Kathmandu!!!
journal entry,
15 feb 2002, 9:00pm
Kathmandu
This city!! What an assault on all of my senses! From the upper deck of the hotel Kantipur, in Paknojol, Thamel, KTM: city lights sprawling as far as i can see, up to the very edges of the valley; a huge temple (Swoyambathu, the monkey temple) lit on the hills off in the west; terraces on building tops dotting the landscape like islands, some deserted, but just as many inhabited by people idling over an evening cup of tea, chattering away in a language i don't understand, the sounds drifting to my ears on the still, cool air.
The sounds of the place!! constant honking horns, madcap drivers revving their engines, dogs braying, conversing amongst themselves; the sound of a broom sweeping a patio down in a neighboring courtyard; bicycle bells ringing through the night, all the sounds of humans and animals magnified by the dark of eveing, yet i can almost hear the stars twinkling!
the air of the valley is cool on my bare arms, and the smell of that air, indescribable! It's not the acrid, nostril-stinging smell of New York City or Boston, but a sweet, spicy amalgam of the smells of humanity that fills up the bowl of this holy valley, the scent of fried food mingled with motorcycle exhaust, the scent of incence mixed with the body odor of half a million buddhists and hindus, blended together by the constant stir of activity, creating a recipe for sure nostalgia.
My head is spinning from it all! On the drive from the airport, my face was glued to the window of the little red car driven by my guide's uncle, as he navigated the crazy traffic with consummate skill, avoiding oncoming motorbikes at the last moment, dominating huge rumbling trucks and buses to find a safe pocket of space for the little red car, through the explosion of humanity, the likes of which i've never seen! People with wares spread on blankets and tables out of dank caves, 6 foot square shops packed side by side and as close as possible to the tiny winding streets, streets which are packed with people on every sort of conveyance imaginable: bicycles, motorcycles, trucks, scooters, rickshaws, cars old and new, and God-given bare feet, all engaged in a dangerous dance, precisely choreographed by the insticts of pure survival. Crazy! Children and stray dogs play as peers, and people are gathered around fires burning in the gutters...It's absolutely beautiful!!
tomorrow, i will be attempting to transact some business in this crazy, wacky town. What an adventure!!
love, from kathmandu,
mark.
15 feb 2002, 9:00pm
Kathmandu
This city!! What an assault on all of my senses! From the upper deck of the hotel Kantipur, in Paknojol, Thamel, KTM: city lights sprawling as far as i can see, up to the very edges of the valley; a huge temple (Swoyambathu, the monkey temple) lit on the hills off in the west; terraces on building tops dotting the landscape like islands, some deserted, but just as many inhabited by people idling over an evening cup of tea, chattering away in a language i don't understand, the sounds drifting to my ears on the still, cool air.
The sounds of the place!! constant honking horns, madcap drivers revving their engines, dogs braying, conversing amongst themselves; the sound of a broom sweeping a patio down in a neighboring courtyard; bicycle bells ringing through the night, all the sounds of humans and animals magnified by the dark of eveing, yet i can almost hear the stars twinkling!
the air of the valley is cool on my bare arms, and the smell of that air, indescribable! It's not the acrid, nostril-stinging smell of New York City or Boston, but a sweet, spicy amalgam of the smells of humanity that fills up the bowl of this holy valley, the scent of fried food mingled with motorcycle exhaust, the scent of incence mixed with the body odor of half a million buddhists and hindus, blended together by the constant stir of activity, creating a recipe for sure nostalgia.
My head is spinning from it all! On the drive from the airport, my face was glued to the window of the little red car driven by my guide's uncle, as he navigated the crazy traffic with consummate skill, avoiding oncoming motorbikes at the last moment, dominating huge rumbling trucks and buses to find a safe pocket of space for the little red car, through the explosion of humanity, the likes of which i've never seen! People with wares spread on blankets and tables out of dank caves, 6 foot square shops packed side by side and as close as possible to the tiny winding streets, streets which are packed with people on every sort of conveyance imaginable: bicycles, motorcycles, trucks, scooters, rickshaws, cars old and new, and God-given bare feet, all engaged in a dangerous dance, precisely choreographed by the insticts of pure survival. Crazy! Children and stray dogs play as peers, and people are gathered around fires burning in the gutters...It's absolutely beautiful!!
tomorrow, i will be attempting to transact some business in this crazy, wacky town. What an adventure!!
love, from kathmandu,
mark.
posted by Mark Heffernan at 5:58 PM
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