First Adventures

March 27th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kruithof

I should have brought my (paper) journal with me, so that I could remember what’s happened since my last entry….it hasn’t been long, I know, but my brain feels overfull already. I had my first daal bhat with the ‘old’ volunteers at a Nepali restaurant (rice, lentils, curry, cooked spinach, curd, all mixed together), which will be what I will be eating twice a day, everyday once I start my volunteer placement. After the day with the ‘old’ volunteers (who were only in Kathmandu for their one day off), I was left to be on my own. None of the other volunteers are due to show up until right before training starts on April 1.

The place where I am staying (Hotel Tradition) is in a district called Thamel in Kathmandu. The first time I left Tradition and stepped out on to the street by myself I was totally overwhelmed…the stores are packed together with hundreds of signs so that you could be looking for a place and walk by it 5 times without ever noticing it. Maps here are essentially useless, as none of the streets are labelled, each map seems to have different streets on it, Nepalis don’t seem to be able to read maps, and if you take out a map to look at on the street you’re asking for instant hassling by local taxi drivers, “tour guides” etc. Besides being obviously western, compared to a Nepali, it seems that anything that gives you away as a tourist (especially one who just got here) makes you a prime target for people on the street trying to sell you anything from tiger balm, to trekking services, to rick-shaw rides, etc. I found it very exhausting to walk down the incredibly busy streets of Thamel.

The next day I decided I should try to do a walking tour to the Kathmandu Durbar Square (a historic open square in the city). I only seem to know one landmark near my hotel, and otherwise I think I get lost with every few steps I take. Everything is so busy and bussling, and looks the same (but different…ha!). Eventually I found my way to the VSN office and got my volunteer card. I also found a place for some breakfast (museli and curd) and stared blankly at a map of the route to Durbar Sq. Not long out of Thamel I found the first square where the walking tour starts. Suddenly the streets have very few tourists, but are even more busy. I was feeling nervous, as I was sure I’d never get to Durbar Sq without getting lost…and once lost there’s not much you can do but wander. Luckily I spotted a couple holding a Lonely Planet, and I took a chance on them. They were doing the same walking tour as me (thank god!) so I latched on to them. They had just come from two months in India and didn’t seem phased by anything (and she seemed a pro with maps)…thank god again.

I followed them through back streets, alleys, beautiful open squares with seemingly endless temples and religious statues. I felt much more comfortable being with other people, and also I didn’t seem to get hassled by locals at all with them! We finally made it to Freak Street (the orginal hippy hang-out of the 1960’s) and I had lunch with them (a plate of momos…tibetan steamed dumplings which were very tasty). We parted after lunch and I ventured into Durbar Sq. Amazing architecture and temples everywhere….but again, within minutes, I was utterly lost. A guy from Vermont (who had been in Nepal for some time already) approached me to ask where we were (haha…yeah right…), so I latched on to him to. We wandered quickly through the Sq.

Somehow we decided that we should go to Swayambhunath (the monkey temple) which is a Tibetan stupa (holy site). We said “Swayambhunath?” to a local and he vaguely pointed us in a direction. Probably over an hour of walking later (and many more Nepali fingers pointing in vague directions) we made it to the Monkey temple. Climbed up the stairs to the top of the hill where the beautiful white stupa sat…monkeys crawling everywhere, and monks chanting as people walked clockwise around the stupa. We left on a more direct route to Kathmandu, crossing back over the river (which has a hideous stench and is almost dammed with garbage). We had dinner together in Thamel, where I had thukpa (a tasty soup) and my first laasi (curd drink).

Long but exciting day. I was so glad to have met some exploring companions, as I never could have figured this crazy place out on my own!