I started this blog as a place to write and record places visited. Since then, it's become a hotch-potch record of life. Eventually, I'll even try and group things. For now, a random post.
This story was written a while ago and begins not on the day that The List was started,
but on the 9th of October 2014 – my 49th birthday. We were in a hotel room in Kathmandu, Nepal
where we had spent the last four days exploring this mad, dusty, busy, colourful
city. The night before we had met our
travel companions, eleven people of all ages and walks of life that we would be spending the next
two weeks with and our guides.
Opening the curtains and flicking on the kettle, the sun was
just rising and the city awakening. When
Emi wished me a happy birthday, one of my first thoughts was "holy fuck, the next
birthday would be the big five zero.
I’ve never really given much thought to my age, I certainly don’t feel
“old” and I don’t act my age. Is that a good or a bad thing?
A yoga session was the first “activity” on the agenda and I
joined some of the others in our group for a bit of breathing and
stretching. Balance has never been my
forte, hence I’m crap at yoga and there was no way my stomach was ever going to
be able to do the “rolling” that our instructor seemed to be effortlessly
doing. My attempt was rather more like a
spare tyre bouncing around between fits of the giggles. But never mind, may as well, limber up for
the trek ahead and a bit of mindfulness never goes astray!
After breakfast, we set off for our tour of Kathmandu. Starting thirty minutes late was possibly a
sign of the day ahead. Of the four places we were visiting, we’d already been
to two, so we were looking forward to our first stop, Pashupatinath Temple, one
place we hadn’t visited.
Our tour guide for the day was a smiling man (we think he
may have been sipping something slightly stronger than chai), who told endless
bad jokes and only stopped mid-sentence to answer his constantly ringing mobile
phone.
The Pashupatinath
Temple is a large sacred Hindu temple complex on the banks of the Bagmati River. It’s also a crematorium where the dead are
burned and their ashes pushed into the water.
It may seem a strange place to visit as we would be witnessing some of
the cremations taking place, but the complex is open to tourists and charges an
entrance fee, so I guess they must be OK with it.
After a short walk around, we were asked to wait at a spot
across the river where we could see several bodies in various stages of the
“burning” process. There had been a mix up
and we were waiting for another group to join us, hence all the phone
calls. When the second group arrived, we
walked around some more, our guide providing some information between awful jokes.
Standing on the bridge with the body of an old lady being
prepared by her family and the lighting of the torch that was then used to
light her mouth was morbidly fascinating.
Felt slightly uncomfortable witnessing these peoples grief, rather
like intruders, but couldn’t look away. Like
slowing down at a car accident scene.
Other areas around the complex were made up of some
interesting temples and structures and after what seemed like a long time in
the one place, we headed back to our bus.
From here we headed to the Great Stupa, known as Boudhanath. Now this was one of the places we had already
visited so were quiet happy to head back to the lovely Spanish restaurant
“Casita de Boudhanath” that we had found on our previous visit and watch the colourful
crowds with a couple of local beers.
We had arranged to meet back at the main entrance after an hour and at the appointed time, we dutifully returned and waited. And waited
and waited. One of the drawbacks I guess
of organised group tours, but waiting for over an hour in the hot afternoon sun
was not really the way I had wanted to spend my birthday.
Just as we were about to jump in a taxi and leave, we
finally spotted someone from our group.
They hadn’t left us, we weren’t standing at the wrong gate - they just
had their own delays at the place they’d stopped for lunch. After another 20 minutes rounding everyone up, we were on our way.
Next stop was Patan, across the Bagmati River and not too
far from Kathmandu. And like Kathmandu, Patan also has a gorgeous Durbar Square
full of temples, palaces and statues. A very quick visit to the Patan Museum
and the Golden Temple, but sadly we just didn’t spend enough time here to discover and look around. A place to one day return to.
Rushed back on to the bus, our last stop was Swayambhunath,
commonly called Monkey Temple. The complex consists of a large stupa at the top
of a hill surrounded by various shrines and temples. Luckily we had visited a
few days earlier and had time to wander and explore after climbing up the steep
front steps before realising that there was an easier way up at the back. But good practice for the many steps that lay
ahead. Sadly the cute monkeys that we
had spent an hour watching diving into the monkey swimming pool, had decided
that the pool was closed for the day. It
is a beautiful place and the view over the city of Kathmandu as the sun went
down was well worth the repeat visit.
On the bus on the way back to the hotel, we were at least
two hours behind schedule. Everyone was
tired and hungry, lunch not having been a success. Finally headed out for a late birthday dinner. Third Eye was a fabulous Indian restaurant
where we had a corner table sitting on cushions. Great food and a lovely dessert with a candle
bought out by the friendly waiters made for an enjoyable evening.
Feeling full and somewhat apprehensive about how the rest of
the tour would go, we waddled back to the hotel and went to bed. Happy birthday to me! Certainly an eventful and unique day and not
too many people would be able to say they had spent part of their day watching
bodies being cremated.
One day, I'll get around to including some of the stunning pictures that Emilio took.
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| Happy 49th Birthday to me! |
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