Not About India

(Nepal Quickie)

As I've mentioned, I had to leave India and pop into Nepal for a spell. Because of Nepal's unique geography, this is a huge pain in the ass. We're talking about a country so mountainous that if you don't count city streets there are only a few dozen paved roads in the entire country. Getting to the central Kathmandu valley from the Bihari border was a six hour journey up a rocky trail over a series of massive ridges and river valleys in a shared jeep that was packed so tight that I had bruises from being smashed against the rear window of the jeep by my fellow passengers on each bone-rattling bounce.

Finally we got to Kathmandu, a largish city that rivals India for filth and ugliness, but is at least quieter and friendlier. The most shocking thing about Kathmandu is the pollution. If you were blindfolded and flown into the city by helicopter, you would have no idea you were in an elevated valley, because the smog is so bad it obscures the Himalayas. I found a hotel not in the main tourist district but in the old hippie quarter. I walked into a self-described lodge and found that it was in fact a spectacularly decrepit hard rock bar. As the building rumbled with the sounds of old heavy metal classics, I was lead upstairs and shown a room which had no furniture, but did have a mural of a mohawked Hindu goblin on one wall and a dark wizard in outer space on the other. I checked in immediately.

Kathmandu is actually pretty sweet. It has an incredible density of dramatic places to visit. The valley as a whole is the center of Nepali religion, and Nepali religion is absolutely insane. It's all one big Hindu-Buddhist-animist stew where every temple has about four different names depending on who's worshipping there. I don't really know how it all works; my knowledge of such things has been channeled almost entirely into Indian religious practice.

Anyways, my pictures of Nepal are all up now. Took me about a MILLION TRILLION YEARS to caption them so I wouldn't forget what they all were. Like I say, Nepal is confusing. Aside from numerous places in Kathmandu I also ventured into nearby parts of the valley. One such place was Boudha, which as you may have guessed, is an important Buddhist site. It is actually one of the centers of Tibetan Buddhism in exile, and is actually the world's largest stupa. The other place I went was Patan (not to be confused with Patna, the Bihari shithole), an old royal city whose central durbar square certainly ranks among the finest urban centers I have seen.

OK, later buds, I have to go prepare for my next stop, where the weather forecast says the daily high will be 111 degrees F. I need to go visit some temples and accrue religious merit while I still have a chance before I roast to death.
-GFB