Holi Moly What A Super Stupa!

Today I go to the Stupa at Bhodanath  it is the largest in the Kathmandu Valley and one of the biggest in the world.  I am as always goingto walk there, I am doing this inspite of the fact that today is Holi, the Hindu festival of colour.  This involves young men, women and childen throwing water and powdered paint at each other and everyone else.  It is a two hour walk to Bhodanath.

As I leave in the morning at about 9:30 my street looks very earie.  Everywhere is closed today and where one would normally find brightly coloured clothing and shiny brass statues there is now just grey metal shutters.  I will have breakfast on my way or at Bhodanath.

The walk takes me in more or less the same direction as Pashupatinath as my destiantion is just a little to north so only the last half hour or so will be new to me.  I am wearing my hiking trousers (waterproof and quick drying), my hiking shoes (Gortex) and a bright white Daz doorstep challenge winning t-shirt.  After walking past a lot of closed shops and armed police I pop into a cold store to buy some biscuits and a coke for breakfast, so far I have only had to deal with a couple of poorly aimed water bombs thrown from rooftops. I have been walking for about an hour.  My shirt is still whiter than white.

As I get into the more populated area's the streets narrow and the Holi celebrators multiply.  Water is sent hurtling from the rooftops some in small plastic bags some straight out of a bucket, all you can hear is laughter and yells of "Happy Holi, Happy Holi!"  I should point out that I have made it perfectly clear that I am up for playing Holi, it is true that some people who don't wish to play get splatted by what the papers dub 'Holi Hooligans'  but I haven't come across this.  Eveyone gestures before throwing powder or water and everyone incluing myself is in high spirits.

The further I walk the more I get bombarded, luckily for me despite having a whole day that involves throwing things the Nepalese don't appear to be very good at it and I arrive at the Stupa wet damp but with only
a splat of red on my front and a splattering of purple on my back.


I walk around the Stupa a few times (clockwise naturally), there are a few children playing Holi but there are a lot of Buddhist Monks here today for an anniversary of some discription and when I arrive the air is filled with the sound of drums and chanting.  You can walk up onto the first raised part of the Stupa and I do this and have another walk around.  There a re parts between the outside walls and the raised platform that I am on where gardens have been planted, these are surrounded by butter lamps, it must look stunning when they are all lit in the evening.  I find a place to sit in the sun, read my book for a while and give my shirt a chance to dry.

I repack my bag, wrapping everything in my waterproof jacket to keep it dry.  My notebook, Ki Fed Membership Card and passport have all been victims and are pretty wet, completely my own fault of course.  My plan is to walk to Kopan Monastery where there are a lot of Buddhist Nuns, nearly all Tibetan, I guess from my map that it is about forty five minutes to an hour away.  As I make my way out of the square a man comes up to me wishes me a Happy Holi and after checking it is okay rubs some red powder into my cheeks.  As I find out later this is a sign that I am well up for playing Holi.

Twenty minutes that is all it takes for me to be soaking wet and covered in red powder, my t-shirt is now a reddish pink and sticks to my chest, my neck, my ears and my face are totally smeared with red, yellow and blue powder.  It is great fun and the locals love seeing a Westerner up for a bit of Holi fun away from the relative safety of the city centre.  They genuinly seem delighted to see me and I cause nothing but howles of laughter from both adults and children as they see my bedragled frame make its way down the street.  However I now look a bit if a state and almost completely wet though, although the hot day is helping to dry me out.  The route to Kopan isn't as straight forward as I would have liked and amongst the chaos i decide not to go which is a shame but for the best I feel.

I retrace my steps back to Bhudanath.  More water, more paint and more smiles.  Everyone finds the sight of me hilarious (At this point I look like a skinny Henry Rollins from his 'Liar' video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxrd_jZJxkg)  They can just about get out a "Happy Holi" before bursting into laughter.  Its a real shame that more westerners don't venture outside of the tourist spots in Kathmandu for this festival, it really seems to mean a lot to the people of this city. Everyone is so happy and playful, I even get a Buddhist Monk throwing water at me.  At first he gestures with the bottle and when I nod my head a massive grin spreads across his face before like an over excited child he hurls the contents of the bottle at me.  Later just outside the Stupa I see several Monks packing brightly coloured water pistols, they really are big kids.

Back in Bhudanath I decide to have a look in one of the monasteries.  The lobby walls and ceiling are all painted with religious art work it is stunning.  Unfortunately the monastery itself is closed but there is still access to the roof which has great views.

Afterwards I head for lunch at one of the rooftop cafe's.  As I have mentioned I am totally covered in red.  As I walk in the waiter doesn't blink but the other immaculately dressed diners stare agog.  I go and wash my hands and mouth before tucking into a bowl of thumpa and some banana fritters, all washed down with a nice cup of Nepali tea, delicious!

With my belly full I decide to head home by this point there are a fair few groups of very drunk lads walking around covered in colour and they all want to be my friend and cover me in yet more powder, by the time I get home I am a state.  The friendly guy on the door of the hotel who always greats me with a big smile and a 'Nameste' doubles up when he see's me.  I have really enjoyed the day, my only regret is that I didn't bring my white trousers and shoes with me.

In the evening I go and have a pre-birthday dinner  with Lee-Ann and her other half Micheal at 'The New Orleans Cafe'.  Jazz and blues is being played and we have a very nice meal in the courtyard outside.  Micheal is an engineer at a power plant in Dubai and a really nice guy.  They have both been in Bhaktapur for the past couple of days, I full Lee-Ann in with what went on at work and they tell me all about their trip and their terrifying bus ride.  C'mon guys say I it was only an hour long.  They shout me dinner which is very sweet and we head back to ourt hotels.

In the lobby of my hotel is a sign that says the front shutter will be closed from 22:30.  I get back at 22:15 and the shutter is down.  After trying unsuccesfully to find a way in through the back I go to the next hotel along as my room overlooks their garden and ask them i f they know of a way in around the back.  "Have you tried banging on the shutter?" they ask  I havce but go and do it again anyway, no response.  They try phoning tyhem and yelling at them from their garden all to no avail.  I am just about to ask them the price of their cheapest room when I guy ushers me outside, he has opened the shutter of the hotel.  I thank him many times before sneaking back to my room and going to bed no questions asked.