The reason I haven't posted anything for the past month is that we've been in Nepal, land of constant power cuts, and our dear laptop spent a long length of time in a dark, damp room while Ric and I went trekking in the mountains. But now we're back in India, chilling out in the hippy/yoga capital of the continent, Rishikesh, and I plan to do some serious writing.
I LOVE LOVE LOVED Nepal! Even the capital city, Kathmandu, was like a tranquil haven compared to India; less people, less cows, less litter, less pollution, less chaos, less staring. It was such an enjoyable month.
We arrived, checked into the terrible Kathmandu Holiday Inn, that had large spacious rooms covered in grime and photos of ex-UK Prime Minister, John Major, (?!) and then spent two days shopping for everything we required for our trek.
We'd decided to go trekking in Nepal long before we'd even left Korea, but only since arriving in India had be decided where exactly. We met a couple who'd just got back from the Annapurna Circuit, where they hiked for 28 days with no guide and no porter. We decided to do the same, only for fewer days. We'd come to India with no suitable hiking gear, Ric didn't even have boots! But we were able to kit ourselves out for under £50 each in Kathmandu, and I relished the opportunity to splurge money from our meager budget. The trekking I'll cover in a later, more detailed post.
On returning from the trek we had a further four days in Kathmandu to fit in some sight seeing and treating ourselves before heading back to India.
We went to Durbar Square, which is like the central hub of the capital. It's free for the local people to come and go as they please but it cost us a whopping £5 each to get in!!! As we'd spent so much getting in I pestered Ric into letting us hire a guide to explain the area to us, for a small additional fee. It was definitely worth it, although I wish I could have retained more of what he said.
So Nepal has a living Goddess. Basically, a four year old child is selected based on her beauty, family background and bravery, the latter is tested by leaving this poor infant in a temple over night, where she witnesses the slaughter of 180 buffalo, if she cries then she isn't a living goddess. Once chosen, the little girl leaves her family to live in a temple in the middle of Durbar Square, where she is not permitted to step outdoors, apart from once a year, when she is paraded around the square for a special ceremony. Mental or what?! She popped her head out of her viewing window and looked thoroughly bored at us for a moment before disappearing back into her room.
One of the buildings there was decorated with erotic carvings, the explanation: because arranged marriages often occur at a very young age, parents would bring the soon-to-be couple to the temple to teach them about the birds and the bees. Creepy!
From there we climbed hundred of stairs to get to Swayambhu, a giant Buddhist stupa looking over Kathmandu Valley.
In addition to sight seeing we also indulged a lot on our meals out, especially after we discovered Everest Steak House, international prize winning, AMAZING restaurant with the fattest most delicious steaks I've ever known (and they only cost four quid!!!) I did feel ever so slightly guilty eating beef in a country where cows are holy, but knowing we wouldn't set our sights on another side of beef for a long time made it that bit more justifiable.
We also had our first real night out of the trip, meeting up with some of the fabulous people we met during the hike and making the most of Kathmandu's happy hour.
I LOVE LOVE LOVED Nepal! Even the capital city, Kathmandu, was like a tranquil haven compared to India; less people, less cows, less litter, less pollution, less chaos, less staring. It was such an enjoyable month.
We arrived, checked into the terrible Kathmandu Holiday Inn, that had large spacious rooms covered in grime and photos of ex-UK Prime Minister, John Major, (?!) and then spent two days shopping for everything we required for our trek.
We'd decided to go trekking in Nepal long before we'd even left Korea, but only since arriving in India had be decided where exactly. We met a couple who'd just got back from the Annapurna Circuit, where they hiked for 28 days with no guide and no porter. We decided to do the same, only for fewer days. We'd come to India with no suitable hiking gear, Ric didn't even have boots! But we were able to kit ourselves out for under £50 each in Kathmandu, and I relished the opportunity to splurge money from our meager budget. The trekking I'll cover in a later, more detailed post.
On returning from the trek we had a further four days in Kathmandu to fit in some sight seeing and treating ourselves before heading back to India.
We went to Durbar Square, which is like the central hub of the capital. It's free for the local people to come and go as they please but it cost us a whopping £5 each to get in!!! As we'd spent so much getting in I pestered Ric into letting us hire a guide to explain the area to us, for a small additional fee. It was definitely worth it, although I wish I could have retained more of what he said.
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| Looking down over Durbar Square |
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| Durbar Square |
From there we climbed hundred of stairs to get to Swayambhu, a giant Buddhist stupa looking over Kathmandu Valley.
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| Stupas and pigeons at Swayambhu. |
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| View over Kathmandu valley from Swayambhu. |
We also had our first real night out of the trip, meeting up with some of the fabulous people we met during the hike and making the most of Kathmandu's happy hour.
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| Austrians, Americans, Canadians and us Brits. Drinking games transcend cultural differences. |
