey Temple
Spinning Prayer Wheels
Benevolent Eye of Buddha
Budanatha Stupa
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