Old Town, Kathmandu

Fair warning: this post is a bit of a rant...

Alright Kathmandu. I think I'm about done with you. It's a great city filled with amazing buildings, culture, and friendly people. But some of your people are driving me insane! I don't mind the hustle and bustle and packed streets, though I do still prefer the quieter areas. What is driving me nuts is the number of people who try to scam money out of me! The number of times I've heard the last few days "I'm not looking for money" or "I just want to practice my English" or "I'm just a friendly person" and then you turn around and ask for money? It's frustrating! It makes me skeptical talking to the people who are genuinely just nice people looking to chat. And, I did meet a few of those nice people today, and those nice people are the reason I don't totally hate things right now, the reason I'm still happy and had a great morning. But the rest of you are giving your people a bad name in my opinion. And maybe I'm seen as an easy target because I'm a white woman travelling alone, apparently have a friendly face, and am "innocent", but boy do I wish that you'd stop following me down the street continuing to talk when I say "no" or blatantly ignore you. Since when is saying "no" in a firm voice and walking away without making eye contact an invitation to keep talking?! I swear, I feel as thought I've been very rude to people today yet still they continue to pester me. And again, it's not everyone, and I won't judge based on a few select individuals (some of whom I have come to recognize and avoid on the streets actually...) Because I had a genuine conversation with two people today.

One was a student who was legitimately curious about Canada and just wanted to hear about my country. He didn't ask for money or for me to buy him food or feed me any sad story; he showed me to the old part of town out of the goodness of his heart. He showed me the tooth God, the holy tree, the locals market, some old wooden houses carved from individual trees, explained the temples again (walk clockwise for good luck, ring the bell to wake up/bring mental alterness/notify the gods), and talked about why his faith was so important to him especially following the earthquake that left lots of people living in fear.

The second was an older gentleman who recognized me as Canadian from the hoodie I was wearing (Whistler woo!) I stopped to talk to him because of that alone. I discovered that he was married to a Canadian woman once and lived in Calgary for a number of years. He's back in Nepal now to continue making jewelery but still visits Canada occasionally. We shared a cup of tea and talked about home and families, it's clear he misses Calgary quite a bit and was happy to hear about the country. He invited me to meet his wife and children but I declined. He also put me in touch with another solo female traveller from Holland, but being that I leave tomorrow I don't think that I'll get the chance to meet up with her. Again, a genuinely nice person that didn't try to sell me anything though I did ask to see his shop and saw something that I really liked. My decision there, no pressure.

So, it's people like them that make me love the Nepalese culture and that's how I'm going to remember Kathmandu. It really is a gorgeous place, I love it. I'm just feeling a bit bitter right now towards all the scam artists. I'd still recommend a visit if anyone were to ask ;) Though I am ready to move on to the country side where perhaps there will be more authentic people and less folk trying to get money out of me. Afterall, I'm a poor student as well! Although not by their standards I know.

Anywho, I'm back at the hotel now because I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I did find a nice cashmere sweater though along the way that will hopefully help with the cold. It's frigid in the mornings but warms up significantly as soon as the sun comes out! I also bought some tea because my hotel has a kettle and I keep thinking I need to go out and get some.. Maybe I'll try that after I finish the beer I bought myself before returning to the hotel ;)

I'm not sure what this afternoon holds for me. I'm meeting the volunteer coordinator this evening to get more information about the placement I'm leaving for tomorrow. Maybe I'll try to find a place where I can meet some fellow travellers and see what their thoughts on the city are...Read more