Back to Bodnath

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Alan Stock

Day 77 – Location: Kathmandu; Nepal

17/11/12

I couldn’t get to sleep last night, a problem I’ve been having lately. Maybe it’s because I started smoking cigarettes over the past week. Camille smokes and I gave it a go. I smoke the occasional joint when it’s going, but only occasionally cigarettes. I liked the buzz I got from it and started to smoke a bit. I know it’s stupid but I’m in a mood where I feel like trying new things. I’m already cutting down. It’s interesting to see things from the smoker’s side. For me it’s definitely a habit thing, when you want a break, lighting up is a good excuse and gives you something to do.

So I woke up really late and after lunch I finally caught up on the diary completely and did some blog work. I was expecting to hear from Jhabraj today so I didn’t do anything else in case he wanted to meet, in the end he never called and I spent the day killing time.

Small stupa at Bodnath

Day 78 – Location: Kathmandu; Nepal

17/11/12

I walked to the medical centre to get my last rabies jab, then spent the rest of the day in Thamel relaxing and working on the blog. I heard from Jhabraj, who was in Kathmandu to fit out and apartment he had hired for his daughters who had just graduated from university and so needed accommodation whilst they looked for work. I met Jhabraj and Sophie in the evening in a local restaurant, and Bhupen came to join us. We chatted away about Indian travels and Jhabraj invited me to join him and Sophie the day after tomorrow to visit his village up in the Langtang region.

Night falls over Bodnath

Day 79 – Location: Kathmandu; Nepal

18/11/12

Had another chilled out/boring day updating the blog, and popped into Thamel to collect my repaired small camera and zoom lens. Unfortunately they didn’t have a camera to test the fixed lens so I had to lend them my big one. That was annoying because later I was going to Bodnath specifically to take photos in the evening sun, now I’d only have my small one. At mid-afternoon I caught a taxi to Bodnath (my third visit there!) and met Sophie and Jhabraj. It was busy with locals. I took some snaps with my little camera.

Bodnath in the setting sun

Sophie and Jhabraj spin a giant prayer wheel

Evening prayers

We had dinner at the same rooftop restaurant I’d visited before and we chatted until nighttime, when we were hoping the butter lamps would be lit, enjoying the ambience of the sunset and the haunting sounds of the Tibetan horns. Unfortunately for Sophie, there didn’t seem to be much going on tonight, with only a few lamps lit around the stupa. We caught a local bus back with Jhabraj’s help and I went back to pick up my repaired zoom lens. I was pretty lucky to even get it fixed in Nepal, Panasonic is not a popular brand there. It was expensive for the repairs, but not compared to the cost of buying new equipment, and I was sick of walking around with what amounted to two paperweights! I went to bed early in anticipation for an early start tomorrow, when we’d be heading up to Langtang.

Jhabraj and me well-prepared for the winter with our puffer jackets!

Ceiling art in one of the temple buildings

The sun vanishes over a temple-themed hotel

Sunset over Kathmandu

Divali: The Festival of Lights

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Alan Stock

Day 72- Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

13/11/12

It was the third day of Tihar, called Divali (or Diwali), the Hindu festival of lights. I wanted to go around in the evening to see the lights and so I had the day free. I wandered up to Thamel. It was still super-busy in town and I walked some of the backstreets on the way, coming across food stalls selling sweets and cakes for the festival, and many people selling mallas (marigold garlands). In Thamel I went around the shops asking about prices of sleeping bags, jackets and other bits and bobs I’d need for another trek. Now that winter was coming it was going to be very cold up in the Everest region where I was interested in going. Prices wildly varied and in some cases I knew you could get half of what they were originally offering. I also popped into the courier agency I’d used to send my passport application and they confirmed it had arrived in Hong Kong. Good.

A weird walking guy. These iPod t-shirts are really popular here and Facebook ones too.

A guy with a really weird walk. These iPod shirts are really popular here and so are Facebook ones.

Busy festival market

Festival mallas

Tihar food for the brothers and sisters day

Today there were groups of kids going around from shop to shop with drums or tambourine shakers chanting out a repeating song. They would stand in the doorway of the shop making all this noise until the owner brought out some small money to give to them. I saw this throughout the day with loads of groups. It’s kind of their version of our Halloween trick or treat (though no tricks!) and with so many shops in the area they must leave with a good haul!

Children’s band

I had a tasty English breakfast bun in a restaurant and continued my hunt, asking about tours and trekking in travel agencies. I found a camera shop which was the first I’d found in Nepal to offer sensor cleaning as a service. I had two spots on my sensor which I couldn’t remove with my blower and so every photo had two dark marks in them. The guy knew what he was talking about and said they could also look at my broken big lens and my broken waterproof camera. I decided to come back later to get everything fixed.

Thamel

Street butchers. Nice jaw bones.

Some dogs get walked just like home. They are always posh breeds. I was told they often escape and breed with the street dogs to make the funny hybrids you see around!

I walked to the KEEP office that I’d been to before with Camille, to get some more information on treks. Unfortunately it was closed for the festival. On the way I saw a man decorating the ground in front of a hotel entrance with coloured powder. Behind it, leading into the hotel grounds was a trail of orange paint with little red footprints. I asked what it was for and they told me it’s for Laxmi, the goddess of wealth. Further through the day I’d see people doing the same outside many other homes and businesses with designs of varying intricacy.

I walked back to Freak Street. On the way I bought a hoody, the nights were getting way too cold now for the few layers I owned. I had a nap at the hotel and around 4pm went to the tempo stop near the bus station.

I caught a tempo going to Bodnath stupa, which I’d visited about a week ago but in the daytime. As today was the festival of lights I was hoping the place would be lit up and I knew the locals did their rounds there in the early evening. Half an hour later I arrived and entered to find the place packed. There were crowds of people walking around the stupa, way more I’d seen the last time I came. There were a lot of Tibetans and some groups of women were singing. A line of beggars were along one section and people would stop to give each one money. The sound of drums, cymbals and horns wafted down from the monastery windows. The sun was already setting and I only got a few golden light photos before the shadow came – I should have come half an hour earlier.

The line of beggars

Making the daily prayers

Another Laxmi line being constructed leading into the business.

After a few rounds of the stupa I was hungry and climbed up to a rooftop restaurant in the circle of buildings. The view was good, the stupa in full view and the sky slipping into twilight, temple tops, roofs and the hills in the distance silhouetted against the orangey blue. As I tucked into the tastiest pizza I’d had in my travels (it was only a veggy one too!) I soaked in the atmosphere as loud, alien sounding horns boomed out with the sound of chanting and drums waving over the site.

It was dark now and I did some more stupa circuits. Outside the shops butter lamps had been lit around the ornate designs painted on the ground in front of each one. Other lamps sat in hollows along the stupa wall. I passed a monk who was sat meditating despite the bustle and hustle passing him.

Inside a doorway in the stupa wall was a small area where inlaid statues were lit by lamps. I had my tripod and took photos of them, a young kid was watching with interest. I called him over so he could see the camera screen, and let him push the remote trigger to take photos, which he loved.

Outside I walked by tables full of lit butter lamps for sale, and one small shrine was covered in them, a monk lighting and placing them on steps around it.

I caught a taxi to Thamel and we drove by buildings wreathed in coloured electric lights. It looked like Christmas. So many buildings had rows of lamps and the Laxmi paint designs on the floors. It was really nice. In Thamel I dropped my camera off to get the sensor cleaned, and then walked back to Freak St. The lamps sitting along the narrow old streets on the way made for a charming scene, it felt like I’d entered a fairytale book. I popped into the local bar to use the wi-fi and then went to bed.

Passport Woes in Kathmandu

Posted on March 10, 2013 by Alan Stock

The stupa at Bodnath

Day 66 – Location: Kathmandu; Nepal.

07/11/12

Because I didn’t take many photos during this entry, I’ve added some photos from earlier days that didn’t make it into the previous posts.

Camille and her sister didn’t seem to be up so I grabbed breakfast alone and took a taxi to the immigration office, about twenty minutes drive from Freak St. There were lots of tourists queuing up and I wondered if I’d have to wait for hours to speak to someone. Thankfully a Nepali man asked me why I was here, and I explained I needed to talk to someone. “I work here, what do you need?”. Great. I explained the situation and asked how I could extend my visa. “If you don’t have a passport, how can I give you a visa and stamp it?”. Fair enough. “You need to get a temporary passport first and then come here and we can extend the visa.”. Well that was surprisingly straightforward!

A Tibetan woman spins the prayer wheels at Bodnath stupa

I caught another taxi to the British consular. To my dismay, the lady informed me that they couldn’t issue a temporary passport to stay in Nepal. The emergency passport is just to get out of the country. “So what am I supposed to do?” I asked. “Apply for the full replacement passport, confirm it with us and we’ll write a letter for the visa office asking if they can help you.”

So off I headed on a quest to apply for the full passport. This was a mind numbing combination of trawling through internet sites finding out the correct documents to print and forms to fill out, phoning my parents for their personal details, photocopying documents and so on. Even after doing it all I still wasn’t sure if I had all the things they needed, as the websites all have differing information with no clear outline about what you have to give them if it’s been stolen. I took a late lunch at a nice little restaurant called Kumari’s on Freak St which I’d been to before. It’s frequented by locals and travelers, with good, cheap food and a homely atmosphere. I sat outside filling out forms and a local guy sat down on my long table and started chatting to me. He was formerly a pilot and had visited the UK to learn to fly small aircraft. He was starting a business in Nepal with two water tankers who would provide people with water when they have water shortages in Kathmandu, under contract. A friend was going to work for him and send him the money – so he planned to move to Thailand to set up a business. A real entrepreneur this guy! He also moaned about the lack of available Nepali girls and wanted to get a Thai girl instead. He bought me a drink and insisted I try some of his meat balls (more innocent than it sounds!). Another example of the friendliness of the Nepalese!

A “rest station” at Pashupanitath

In the evening I had finally finished getting everything together for the application and walked up into Thamel in the hopes of finding a courier office that was open. Thankfully the area stays open later than the rest of the city and I found a few couriers open. I bundled all the forms into an envelope with a cover letter explaining the situation, asking them to contact me straight away if there were any problems and prayed I had enclosed everything I needed. It should arrive in Hong Kong in a few days and from then the new passport would arrive within 4 weeks in Nepal. The next problem for me would be getting Nepali immigration to allow me to stay without any passport. Exhausted, I headed to the hotel and worked on the diary for the rest of the evening. There was no sign of Camille and her sister but she’d left me a note saying they’d missed me and we’d catch up tomorrow.

Even the bridges have stalls

Day 67

08/11/12

I slept pretty well despite the cold. It’s getting a lot colder here at nights, winter is coming in a few weeks. I found Camille and her sister downstairs in the restaurant, about to head out. They were off to Bhaktapur for a big day of sightseeing. I wished them well, I had another day of visa joy to look forward to.

The dirty river in Kathmandu, with birds of prey circling overhead

I took a taxi to the British consular and told the lady there I’d applied for a full passport. She wrote me an official letter explaining the limitations of the temporary passport and asking the visa people to help me out. I thanked her and caught a taxi to the immigration office. It was chaos there again. I asked a random guy for help who turned out to work there. You wouldn’t know it, none of them have uniforms.

I had to go through the same explanations and was again told without a passport how can I extend the visa? But I said without a passport what can I do? Finally he conceded and said I could stay in the country until my full passport arrived, then I should come back there with all of the supporting documents and I’d have to pay a fine and other visa fees. That was fine with me, I figured it would still be cheaper than buying a temporary passport and getting out of Nepal at the last minute. He scribbled down his contact details so I could contact him if I had any trouble. A big weight was off my shoulders – now I could stay in Nepal until the new passport arrived (fingers crossed the application was ok).

Tikka dye vendor at the Durbar Square

Feeling good I phoned the Consular to let them know, and got a taxi back to Freak St. I spent the rest of the day catching up on the diary, which was still a week behind. I got a snack at Kumaris and again a random local guy chatted to me, curious about my Kindle. It’s a great place to meet the locals.

Durbar Square, this statue gets a lot of offerings

I spent the evening in the hotel restaurant. I’ve got to know the waiter here a bit, a young Nepali guy who speaks English but is often unintelligible. When he reads my diary on the screen you can’t understand a word of it. He inserts S sounds into everything, and can’t pronounce some of our basic sounds like “th”. It makes communication interesting for sure!

Durbar Square, Kathmandu

Alan Stock Photography

My travelling (mis)adventures. It's ok to cry.

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