Nepal, Kathmandu: 3rd's not charming

(Claimer 1: Dubai Post Completed! -- See April 30th "Dubai Take 2", the last post for April. YES, it's worth scrolling down. YES it's informative. YES it's sarcastic. YES there are pictures. Enjoy!)

Hinduism is the 3rd religion I've experienced,

And I've now spent 3 days in Kathmandu,

As of yet, not rreeaaallly charmed by either one.

(Disclaimer 1: I am sorry if I offend anybody in this post, it is absolutely not my intention. These just happened to be my reactions, very likely influenced by fatigue, hunger, cultural shock, Maoist shock, or (surprise) a combination. If asked whether I would go again, my answer is "only to trek - straight from Kathmandu International to Domestic terminals. If asked whether one should go a first time, I would answer ABSOLUTELY)

Hinduism:

Already mostly covered in my first Kathmandu post. Additions include:

Durbar Square ("Palace Square"): these are the old palaces, great carvings, fascinating stories, etc.All very beautifully sculpted. I just find it hard to see the cohesiveness... There are 3 main gods in Hinduism

Brahma - creator

Bisnu - preserver

Shiba - destroyer & regenerator

BUT, there are apparently up to 33 million different gods & godesses. That's a huge number! I can't even fathom, I mean, how many words are there in your average language? It was difficult to understand the notion of a cohesive religion if all people were praying to millions of different gods. And I am confused about the role of animals... The cow is sacred and is seen roaming the streets, Hanuman is the monkey god and has a temple guarded by lions. Then Ganesh, the god with an elephant shaped head brings prosperity & wisdom. I have to spend some more time on this, but I was definitely not as charmed as I was by the quaint Buddhist prayers.

There was a cool temple though, I forget its actual name but it was nicknamed "Hippie Temple" since during the 70s hippies would just come sit & chillax on its steps. Why this particular temple you ask? Likely for the errr ? 'otic' sculpting it had to display...

Now, Buddha became enlightened under a tree called the 'bode' (a female tree, cough) and this tree has a currently LIVING goddess named Kumari. Ie a baby girl is chosen (for specific features) and goes to live here

(notice the locked doors) so that the Hindu people may worship her. And she can't leave until she's 13? 16? Something like that.

Monkey Temple: VERY much liked this, felt like a little wooded-city-get-away. At the top there was a mini-market-lots-of-vendors-out type deal. But the reason it's cool is because it has Hindu & Buddhist symbols together.

(White monastery on left, Temple on Right)

And it has lots of monkeys (though not all of them are eating ice cream!)

Kathmandu:

When there is a Maoist strike / demonstration, it usually

- does not last as long as it did

- blocks all cars / transportation unless it's an ambulance, the press, or a tourist vehicle (all must be appropriately labeled)

- requires all store-fronts to be closed (or 'fake closed') as viewed from inside where we ate lunch

- is very organised

- is a bit disconcerting to young, slightly naive travelers like myself, although they can videotape it and post it to give you a better understanding:

----> kidding! Apparently the Arabic internet laws won't allow it. I think. The pop-up was in Arabic...

But all is well that ends well, as they say, and this trip ended very, VERY well (well, really the entire thing was fantastic). Thank you to Eric, Maura, Alex, and Sari for being excellent travel buddies, keeping me on my toes for things to see, cool facts, question answering, picture taking, you name it. And special thanks to Eric & Sari for organizing and inviting! Let's have the reunion in somewhere a bit more home-y, St-Agathe perhaps?! :-)