Durbar Square, Kathmandu

After Thamel I made my way to Durbar Square, about a 20 min walk from my hotel. I feel as though that walk was more representative of what Kathmandu is actually like.... Along the route that I walked the earthquake damage was prominent. There were random crumbled buildings, streets with huge holes and piles of rubble, clearly less fortunate people, and overall a sense of.... Quiet and sadness, it definitely wasn't a bustling area like Thamel. But then, I did choose not to take main roads and instead saw what I think is more local life. Some streets I walked down didn't have a single other person on them, maybe a stray dog if anything. Never once did I feel unsafe in these areas, if anything I enjoyed them more than the bustling areas with the crowds and the people pushing to sell you things. I wish I could have taken photos here, but again I didn't want to be disrespectful. I will definitely not forget the extent of the damage though, or the 5'2" woman carrying bricks and rubble out of a damaged home into a truck. Or the pregnant lady with 4 kids who looked so sad. I stopped to talk to her and bought her some tea and milk, which she was grateful for. She invited me to her home but I declined, as I say, I'm still not entirely used to the city and don't know how these things work. She did seem genuinely sad that I didn't accept, gave me her phone number and insisted that I call her tomorrow to come over. Maybe I'm skeptical but I think that I'll be passing on going to random people's homes, although I have heard that to be invited to a Nepali woman's house is a great honour.

When I finally reached Durbar Square and began looking around I was approached by a guide who wanted to give me a tour of the area. At first I didn't appreciate the intrusion but after chatting and haggling on a price (see I'm already getting better at this ;) ) I agreed to let him take me around. And I'm glad I did! I could have done as others did and read the map and information points but he showed me areas that I would never have dared go into on my own. His name was Rama. There's so much that he told me about the square that I don't know if I can remember it all! What really stood out to me though was the extent of the damage to the temples from the earthquake. You could really see what the effects are on unreinforced brick... Cracks in the walls of temples that were lucky enough not to fall down and piles of rubble for less fortunate buildings.. From what he explained Durbar Square is where people go to worship the different Gods. There is one for forgiveness, for knowledge, for lovers/finding a husband (he made sure to take me there and explain why I should take special note lol). Also in the square is the home of the living Goddess, a girl who is chosen from the people and lives there until her first menstruation. After her first period she returns to her family and apparently becomes a nun because "no man wants her". It's more of a curse than a blessing to be chosen for this role it seems. Another thing that stood out about the square was the abundance of sexual aspects and respect for the genders. There were many references to male and female parts in almost all of the temples, Rama explained it as "women have many talents that men do not and men have a few that women don't so they need to work together". Makes sense if you ask me! The other thing that stood out from what he was saying was the sacrifice of water buffalo... They sacrifice 108 a year (12 months x 9... Somethings that will come to me that makes 108 a lucky number). You could see the blood staining the temples.. There were lots of people there praying, ringing bells to bring mental acuity and awareness, leaving flowers, and eating candies made of sugar and seeds. Apparently tomorrow is a big holiday to celebrate the coming of longer days. Sounds similar to our Solstice, but something that everyone will be celebrating here. I'll have to make sure I get out and check it out tomorrow!

After the tour Rama showed me a local artist shop because that's my new thing, collecting art or cookbooks from the places I go, and I picked up a handmade item showcasing the different months, virtues, and stages of heaven/hell a person can go through. They are painted by hand on cotton and will last for years apparently. The artist says that it is common to see these things hanging near the front door in Nepalese homes, I'll be sure to keep my eyes open when I'm next in someone's home!

Rama also showed me to a good place to eat authentic food for a reasonable price on a rooftop patio. I invited him to join me and we each had a beer while I ate traditional Dal Baht (which was delicious and reminded me of Indian food but more diverse and with more components). The beer was pretty good and came in litre bottles, Gorkha it's called. We chatted about everything from Trump and Clinton (he knows more than I do oops) to his arranged marriage to how it's strange to see an independent woman in Nepal to how I need to be careful about people trying to win my heart for my passport. It was quite an enlightening conversation to be honest! He was very honest with me and confirmed what I had read on the internet. As he put it "a negative sentence can have a positive meaning". As in, he didn't want to scare me with what he was saying but clearly thought that I should know. He says that he's seen "accidents" (women falling for local men, men getting into their country, then men divorcing and breaking heart of women) happen to all kinds of people but never to a (North) American woman. Guess our ingrained skepticism is good for something after all. Apparently it is also a commodity to see a woman alone as typically Nepalese woman are very dependent and scared to travel alone even in their own city. This conversation explained the odd looks I have been receiving and the question I've been asked at least a dozen times today "you're travelling alone???" And why he thought I might like to leave an offering for the God that is supposed to find me a husband ;)

Different culture, different values, very friendly! I quite enjoyed today. Exhausting as it was, I'm not used to walking so much clearly! Plus I'm also jet lagged clearly. I returned to my hotel before 5pm local time, sat down to rest a bit and woke up at 11pm... Missed meeting someone I had met earlier today to go see the Monkey Temple and everything. Now it's 12:30 and I'm fairly wide awake. I made traveller mistake number one: never get comfortable enough to fall asleep on day one of travelling! It's always worth fighting to stay up to get over that jet lag. Oh well, I'll pay for it later I'm sure.

I should message the Volunteer organization I'm working with and let them know I've arrived. Perhaps tomorrow I'll try to find their office and also visit the Monkey Temple. On that note, I have told a few people who've asked that I'm volunteering rebuilding schools and the response has been overwhelming! People have been thanking me profusely for dedicating my time to help their people. And honestly, if the main city is still showing this much damage almost a year later I don't know what to expect from the rural areas I'll be travelling to.... We'll see soon enough I'm sure! For now, I'm going to try and get back to sleep... Try to fight this jet lag!

Oh, and for anyone who was wondering, my cough is getting worse. The air pollution here is heavy. Combined with dirt roads that are constantly kicking up dust my lungs are not happy. I've been seeing lots of locals with masks to protect their nose and mouths and I'll be making good use of Scarves to do the same from now on!Read more