First post -- impressions and experiences

This is my first post on my first blog on my first trip to Nepal. I should probably start by describing some of the drama that unfolded several days prior to my trip. My girlfriend, Jenna, and I were trying to book a hotel in Delhi, India through an AAA travel agent. We had a lay-over of 15 hours in Delhi prior to our last leg to Kathmandu. We received a shock when we were told that we HAD to have a transit visa prior to traveling or that we would be deported right back to where we came from. This conversation took place on 05/02/08 and we were departing to Kathmandu on 05/05/08. Definitely not enough time to obtain a visa. After many distressed calls to American Airlines employees, Delhi Airport employees, and even my Uncle who worked in the American embassy in Delhi several years ago I felt somewhat reassured that we could stay in the transit lounge to pass the time until we needed to board our flight to Nepal. By the way, the Delhi airport received the 2006 poop airport award from the website www.sleepinginairports.com. We had a lot to look forward to. In addition, I did not feel particularly comfortable about traveling through Delhi with a $10,000 GPS unit so I carried it on the plane.

After 15 hours we finally arrived in Delhi from Chicago. The airport was under renovation. We were reassured that our luggage would be safely held in the Delhi customs warehouse and then delivered to the gate of our departing flight 15 hours later. We paid some money and stayed in a pretty decent lounge where we had complimentary food and drink. However, no matter how many free sodas you can get 15 hours seems like a lifetime after a 15 hour flight. Our airport 'assistant' had not given us our boarding passes by 12:00 and we were scheduled to leave at 12:55. We could see the huge security line and we were afraid that after waiting patiently for so many hours we would somehow miss the flight and have to wait another god-awful amount of time until the next flight. However, our assistant came flying into the lounge with our passes and escorted us through a short security line where my GPS unit managed to not set off any warnings whatsoever...go figure. It was not until we arrived to the hotel in Kathmandu that we realized that all of the clasps/zippers on our luggage had been tied closed with some metal wire (lead?). I had to spend an hour with my leatherman to tear them all away.

I was worried when we flying on the 1.5 hour flight from Delhi to Kathmandu because Jenna had said that she was not feeling well. However, that seemed to pass once we arrived. The airport was a little disorganized, not so clean, and the staff weren't particularly friendly but we were so glad to finally be in Kathmandu. As soon as we left the airport we were bum-rushed by taxi drivers but then we heard our names from a man holding two lays. His name was Krishna and he placed to marigold lays over our heads. We had a car and a driver dedicated to taxiing us around the whole time we were in Nepal. We went straight to the Hotel Himalaya. The hotel was fantastic. It had a pool, restaurant, bar, garden, and even a temple dedicated the living goddess. In the evening we went to a nice restaurant on the roof of a two story building with a giant rhododendron tree growing right up through the middle of it. We enjoyed some local Nepali beer called Everest and had some good food.

Our first full day in Kathmandu was eventful. We went to the Patan Darbar Square where the Kings of Nepal used to live. It was old and covered in Hindu symbols. In that same area we saw where the local people collected their drinking water. The water came out of these gigantic spouts shaped like animals that were inset into a large subterranean square. Kids and grandmas had big jugs to collect the water. Directly next to that water collection area was a secondary school. It was chaos once school was let out. Then we were taken to a temple where there was a ritual taking place. We were told that Hindu priests came to the square in front of the temple and blessed those that requested it. After we visited the temple I asked Krishna, our unofficial guide, if Jenna could be blessed. He took us back and both of us were blessed. After the blessing the priest asked us for a dollar bill. After we gave it to him he said that he would keep it with him forever. Our guide told us that we were very lucky because that meant that he would think of us forever and that would be likely be blessed for a long time as a result. Then we went to another temple called Hiranayavarna Mahavihar (golden temple). This temple also had a ritual taking place where the mothers blessed their children. The children were about 5-6 years old. The fathers stood around with cameras and video cameras. Some things are cross cultural! After this Krishna dropped us off at the Pashupati area so he could go pick up another University of Michigan student from the airport. This was an interesting and special place. It is the sight where Hindus believe that the Lord Shiva was born. As far as I know there are 3 major gods in Hinduism. These are Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu. Keep in mind that all of these temples have images of cows everywhere. In addition, there are cows roaming the streets everywhere...in the capital. I was told that they are considered so holy because the Lord Shiva was carried on a golden cow.

It is hard to describe the Pashupati area. Through the middle runs a major river that eventually terminates into the Ganges. Here people take their deceased loved ones to be cremated and then dumped into the holy river. There are sometimes as many as 25 cremations a day and yes they are public to everyone! We witnessed a couple of them. There were also monkeys that walked everywhere. No one really paid much attention to them but Jenna and I got a kick out of them and took several pictures. An interesting thing is that the temple is a sight for cremations but is also a place for couples to go to increase fertility. There are small buildings, statues, etc. with phallic symbols inside rings where couples go to increase their chances of having a child. A single site for rituals of death and birth. After seeing the temple, Krishna met up with us with Cynthia the student from UM. That evening we went to a Nepali/Newar restaurant. Newar is a locat ethnic group. We had to sit on the ground and throughout the dinner dancers came by and displayed a different regional dance. It was really cool.