(a.k.a. redemption for last year's Eid, and proof that I can plan and execute a trip without having to resort to sleeping on a beach)
Why Freak Street? Because that was the name of the street I stayed on, where all the hippie tourists first migrated too. Also, because there are as many observations and thoughts about my fellow travelers as there are about the culture and place I went to.
NEPAL, DAY 1
Flights are so much better when they are in late morning/early afternoon. Saw NYUAD people at the airport, but beyond that and the flight back, I ran into no one during my week in Nepal.
Driving in Nepal is interesting. On the left side of the road, chaotic, in old, rickety cars. Made my way to Durbar Square, a historical district where my hotel was near. Pretty good so far, right? Then my poor sense of direction kicked in - I chose to ignore the map that I had, and instead find my hotel by asking and using my memory. Wandered the square for a while, with all of my stuff, (actually, it was just a backpack!), and then found my hotel - the Himalayan Guest House, a wonderful homey house - the room was very small, but clean - it was a nice week spent there.
Nepal feels safe. I don't stand out there. There are other white women with short hair. In my wandering, I found temples and markets. I also acquired water, food, and toilet paper. A good first afternoon.
DAY 2
I forgot that it might be cold here. I knew the culture of Nepal is similar in many regards to India, and so I thought the temperature range would be close to South India. Wrong. Nepal houses Mt. Everest. It was fall chilly there. Which was nice. It was just ironic, because I consciously left my sweatshirt in Abu Dhabi.
Began to wander. I didn't really have a set plan for the week - I had a few places I really wanted to go, around a temple a day, but other than that, I left myself a lot of freedom and room.
I found haircut equality! More on that here.
There were some hard moments in Nepal. The first occurred on this day. There was a woman, with a young child and an empty bottle. And you want to help. You wish you could help, that they are being honest and truthful, but you never know, which is horrible that that cynicism has permeated my mind.
Rickety car #2 to the Swayambhu Temple, aka the Monkey Temple.
Sidenote: I am not the most comfortable about wild monkeys. They are much too human-like, strong, and intelligent. I give them as wide a berth as possible.
There are 365 steps to the top of the temple, to the stupa. The top of the temple houses prayer wheels, metal wheels filled with scrolls of Om, spun clockwise to release energy into the sky.
I was solo-traveling this trip, and I am glad I did. I kept finding moments of stillness and quiet within myself and my surroundings.
Had lunch on a rooftop cafe, overlooking Kathmandu and hawks spiraling.
This place was strange - both a tourist center and holy place in one. The top of the stairs was cluttered with shops and salesmen. It is also a holy place, but it seems as though that holiness is getting overtaken by consumption, at least until you take time to explore the back areas of the temple, when you find the true monastery, the old prayer flags, carvings of the gods.
Nepal confused me. I went as a tourist, but was confused as to all of the expats I saw - how do they live? What do they do for fulfillment? I realized on this trip that I love travel, but that if I stay in a place for a long time, I need to create as well, to interact as well.
Moment: There was a man playing guitar on the steps up to the stupa, case open for donations. It reminded me of a man outside of Al Safa playing the accordion. I only saw them each for one day. A moment of their life, a sliver, and I know both nothing and something about them.
I also felt pretty Eat, Pray, Love during aspects of this trip. I found my haunts for restaurants, tried new dishes, took time to slow down, breathe, and think. Meals are both lonely and freeing. Lonely, because it felt like I lost all conversational skills beyond the basic. Freeing, because things are on my terms. For example, I think I had fresh lemon soda (lemon juice and soda water) at nearly every meal. It was also nice to not be super-nervous about food - generally pretty safe.
First power outage happened today - but most people have some sort of generators, so it didn't really change my days at all, except for a moment to appreciate power and electricity.
DAY 3
This day was hard. I didn't take my camera, and I went down to the Bagmati River. Day 3 in glimpses:
- a small boy, preschool age, begging on the side of the street
- a dog, caught between two shores, standing guard
- crossing streets with those who live there
- disconnected wires hanging from electrical lines
- the scent of human decay. no smell of flame, just decay
- ramshackle roots along the river, steeped in trash
- a woman breastfeeding her child along the same river
- a shared smile with a policewoman
- a temple, sacred space of some sort, disheveled, guarded by fiercely grotesque griffins
- a stronger smell of decay. logs
- ascetics walking, alone, unwhole, in yellow, beads, and a walking stick. do they give up human company along with worldly possessions?
- impatient with a cab drive for no good reason. who am I to expect English? I'm sorry
- this quote "Once more, the mists were rising as I walked away. If they discoloesed to me, as I suspect they did, that I should not come back, and that Biddy was quite right, all I can say is - they were quite right too". Great Expectations. In a way we are all Pip, promising to visit home, to stay in touch, and failing at that. And yet, when we do return home, we are welcomed with open arms and love - a love, at least I, feel unworthy of at times. And so we work harder to stay connected, because we have to fight for those connections.
- worked on The Laramie Project. Solid hours of pre-production work.
- had dinner with a woman from the Czech Republic. She knows no English, I know no Czech. Yet still, we shared smiles and gestures.
DAY 4
I went out of my way to find a small Kali temple - one still holy, not tourist. Kali is the goddess of time, destruction, theater. A quiet personal moment to make an offering. Shiva, Kali, and Ganesha guarded the doorframe.
Wandered, found a small multi-faith temple a ways behind Durbar Square.
More difficult moments. Young girls, boys, women, asking for money. I will also not use the rickshaws pulled by bicycles. By people. I understand it is a living, but I am not superior.
DAY 5
Today I went to two temples - one Buddhist, one Hindu.
The Bouddhanath Temple, according to legend, houses remains of the Buddha. Again, this was a crossroads of tourism and faith, but the contrast is less jarring here - there are parts still held sacred.
Whenever I see the Buddha eyes, all I can think of is the phrase/book title, "Their Eyes Were Watching God".
Walking around the stupa, I was struck by how this was a path holy men have trod for years. I received a blessing by a Tibetan monk, and made offerings of incense. Background noise of drums and prayers.
The second temple - a Hindu holy site. The smell of burning bodies. No photos. Green smoke. Tourists. More on that here
It took me 2 hours to get back to my hotel, because I used my cab money on the entrance fee to this site. Which was worth it - I spent so much time walking and exploring and thinking there.
Visited the Kumari House, the house of the living goddess. Again, I am torn about this. I respect the tradition, but I just wonder what happens to the girl once she bleeds/is injured, and the spirit of the goddess is no longer seen to be embodied in her.
DAY 6
Today I packed, checked out of the hotel, and wandered Durbar Square, getting a traditional Nepalese thali for lunch.
My shoes have died - they have lasted for years, but are slowly getting destroyed by travel and dust and rocks.
Got to the airport fine, checked in, and went to the guest lounge, because I could. I had a moment there - I got misty-eyed about how lucky I am, how grateful I am for the life I have, where I can travel to a new place, experience a new culture, learn, grow, explore.
There is a lot that I don't understand. But those questions fuel my thoughts and work.
<3
Why Freak Street? Because that was the name of the street I stayed on, where all the hippie tourists first migrated too. Also, because there are as many observations and thoughts about my fellow travelers as there are about the culture and place I went to.
NEPAL, DAY 1
Flights are so much better when they are in late morning/early afternoon. Saw NYUAD people at the airport, but beyond that and the flight back, I ran into no one during my week in Nepal.
Driving in Nepal is interesting. On the left side of the road, chaotic, in old, rickety cars. Made my way to Durbar Square, a historical district where my hotel was near. Pretty good so far, right? Then my poor sense of direction kicked in - I chose to ignore the map that I had, and instead find my hotel by asking and using my memory. Wandered the square for a while, with all of my stuff, (actually, it was just a backpack!), and then found my hotel - the Himalayan Guest House, a wonderful homey house - the room was very small, but clean - it was a nice week spent there.
Nepal feels safe. I don't stand out there. There are other white women with short hair. In my wandering, I found temples and markets. I also acquired water, food, and toilet paper. A good first afternoon.
DAY 2
I forgot that it might be cold here. I knew the culture of Nepal is similar in many regards to India, and so I thought the temperature range would be close to South India. Wrong. Nepal houses Mt. Everest. It was fall chilly there. Which was nice. It was just ironic, because I consciously left my sweatshirt in Abu Dhabi.
Began to wander. I didn't really have a set plan for the week - I had a few places I really wanted to go, around a temple a day, but other than that, I left myself a lot of freedom and room.
I found haircut equality! More on that here.
There were some hard moments in Nepal. The first occurred on this day. There was a woman, with a young child and an empty bottle. And you want to help. You wish you could help, that they are being honest and truthful, but you never know, which is horrible that that cynicism has permeated my mind.
Rickety car #2 to the Swayambhu Temple, aka the Monkey Temple.
Sidenote: I am not the most comfortable about wild monkeys. They are much too human-like, strong, and intelligent. I give them as wide a berth as possible.
There are 365 steps to the top of the temple, to the stupa. The top of the temple houses prayer wheels, metal wheels filled with scrolls of Om, spun clockwise to release energy into the sky.
I was solo-traveling this trip, and I am glad I did. I kept finding moments of stillness and quiet within myself and my surroundings.
Had lunch on a rooftop cafe, overlooking Kathmandu and hawks spiraling.
This place was strange - both a tourist center and holy place in one. The top of the stairs was cluttered with shops and salesmen. It is also a holy place, but it seems as though that holiness is getting overtaken by consumption, at least until you take time to explore the back areas of the temple, when you find the true monastery, the old prayer flags, carvings of the gods.
Nepal confused me. I went as a tourist, but was confused as to all of the expats I saw - how do they live? What do they do for fulfillment? I realized on this trip that I love travel, but that if I stay in a place for a long time, I need to create as well, to interact as well.
Moment: There was a man playing guitar on the steps up to the stupa, case open for donations. It reminded me of a man outside of Al Safa playing the accordion. I only saw them each for one day. A moment of their life, a sliver, and I know both nothing and something about them.
I also felt pretty Eat, Pray, Love during aspects of this trip. I found my haunts for restaurants, tried new dishes, took time to slow down, breathe, and think. Meals are both lonely and freeing. Lonely, because it felt like I lost all conversational skills beyond the basic. Freeing, because things are on my terms. For example, I think I had fresh lemon soda (lemon juice and soda water) at nearly every meal. It was also nice to not be super-nervous about food - generally pretty safe.
First power outage happened today - but most people have some sort of generators, so it didn't really change my days at all, except for a moment to appreciate power and electricity.
DAY 3
This day was hard. I didn't take my camera, and I went down to the Bagmati River. Day 3 in glimpses:
- a small boy, preschool age, begging on the side of the street
- a dog, caught between two shores, standing guard
- crossing streets with those who live there
- disconnected wires hanging from electrical lines
- the scent of human decay. no smell of flame, just decay
- ramshackle roots along the river, steeped in trash
- a woman breastfeeding her child along the same river
- a shared smile with a policewoman
- a temple, sacred space of some sort, disheveled, guarded by fiercely grotesque griffins
- a stronger smell of decay. logs
- ascetics walking, alone, unwhole, in yellow, beads, and a walking stick. do they give up human company along with worldly possessions?
- impatient with a cab drive for no good reason. who am I to expect English? I'm sorry
- this quote "Once more, the mists were rising as I walked away. If they discoloesed to me, as I suspect they did, that I should not come back, and that Biddy was quite right, all I can say is - they were quite right too". Great Expectations. In a way we are all Pip, promising to visit home, to stay in touch, and failing at that. And yet, when we do return home, we are welcomed with open arms and love - a love, at least I, feel unworthy of at times. And so we work harder to stay connected, because we have to fight for those connections.
- worked on The Laramie Project. Solid hours of pre-production work.
- had dinner with a woman from the Czech Republic. She knows no English, I know no Czech. Yet still, we shared smiles and gestures.
DAY 4
I went out of my way to find a small Kali temple - one still holy, not tourist. Kali is the goddess of time, destruction, theater. A quiet personal moment to make an offering. Shiva, Kali, and Ganesha guarded the doorframe.
Wandered, found a small multi-faith temple a ways behind Durbar Square.
More difficult moments. Young girls, boys, women, asking for money. I will also not use the rickshaws pulled by bicycles. By people. I understand it is a living, but I am not superior.
DAY 5
Today I went to two temples - one Buddhist, one Hindu.
The Bouddhanath Temple, according to legend, houses remains of the Buddha. Again, this was a crossroads of tourism and faith, but the contrast is less jarring here - there are parts still held sacred.
Whenever I see the Buddha eyes, all I can think of is the phrase/book title, "Their Eyes Were Watching God".
Walking around the stupa, I was struck by how this was a path holy men have trod for years. I received a blessing by a Tibetan monk, and made offerings of incense. Background noise of drums and prayers.
The second temple - a Hindu holy site. The smell of burning bodies. No photos. Green smoke. Tourists. More on that here
It took me 2 hours to get back to my hotel, because I used my cab money on the entrance fee to this site. Which was worth it - I spent so much time walking and exploring and thinking there.
Visited the Kumari House, the house of the living goddess. Again, I am torn about this. I respect the tradition, but I just wonder what happens to the girl once she bleeds/is injured, and the spirit of the goddess is no longer seen to be embodied in her.
DAY 6
Today I packed, checked out of the hotel, and wandered Durbar Square, getting a traditional Nepalese thali for lunch.
My shoes have died - they have lasted for years, but are slowly getting destroyed by travel and dust and rocks.
Got to the airport fine, checked in, and went to the guest lounge, because I could. I had a moment there - I got misty-eyed about how lucky I am, how grateful I am for the life I have, where I can travel to a new place, experience a new culture, learn, grow, explore.
There is a lot that I don't understand. But those questions fuel my thoughts and work.
<3
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