Down By The River Where The Dead Men Go.

Today is a very busy day.  I decide to try and catch up with my blog in the morning after breakfast and then I go and do a little bit of shopping for gifts.  I am meeting Lee-Ann for lunch at what is becoming our usual spot, it is called The International Restaurant and does fantastic Indian style food for very cheap.  After lunch I head to Pashupatinath which is Kathmandu's main Hindu temple just to the east of the valley, it is also where they burn the bodies by the river.

I walk there as I do everywhere, it is the best way to see the Kathmandu or any city for that matter.  It is true that catching a bus or a taxi is an experience in itself but you miss so much.  As I walk east and start to leave the centre of Thamel the area's I go through become much poorer, there are many signs advertising secondary schools and universities as well as a small football ground with concrete tiers.  I also pass bicycle repair shops (Not a fixie in sight, almost makes up for all the hippies) and carpentry stores where intricately carved window frames and doorways are being produced..

Before you get to the temple there is a massive bustling market to get through,  I had no idea this was there and it was a bit of a shock, thousands of people milling about looking for bargains down this narrow road.  The market itself sells cheap plastic toys and shoes as well as other clothes and kitchen ware, as you get closer to the temple more religious paraphernalia comes to the fore.  Men stand by the stalls shouting prices whilst holding aloft their produce, other stalls have megaphones blaring out the same recording over and over to help save their voices. The stalls in Kathmandu all have the same philosophy of stack it high and sell it cheap.  There are stalls that are just piles of bangles or shoes or... well pretty much anything as long as you can put it in a pile they will sell it.  As I walk through the market it becomes clear that I am pretty much the only westerner there I am also the tallest by a good foot.

At the temple I pay the quite frankly expensive 500R to get in and I go and look at the cremation ghats along the river.  To the right as you enter the area you can go and stand and watch the cremations and take pictures it is traditionaly where the commoners were allowed to view ceremonies. I am told this by a man who obviously wants to be my guide, I explain to him that I don't want a guide and he slopes off.  Shortly after this two young lads come up to me and start asking the usual questions.  Where are you from? Is this your first time in Nepal? etc  I assumed they were trying to sell me something and I was a little guarded but I don't think they were.  I actually believe that they are local students who wanted to practice their English with a native speaker they seemed interested in what I had to say about life in London, they even warned me off getting a guide.  "They do not care for Nepal, they only care for money. You should read your book and look for yourself".  I feel bad for being so defensive when they first approached we chat for a while before they head off on their way.  People seem to genuinly want to talk this side of the city, I get a lot of teenage girls walking past saying hello, they find it hilarious when I respond with a cheery "Hiya!" or a boomy  "Hello". It also appears to be less touristy and I seem to be of far more of an oddity here more than anywhere else I have been in Nepal.  I stay and watch a pyre for a bit, a man pokes the embers with a stick and a foot pops out, thats enough of that for me.

On the other side of the river there are lots of Shiva shrines and you can view the riverside ceremonies (funerals) from a high vantage point, where you get a great view of the grimy but sacred Bagmati River.  The funeral processions themselves are fascinating, a man leads whilst blowing into a shell which makes a deep and droning horn like sound, behind him the bodies are carried wrapped in colourful cloth and covered in flowers with the mourners just behind.  It is very peaceful up here on the other side of the river and I rest a while before carrying on through the park to Guhyeshwari Temple.  I take a wrong turn in the park and end up finding another temple called Vishwarup.  I have a look around the outside as people seem to be worshiping and living inside and I felt it would be obtrusive.  Around the back of the temple some youths are playing volley ball it is quite the contrast.

After walking back and getting back on route I walk through another temple area where there are lots of Yogi's.  They don't appear to be doing anything that holy but they look the part as the pose for tourists.  Past this area is more of the park area which contains about four monkeys to every human, I see one drinking from a juice box it looks sweet until it gives evils and barks at another juice loving monkey.  A little further on and down some steps I reach Guhyeshwari Temple.  Only Hindu's are allowed inside and it is not much to look at from the outside.  A ceremony does spill out onto the streets though, I believe it is a wedding there are two people being carried piggy back style out of the temple and there is a marching style band playing music, everyone is dancing and clapping and the crowd are dressed in finery.

Time is getting on and I decide to head back so I can be home before dark.  On my way I see two monkeys attacking a dog, which is nice.

After working my way back through the market I get to the football stadium, I game is about to commence and I kinda wish I could go in and watch but I do not want to be this side of town when the sun goes down.  I stop a little later for a drink, I go over to a small shop and purchase a Pepsi, there is a sound in the building just behind the shop that sounds like crowd noise coming from a television.  I think it might be the Cricket so I go and have a look to check what the score is.  It turns out that it isn't a telly but an arcade football game.  The machine is in a hand build wooden case with no paintwork just a couple of stickers.  There are three kids there watching the machines they see my camera and start to pose running up to see the image in the back of the camera and laughing.

About thirty minutes later and I'm nearly home.  I decide to pop into Himalayan Java a swanky coffee house to have a cup of tea, some cake and catch a bit of cricket.  (In Kathmandu there aren't any chain stores.  No Starbucks, No McDonald's, No Burger King.  I have seen one KFC but thats it.  This is obviously a very good thing.)  After India have a bit of a collapse in their last ten innings I head back to my temporary home with some snacks to watch South Africa bat, unfortunately there is no live cricket on any of the channels on my telly so I end up watching the world news and an Austin Powers film instead.  I am a little annoyed I didn't get to Pashupatinath earlier and make a day of it as I missed the Yogi caves and didn't really see much of the main temple/courtyard.  Still it was an enjoyable and productive afternoon.