London Calling!
Ya gotta love globalisation. Picture this:
An American woman travelling on an Irish passport walks up to a currency exchange counter in London and says to the Swiss woman working behind the desk,
"I've got Qatari riyals and Nepali rupees. Can you do anything for me?"
That was my welcome back to my adopted homeland this morning. :) (And yes - while they wouldn't buy the smaller rupee denominations and I kept a couple of five-riyal notes because they're purdy, I did get enough back in pounds to pay for my ticket from Gatwick Airport to London Bridge station.)
Whew. I had a really wonderful time in Kathmandu. Exhausting and a little inconvenient at times (fuel blockades in the south of the country have been easing, but Kathmandu still has rolling eight-hour blackouts - oh, and you can't drink the water, obviously), but SO MUCH FUN.
I'm going to tell you about what I did in more detail when I post pictures (there are a LOT, mostly of temples, and occasionally of my brother looking faintly sardonic as he always does in photos :)), but for now, I'll give you a preview by saying that I experienced:
- Nepal's tallest temple (at five massive stories)
- Buffalo meat dumplings
- A genuine dhal baht (a sort of Nepali thali, or set meal with a few different curries and rice)
- A death-defying bicycle rickshaw ride with a driver who looked about ninety and moved like Evel Knievel
- Dancing street dogs
- Yak cheese
- A Nepali high school punk battle of the bands (no, really)
- Lots and lots and LOTS of monks (well, I mean, I saw them, I didn't "experience" them, as that sounds pretty filthy, especially for monks)
- YAK CHEESE
- The temple that houses Kathmandu's living goddess (a little girl, held to be the reincarnation of Kali, who's chosen at the age of four and dismissed to go live a "normal" life when she hits her first period, which must lead to the biggest case of post-child-stardom trauma in the WORLD)
- Absolutely stunning architecture, from the temples to the wooden lattice windows and tiny, quiet courtyards that line the streets
- The urge to punch the next person who offered me a tour/bicycle rickshaw/taxi/pashmina/trekking holiday
- Military personnel's underpants
- A museum housing, in a place of honour, the late king's personal fish tank
- An English-style pub quiz run by an American for various American, European, and Asian expats (and the occasional local) at the pizza joint he runs in the back streets of Lazimpat. SERIOUSLY. (My team won.)
- YAK CHEESE!
(The yak cheese wasn't that suprising - it was like a very mild, smoky European cheese, just made with yak milk. I just like to say "yak cheese" because it's so much fun. Try it yourself. Go into a fairly quiet place, like a library or an office or a funeral home, and suddenly shout out, "YAK CHEESE!" There - isn't that liberating?)
More to come - illustrated!
And Josh - sorry that I didn't find you any fabric, but I wasn't sure the medieval costume you had in mind would look accurate done in the filmy pink sari material - with sequins - that's popular in Kathmandu markets. :)