Kathmandu Nepal 2019

Flying over Kathmandu we were both surprised at how vast the City was....in both our minds Kathmandu should have been quite small enfolding it's Old Town of Thamel......in reality it was vastly different and consequently is known as "the City of dust and cars".......until it rains that is!!!!!

We were collected at the airport by a rather beaten-up van, which included a very fast driver, who quickly whisked us away to our chosen hotel for our 6 night stay.....he took no prisoners that's for sure on this journey!!!

The Hotel Buddah is just within the Thamel District of Kathmandu so that suited us perfectly. Our suite on the 4th floor was very comfortable and our included breakfast was, every morning, different and delicious. Nothing was too much trouble for any of the staff, always smiling and happy and helping.........if only the hotel had had a lift!!!!!!???
Never mind, although we were both ill with dreadful gut wrenching, rib stretching, spasmodic coughing bouts we looked at the situation positively and decided this was the beginning of our opportunity to improve our fitness!!!!
With the help of the staff insisting on making us hot lemon, ginger and honey drinks and assisting us in carrying rattling full cups of coffee to our breakfast table each morning whilst we were so weak with sickness (seriously here folks....the rattle of cup in saucer could be heard on the second floor) we survived our 6 days even though most other guests avoided us like the plague!!!!

The Thamel District is a network of narrow, dirt laneways comprising mainly of souvenir shops (clothes and gifts) and coffee shops/cafes with a barber and a small supermarket thrown in at regular intervals. It is a very traditional and vibrant area and a great part of Kathmandu to make your base.
We decided to maximize our few days here by hiring a driver and guide to take us to the outlying areas and villages of Kathmandu and Pramod was a big help here...understanding what we wanted to do and see....then making it happen. Our days were organised and full but not too crazy and it was the perfect mix for us.
Our first day was spent at Patan Durbar Square...otherwise known as Red Square as the floor is tiled with red bricks.....a Unesco World Heritage Site in Lalitpur. There are many Temples and Idols to view here and also a Royal Palace where the ancient Malla Kings of the Kathmandu Valley resided.....sadly the square and its structures suffered much damage in the 2015 earthquake and although some restoration has and is taking place it is a very slow process unfortunately. The architecture in the square is Newar and the square is also surrounded by very old, amazing Newari residential houses. The whole place was intriguing.

The Palace, built in 1734 and exquisitely restored, now houses a Museum with 8 individual galleries mainly devoted to the explanation of the recognition of the Hindu and Buddhist Gods...Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha and Vishnu....how they stand and sit, how they hold their hands and what they hold in them, what ornaments they wear and finally how they dress.

There are many many historic artifacts in this museum....far too many to mention in this blog but, if travelling to Kathmandu, this is far too good a place to miss.

Another day another place.....the Boudanhath Stupa (Great Boudha Stupa or the "Stupa of Enlightenment").....which is one of the largest in the world. The Stupa was such a bustling, busy place....a major destination for pilgrims from the Himalayas, Tibet and Eastern Asia. There were of course the compulsory gift shops and restaurants around it's perimeter but the eyes of this grand stupa followed you everywhere. It was purportedly built in AD 400, restored in AD 600 and then again in the 16th Century but most of it's history seems to be based on legend. As we wandered around this gigantic circular structure which is over 141 feet high there was ceremonial dancing, offerings, prayers and candlelighting going on all around us. It was an amazing atmosphere.

A lovely Nepalese lunch here of Momo and Achar whilst overlooking the Stupa and then it was time to return to our hotel but.....it started to rain!!!! Great, big, heavy splotches fell from the sky and before we knew it we were soaked. Travelling home was difficult...instead of roads there were rivers, at one stage impossible to pass. No longer was Kathmandu a City of dust but a City of water!!!!!

The next thing we wished to do was to visit some Nepalese villages free from tourism so next day we set off for Khokana, Bungamati and Kirtipur. All three of these villages had been decimated by the 2015 earthquakes with many lives lost which was just so awful for us to witness....after all the years the damage was still raw and moving-forward not very evident. It appears that most broken pieces of temples or stupors remain where they landed in 2015, bricks have been stacked haphazedly for reuse sometime into the future but progression is slow.

Undoubtedly this is due to money constraints as the local people appear to have been left alone to get on with it. As a consequence of this the local Newari people have adapted and now live their lives surrounded by rubble, damaged roads and the overpowering smell of sewage.....taking new routes when the way is blocked by earthquake detritus.
As we walk through the main, muddy streets of Khokana and into Bungamati a certain sadness prevails...it is raining again but somehow that is trivial....a woman sits on what used to be her front step spinning wool....she has a friend with her and they chat amiably.

An old lady ambles along in front of us....no teeth, no raincoat, all skin and bone and no shoes.....maybe she was going to pick some Cannabis freely growing along the side of the road.....one thing to learn, there is always hope?

Kirtipur was our last stop....a lot more upmarket than the previous 2 villages....with terraces of colourful houses perched on the side of a hill. By now the sun was shining on them making them look more perfect than they actually are. Stopping for lunch we ate amazing Nepalese food....chow mien, daal baht and chatamari...whilst overlooking the whole of Kathmandu....absolutely stunning.

Traversing up hill after lunch the heavens open up again and immediately the narrow, dirt streets become impossible to stand up on - unless you are a shoeless Newari of course - as they turn into thick muddy rivers within seconds. Absolutely soaked through to our underwear our guide had the presence of mind to pop off the street into a very small mustard seed oil factory.....this oil is what the Nepalese people use as a preference to cook with. Huge sacks of mustard seeds stood around the very dark, dingy premises whilst some sort of engine puffed away noisily in the corner producing a very dark thick oil from its bottom. Old barefoot men climbed ladders to feed the machine-beast with mustard seeds as an equally old man collected what dribbled out underneath. All this was made possible by a very old and toothless, barefoot woman -approximately 4foot nothing and approaching her nineties - humping huge sacks of seeds from the inner bowels of this tiny factory in the general direction of the old men on the ladders......This tiny stalwart was incredible!!!!!!! And that, my friends, is how mustard seed oil is made!!!! It is obviously bottled in this factory too....in reused, plastic waterbottles.....and labelled by the only young person on the premises wielding a gluestick and a handwritten label. Absolute maximum efficiency before our eyes. The place was hot, smelly, dry and an absolute haven from the storm.

So ended our very wet experience in the villages....it wasn't possible for a car to get through the streets so eventually we had to leave our plastic chair haven and meet our ride on a tarmac street elsewhere.....felt a bit sorry for the driver - he was dry but his car was absolutely wet and muddy throughout!!!!

Our last organised trip was a plane ride over Mount Everest which entailed an early start to the airport. Getting up at 5am our driver arrived in his spotlessly clean car and deposited us at the airport.....too early, not open. We had chosen to fly with Simrik Airlines advertising one of the best mountain flights in the world and they, eventually, seemed pretty efficient at what they did. Weighed us in....sorted the seats etc etc....and we waited.
Finally we were called through to a bus to take us to the plane.....this plane was special because everyone had a window to view Everest from.....the bus wouldn't start!!!! Lots of young men arrived to push and the driver was able to jump start it and we all laughed somewhat hysterically. It was a beautiful sunny morning, lovely and warm, as we approached the plane.....our hearts sank......it was very old and very tired looking.....a Beechcraft 1900......would this start or would it be like the bus?

The captain was walking around doing his prechecks and the clouds were starting to roll in but eventually it was all go. Fighting an incredible fear of becoming a statistic we taxied out and took off??? We had a stewardess on board who brought some lollies round and we flew towards Everest over Kathmandu......this wasn't going too badly.....relief started to filter through. 10 mins into the trip Kathmandu was visible below us again which seemed strange and the hostess advised we had turned around as cloud would prevent us from seeing anything of Everest!!!!!! So that was that......So,so disappointing. We did however get a full refund which completely threw us......imagine that in NZ?

Our last night in Kathmandu we were invited to dinner with a friend of a friend (very convoluted explanation is hopefully not necessary here). Arjun, his wife Reecha and their 7 year old son Adhyay invited us to a traditional Nepalese restaurant with traditional Nepalese dancing and food.

Wow what a wonderful evening that was and what a wonderful family we were lucky enough to meet. It was an amazing finish to our stay in Nepal.

Leaving the next morning to fly to Bali we were adorned with "lucky yellow scarves" and were surprised when Pramod gave us several packets of prayer flags to distribute to the Nepalese people in Nelson plus a small statue of a Buddha for ourselves. We will treasure the statue forever and take great pleasure in passing on the prayer flags with Pramod's blessing....hopefully they will be a nice reminder of home for them.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Nepal....the Hotel Buddha was awesome....Pramod was awesome....our driver and guide were awesome....the people so friendly and helpful....the food delicious and....we have made more lovely friends in Arjun and his family as an added bonus. Their 7 year old son will be a force to be reckoned with as he grows up......so so so intelligent.

As we waved goodbye to the hotel staff with hugs all round we hopped into the "pretty beaten up van with the super fast driver at the wheel" for our final trip to the airport. He turned around to us saying...."do you remember me?".......come on...how could we possibly forget both you and your sliding door van?????

One final note to self.....should have bought a singing bowl...should have bought a Mandala!!!! Never mind....next trip?

Faridabad India 2019

From Goa we flew back to New Dehli to meet up with friends who live in Faridabad.... about one hours drive east of Dehli...and were met at the airport by a smiling Pankaj. Quickly ordering a Uber we started on our journey to their house. Pankaj had come to the airport by the Metro as....and I am sure you can possibly imagine...Dehli is bedlam and it was a whole lot easier. Picking up his car from Faridabad metro station we finally arrived at their house where Kritika was waiting outside to greet us with open arms and plenty of hugs. Inside she had prepared a delicious Indian meal....including a mutton curry, dahl, rice and chapati. We shared the meal with the family, Pankaj, Kritika and their children Saanya and Arnav, it was absolutely delicious...light and very tasty. Then it was time for bed and we were exhausted.

Pankaj and Kritika had given up their bed and bedroom for us to sleep in and we quickly showered, cleaned our teeth and jumped into bed.......only then did we realise that beds in India are not like NZ beds at all.......they are rock hard and, for us, like sleeping on a door!!!!! We did however have good sleeps which constantly surprised us as this outcome was totally unexpected. (If you are reading this Pankaj and Kritika this was not a problem we grew to actually enjoy the firmness)

The following day we met Mama and Papa....Kritika's parents....who we spent quite a lot of joyous times with.
In the Indian culture guests are pampered and are not allowed to pay for anything which we found extremely difficult but of course very lovely. There was always food, snacks and drinks being offered.
Pankaj drove us all to Agra, paid for a personal tour guide to show us around the Taj Mahal and explain its history, paid for all our food and drinks.....we wanted and paid for nothing.

The white marble Taj Mahal, one of the seven splendid wonders of the world, was incredibly impressive. We saw this pure white mausoleum on a dull day and I am not too sure whether that was good or bad but, whatever, the building was remarkable....the carvings etched into every slab of marble were beyond magnificent. The grandiose  symbolism of this mausoleum was actually beyond comprehension and......although the Emperor built it to house the body of his beloved third wife it was paid for completely by the Indian people!!!!

The Taj Mahal is beautiful in its splendour, it is very well looked after and is kept in pristine condition. The white marble etchings are inlaid with precious stones which, when the sun is shining, seemingly makes the building glow. When the marble needs cleaning it is smothered in mud which is allowed to dry and fall off taking any dirt with it. Generations of marble carvers have lived, died and been buried at the Taj Mahal...it has its own cemetery....and this occurs into todays generation as well.
The four columns that stake a claim at each corner of the Taj Mahal  framing it's beauty are, surprisingly, not vertical.... they lean outwards slightly. This was a deliberate move to ensure that in an earthquake all the columns will fall away from the main building rather than on to it....avoiding any unnecessary damage. Yes, even back then they thought of everything.

There is so much history wrapped up here of Emperors and scornful sons and even the foundations of  what was to be a Black Taj Mahal the King was intent on building for himself.

This majestic place based on the edge of the Jumna River, has the sunset as it's natural backdrop.....it's location is perfect. It is very cool naturally and visitors are required to wear protective covers over their shoes to protect the marble floors. Our only surprise here was the disrespectful people who sneakily spend time removing a precious stone here and there for souvenir purposes......why?

Once leaving the Taj Mahal and walking through the terraces to the car park we were besieged by hawkers....it was constant. Arriving at the car their arms holding whatever they were trying to sell were inside the car preventing us from closing the doors. It was a game to them I think but, a few terse words from Papa had them scrambling.

Kritika is a school teacher and in the late afternoon, after school, all these little, local children come to the house to do their homework......one had a special song he sang for us.....they were all just gorgeous.

Different types of food from different areas of India was a must try so it was decided we would go to a Mall to try Northern Indian cuisine. We were joined by our other friends Pawandeep, Sharanjit and their daughter Niki - Mama and Papa too who seemed to really enjoy our company - and dived into all this Indian food we had never heard of or seen before: Rajkachori - a big, crispy ball filled with curd, peas, sprouts, onion, potatoes, Tamarind sauce and mint sauce.....absolutely heavenly.

Pani Puri, Rice Dosa, Rawa Dosa, Idli Rice and Utpam Rice. All these dishes are served with Sambar and coconut sauce and were coming at us from left, right and centre......boy, can our friends eat!!!!!! After that we all piled into Pawandeep's SUV for another food experience - Chocolate Paan which originated in the Uttar Pradesh area of India.

Chocolate Paan are made from a filled Betel Leaf wrapped into a cone shape and dipped in chocolate.....it is an Indian after dinner must-have treat apparently and we were about to try this delicacy. There are many fillings layered into this Betel Leaf...i.e.  chuna (diluted limestonepaste), saunf (fennel), 

gulkand(sweetened and mashed rose petals),elaichi (cardamom), dessicated coconut, hazelnut paste, mouth freshener sprinkles, chocolate...these are just some of the paan fillings and make what is called a meetha or sweet paan. It was an interesting experience and a whole Paan goes in in one mouthful....given we were eating a leaf it was quite difficult to chew but certainly all the 15 different, conflicting flavours came through, exploding in the mouth like a Golden Rain firework!!!! Would we have another Paan?.....the jury is out on that one.....Betel leaf is known to have hallucinogenic properties and Betel nut turns your mouth red and makes you spit!!!!!! Lol.

The following day Pawandeep took us to Swaminarayan Akshardham in Dehli.......a complex showcasing Indian art, wisdom, heritage and values as a tribute to Bhagwan Swaminarayan.

We were quite alarmed by the fact that, because photography was not allowed, we had to hand over our cell phones to a security counter. Any money and valuable jewellery was supposed to be deposited too. As it happens I was allowed to keep my handbag but it was thoroughly emptied and searched before we entered. 

This temple is amazing and is very well done.....it is documented as radiating peace, beauty, joy and divinity and it did just that.

We were the only 2 Europeans there so all our viewings included just the 2 of us and Pawandeep. 

As we travelled through the various halls we learned, through film, light and sound-shows the values of Hindu religion. On a large screen we followed the true story of an 11year old child yogi as we followed his exciting pilgrimage through the Himalayas and India's sacred places, festivals, traditions and values. Finally we went on a boat ride through 10,000 years of indian culture and history.

Swaminarayan Akshardham has 10 gates representing the 10 principal directions described in Indian culture and many many elephant sculptures......148 to be precise. It took just 5years to build....it is awesome to visit and thoroughly recommended. Our cell phones were A OK too.

From here we visited Pawandeep's family home, met his extended family

and friends and ate delicious vegeburgers. We were privileged to be able to meet his very sick mother who had just come home from hospital and are happy to know she is now slowly improving with their love and care. Later on we were joined by Pankaj, Kritika and their children for a delicious meal of Chicken Biryani.

Our last day was spent with Mama and Papa. Papa took Gary for a good haircut and beard tidy....he was beginning to look like a sheepdog if that is at all possible.....and a massage whilst Mama and I went for a full body oil massage together. Afterwards we stopped at a street stall eating curry, rice and Tandooried Naan bread washed down with sweet Lassi.......perfect.

The evening was spent altogether living it up at Pankaj and Kritika's house. Sharanjit brought over a big plate of Golgapa or waterballs. These were punctured at the top, filled with a piece of cooked, spicy potato and beans and topped up with a delicious coriander juice. The idea was to get one into your mouth before the ball started leaking....everyone had great fun and I think little Niki must have eaten at least 10!!!

 
We all danced to loud Bollywood music, ate Chinese takeaways, downed a shot or two and indulged in a few beers. Watching Kritika and Sharanjit dancing traditional Indian dances was very special. Papa and Gary got on like a house on fire and Kritika said she had not seen her father so relaxed and joyful before......such is the power of Gary!!!!!!

Thankyou Pankaj, Kritika, Pawandeep, Sharanjit and your three gorgeous children, Mama and Papa too. You are all beautiful, generous people and you gave us such amazing memories to savour for the rest of our lives.

Tomorrow Pawandeep is taking us to the airport early and, like always, Kritika is packing us a bag of water and snacks to take with us.

Goodbyes are never easy and this one is truly hard......thankyou one and all.....your heartfelt love will travel with us to Nepal and onward.