Up on the roof

For my return to Kathmandu I opted to rent a room with my friend Chris, who was on my original trip to Nepal ten years ago. He has been back numerous times since then, and is now a fulbright scholar here for the next year. We're staying in Bouddha, a largely Tibetan refugee settlement on the outskirts of Kathmandu and we have the top floor, half of which is rooftop, which makes for a really relaxing space. You can also see this stupa (Bouddhanath) from our rooftop:


My first full day back from Bhutan I started getting stomach troubles. My stomach ached really badly, and I don't even know how many times I had to run to the bathroom. It wasn't as bad as I've had it, but worse than I'm willing to tolerate. So in the afternoon I went to find a medicine store. I eventually found one, (they are fairly common and you don't need prescriptions like in the us) but what I didn't notice was that this one was an Ayurveda medicine shop. The woman felt various parts of my palms, had me press them together as in prayer and held them for a while, and then promptly put some white cream on my fingers and told me to quickly rub it into my belly, 30 times. Following this, she gave me two mystery liquids and when I asked what they were, she would only said, "Ayurveda." For all I know it was Imodium AD in liquid form. She told me to come back to check in later that evening and for 100 rupees (about $1.33, which I felt like she was overcharging me) I was off. I resolved to give it a couple of hours and then find some real medicine, but sure enough, it totally cured my stomach problems! I was pleasantly impressed.

The big bummer was that before my stomach got better a snake charmer was doing his thing on the street below. I kid you not, it was straight out of Indiana Jones (the old ones, not that new crap). He had two king cobras and had them both dancing for him. The funny thing was how many people just walked by him like it was nothing special. I didn't have the energy to go up and down the stairs, so I just watched below.

Yesterday was a holy-day called Nag Pachami. My friend Chris is studying Nags, which are serpentine creatures that protect water and land. They also control the rain, and this festival is timed to be partway into the monsoon. This year the monsoon has been really crappy, so the Nag Pachami festival was especially important. We traveled to the south side of town, where one of the two lakes in the valley exists (the whole valley used to be a huge lake), and is the home of some Nagas. We got to participate in the celebrations and had a great day watching kids swim in the lake and people perform religious dances and ceremonies. And sure enough, this morning, the rains came out in full force! A couple more photos:



That second photo is of a singing duel between two men and two women. They are fairly common out here, and are a blast to watch, very similar to dance-offs in the US.

The day after tomorrow I head to India (Which I'm having a hard time believing, it certainly won't be ten years before I return again). I've heard that there isn't much of an internet connection there, so my posts might get sparse, but I will do my best to keep you all informed. Till next time!