That's really, really where I'm going to.
If I ever get out of here,
That's what I'm gonna do. - Bob Seger
Here I am in Kathmandu! This is my first-ever visit to the Indian Subcontinent, and my impression is that of a colorful, chaotic city filled with life and history.
On Day 1 we visited some of Kathmandu's most famous sights.
First, Durbar Square
This is the old religious and royal center of the city. A truly amazing place: it's not very big, but there's a lot packed into this area.
One interesting thing to do is visit the palace of the Kumari. The Kumari is a young girl considered a living goddess. She maintains this goddess status until she bleeds for the first time (whether through menstruation, injury or lost tooth). There are only 10 Kumari in the country, and only one here. When her term is up, she returns to her family and the search for the next one starts.
Every once in a while she appears at the window to look upon the people. We saw her. She looked out the central window on the left (in the photo below) for about 15 seconds, and then ran back to play. She's just a little girl, heavily made up. Taking photos of her is forbidden, but you can Google "kumari" to see what she (or one of her predecessors or peers) looks like. She looks kind of like a five-year-old girl in Queen Amidala getup.
Further on, we found a colorful market there. This woman is selling bowls made from the leaves of the sal tree (Shorea robusta), and are used for religious offerings.
This is a sal tree (taken a week later at Chitwan National Park):
More of the market at Durbar Square
This woman is selling beans. Notice the cell phone she's holding!
Durbar Square is a place of religious devotion. Mostly of the Hindu faith.
This is famous image of Kali. People come here to state the truth; if you say something untrue, Kali will punish you.
Lots of pigeons (Columba livia) here.
Lugging a heavy load
Women singing
A Gurkha soldier stands guard
Then from Durbar Square, we walked back along an interesting shopping street.
An herbalist prepares a mixture.
A passing rickshaw driver
And for lunch:
Momo. A Tibetan dumpling.
