Adventerous Times of Kathmandu

Depteek, Sepideh, and Banu

I never imagined I would ever visit Nepal. For some reason this country appeared in my mind as a magical and intangible place to reach. I was brought to the reality of being present in this country while being pushed past and nearly trampled over in the arrival terminal by those eager to obtain an entry visa into Kathamndu. Oh right, I left polite and patient Thailand for the Asia I remember from 4 years ago.
I am very fortunate that I had a friend to visit. Sepideh and I met in a Reiki class in 2010. Immediately I felt like I was among family with her, and a year later, I was. Not only did Sepideh host me for a week, but I was also welcomed into the house and arms of her parents. I had the opportunity to have some amazing conversations with her parents over tea, cookies, dinners, and walks to the nearby Swayambhu Temple.

I arrived without a list of things to do and see around Kathmandu and was on my own for most of the time, spending many hours walking around the busy, loud, polluted city; finding public transportation to be chaotically difficult to figure out, and felt awkward taking taxis everywhere.

My first real adventure was to the Thamel area, a place with small crowded streets lined with touristy and trekking shops jammed with a few good restaurants in between.  My first real meal in Nepal was a banana curd lassi, a potato veg. curry, fried dal, and chapatis. AMAZINGLY tasty!

If only I had room left, I could have also enjoyed a Samosa bought from a guy and his bike. However, I found myself stuffed and exhausted and enjoyed an Ayurvedic massage, the first good oil massage I had received in MONTHS!

I took in a few sites including the Rani Pokhari ("Queens pond") located in the middle of a pond, the largest ornamental pond in the city, built in the 1670s to help the Queen grieve over the death of her son. Today, this site is shut off to the public and appears to be guarded by armed officers.

women wear red for 3 days

Reclining Buddha at Balaju Park

I was in contact with two girls from couchsurfing.org to show me around the city. The first girl I met was Ishu, a 19 year old student who lives in the northern part of the city. Her and her younger sister were excited to partake in the dancing part of Teej, a three day Hindu festival for women that involves fasting, dancing, and praying for their husbands long lives, or for a future husband.  My new friends were disappointed to find that no one was dancing when we arrived at the park, so the next 30 minutes turned into a bit of a narcissistic photo shoot, as each sister wanted their picture taken, numerous times, in just about the same pose, and only by themselves. If anyone would like to see more same same but different photos, I have about 30 more!

 

After I left Ishu, I walked for about an hour from Balaju to Thamel to Chhetrapati, and finally to Basantapur where I met up with another couchsurfer, Milan and her sister. Milan has been attending a college for travel and tourism and displayed a vast amount of enthusiasm for Hindu holidays and sites in and around her cherished city of Kathmandu. She kept asking me if I had been somewhere or eaten something, and kept shaking her head in disappointment when I said I had not. (And the reason I had not was because I became extremely ill while staying at Sepideh's parents house! After visiting a clinic and deciding with the doctor that I must have had some left over bacteria from Thailand that did not want to share my intestines with the bacteria from Nepal,  I was given some antibiotics and strongly encouraged by Sepideh and her mother to NOT eat from the street anymore!) Right then and there, she bought me a samosa (hurray!), a Famous Lassi from "the most excellent curd shop,"

    

and Puri Puri from a street vendor. These were so silly- little fried hollow doughs that the vendor smacks open and scoops dosa like broth into it- with his bare hands of course! I didn't mind, I still had two more antibiotic pills to take- Bring it on Nepali street food! 

Being the "most excellent" tour guide that Milan could be, she had me leave a sacrifice to one of Nepal's most important Deities, Bhairab, a fierce manifestation of Shiva associated with annihilation. Milan made sure to take me through Basantapur's Durbar Square without being charged the "tourist fee," and had us climb up one of the temples to watch the festivities of Teej take place. Milan was not allowed to dance because there had been a death in her family that year and Hindu's do not take part in festivals during a year of a death, however, she had no problem pushing me into the circle of women dancing and after I made my way out, she told me that I had "shaken my hips in a most excellent way!" My parents owe Milan a "thank you" as she insisted that if I want to be a good daughter, I was to buy them a red pashmina scarf, red being the color of her country.

I think my best adventure though was the one I never would have expected. My original idea for the day had been to have a pick me up coffee after visiting the Boudha Stupa and then take a taxi to a monastery nearby on a lush green hilltop. After talking to Tej, one of the new owners of Indulgence Coffee, we decided it was best that I did not walk up to the monastery. Instead, all I had to do was wait a few minutes for Tej to be done working and he would take me personally! It turns out that the monastery and its beautiful grounds were closed off to the public, which gave Tej an idea, and off we went again- to Sundarijal, home of Shivapuri National Park with its forest covered hills!

As we continued upwards, we approached the small hilly village, and drove through a festival, (literally, the crowd separated for our motorcycle) with our eyes on the heavy black brick of a cloud heading towards our destination. Sure enough, as soon as we got to the bottom of the mountain and parked the bike, sheets of rain poured down on us. After waiting for the worst to pass, we carried on and walked up the mountain, passing forgotten shoes, slippery stone steps, two mighty intense waterfalls that help create the holy river of Bagmati, past dense trees and bush, past the waterworks area, and to near the top to enjoy a well deserved Masala tea and coffee. By the time we were ready to descend, the clouds had cleared, the sun was out, and the path was still very slippery, and yet, neither of us fell- truly a magical day! A day with clear breathable air, a day of sunshine that felt refreshing rather than defeating, good coffee, a better perspective of Kathmandu and its hospitable people, and an amazingly kind new friend with a great perspective of enjoying life!

Oh Nepal...

Oh Kathmandu- you are such a holy place with so many Shrines, Deities, Temples, and Religions. You are so beautiful with your copious amounts of colors-your street flowers, women's Saris, Tibetan Prayer flags, Stupas, Blue and Green painted doorways, and offerings smeared and left behind wherever it is pleased to leave them. You are home to so many different Nepali Tribes and leave room to welcome Tibetans to live and foreigners to visit. You are a gateway trekking getaway and have so much to offer for those who seek.

Oh Kathmandu- you are so very noisy. Cars, buses, trucks, motorcycles; they all honk too much. Everyone clears their throats to spit. Dogs have so much to say and speak amongst yourselves night and day. The chickens cluck, the silver smiths clunk, and the streets are lined with Junk. And oh the garbage- it is everywhere and the smell of the city at times is that of diarrhea and stale urine. Everything seems, smells, and feels so dirty. 

Oh Kathmandu- your have so much great food to taste, but I am weary. The water and vegetables are hard to trust. I make sure not to visit the stenchy hole in the ground, I mean the toilet, before I eat because it will only scare me away from the establishment. Your Masala/Chai teas are those that please which good because the coffee here is a tease.

Oh Kathmandu- I have had so much time to rest, reflect, be alone, and be mindful, yet why do I feel so exhausted? I was looking forward to being alone, but instead I just feel lonely. My face feels flushed and my eyes feel heavy. I want to go home, I'm feeling ready. I want to walk somewhere and pause when and where I choose, without someone insisting I buy, look at, or feel a product. I enjoy to walk and don't always need your taxi. "Madam, madam, do you like this?" says the man playing a squawky high pitched child's toy string instrument. "No, no actually I do not. the sound hurts my ears and I would like it if you stopped following me." Oh how I miss making eye contact and exchanging a friendly smile without it being an invitation or anything more than what it is. I feel shut off to people. I feel as though I can not welcome those fun and random occurrences of meeting people because I fear to open up and trust anyone. This is so sad in a country that has many English speakers.

Oh Kathmandu- if only I could find some green saving grace that I can find peace in without worry of stray dogs or monkeys, or sitting in someones piss, shit, or spit.

Oh Kathmandu- It was so great to finally see the real you! A Nepali so Kind, with eyes to trust and a sense of hospitality to brag about. I needed to very much to see and be in /around your green mountains. I needed so very much to be able to make eye contact and share a sense of being human, to make an everlasting impression of a good person from this valley. My intuition was right to guide me to coffee, to speak with someone, to be open to an adventurous opportunity. I love the traveling world and how it takes care of me. I love that after I write about how I need a random occurrence, not even two minutes later, life presents one before me. 

        

Farewell to Thailand and its fine foods

Oh Thailand-  how sad it is to leave. To say goodbye to new friends, familiar faces of locals I have interacted with, sights both seen and unseen, and oh, how I will miss your culinary cuisine! In this final entry about Thailand I will brag of other amazing foods that I have eaten and have not yet mentioned. Due to my excessive eating habits, not all meals will be recognized, but know that each taste was savoured with joy and will forever be remembered in my heart and my taste memory.

Breakfast- a great place to begin.

In my last week I found my favorite way to start my day. I found a cute cafe that served relatively good iced cappacinos and an amazingly simple meal. This was my take on the dish and how I will attempt to recreate it:
An omlete of just an egg fried hard and fast without much scrambling of the egg so that some areas are of soft yolk, but fried hard enough so there is a bit of a crispy outside. It is then cut up and placed on a plate with a raw vegetable salad that has soaked in the juice of lime, tomato, and garlic. The shredded veg consists of carrots, celery (with the leaves), Italian parsley, white onion, and fresh chili pepers.

There are some fruits with a wide variety of uses, and luckily, one which is easily accessible when I return home-Bananas! Most of the bananas consumed in Thailand are baby bananas or "sweet" bananas. They can be found deep fried in batter and dipped in honey or palm sugar, cooked on the street in a Roti, cooked in coconut milk, turned into bread, as well as wrapped in sticky rice and then steamed in a banana leaf.

I also enjoyed this "banana roll" off the street at the Sunday Night Market- a banana wrapped as a spring roll, deep fried, and sold for the equivalant of about $0.33.

Switching tastes up a bit. There were several other authentic Asian restaurants around for me to enjoy. When at school, I ate Vietnamese dish Pho almost daily, was thrilled to eat Indian food in its several course glory, and when I saw a special Japanese dish-Okonamiyaki offered on the street, I had to have it! Okonamiyaki is like the lovechild of a pancake and omelete, a meal of many layers and cooked on a flat skillet. The first layer is batter, followed by lots of shredded cabbage, ramen style noodles, meat or seafood of some sort, a fried egg, then topped with a

salty sauce, mayonnaise, and green onion. Beleive it or not, but this is edible with chopsticks! If you don't beleive me, ask Deniz who witnessed in astonishment with her fork in hand.

 

 For the 5 weeks I was in Thailand, I was obsessed with eating noodle dishes! I loved wide noodle dishes similar to those I can find in the states- Drunken noodles, Pad See Ew, and Phat si-io, and others. I also however enjoyed my noodle dishes in other fashions. As my friend Karen who I visited in the Ukraine (look forward to reading about that soon) can atest, this dish is relatively easy to prepare. I attempted with a packet of ramen noodles, added vegetables, an attempt at a poached egg (Thank zou Karen) and curry paste to the broth.


And for the fianl courses-
I found a recomendation online to eat at a place called the "Funky Dog Cafe." True to the views of others, the food was delicious, the ambience unique, and the owner/Chef/artist was a rather inspiring fellow. He shared some beautiful words with me and 2 even lovlier meals, one being the yellow currry, the other a "mystical" tomato curry. I will attempt to make the tomato curry by adding sun dried tomatoes and cashews to my curry

paste. I (and Deniz who awaits my success) can only hope that my taste memory is strong enough to match the beauty and perfection that this tomato curry left dancing on our pallets.

Thailand, I miss you already. I thank you for all the opportunities you presented to me. I can not wait to bring my memories of you into my kitchen and massage practice, and to share you with my friends, family, and clients.

                           ~Sawasdee~

Thailand Temples and time to spare

I was in Thailand for 5 weeks yet only had 3 full weeks of class, and 1 week of half day classes, so I had time to spare for adventures. Most of my adventures took place with my new friend from Belgium, Deniz. Together we explored Chiang Mai's central temple, Wat Chedi Luang and all of its colorful offerings. We had excellent timing and were there to listen to the Moncks chanting, and I fell in love with an enormous tree wrapped in colorful ribbons held in place with walking sticks.

Our second main temple adventure was to the very famous temple, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, situated at the top of Doi Suthep Mountain only about 15 Kilometers north of Chiang Mai. Myself, Deniz, and a few friends took a Songtaew (red truck taxi) up the steep, twisting and turning, stomach churning, 2 lane road to the temple. The most impressive part about this journey was the amount of cyclists that made the steep feat up the mountain, and the risky, steep, fast paced ride back down.
After arriving half way up the mountain and to the bottom of the temple, I had to catch my breath from the drive before ascending the 209 stairs to the temple. As Deniz and I walked around to collect snacks, we saw some other friends from school and were soon convinced to jump back into a Songtaew to drive another 30 minutes up the mountain to get a glimpse of village life. The Doi Pui village was beautiful! Though Chiang Mai is not grotesquely polluted, it was amazing to be surrounded by so much green and wildlife! Deniz and I took the low path and found a great waterfall to pose in front of, then joined up with our friends to enjoy some gardens, views, and

     
to make fun of the other tourists that rent local traditional clothes and wear them while posing for photos.

We then headed back down the mountain a bit as we were hungry and ready to check out the Temple. We ate a typical Northern dish, Kao Soi,

and then headed up the many steps lined by the Dragon rails. The Temple itself, like most of Thai Wats (temples), was overwhelming with sights, smells of candle wax and insence, sounds, and Buddha relics.



Asami, Megumi, and Yoko

 I felt very fortunate to have viewed these amazing historical and religiously important sites with my new friends.

On a seperate occasion, Deniz had a brillaint idea to see more places, faster, and cheaper- Rent bikes!!! This was a huge success. In addition to finding Chiang Mai's China town, crossing the river and venturing into the permanent night bazaar, we also road our bikes about 15 Kilometers from where we lived to relax by lake Huay Tung Thao.

Deniz and I were happy to find we went the right way!

This lake was stunningly calm, bathtub warm, and home to who knows what creatures. When we saw locals jump in (with their clothes on), we followed suit (but in our bathing suites), and we were relieved to be out of the direct sunlight and to enjoy some shade and food under our own lakeside bungalo hut. 

 

Just when the day couldn't get any better, a large group of university students invited us to swim with them. They were excited to practice their English skills and thought it was hilarious that we had ridden our bikes. We decided to call it a day once we dissapointed our new friends in not knowing words to the few American songs that they knew and were singing.                          

My last big adventure, in Chiang Mai and with Deniz, was also spent on a journey in a Songtaew, this time on an hour journey outside the city to enjoy the natural hot springs of     and in the accompany of other friends Mel and Ruth. We noticed the egg theme upon arrival, but it was not until we saw the geiser and small hot pool with pegs to hold baskets of eggs that we understood what to do: Buy a basket of eggs, place it in the naturally boiling water, and then anywhere from 7-15 min later, enjoy a soft-hard boiled egg!! This turned into a very tasty adventure, followed by a medicinal soak in the pools.