(Note: We recently returned from a month-long trekking trip in Nepal. This is my second posting from that trip.)Kathmandu is a dizzying, frenetic splash of humanity, noise and color. We found that we had to take the city in small doses: We'd venture out onto the streets and meet someone who was, oh, let's say a snake charmer. Several such encounters later we'd suffer attacks of sensory overload and beat hasty retreats to the quiet courtyard of our hotel for a cup of tea or a beer.
We’d come to Nepal to trek in what we assumed would be the stunning and inspiring Himalaya, but first we had to survive a crazy--but also exhilarating--city.
I once visited New York City on Halloween--New Yorkers jammed into the streets at night in masks and costumes, all trying to outdo one-another in a kind of impromptu Peoples’ Theater of the Macabre. Kathmandu seemed to have the New York-on-Halloween vibe everyday. It was both exciting and intimidating.
Our Nepali hosts told us that we’d arrived during the Hindu festival Dashmi. The faithful were out offering prayers, while, just across the street, it was a typical day in Kathmandu: Goods were being transported to market; a Buddhist monk could be seen spinning his prayer wheel.
Back home when we were first planning this trip, Leah and I had hoped our travels would give us a glimpse into a new and different culture.
In Kathmandu that first day, we knew we had some kind of adventure ahead of us.
