Week 15: Asia Holy Hell
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| How can something be Genuine and Fake at the same time? Ask Asia! |
Hello everyone I’m writing to you tonight on the eve of a big strike from Pokhara Nepal. All I can say is said in the title: Asia Holy Hell.
I guess we should go back to where we left off, in Pamukkale in Turkey. I spent Tuesday there as well, waking up nice and early and making the 8 am hike up the Travertines through those warm healing pools and towards Cleopatra’s pool. I decided there that the price and fullness of the place was top much to be worth it and instead I headed to some isolated benches overlooking this natural wonder where I did some reading and then some productive editing of Disappearing Eyes turning what in my mind was one of the most troubled and poorly written chapters and turning it into a strength of the novel in my mind.
After that I needed to catch my bus off to Selcuk a town very close to the ancient ruins of Ephesus, so I leisurely made my way down the Travertines and bid goodbye to this unique calcified wonder of the world, which much like Cappadocia was a favourite and something unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Once at the bottom I had a lovely mixed grill lunch and then caught a minibus towards Selcuk. It was a long ride, comfortable enough and again I met up with a nice lady from Japan who had been on both my Pammukale tour and one of the Cappadocia tours. Turkey was neat that way, running into people again a few days later, even the old Taiwanese man showed up again.
I settled in to my hotel room (less and less dorms these days which I both love and hate, but rooms seem just as cheap and easier to find too) and had a delicious dinner before getting to bed early and enjoying one of only a few good sleeps over the past few weeks. The next morning I woke early for my tour of Ephesus and the area which was pretty amazing. We saw the ruins of the ancient city, visited the Temple of Artemis, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world, saw an ancient mosque, visited a carpet making shop, and ended the tour with a second buying opportunity at a leather outlet where together with 4 Japanese girls on my tour we got to watch a strange small fashion show which I then got dragged up into. Beautiful Turkish men and women walking the runway in expensive leather, all blown out of the water by my sexy strut. Trust me. No pictures were allowed, because I was too damn hot. The girl models all said so, they keot saying how the leather really brought out my sexiness and I rocked it hard. I mean why would they lie? It’s not like they were trying to sell….. ohh, penny just dropped, never mind. Here’s some pictures of Ephesus:
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| In front of the ancient library! |
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| This cat is a straight up model. |
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| This complex etching meant Brothel coming up on your left. Notice the heart, the left foot and the money signs. Men would lie and tell their wives “No Hunny I’m just going to the library. (mutters under his breath) For some paid intercourse) |
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| The ancient amphitheatre. Back in the city’s hey day the sea began at the end of that road, now it’s some ten miles off. |
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| My Japanese friend on an priceless turkish silk on silk rug, |
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| When you rotate the rug the colours shift almost entirely, like magic, trust me! |
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| All that’s left of the temple of Artemis, one of the ancient wonders of the world. Swarmed by 10 puppies and the kids of an international school in Istanbul. Maybe I’ll teach there one day. |
That night I got a strong craving for western food and randomly found a restaurant called pizza pizza with boxes like home and a menu not too far off either. It was a nice treat after a few months without really indulging in north American style food at all.
Thursday was a long, long day. I caught a shuttle to the Izmir airport around noon, got on a 4 pm flight to Istanbul, and then waited in the airport until midnight when I caught a 5 hour flight to Sharjah in the UAE, then after a rushed connection hopped on my four hour flight to Kathmandu.
My layover in Istanbul was very interesting even though they frustratingly did not sell electronics in Duty Free which means Nepal will have less pictures as my camera is only 75 percent functional at the moment, but it got interesting when a group of middle aged muslim men dressed in full religious attire engaged me in a long discussion about Allah and the importance of faith in the world. It was interesting and while there was certainly a conversion bent to the discussion it was always respectful. The best moment came when one of them told me a story of a white friend of there’s who felt as if there was always a mountain on his shoulders, then he looked at the stars and invited Allah into his heart and the weight was lifted. He was happy for the first time. It was nice to be able to tell the man honestly that I was already immensely happy, but I did thank him for taking the time to talk to me, even if I wouldn’t promise to go to Muslim organizations he knew of everyday in Toronto when I got back to Canada.
The UAE was hot, we flew over Dubai, but my connection was so short it was just race through the havoc of the airport to make my flight to Kathmandu which I just barely managed. Let me just say, flying long haul (any length really) with a blood clot history sucks. Sleep is just too big a risk to really fall into, and I have to force myself to stand up and walk around making a public spectacle of myself (something I don’t mind doing but it gets annoying always being in the way of the flight attendants.) All that said, deep down I know I’m lucky as hell, there was a long time that summer when I really didn’t think I’d be able to walk normally again. I can do all that, hell I can even play most sports through the pain, and I’m travelling the world. Suppose it’s a fair trade off.
I arrived in Kathmandu at 12:45 pm local time and got off the plane quickly making my way to the visa counter with my prefilled out form (thank you internet) I even managed to convince the immigration officer to put the half page sticker over a stamp or two thus preserving crucial free pages in the airport.
I got my bag which arrived easily (something I was worried about with my short connection time) And headed out into true Asia. Two words again. Holy Hell.
I emerged with the knowledge that my hostel had sent someone to pick me up with a green and yellow sign but as I emerged to the Kathmandu air I was greeted by hundreds if not thousands of taxi drivers, most of whom worked for separate hotels. Mine was nowhere to be found, I waited half an hour then managed to convince a guy to take me to my hostel for only 100 rupees more than the hostel pick up was supposed to cost.
Driving through Kathmandu set the realization home, I really have come to an entirely different world. The car barely fit me, so with my head tilted half out the window I watched in awe as we passed tiny street markets, small shanty towns, endless crowds of people and just so much dirt and garbage, on, at the best of time barely paved streets. The frantic soundtrack of the city is enough to set anyone’s heart racing, chaotic chorus’ of countless cars honking incessantly, mixed with the near constant haze of careless conversations and bargaining sessions drifting in all setting the backdrop for the taxi drivers friend the travel agent who sat in the front seat and tried to sell me all kinds of different tours as we went. The smells of the city were interesting too, as they shifted with sudden ferocity, from burning rubber, to burning garbage, to intoxicating smells of curry and other such food, all underpinned with the two opposite scents of car exhaust and fresh mountain air.
At any rate by the time I got out of the taxi at the edge of Thamel (the popular tourist neighbourhood) I was feeling countless different things, many amazing and many not so amazing. I have a feeling that travelling in Asia is going to be a lot harder than it was in Europe. Upon reflection I don’t think that’s a bad thing, as I feel like it will also be more conducive to personal growth and creative inspiration, but I was definitely feeling the culture shock Friday afternoon.
I got to my hostel Alobar 1000 and was welcomed warmly before being shown to my bed, unfortunately the sheets for the bed were not yet ready so I was not allowed to sleep. The mattresses, are certainly different in Asia, barely thicker than mattress pads and laid out on top of planks of wood within the bed frame. They’re not too bad really, but certainly not designed for the rotund gentleman that I sadly still am. At any rate I wasn’t allowed to find that out yet and instead endeavoured to stay awake, taking a brief walk around Thamel before returning to the hostel overwhelmed and burying myself in some editing.
My first few hours in Kathmandu reminded me a lot of a clear night sky, so many glimmers of promise, and excitement, and amazingness, but a kind of all encompassing, overwhelming darkness lurking behind those lights. I still felt very safe, but I’ll definitely be keeping a closer eye on my baggage then ever before, theft seems an epidemic here, which is no doubt linked to poverty, unlike any I’ve ever seen before.
Even in my one hour wander, I was actively approached by beggars a couple of dozen times, arying from young children, to old men, to young mothers who ask you to buy them milk for their babies (then resell the milk). IT is a strange quandary, as giving to these people is discouraged by almost everyone, traveller’s and citizens alike, and it is also a dangerous thing to start doing as they are constant in Kathmandu, but at the same time what right do I have to walk by these struggling people and neglect to help them as I travel the world on an inheritance? How can I claim to be a good person and do that so constantly? I don’t have any kind of answer yet, but it’s stuff I’m thinking about. Maybe I will try to find some time to volunteer and teach English for a week or two in a smaller town, of course that would also limit my time in India, so maybe I’ll just have to come back to Nepal. The terrible tragedy of travelling is this: you think the more places you go the less you will have left to see, but it’s the exact opposite. For each place I visit I hear of at least 2 or 3 more that I must see but have no time of. Endlessly frustrating.
Okay, so I managed to stay awake until 6 pm when I joined 4 hostel guests and one of the staff on a free nighttime tour of the monkey temple. I figured this might be a good way to bed in to Asia a bit more easily and boy was I right. The monkey temple is insane and I cannot wait to revisit it during the day. It’s basically what it sounds like. A series of Buddhist and Hindu temple structures, in the heart of Kathmandu atop a giant hill, but it’s packed to the brim with monkeys, and more than a few stray dogs. And even at night there were monks, playing music, fraternizing, and then doing endless loops of the min temples. One monk amazed me, as while wearing the full traditional robes, and spending over an hour circling the temple, I finally noticed he was wearing crocs. Is he part of the hipster monk culture that I’ve just made up in my head right now? I think so.
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| Monkey Temple By Night. |
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| Where’s Waldo? (I named the monkey Waldo) |
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| A tiny Taste of the Monkey’s Available. |
So w’re here, and our host is telling us all about the temples around us but meanwhile, all the previously mentioned players are deciding to fight. Okay not the monks. But monkey on dog? That’s a damn interesting fight, especially when the monkeys out number the dogs about 20 to 1. It was somehow hectic and serene, frantic and calming, Loud and silent all at once. It was a wonderful tour only spoiled slightly by a man who tried to make us pay him an entrance fee even though our host assured us after 6 the temple is free. We got away though and didn’t pay. Also I just apologize for the quality of photo, my camera, and my camera skills are both absolutely shocking in the darkness. I should take some kind of workshop this summer on photography.
At any rate we got back from the monkey temple and me and three other guys (2 from the Netherlands and one teacher in training from Australia) decided to go find some food. Somehow we ended up in a pizzeria, which while very good, was also hugely expensive and not at all local food. Keep in mind hugely expensive here is like 15 dollars for a pizza an appetizer and two non alcoholic drinks. But still, it was a fulfilling meal and by the time I crawled in to bed my eyes were already closing. I slept for 12 hours straight through and ended up feeling very much refreshed the next morning, even with the paper thin mattress.
Saturday I ventured back out into Thamel in the morning and slowly grew accustomed to the chaotic sensory pallet of this place. I learned one thing quickly, to be decisive is the only way. If you are trying to cross the street just cross, keep a steady speed, ignore the honks don’t hesitate, just go. It seems the only way. Lunch time rolled around and I found a quiet little restaurant where I had my first Nepalese cuisine , a version of dumplings called Momo which had me saying “Mo’ Mo’ More please.” (apologies).
I headed back to the hostel and got a bit of writing done before trying to go to the royal palace museum where one of the princes went on a murderous rampage wiping out huge sections of the royal family back in 2001. Conspiracy theories surround the place but reading about it was insane, unfortunately it was closed for the day by the time I got there so I just headed back to the hostel and chilled with some travellers who’d been to a farmers market and had bought some cow urine which looked and smelled exactly like you’d think it would. I think I’ll need another week of acclimatization before I’m ready to drink such a thing. They claimed to have been told it’s good for you in just about every way and also said it tastes worse than it smells which seemed hard to believe. Wouldn’t it be awesome if this was just some scam the market ran to see how many stupid westerners they could convince to drink cow urine. Sadly I don’t think that’s the case.
I had a decidedly more appetizing dinner up at the hostel restaurant on the rooftop looking out at the sprawling city of Kathmandu which consisted of more Momo and the most delicious cashew chicken I’ve ever experienced. All for about 3 dollars Canadian. Nepalese food is not just cheap though, there’s also an amazing mi of influences from India and china alike creating something I’m definitely excited to explore more, and at those prices I can afford to do it. Saturday I ate like a king and stayed at a nice hostel and spent all of 11 Canadian dollars. Pretty incredible.
So as my facebook friends will know, Nepal is having an election the 19th of this month, and it’s a pretty contested thing here, I’ve seen countless protests and rally’s already and even more soldiers with rifles. Several parties not participating in the election have announced a 10 day strike starting this Monday. During this kind of strike transportation and in fact most of the city is shut down. I’ve read about cab drivers being dragged out of their cars and beaten if they dare to go against the strike and drive a tourist somewhere. Now that’s obviously an extreme and it should also be said that after the first few days of the strikes things usually chill out a bit, still, on a last minute whim I decided I didn’t really want to be trapped in a city the size of Kathmandu for that long and so I quickly rearranged my hostel reservation, booked a hostel in Pokhara and reluctantly set my alarm for 6 am.
Pokhara is the second city of Nepal and located in the shadow of the Himalaya’s around a beautiful lake. It is reputed as the ultimate chill out spot in Nepal and also gives access to a few of the easier treks I’m considering trying. (Everest base camp with a blood clot seems a bad idea and we’ll just ignore my poor physical fitness) Pokhara also hold’s my father’s fondest memories of Nepal. Dad, I see why. But first the bus ride.
I’d read a lot of horror stories about the buses in Nepal, and I opted for the safer, trained driver not child driver tourist bus which cost a total of 6 dollars for the 8 hour journey. It was far from a smooth ride, the road conditions and crazy winding mountainous paths make it an adventure, but for an adventure it went very smoothly.
I spent the whole of the day watching the countryside as we crept up and down the foothills of the mountains and drove through countless small towns, snaking along various rivers surrounded by lush forests. The Nepalese people themselves have to be some of the most photogenic people on the planet from a westerner stand point. Colour is everywhere and they seem to take up crazy positions. It’s also just that everything is different, the style, the landscape, the architecture. I saw so many amazing photo moments as we meandered by but never got the chance to take any as I was seated in the middle of the bus. (This was a good thing, it let me stretch my leg).
I met a few nice people on the bus with me, an older gentleman from the isle of Man who was been paragliding in Nepal for 15 years off and on and certainly liked to talk about the countless offers of prostitutes he receives here, a nice but quiet couple from Italy and france, and an interesting guy from Belgium who is now sharing my twin room for the next few days. At one point in the journey we stopped for lunch, a heaping plate of chow mein for a dollar. It was delicious and had an incredible view, but the photos turned out.
Finally around 3 pm. We rolled into Pokhara and I ended up bringing all but the older Isle of Man man with me to the guesthouse I’d booked the night before. The twin room is very comfortable even with the thin mattress and the owners are incredibly friendly. All for 3 dollars a night.
At any rate, though we were exhausted by the bus ride we dropped our stuff and took the streets, which were still crowded and touristy but miraculously I felt suddenly at home here. I am already in love with Pokhara after a few brief hours and feel like it will be the perfect place to spend a chunk of time and get into some writing, some hiking, some food, some boating, some souvenir shopping, and maybe even some paragliding? Probably not the last one as it’s expensive and I’m a coward.
My Belgian friend and I spent the afternoon going through trekking shops to find out about renting sleeping bags, heavy duty coats and everything else you need. I’m thinking of buying a bigger daypack and leaving my current one attached to my big backpack, they seem pretty cheap and it might well be worth it and also facilitate a trek. I’m thinking of trying Poon hill sometime next week.
We then found a restaurant perched above the lakeside, looking out into the mountains and the setting sun, above a local youth soccer field and had a great dinner. I also had the pleasure of finding out that they will be showing the Manchester United vs Arsenal game there tonight, so I’ll be headed there within the hour though I doubt that this blog will be up until tomorrow as I need to add pictures. At any rate here’s some shots of the view from our table.
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| View from the Table. |
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| Old money vs New money. 100 equals just over 1 dollar. |
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| Nepal take out, just noodles in a bag. |
Pokhara seems like Paradise, even if a rather hectic one. I think I’m going to like Asia, and I think its going to be very different from anything I’ve ever done before. That newness and unknown quality is just about the most exciting thing I can imagine, and now I can’t wait to explore.
Luke
Monday’s Addition
So I’m adding in today’s experiences while they’re fresh in my mind. Last night I had a great time watching Manchester united beat arsenal over momo’s and hot chocolate, getting to know some young Nepalese men who were very friendly and also tended to support Manchester united. It made for a glorious ending to my first day in Pokhara even if the midnight walk back to the hotel did seem a little sketchy, especially since the strike was starting the next morning.
At any rate I crawled into bed and got a great sleep, waking up just before 9 and packing a day bag before heading out to look for a good place to write around the lake. I had thought I’d be trapped but I think the strike got downgraded at least here in Pokhara and while there was a heavy police and military presence in the town, it felt and was perfectly safe. At any rate, the writing part of the equation didn’t happen, as walking felt really good and I just kind of kept going, past the end of the lake, through countless tiny villages, and into rice fields alongside rivers.
At one point I was even invited over to a family who was harvesting and cutting the rice and they spent half an hour honing my rice cutting and harvesting skills and we talked and got to know each other. The elderly mother and father spoke next to know English, but all three kids who seemed to be about my age spoke really well and we got to know each other a bit which was a fascinating experience. It made them very happy to know that my Dad had been here something like 30 years ago and that I had decided to come too. It was a really fantastic travel moment. Anyway I’ll let the photo’s tell the story of the rest of the hike but keep in mind everything you see the Himalaya’s are just off in the distance, which only made this day more incredible. I feel like I definitely may be stuck in Pokhara for a while.
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| Hawk’s are everywhere here, so much fun to watch. Wish I had a better camera. |
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| Paragliding is huge here. Looking back at Pokhara over the lake. |
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| I almost walked into this spider, half the size of my hand. |
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| Baby goats. There mother was tied up and tied up and bleating hard as her babies had followed some hikers away. I figured this out and lured them back She was happy. |
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| River running through rice fields. |
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| This seems like an epic picture to me. I wonder if my bag will be in better condition after this. |
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| Momo’s!!! Fresh fish from the lake in these ones. So delicious. |
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| The Himalayas. |
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| More mountains, peeking above the hills like a toddler peeking out of their mother’s skirts. |
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| Last of the mountains shot. This peak looks intense. |
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| Whte Heron Stork Like Birds in the rice fields. |
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| Locals harvesting rice with the lake and Pokhara in the background. |
Song of the Week: Headlights Eminem feat Nate Reuss.
I can’t get this new Eminem album out of my head it seems.
Reading Log: The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan and A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. My E-reader is acting up somehow, not quite broken but not quite working either, so I picked up a paper copy of the martin book at my hostel.
