I ate breakfast with (well, before) Binna's family in the women's center and then instead of figuring out the local buses back to Kathmandu, his brother gave me a ride on the back of his bike. He works in Kathmandu near where I was planning to go so it worked out great. Binna gave me a windbreaker to borrow because it was freezing and I had already returned my rented jacket. It's now my third day without a shower and I smell fierce. Although surprisingly less so than I would be expected.
On the ride in, we passed huge crowds of bikes at least a couple-hundred strong waiting for gas. The blockage from India has really caused problems for the people here. I got dropped off in a random section of Thamel and then found my way back to the hotel next to the hostel where I've been eating free breakfasts. I was happy to see Naba there in a meeting with some clients. He said to sit down and get some food/coffee while he finished up. I enjoyed the second breakfast as much as the first. The waiters know me now and we're sad to hear I was leaving tomorrow. They made me promise to eat there again before I left.
Naba sat down with me and said to take my time and meet him back at the office when I was done. I wrote a little for the blog and then followed him. At the office, we talked about Citta's work at the women's center and Naba asked if I wanted Rishi to take me on a tour. I said not to bother him and that I'd find my way around before meeting him for dinner that night.
It was about a 4km walk to the monkey temple on top of a hill overlooking the city and after fending off the frantic cab drivers, I wandered my way over. On the climb up the stairs to the temple, one of the stall-women selling singing bowls made me promise to come back when I was done at the temple.
At the top, the views were spectacular and I sat for a while looking at the intricate gold carvings and watching the monkeys play on a pile of wooden boards. I talked to an artist for a while and left with one of his paintings of the Annapurna mountains, which was a challenge to fit in my overstuffed, undersized backpack.
I spent a while learning to play a Nepali game called tigers and goats with a vendor who was trying to sell it to me. It's a fun game that I would've bought had he not told me such a ridiculous price for it. ($19). It's on hand carved stone and takes him days to make and other such nonsense. On the way back down from the temple, I bought the same game from another vendor for $6. Further down the steps, the woman with the singing bowls called me back over and I sat down, introducing myself and explaining happily that I was all out of money. After a while, she stopped trying to sell me on the bowls and talked to me like a real person. She has two kids in college now and we played a game of goats and tigers while the other vendors came over to watch. I don't think she's played before. (I won the first game, and then lost handily to one of the other vendors). Her daughter is studying IT and her son is in business school. After chatting for a while, she invited me to join them for tea and we walked down to a shop on the corner. Three of them were eating soup and ignored my refusal of the food, got an extra bowl to pour me some of theirs. They also paid for the chai. I'm almost used to the hot sugar-milk that passes for tea in this part of the world. After the snack, I said goodbye to Layla and started wandering back towards my hostel.
School had just let out for the day and there were uniformed kids everywhere. Some of them stopped and started talking to me when I smiled at them. They started teaching me Nepali words (house, motorbike, tomorrow, soup). The random and rapid lesson left me confused and all of us laughing.
On the way back, I wandered into another temple square which was beautiful and played hopscotch with some more kids. This is where I took the Connor-style photo (black and white, crooked, with birds) that I'll post below.
Back at the hostel, a freezing (and much needed) shower woke me up before I went to meet Naba at his friend's restaurant, The Ship, for dinner. Naba wasn't there, but Rishi was. It took me a while to understand his quiet nature, but he has a warm heart and a nice laugh. We ate dinner and had some wine and dessert while waiting for Naba, who never showed up. Back at the hostel, I stayed up texting with my family for a while before going to sleep.
When I first came to Nepal, people seemed harder and less friendly than other places I've been. The more time I spend here, the more I realize the opposite. Everyone I've met has been wonderfully warm and kind and today was just that, all day.
-AB
Above them
A Golden temple,
Monkeys play.
It's Trump:
Love the "Connor style" photo! Of course, love all of them. xo
ReplyDelete