As Bob Segar said ... I think I'm goin' to Kathmandu!!

Home of the Himalayas and beautiful people

I really had little idea of Nepal and what it was all about other than one of my favorite Bob Segar tunes that was more catchy than descriptive. I knew it was Everest ....and I knew it was Spiritual and I knew it was very close to where the earthquake struck last April that registered 7.8 on the Richter scale and well well over 100 on the holy fuck scale. With over 9000 dead with another 22000 wounded it is a major tragedy of our times. And we always focus on the dead and injured as a measure of tragedy but it is so much more than that -- as it usually is. The effects will be felt for many years socially, economically and sadly, culturally. So many important historical sites have been reduced to ruin. While the small temple on the left has not fallen ... it is clearly unstable and unlikely to stand for all of time as originally intended. There are many that look like this...and many much worse. Kathmandu is a dust bowl with major infrastructure destroyed and ongoing efforts to repair hampered by life that must continue, uncooperative weather and  serious economic deficiencies. When I traveled north by bus --- it was 12 hours to cover 200 kms with the bus getting stuck a number of times on the main highway. It's very rough.







There is no escape from the physical manifestations of the deep spiritual relationship the Nepalese people have with their panthenon. Symbols buildings and customs permeate every aspect of life here.  Most are easy to understand and appreciate. Others are more complicated and shrouded in mystery.  I visited the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu and watched the cremation ceremonies on that day. At first it was incomprehensible and I gagged a few times as the smell of burning flesh caught me unaware. I looked away a few times finding the sight hard to absorb. But slowly, and after some time, I began to get more comfortable with the idea. My friends and I made some off-color jokes about having a bar-b-que later ... or "who loves ribs"...and while in bad taste are a reasonable defense mechanisms when westerners come face to face with practices that are not sanitized, commercialized and containerized to separate all aspects of life from death. Here, on the banks of the Bagmati river, the family gathers early in the morning to prepare the body by washing it in the river and wrapping in cotton. According to the deities worshiped, different rituals then take place leading to the body being placed on a platform constructed from hay and wood. The fire is then continued until all traces are gone and the ashed simply swept into the river to begin a life elsewhere.











An interesting social reality I learned about was that the farther down the river one goes to be cremated... the less karma you had at the time of your demise. So at the top you have Priests, children under twelve and woman with unborn children. The Priests because they have served. And children under 12 as they have neither gained good Karma nor attracted bad. That's how the mothers with unborn get to the top of the list as well. But as you travel down the river, the ceremonies are less ornate, the crowds smaller and so on. Imagine having to publicly cremate your uncle who has lived a roguish life and is far from the Priests and under 12's. It struck me that this custom, while hard to imagine is a way of publicly shaming families of those who lived life dishonestly, or cruelly.

Recently in Pakistan there is the case of Revenge rape of a 16 year old girl that was ordered to satisfy the crime committed by her brother. He had raped a 13 year old girl and been caught. A Jirga was convened which is a body of local elders who review honor killings and the like -- and they adjudicated and selected this punishment. Some pretty crazy ideas here... wtf!

Pictured here is a beautiful young Nepalese boy with my lunch of 3 fresh hot delicious samosas. Filled with potato, peas cashews and served with a tahini and chilli honey dip... they are only one of the many amazing foods in this country. Cost: about 20 cents each. Lunch for less than a dollar is also a favorite of mine.

But for me...it's the genuine smile on his face. It's a look you see again and again despite the ravages of the earthquake and poverty that has been endemic in this region. Kathmandu is a calm peaceful and beautiful place that time has remembered fondly and history will never forget. The birth place (well Lumbini 100 kms away) of Buddha and the launch point for of 10 of the 14 highest mountains in the world, it is a unique and special place.

I would like to return to Kathmandu someday and see the progress made but I suspect it will be many years before real progress is a reality .














Thanks for Reading.....Layno!!!