Lost in Kathmandu

I just love this sign. I laughed so much when I came across it. It pretty much sums up my experience in central Kathmandu, I seemed to go round and round in circles. Leaving today after a really interesting couple of days here; got back in the sightseeing zone after too many days sitting on my arse drinking sweet tea and eating chocolate croissants in Pokhara.

Yesterday I got up early and went to Boudhanath before the tourists arrived - at 7.30am you have the Tibetans for company and it's really an amazing experience to be there with them as they walk round the Stupa chanting their mantras quietly to themselves. I then spent the best part of an hour in one of the monasteries in some sort of a puja; it was so powerful. It's really hard to convey in words how it feels to be there with all the monks chanting and the gongs and trumpets blasting. I even got to threw some rice around at appropriate moments which was quite fun.

A successful local bus trip later, squashed in a minibus driven by a 14 year old, I arrived at Pashputinath which is one of the most holy Hindu temples in Nepal. It's also where families cremate their dead on the ghats by the river. People here are much more comfortable with death, possibly because of the belief in reincarnation, possibly because they're in contact with it much more often, I'm not sure.

To top off a fascinating day, I then managed not only to get on another minibus but to recognise where I was and get off at the right point without being manhandled out by the bus workers that hang off the side. They do their best to help silly tourists like me who decide they want the local experience.

And that was all in one day. Here are the rest of the pics. I've not seen enough of Nepal. Trekking isn't Nepal, it doesn't give you much of a feel for how the Nepalese live their lives. Ah well, I'll just have to come back. Maybe after a trip to India for more spiritual searching or something, we'll see. Oh I have the bug now. I knew I shouldn't have started.... I buried it away and tried to do what I was supposed to be doing instead. But now it's multiplying the more I see and do. I'm going to need a cure.