The pictures worked!!!
First & Second Pictures:The Boudha Stupa. I hope to return and get more detailed pictures. It was amazing!
Third Picture: A view of a city street - don't be deceived though, there are normally MANY more cars and people.
Fourth Picture: A row of policemen hanging out near a huge rally. Most likely it was a political rally, but we never found out for certain.
On the agenda today (actually 3 days ago – we haven’t had internet access since then!) was a trip to the post office for airmail envelopes and postcards, a trip back to the bank for our ATM cards, and finding an internet café that actually had internet AND food. There may be a few things in the above sentence requiring clarification: Business days (days of work week) are Sunday through Friday here, rather than the Western work week of Monday through Friday and ‘internet cafes’ are rarely cafes. More often they are cramped little places with a few computers that you pay to use. Finding a restaurant or coffee shop with wireless internet is very exciting here because there are so few in the non-touristy areas.
My roommate and I left the house at about 11 this morning and began our walk to the area where the bank and post office were. Getting to the area took about 40 minutes because of the distance – finding where we were looking for took another 2 ½ hours. We found the bank first after about an hour or so of walking, and then walked for another hour or so before we found the post office, and another 30 minutes to find a bus. We had originally planned on going to a café my roommate knew, but our many failed attempts at finding bus #26 led us to Boudha instead – we easily found a bus going there.
The Nepali bus is very different than anything you see in the states. They are essentially vans with wooden planks near the windows that you sit on. The planks are maybe 7 feet long on the far side, 5 feet long on the side of the door, and the driver is separated by a pane of glass, but the 2 seats next to him are nearly always filled. Riding a Nepali bus is like riding in a clown car – the more impossible it seems that anyone else would fit in the bus – the more likely 2 or more people get on. The bus itself has two workers – a driver and conductor. The conductor hangs out of the door yelling where the bus is headed and shepherding more and more customers onto the bus. No matter how little room, everyone is expected to scoot over even further to allow the new people seats. The bus I was on had 7 people packed on the far bench, 6 people (including the conductor) on the bench near the door (you can’t sit where the door is because there is no door – it’s just an opening), 2 people on the short bench in the front, and 3 people (including the driver) in the front seat. I have no idea how one more person could have fit. Regardless, Swetha assures me that I haven’t seen anything yet – most of the buses are far more crowded!
Boudha is a neat area in Kathmandu where the majority of the Tibetan population lives. It is predominantly Buddhist and there are a number of monasteries in the area. It is also home to the famous Boudha Stupa, a massive religious statue that is most commonly associated with Buddhism but has significance in Hinduism as well. The statue is adorned with thousands of prayer flags, and prayer wheels are found circling the bottom. The area surrounding the Stupa is quite obviously a touristy area, with many shops that sell souvenirs and handmade items. The café we went to is in this circle of shops. Boudha is a relatively expensive place to live or stay but is a wonderful area to visit. I hope to go back and explore more when I’m a little less tired!
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