Oct 4. Kathmandu to Boudhha, a day on my own. Nepal

I found out the noise last night was due to the Dashain festival in town. If I wasn't so tired from the journey, perhaps it would have been fun to join in the frivolity. Apparently tonight the festivities will continue, and preparations were being made all over. Unfortunately I was moving on to Boudhha, so I missed out. (Which was probably not a bad thing given I need to be in my best form for the trek ahead.)
I went for a walk around town. This was the older part of Kathmandu, and has been kept this way for historical reasons. There was a buzz of life here, with numerous shops, open air markets and stalls, narrow streets. A lot of things were going on and it took a bit of time for me to process.

I succumbed to an offer for a rickshaw ride and was glad I did. At 200 rupees, it was a very good value sight seeing trip. Fear was running through my mind about getting lost and dumped in some are of disrepute. (there is that paranoia again)

In general street signs are non-existent and the streets seem to run a confusing haphazard ramble. I was up at 6:00am, my guide was going to meet me at 10:00am and I wanted to be around for that appointment. The rickshaw driver was great, and probably would have made a good trekking guide too (which he offered).


I saw temples, markets, palaces and plenty of shops, and my fears were alleviated. He got me back safely to the hotel.

There is a mixture of religion here with Bhuddist and Hindu being the two main ones. The Hindu religion, to me is not a pretty one with its deities, but I guess it also a matter of opinion and probably a lot better than a lot our urban art.
In Nepal, like India, the cow is sacred, but it the city they do not seem to have much opportunity to eat, and there is no evidence of hay or grass to graze on.
 
Breakfast was included in the hotel package, it was ok with an offering of fried eggs, potato, tomato and tea. Rajesh did not arrive on time, leaving my imagination to work in a negative fashion, but did turn up eventually. He was delayed understandably. Time is not precise here, as there are numerous impediments to one's mission: clerical slowness in administrative matters (eg. getting passes and permits), the traffic and road closures due to festivities, roadworks or accidents.

In the hotel I spoke to some guests. One guy was waiting a week to fly to Lukla, he could have walked there in that time (and from what I understand a very nice one too). From the weather forecast I think his guide should have offered that option, as I reckon he'll be there a few more days. It apparently is very difficult to get to Lukla - lucky maybe - as the weather needs to be perfect. The airport is small and mistakes mean death. Waiting lists can be quite long to get there. 

This is also the case with Jomsom as I found out from my guide, so I made sure he booked tickets from there to Pokhara, and I made sure there was enough time to use alternative means of transport eg. the bus.


We got a taxi to Bhoudda, one price for the locals,one for the tourists, no point in arguing over this one, it is the same worldwide in the third world and perhaps the first when they can get away with it. Rajesh took the tab so he got the local rate.



Rajesh has some apartments in Bhouda, they were furnished and quite useful as a quieter alternative to the city centre. The apartments weren't flash, but do the job reasonable well and are secure. The wiring was far from safe, but when you look at the street wiring you get the idea that this is not Australia and will never meet the same demanding standards. I got the idea even further when there was a blackout for a few hours just on dark. Apparently Nepal has scheduled zone shutdowns as it sells its power to India and does not have enough to cater for domestic demand.


Bhoudda, Boudda, Bouda, Boudhha whatever the spelling - there is no consistency, and why should there be when you consider English is a second, but prevalent spoken language in Nepal. I'll spell it Boudhha.  The town boast a huge temple (stupa) called Boudhanath (link to Wikipedia article) it is listed in UNESCO for world heritage. It is quite an impressive site.

When I got there there were a whole bunch of people walking round the building in a clockwise direction; I got sucked in and did the rounds. It was fun, but rather meaningless for me not knowing its significance.


After spending a good part of the day here and with the blackout, I was champing at the bit to move on and get walking. Unfortunately there is some delay until all the passes were organised.


Rajesh organised a phone sim, which I learn later only covers part of Nepal. There are a couple of phone companies in Nepal, N-cell & Namaste. You need accounts with both. I now realise why there are dual sim phones ! Oh well, I hate phones on holiday anyway, I want to get away from technology and its associated hassles. From TripAdvisor "Did the Annapurna Circuit just this month, and Nepal Telecoms is the one with the strongest signal up in the mountains. My friend bought the Ncell and she can't receive her calls at all due to weak and no signal."  As I trekked Manaslu and Annapurna areas, an investment in both providers are the best option and they do not cost a lot anyway. Quite honestly I was happy not to have the phone working and used the local phone services when it is really needed.
Blog Indexes:
Location: Boudhha, Kathmandu 44600, Nepal

Comments

Post a Comment