Kathmandu - Round One

---

So, Ram (Madan's brother) met me at the hostel, and we headed out for a drive on his motorbike. As I've mentioned previously, I get such a rush from being on the back of a motorbike, especially when exploring new ground, so I was a happy bunny! We drove to the Pashupatinath Temple, and walked along the the Bagmati river, where cremations taking place. It was a very public affair and not how you'd expect a cremation to be. From a western perspective, at least. You could be forgiven for not actually knowing what was taking place.

Further along the river, there were monkeys playing in the water. I was reluctant to get too close, as some of them were big, bold and mean-looking, and I had visions of them snatching my bag. Still, the young ones splashing around was a wonderful sight.

Later, we went for dinner and I had a mutton sekwa set, which consisted of barbecued mutton, with puff rice (like Rice Crispies), pickles and salad. It was delicious, and the first meat to have crossed my lips in over two weeks.

Now, the hostel I was staying at (Alobar 1000) was a dive. How they expected so many people to share such a small number of bathrooms is beyond me, plus, the doors to the toilets and showers were high off the ground and low enough even for me to peep over. The dorm rooms were like saunas. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed. I was in desperate need of a good night's sleep after the previous night's travels. I didn't get it.

The next day, I checked out, and Ram and I went to discuss my travel plans over lunch. En route, we saw an old man throw water over some teenage lads as they were running out of a building. The lads retaliated by throwing stones. Ram said the likelihood is that the lads were doing drugs in the stairwell, and so the man was chasing them away.

And so, the planning began.....

---

Photos

Cremations taking place on the Bagmati River
Pashupatinath Temple in the background

"Hey hey, we're the monkees! People say we monkey around...."
They sang it, I swear!!!