Kathmandu - Chitwan

In one of the most interesting cities in the world, on one of the back streets, we sat on a table in front of a secluded little restaurant. Julie, Dadoo, Shreeram Bhim and I. Then Shant came, the owner of the restaurant, showing the table near us he said lets join the two tables they are also nice people. No one was to object, why would we? There was a Canadian man on the table who stayed in India for 3 years and was a yoga instructor moved to Nepal recently. Another man from the USA who was married to a Nepali woman and had a baby. He was working on a project for educating the woman and children in prisons in Nepal. Everybody came from somewhere and a good reason to be there. They were drinking rom with water, I asked for a beer, there came a Tuborg beer, something I am familiar to...


The conversation kept going on until 10 pm when the police came and told us to close and go inside. So we went to a room in the back. A little more conversation, couple more cigarettes and drinks and it was time to go rest. So we walked on the dark, empty, quiet but still dirty streets. It seemed like 4 hours ago all the world was in Kathmandu and now at 11 pm they had all left. There were only the buffaloes and gods, and the incense smell mixed into the garbage smell...


At 6 am in the morning my room phone rang. It was Shreeram asking me if I could be ready inn 20 minutes, so we can go to the places we'll visit and go to Chitwan as early as possible. We met in the lobi since I was to tired to argue... At 4 am in the morning all the streets turned alive in Kathmandu, motorcycles, cars, people and all the world came back to Kathmandu right under my window and started their day. I sat on my bed wondering what I was doing here. What did I run from this far? Life itself? I had this same feeling when I was waiting in Delhi airport on very uncomfortable chairs in the too cold so called lounge. I could be in my own bed right now, sleeping. I didn't have to change anything. I could have just put aside everything I know, everything I heard and kept pretending everything was normal. I could have just pretended that my marriage was going great and living in İstanbul was making me happy. Was it absolutely necessary to face the truth and try to change everything? So I laughed at my self. Yes it was. If I could do it, if I could swallow it I would. I didn't like what happened and went to make new happenings. Change is good. And this the perfect place to be right now. If you are not happy where you are you can't be happy anywhere. Happiness was right here, waiting for me, waiting for me to be ready for it. So I took it and got ready. We jumped on taxi and went to Pashupathinath.


This is a Hindu Temple. One of the biggest in Nepal. There is a crematorium inside. Fortunately it was no body's turn to go when I was there. Non Hindus are not allowed inside. So we sat outside and watched. There were some rituals going on. I could on see what my 10 optic zoom let me. I took some photos. While sitting there a monkey came running, with a man behind him. The monkey had stolen a banana and the man was following him to get it back. It is not a wise move to get a banana from a monkey, the man realized this and let go. Where people hardly can buy bananas, this banana was the monkeys now. We went out and walked a little.


Then we took a taxis to Swayambhunath, they also call it the monkey temple. It is some how guarded by hundreds of monkeys around. It is a Buddhist temple on top of a hill. This temple also is in the World Heritage List since 2003 and it is considered to be loosing its authenticity and cultural value. The way we all wear down every single place and thing on the earth just to see it is somehow heartbreaking. Where people have been praying and having their religious rituals for centuries, now was almost a bazaar full of tourists taking pictures and little shops selling small goods. Still in the shadow of our cameras, beside the gold statues of gods, near the salesman tyring to sell you an om bowl there is still the energy that you can feel. You know that there were gods walking on these hills once upon a time...


We went back to the hotel then went to get something to eat. In the restaurant not knowing anything about the food I ordered rice and vegetables, please note this. We ate, went back to the hotel packed and take a taxi to the bus station. It took about 30 minutes to the bus station, among the rickshaws, motorickshaws, taxis, buses, cars, motorcycles, pedestrians, buffaloes, goats, crazy horns not stopping ever, we finally reached a micro bus. A very small bus with an 18 year old crazy and cool driver and a Nepali pop music in the background. My bags were tied to the top of the bus. After a crazy 6 hour journey, with toilet stops on the side of the road, with someone constantly hitting the bus whether telling him to stop or go, a 40 minute delay on the very narrow roads up and down hills, with a beautiful view on each side we finally made to Narayangarth in one piece. We took a taxi to the village. On the one hour drive to the house I kept wondering what kind of conditions I was going to be living in. Looking at the various houses on the side of the road and trying to guess which one was ours we stopped in front of an ordinary house. That house....