Kathmandu
Boarding the plane in Delhi, heading to nepal
It’s been two weeks since our arrival in Kathmandu. Our lives back in Germany are beginning to fade into ever-less-frequent memories, as Nepalese life becomes our everyday experience. The many cultural details are as we remembered from previous times here: the familiar speech and facial mannerisms, the lively festival music, colorful dress, smell and sounds. But the intensity and size of the city are beyond what we imagined. Kathmandu has grown into a metropolis of millions, sprawling over a huge area, with traffic jams and seas of people to rival other world cities. The roads are amazing and terrifying at the same time; twice the traffic, half the space, making pedestrian movement like a crazy video arcade game. 15 years ago, on my first trip here, it was a quarter or even a 10th the size – a busy, but manageable little city. No more. While it’s been interesting here, we can’t wait to get out into Helambu, where our ‘real’ work awaits us. We’re mostly done with the logistics, bureaucratic preparations, and other details we needed to arrange. We’ve stood in lines in offices to activate our mobile phones, pushed through crowded ’supermarkets’ to buy our trekking supplies, navigated the busy streets ofThamel, the city’s trekker’s shpping district, buying jackets and sleeping pads.
Navigating the crowds in Patan's Durbar Square
Where is Nepal?
We moved into a cute little guest house, the ‘Red Panda’, which we’ll call ‘home’ each time we return to Kathmandu. From the roof here, we learned to fly the local paper kites, watching groups of children on neighboring roofs competing with each other, chasing one another’s kites through the sky. Evenings have seen slide shows about the natural and cultural beauty of the countryside, cartoon movies about Hindu deities for the kids, and lots of talk with residents and other visitors.
The big stupa at Baudinath is always breath-taking
Kids love photo shoots!
This week we visited a children’s home just out of the city, part of the projects run by Prisoners Assistance Nepal and Indira Ramanager, a dynamic Nepali social entrepreneur with whom we’ve had contact over the years. Then came the usual tourist destinations — Pashaputinath (the riverside funeral pyres), Swayumbunath (the ‘Monkey Temple’), and fun wanderings through local neighborhoods, and a chance for our kids to learn a little cricket from the local boys and girls. And then there was the expected visits to the medical clinic to get medicines against the usual digestive upsets that every new arrival faces.
The Dossai festival is happening now; families get together and exchange gifts, goats are sacrificed, bells and music are heard around the city where special festival altars are set up. Most shops are closed, as half the city’s residents head out to visit relatives in their family villages. It’s a nice time, with lots of smiles.
A 'baba' at Swayambunath teaches Lia some signs
This week we’ve met a few times with the staff and volunteers with whom we’ll be working up in Helambu: Dorjee, Yangchin, Djamdyo, Ola and Danny. Besides the medical camps and health worker training we expected to do, it looks like we’ll be participating in some oral history documentary projects, as well. We’ve even got an American film crew coming up in January to help. Lots to prepare for.
We head out to Helambu on Thursday. If all goes well, we’ll meet our horses that day and begin our introductory trek through our project villages.
Now it’s time to pack.