Shopping ... Are we talking about shopping?

This one took a little while to come out because Monday was a day of mixes - Shopping, some desired and some bonus; seeing the devastation of the earthquake firsthand; seeing the incredible spirit of Nepalese people; and listening to my guide discuss Buddhism and Hinduism, architecture, and politics.

The Holy Man. Note the building devastation in the background.

My two for the price of three selfie.

I wanted to find things to do that wouldn't be covered by our tour so the first thing that I did was walk Thamel. Thamel is the section of Kathmandu filled with hotels, and usually their restaurants; shops catering to tourists; and all that goes with it. It really isn't much different than anywhere else except for two things - Nepal really doesn't have great infrastructure ( more on that in a future blog) and everyone is ALWAYS cleaning. I mean there are people sweeping at any point of the day. Dust is omnipresent.



A spice shop

Garuda - Shiva's transport

So on my walk, I found out what Marketing looks like. It is little different than in India, Sri Lanka, Peru or I am guessing anywhere else emerging in the world that relies on tourism.the first tactic is to greet you and pull you into the shop through conversation and asking for your business. It certainly wasn't as aggressive as elsewhere but it is the tactic. The next tactic is to maximize location through the numbers game - send out droves of late teens that have foreign language skills to convince tourists to walk to their shop. I loved the variant here, however, - the four people that approached me had listened to their trainers well. The conversation always started with asking how I was and where I was from. The answer that I was from the US quickly drew the response "Washington, DC! That is your capital." To be followed with a listing of the major US cities in descending order of population.  I'm not sure American kids could pull it off. Honestly, there was nothing wrong with the process as they were obviously just trying to drum up business.

Placards everywhere of what the empty lot was supposed to be

The temple where the 3-5 year old is tested to see if she is the incarnation of Kali.

Buddha in his many meditation positions.

Even the living goddess Kali's buildings need support.

 

The temple with the Kama Sutra carved into the stone and wood.

A still standing temple

So then I was off to Dhabar Square. It was a tough walk, but not due to distance or topography. It was through an obvious working class neighborhood but one that obviously had been hit HARD by the earthquake. Many buildings were cracked, bricks were everywhere, lots - while clear of debris, had not had construction restarted. In short, if it still kept some rain off you then you still lived in it. And first floor shop keepers and families were clearly losing the battle to dust in a very valiant way.

At the square I was approached by a holy man. I knew I had to pay for a picture, so I did. It isn't really optional but didn't get a blessing in return as I had expected though. I was approached by a gentlman that said he was a guide and asked if I had heard about the living goddess. I tried to brush him off as I figured this was a shopping opportunity waiting to happen, but am glad he was persistent.  Dilip was just the kind of guide I like. We talked architecture, culture, religion, philosophy schools, and politics. I learned and saw the living incarnation of Kali. I saw the temple decorated with the Kama Sutra built in the 17th century "to bolster the population and keep Nepal from being swallowed up since it is on the doormat of India and China". I learned about the consolidation of Nepal. That it was a closed country until 1947. I also heard a lot about the hippie tourism of the 70s. Four hours passed in what felt like no time.

At this point I was tired and hungry, so I started off back to the hotel. The destruction was tough to

see. It was tough as craftsmen approached with varying degree of desperation to sell you something. I also had been warned by Dilip of a scam where someone follows you to your destination claiming to be your guide and then asks you to buy them food. They take you to a grocery store where you buy
something and then they return it. My scam artist turned out to be an 11 year old girl. Thankfully she was hitting me up for clothes and not food. I told her I wasn't going to buy her clothes but would give her a hundred rupees to turn around and let me walk in peace. The results were hilarious - she took the money but told me that if People give money to children it teaches them bad habits. She seemed surprised when I said that it seemed the same to me. So she followed for a while trying to explain that buying her something she returned was less of a bad influence than giving her cash.

Once I got back for my very late lunch, I decided to book a mountain flight and enjoy a nearby garden. I didn't need anymore shopping for the day.

My afternoon sanctuary

It is why you always ask questions ...

The start of the journey is always the hardest part for me ... You know what you hope to see and do but you much more tangibly what you are leaving behind. You know you are leaving a pile of work behind regardless of how hard youtried to make sure everything was left cleanly, you know it isn't. You know you are leaving family responsibilities behind for the boys and the cat. And I am sure there was a basket of laundry to be folded and a room still left with clothes that didn't make the cut that were piled high somewhere in that mix. So you have to help yourself sort through the pictures you hope to get (and hopefully one that can be turned into a print for the wall at home), the experiences of hiking and learning about new cultures, the learning how to cook Nepalese food, the rafting, and the exhilaration of traveling somewhere where you know nothing. That may be the aspect that I love the most - the realizing that everything you thought you knew may not help you answer your question you face on the road. In the end you get on the plane for that very reason.

So getting to Chicago was super easy and a shoutout to American Airlines for doing a technical update right. Saturday was their first day of a new traveler facing kiosk. They had plenty of staff to sort you through it .... Which I needed because Travelocity dropped a letter of my name which makes the auto-passport review process logic not work so well. In Chicago, I was amazed how alien the international terminal 5 was at O'hare. But the Etihad Airways team did a great job of keeping me from standing in the insane line (because I asked a question) and so getting to he gate was a breeze.

Unfortunately the next 15 hours weren't so much of a breeze. Wow when you have to rebook flights a week in advance, you get hosed. I ended up in a middle seat on a row of 5. It worked out fine but I may have bought the business class seat if I had known how bad being in the LAST row with no reclining seat and row mates that are more portly than I would be feeling with 8 hours to go.

I got to Abu Dhabi where for a mere guarantee that you have $1400 to your name you can leave the airport on a layover. Unfortunately, I only had two hours between flights (the originally rebooked schedule called for 6) so I didn't make it out into the desert.

And then it was onto the 4 hour flight to Nepal. An uneventful flight except I was finally able to sleep  and got to make friends with some Nepalese that were returning from vacationing in Vancouver. They ended up with an even worse travel experience than I did due to China Southern cancelling their flights so that question asking  worked in my favor again.

And last but certainly not least, I arrived in Nepal. Where you can't buy you Nepalese visa with Nepalese rupees but they do take Visa. And I go outside to be greeted but he onslaught of taxi drivers and porters .... And there isn't a sign for me. So I walk back to the terminal to pull up my contact's number and determine that my phone isn't connecting. So now I am screwed. But then that old ask a question thing pops back in my mind and I again face the gauntlet, but this time I ask, "Bohemian Tours?" Note I didn't pick the tour because of the company name so no grief on that one. And someone identifies himself - with the wrong sign apologizing that he picked up the wrong sign. He keeps apologizing and explaining but I know that after 28 hours I am getting in his van, even if he is a serial killer. But he insists in showing me an official looking document with my name on it before I put my luggage in the car.

After a good night's sleep, I woke up before breakfast time at the Thamel Eco Resort to roosters to write this and start the adventure ...