Boy, you’d think I had climbed Everest the way I’ve been milking this recovery effort. Not really; we are feeling just fine here in Kathmandu. It's quiet around the house since Mike, Amy, and Ethan are not here. They are enjoying their first vacation as a family away from Nepal in Hawaii.
Our first day back was the only day we reveled in doing not much at all, except laundry and hanging out with our American trekking friends at a restaurant in town. After that, we’ve been keeping ourselves busy around the house and around the Kathmandu Valley.
On Sunday, we made an excursion to the medieval city of Bhaktapur, about an hour east of Kathmandu. The ride out was long, dusty, and bumpy. At one point, we literally had to wait for a road crew to finish building the road before we could go on. Well, actually, Shree lost patience and drove over the pile of rubble that had been dumped in the middle of the dirt road. We also hit a colossal traffic jam in the very narrow streets of Thimi, about twenty minutes out of Bhaktapur. Apparently, a driver had parked his car in the middle of the narrow throughway in order to take a call on his cell phone. At least he wasn’t driving while talking, huh?
When we finally arrived to Bhaktapur, we hired a guide, Rahju, for a three-hour tour. Rahju, a lifelong resident of the town was a very kind man, and well informed. His compact build and facial features gave him the distinct feel of a Nepali Joe Pesci. Rahju spent three hours touring us around the fantastic Durbar Squares, past countless ancient temples, down quiet, impossibly narrow back streets, and to many artisans’ shops. We got the feeling he was trying to help out his buddies with our visits. We did break down and purchase a few Buddhist thangka paintings at an art school, but we drove a hard bargain (at least in our minds).
Potters' Square
We definitely enjoyed our visit to Bhaktapur. Unfortunately, on the way home from Bhaktapur, I had my first bout of culture shock. I had held out for so long, almost a month, but it finally hit me hard. As I gazed out the car window on the drive home, everything I saw either shocked, depressed, or just plan annoyed me. The filth of the streets, air, dogs, children was shocking. The poverty was overwhelmingly depressing. The spitting, nose-picking, insane driving practices annoyed me to pieces. I was spent and just needed to go home and rest.
But no… we had to stop at Bhat Bhateni on the way home. This Nepali super-store was the last place I wanted to be late in the afternoon. It was crowded and overwhelming. Gideon was set on finding some tools for his chicken coop project as well as groceries for the next few days. Apparently I was being less than cooperative, perhaps even childish (imagine that). Gideon finally had had enough of me and sent me back to the car to wait with Shree. I gladly went, bought Shree and myself ice cream cones on the way out, and recovered in the car.
The rest of the evening was quiet as I avoided thinking about the fact that I was in Krazytown (uh, I mean Kathmandu), and Gideon just plain avoided me (not that I blame him).
The following day, Monday, turned out to be a wonderfully relaxing day. We did not leave the sanctuary of Satya Mahal.
I spent the day in the kitchen with Sunita teaching her some American recipes. We made oatmeal raisin cookies. “I think I will have dreams about these cookies,” Sunita swooned upon trying her first one. We also made French bread and goulash (hamburger macaroni casserole), a good basic American recipe that can be doctored in endless ways. Sunita taught me how to make Nepali milk tea (like chai). She also let me in on the secret that milk tea is an appetite suppressant--definitely a good thing to know!
Gideon spent the day outside with Shree and Kashav (the gardener). They made excellent progress on a chicken coop for Ethan’s pet chickens, Chicky and Chicklet. The birds marched around in the yard all day, observing the progress of the construction of their new digs.
Today we paid a visit to the family of our friend in California, Mangal. We met his beautiful wife, Asha, and his nephew, Maita. Asha made a delicious Nepali lunch for us (with the best chicken I’ve had in Nepal). Maita is a charming trekking guide and we enjoyed sharing our trekking experience with him.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent in Thamel, the main touristy shopping area in central Kathmandu. We put on our bargaining hats and bought all kinds of Nepali souvenirs. We got some great deals, as well as some not-so-great deals, but all in all, we were happy with our shopping excursion.
On the way home, Gideon and Shree made a number of stops at hardware stores (more like hardware hole-in-the-walls) to purchase a few more feet of chicken wire and a sheet of corrugated tin for the roof of the chicken coop. Man, shopping for building materials and tools in Kathmandu is an experience in and of itself. There aren’t Home Depots around here, not even an equivalent to Ace Hardware. You just have to drive around until you see what you need in one of the little open storefronts along the narrow side streets. Eventually, their search paid off and we headed home with all the needed supplies for Gideon to finish the chicken coop tomorrow.
By the time we made it home, a great thunderstorm had blown over the city. Poor Shree and Kashav were utterly unprepared to drive home in the storm on their motorcycles. They looked nervous about the prospect, so as the lady of the house, I ordered them to come in and share the pizza dinner Sunita had prepared earlier for us. Okay, I didn’t “order” them to join us, but I strongly encouraged them, perhaps even pleaded a bit. They gave in after a few very close lightening strikes shook the neighborhood. We all ran into the house together before being blown away or struck by lightening.
We had a good time talking and eating, and learning a bit more about Shree and Kashav. After salad and pizza, the rain seemed to peter out. “Can we leave?” Kashav asked. Man, I felt like we had been holding them against their will, force-feeding them. “Yes, you may go,” I replied, a bit taken aback. They thanked us for dinner and rumbled off on their motorcycles. But before they left we invited them for dinner again tomorrow night, since it’s our last night. We’ll see if they stay. :)
By the way, Nima is still in the mountains with his son. He had some things to take care of out there and he's supposed to fly back tomorrow. We hope to see him before we head back to the States!
this is QUITE a journey!!!!! i love all your pictures and the way you tell the stories. it feels like we were there.
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