Returning to Kathmandu

May 18

In the morning I met Sonam downstairs for breakfast at 7am. I went to bed last night pretty late and it was kind of hard to sleep because the temples are right there so the bells were ringing and it was kind of noisy on the streets. Music was playing (thimble style) until maybe 11. There is a festival in October where the music is played from 3pm all the way through the night. I'm glad I wasn't there for that haha.
I had masala tea and toast and scrambled eggs. The cab driver took us back to my hotel in Kathmandu, I dropped off my bag, and Sonam took me back out into the city. We went to Durbar square in Kathmandu which was amazing. I think I could have spent all day there watching people and taking pictures. Sonam didn't have all day though but he took me everywhere. I had to pay 750 rupees to enter. It was suh a lively place! People praying everywhere or buying things from the local market. Bells, music, chanting, prayer circles, temples. It was so cool!
The local market is in the morning in Kathmandu before the shops open. By the time the shops open, the people have to be all packed up and away from that part of the street. It's a lot of vegetables an meats and grains and fish and clothes. Very cheap quality. It's funny because they have their beautiful clothing or suits and what not and then their footwear is like cheap Rubber sandals that are bright yellow and don't match. He said china will ship a lot of cheap stuff over so it doesn't last long and people have to keep buying it. He also said a lot of the people who sell vegetables in the market will inject them with something to make them grow straight. He doesn't like it because its not natural or healthy. Most of the fresh new is just sitting out and there are flies all over it so that was unappetizing.
I definitely can't explain Kathmandu's Durbar Sq. the pictures are way better but those don't even give you the full atmosphere.
We went to see Kumari the Living Godess. She only comes out to see people if its before noon. She is a young girl who has not yet had her period yet so between the age of 5 and 10 years old. Once the kumai gets her period a new Kumari is chosen. There is something like 32 different physical qualities you have to meet including eye color and shape of your teeth and sound of your voice. Then, the girls are put into a dark room where men in masks run around them making noises. if she is the reincarnation of Durga she will be calm and collected. then those chosen girls need to choose the clothing and jewelry of their predecessor. It is a really hard life. She is a Goddess so she doesn't speak. Her family does not live with her but they can visit. She only goes into the outside world 6 times a year during a festival. The building she lives in has a beautiful courtyard made of wooden carvings. The only people allowed to go up and see the Kumari are Hindus. She does come to the balcony and show her face (before noon) when large crowds are gathered. It is said that it is really difficult for her to adjust back to normal life and her family is paid a large dowry. But it is considered unlucky to marry an ex goddess.
The Kumari experience was actually really strange. Sonam thought it was really important so we waited for maybe 15 minutes. Then, everyone had to put their cameras away because taking her picture is forbidden. She came to the window balcony and sat there for maybe a minute. It is considered good luck to bow when you see her so I did. She had a lot of black cat eye makeup on and she looked really unhappy to be there. She looked around once and spent the rest of the time looking to the side avoiding everyone's gaze. I feel like that would suck. I'm sure in their culture it is a huge honor though.
I didn't get a picture of it but another strange thing is there is a huge temple that was said to be built from only one tree. There's no way haha. The bottom of it is open so you can walk through it.
After walking around, Sonam took me back to the hotel. I spent literally 4 or 5 hours catching up on emails and texting people. I also had to register for classes which on my phone took sooooo long. Luckily they just sent me an email telling me what I needed to register for so I didn't need to spend forever trying to pick courses too.
I blogged and read for a few hours and them met Sonam for dinner. We went to Rum Doodle bar which is a famous Trekkers destination. If you summit Everest (I think) you eat for free for the res of your life. I don't think it was just going to base camp but I'm not positive. I ordered a steak because Sonam said they were good. It actually was pretty good. I think it was buffalo meat though. And I said medium and there was no pink anywhere. I don't know if buffalo is just cooked differently or if their medium is different. It was really tough. I let Sonam try mine and I had a piece of his pizza. The pizza was very good. Crust and all haha. Website had Everest beers and made a toast to making it through even with my backpack haha. When he picked me up I could se I from the second he laid eyes on my bag that I ha made a bad choice. I survived and conquered though! I'm not even as sore anymore!
The restaurant gives you a big or little cardboard foot and you or your trekking group can make your own footprint to leave in the restaurant. It's a really cool idea and the place is covered with colorful footprints from different treks and trips.
The bill part was really awkward. They brought the bill and it had both of our meals on it and then the waiter and Sonam both said some awkward thing about how I can choose to pay both or just mine and let Sonam pay his. I was originally considering paying for his dinner but then I realized I was short on rupees so then it was weird. I felt like I had to and I wanted to and I even said, loh yeah! I was going to ask if I could pay for your dinner anyway!" And I was happy to do so. But it cut down on the tip I gave him. But oh well. He also took a to go box with his pizza. They do have to go boxes in other countries!
It seemed like we rushed home and he left quickly. I packed which took forever and washed some clothes in the sink... Which I'm not supposed to do. It's funny because all the hotels offer laundry services so there are notes everywhere saying "you are not allowed to so laundry!" And "do not hang clothes from balcony!" I did my underwear and a pair of socks. I was going to so more but I wasn't sure if it would have enough time to dry.
I read for a while and then went to sleep around 1:30am.

Random things I'm not sure I mentioned:
1. If the bus inside is full, people are allowed to sit on the luggage rack on top of the bus to get to their destination.
2. It's really strange. It seem like they insist on covering everything with fabric or cloth. Like perfectly nice leather seats they put nasty dirty clothes over for people to sit on. I don't get it.
3. Pashupati is a world heritage sight in Kathmandu and it is basically a cremation sight for Hindus. I think I could go in buy not past a certain point so I didn't try to go.
4. I have seen 2 autistic Nepali people
5. There are a lot of gimp people who have problems with their legs. Either an amputated leg (which the end looks gross because it looks like you can see the bone. Like they didn't put skin covering it. They walk around like spiders and it startles me every time because I'm not used to seeing a human move like that. I saw one guy crossing a super busy street today like that.
6. There are men walking around in orange and yellow robes with their faces painted. Sonam said it is illegal to take pictures of them without paying. Oops. I took a picture of one and didn't pay in India. I had no idea. I can't remember what he said they are called though.
7. The air in Kathmandu is nasty. It's dusty and smells bad.
8. On the way to the monkey temple there was a river with a lot of garbage. Sonam said sometimes the garbage people go on strike and then the city gets really gross. He also said that during monsoon the garbage gets moved from the river. I kept asking to where and I ally I realized he meant that it floats down the river and dumps into the Ganges. So at least India has help with their garbage problem and its not just them. That is terrible though.