Nepal Part 1

Apologies for keeping the adoring public waiting in vain for a month but the travellers life can be a tough one sometimes. Anyway, here we go, with what I can recall at least!!
Following the gruelling journey from Varanassi to Nepal we made our way across the ramshackle border at Sunali which was about as secure as ????. First stop in the new fresh country was the lakeside town of Pokhara, offering beautiful views of the Annapurna moutain range. Imagine a perfect snow capped mountain reflected in a crystal clear lake, surrounded by the beauty of a Nepali village, well we sure nothing of the sort as grey cloud submerged the town and with it came 4 days of continuous monsoonal rain, not all day mind, just from 6pm through to 2pm the following day. Although not able to appreciate its talents Pokhara's restaurants provided us with the opportunity to endulge in some well earned meat, and what fine steak we found, tender, juicy and as red as you like. Not just fit for a King but also for my critical Argentine travelling companion. Steak aside the rain proved a little frustrating so we moved our able bodies on to Kathmandu.
So Kathmandu, a strange mix of backpacker "Bangkok" paradise, modern era concrete jungle & fascinating backstreets revealing traditional architectural splendour. If its good enough for Cat Stevens to write a song about then for sure its good enough for Martina and I. As always, and as is best here, we took to the streets by foot, passing an abundance of shrines, temples, markets and courtyards, all providing a brilliant insight into the traditional Nepali way of life.
Durbar Square is the heart and cities main focal point from where the Kings once ruled, and hours can be spent marvelling at the pre.C17th buildings, watching the world go by perched upon the terraced platform of a temple and engaging in conversations with locals. Living close by is the young Kumari Devi. She is a living goddess, that is until she gets her first period, when her reign is ended and another girl chosen according to 32 strict physical requirements. When such reign is ended the Kumari is returned to normal mortal status, paid off with a handsome dowry and left to carry on with her life as anyone else, simple as that.
Paul Gascoigne once said of the Great Wall of China, "if you've seen one wall then you've seen them all", and I was starting to develop the same feeling about temples until stumbling upon Swayambhunath, 3km West of Kathmandu. The temple is a ginormous structure atop a hill reached via an almost vertical incline of steps and dodging the numerous playful monkeys on the way up. Guess it has to be seen to be appreciated fully, but with beer & whisky guzzling men going about their rituals and celebrating yet another festival I began to rekindle my liking for these places of worship.
It seemed we were starting to develop a strong liking for the country, its people and its beer (which the locals are quite partial to) which far surpasses that of its Southerly neighbours. Could there be a link between its laid back way of life and lack of hassle to that of eating cow and consuming fine alcoholic beverages.....I wonder if this might be true??
Just across the Bagmati River is the town of Patan (formerly Laliput "City of Beauty") with its own Durbar Square displaying some of the finest architectural structures & its back streets a fine insight into Newari life. How pleasant for locals to refrain from hassling foreigners as if they are aliens dropping from the sky and allowing us to enjoy their town in a stress free manner. Our spell here was also the time of the Teej Festival - Womens Festival - where wives & girlfriends dressed all in red, fast from sunrise to sunset, make offerings to their gods & sing & dance the day away. This, it is claimed, will bring a good life and prosperity to their respective better halves. I managed to get Martina a little dancing part in this festival, much to the delight of the local boys. Unfortunately though, as the festival as only for women, I was to be excluded this time around and my English two step shuffle to be kept hidden in the locker for another time.
Time then to explore some smaller towns around the Kathmandu Valley. All we hoped was to find our way back, either by foot or riding on the roof of a local bus, with goats as fellow passengers.
The rest is to follow soon.......X.....