kathmandu, cows piss and charras

As a kid in the early 1970s I heard stories from travellers about Kathmandu.  I suppose I filed the info away..  I certainly had the wish to go there.  Exotic music.. Tibetan mysteries.. newar temples.. famous charras….  Well.. the hippies I am sorry to say had children who turned out to be yuppies who come here to pose for pictures to post on facebook.

Ahem.  ( i gotta admit doing it as well.. )

As for the charras.. well.. its illegal here and anyone stupid enough to trust someone trafficking it on the street..  deserves to pay the fine that may be expected to  be  extorted from them ..  

30-40 odd years ago..maybe..  yup.

The situation here is one of transition..   its not a republic.. and not a monarchy.. I guess it will find its way.. over the years nepal has generated a lot of good will.. ( best to think positive...)

I went looking for a gemstone yesterday here.. and entered the shop of a Tibetan trader..  there are dozens of Tibetan shops selling antiquites and all the art and craft that has accumulated in Tibet over the years..   its the heritage of a people that have lost their country.. and are losing their identity if the guy in the shop is anyting to judge by..

He didn’t have the stone i wanted so I asked about dzi.. not any more..  he said.. I said maybe 20 years ago.. he nodded.. he was decidedly not happy.. I said maybe in a new york boutique for $10 000.. he nodded again..

I left the shop none the happier myself..

the gem i sought is called gomedh which they say means cows piss.  .. as the best is the color of cows piss.. in english its hessionite..  it is supposed to protect the wearer from the harmful influence of the dragons head.. or rahu.. the north node of the moon..  quando in roma..... waisa desh.   jaisa bhesh.

kathmandu has the worst air ive ever been subject to.. i would stay longer here but for its poor quality.  my friendly advice to the people here is clean up the garbage on the streets... get some pollution controls..  more traffic cops.. and above all .. give pedestrians the right of way.. otherwise you encourage aggressive driving..  and the state of the roads that you have right now..  failed state. or def. heading that way..

I did find the cows' piss I was looking for.. a nicely faceted exemplar... and had it set in sterling for a reasonable price.. I had a good day in toto.. and will probably value the memory of it.

quick one on the go

pokhara noon. late august.... rainy season..
second largest city of nepal.. pokhara is built on a lake.. nice spot.. clean water..   there are himalaya behind the clouds they tell me.. .. but what i like about it here is the air.. so good..   theres a great german bakery as well.. mmm.. otherwise its a bit of a tourist trap... good to rest for a few days..   its a holiday resort.. probably was very nice 30 odd years ago.. the nepalese component is just a faded memory now.. the odd shadow..  some aging tibetan refugees.. carrying a great weight..  rather beyond poignant.. people who waited all their lives to go back to home.. but knew somewhere that it wasnt going to be..   paying for the mistakes of their ancestors.. but blessed by the same ancestors with a great wealth nevertheless..
but to go back a little way.. travelling through bihar and uttar pradesh a few weeks ago,  i saw more fertile green land than i ever imagined existed..  rice paddies on and on.. and on.. ..
what is on my mind is that even if half of what the experts say is true, there will be precious little water to water them in a few years.. and so no rice..  even as a result of a slight climate change ..  there is also nothing i saw that indicates that there is mobilization of the population in light of this..  and a massive mobilization will be needed in india..  if a billion odd souls are to have any chance of survival....(which it seems that they will be denied...) so .. water is not so much the problem..  but mentality..   corrupt old india's days are numbered.

nepal on the other hand seems to have abundant water for the time being at least.( and a fraction of the population)  it is close by.. .. it is also pretty well a total shambles.. if there is a government it is probably off somewhere helping some relative fix up his hostel.. the place is so disorganized....  the social system has fostered a status quo where talent cannot rise to the top.. so it either leaves the country or withers... and what you get is a corrupt and talentless governement and society.. a rigid, stagnant society...  but i feel its days are numbered...
a lot of nepalese are very fine.. people..   and nepal has many friends..(i count myself as one...) which will be all that will win this place through if there are serious problems.. and it looks to me like serious problems are just around the corner.  (its started already with the end of the monarchy 2008). .. not just from water problems.(india).   the place is hidebound. ... beautiful country.. lovely people... but change is so needed  and so happening.... a total shakeup.. hence the maoists..  mmm.  time for the power elites that have kept the country in stasis for hundreds of years to be totally cleaned out i'd say..
 great tourist destination.. mountains like no other..  its got many blessings...

a quiet word to all the good nepalese in the diaspora .. i reckon it maybe time to start thinking about what you can do for nepal... in light of the changes that are about to take place..  its you who are needed now.. here.. in nepal.. thats my opinion anyway..

sonauli

i was e-talking to a friend in  kathmandu who says the trip from varanasi to his place takes 3 days..   . yesterday i went to the bus stop at 7 am.. in varanasi.. and caught the one going to gorakhpur..   the bus actually wouldnt start.  flat battery.. i was astonished to see an unassuming bystander take position in front of the full sized bus.. and gave it a shove. he was actually a very strong man.. well. the driver slipped the clutch in reverse and we were on the way..
its a very noisy run to gorakhpur.  6 hours.. the road isnt so bad.. just crowded and fairly dangerous.. and noisy.. i was thankful for my bright orange earplugs.. something like the shade popular among shiva devotees in the city i was leaving..
a quick rickshaw ride to a different bustop in gorakhpur and then another bus for the 3 hour ride to the border town.. sonauli..
one last predatory rickshaw wallah who told me to pay him an inflated price for a distance he lied about.. to the border from the bus stop there..(you can read about predatory rickshaw wallahs in the guide book.. they do not exaggerate . oh mind you dont miss indian immigration on the right..  very fine gentlemen who efficiently do the stamping...
the 10 hours on the road were exhausting..  once over the border in nepal i found the first inexpensive hostel i came across and slept..
i was eaten by mosquitos..
i walked the 5 kilometers with day pack and backpack on the trolly to the bustop to lumbini.  (oh..i dont carry the backpack.. i strap it to a small folding trolly and drag it.. i'm just too old for that xxxx.

lumbini is where the buddha was reportedly born..
as soon as he could,  he bolted.  he probably tried to buy some bread..   there is none in the kiosks.  chappati and nan are unavailable in the village..   one can go to a restaurant and order white rice and dhal..   a more unfriendly place would refuse to sell water. they do sell water.. the reticulated water not fit for washing the face.
but there is a peaceful  reverential atmostphere.  today i plan to visit the maya devi temple..  the spot where siddhartha is said to have suffered his last rebirth..

later)    it would be wrong to write about the birthplace of siddhartha.. it is at the mayadevi temple.  by the temple is a pool where mother and child are said to have bathed.
there is a stern old monk who keeps an eye on the place, seated under a tree.  seems that he acquires merit in this world.
none of my friends would be disappointed by undertaking the journey to the mayadevi temple ....  i certainly wasnt.  the place is honoured by its custodians.  from the countries where the buddha is esteemed.

varanasi

to continue from my last post..
the train journey from calcutta to varanasi was uneventful im happy to say. i took a third class berth (its actually called 2nd class not air-conditioned. .. one of 3  benches with vinal padding.. one above the other suspended by chains from the wall or roof..  mine was the top berth.. which wasnt enough space to sit on without bowing the head but it wasnt too uncomfortable to sleep on..  just had to mind out not to get hair caught in the fans on the ceiling..(ouch)   it cost about 300 rupees..
the west bengal train passed through bihar on the way.. it is a problem.  it struck me as a province that had been under a cloud for a long time.. fallen into the hands of thugs..  which is what i think has happened...about 10000 years ago.. maybe it explains why the buddha spent time around here.  trying to straighten it out.   at any rate its quite a different vibe from west bengal or uttar pradesh.. which was my stop.. in varanasi

busy place .. the station.. over the grand trunk road made famous in kipling....   noise..
there has been a city here for quite a while.. though nowdays is being replaced with concrete.. something the british introduced.. which they learned from the romans.  

probably the less said about varanasi the better..   let it be said that the place is famous as a sacred locus.  it has attracted monks and holy people from time immemorial.. though i gotta say its nothing like as old as some places in australia. in terms of human habitation.
my list of things to do in varanasi was fairly long.. it has taken me 3 weeks to do..   finally yesterday it was time to take a bajaj to the bus stop and head to sonauli the border town and entry to nepal..

i would like to put on record that my visit to varanasi was very rewarding.  i did what i came to do.. met a number of people that i liked.. and left in peace.   its a hard place and i had been warned by a nepalese friend of mine to be careful there..   his advice was good.. i was careful ..   had i not been ...... i may not be sitting in lumbini right now..


***

read the guide book..

at the end of july i got on a singapore airlines flight to calcutta. the run to changi was good. and sing airlines lived up to their very high reputation.. the run from sing to calcutta was ordinary enough.. some friction between the crew and passengers... but otherwise an uneventful journey.
calcutta is a small international airport.. the main gate is delhi... good to go in the side gate i reckon. calcutta has a lot of problems..  mainly as partition cut it off from its hinterland.. (bangladesh) and so its kinda half a city..  it is hard to see it going anywhere as such.. but these things change.. and despite its collosal problems it is the city of hope and charity.. and maintains its profile as the cultural centre of india.
i found a place to stay at midnight on very mean streets. gave my guide a dog eaten 100 rupee note and slept.. till it was time to find a travel agent and get a ticket on the train to varanasi which is where i had been planning to go for quite a while.. mmm.
ive been here 2 weeks now..  varanasi.. well.. its an old tourist trap.. or city of shiva.. depends on who you last spoke to really.. ehhee. it certainly is a busy place... right now i am in an internet  cafe on a arterial road (luxa) not far from the old city where my hostel is..  my computer is not going so well. mac runs hot as it is and now is indian summer.. when temperatures are regularly in the 40s.. you need to watch energy expenditure.. and water ..and above all.. hygene..  still,   i have taken some notes and hope to have occasion to publish some thoughts on the subject here before too long..