Capital of Nepal? Kathmandu!
Text and photography: Rüçhan Ziya
Kathmandu was the answer I gave to the people, who questioned my motives behind going to Nepal. Kathmandu, also the capital of the hippi's, flower children and one of the peaks of mystisism...
The following scene from the famous absurd film "Airplane" by ZAZ, reminds the world of Kathmandu. Early in the film, the plane is not airborne. People in the airport are asking questions to the information both (there is also a Rocky 38 poster in the wall):
- Will I make my wife happy?
- No.
- Capital of Nepal?
- Kathmandu.
According to another story Kathmandu is the changed form of "Cat can do, man can't do"...Sacred valley... And according to U2, "Where the streets have no name!"
Kathmandu first frightens you with all the people rushing towards you just after your first step out of Tribhuvan airport. Terror continues with the crowd and various vehicles moving on the street without obeying any rules or order... But you adapt easily. When the first shock is over you start to move within the crowd. And it is easier if you have been to such crowded streets before, such as Eminönü, Tahtakale in Ýstanbul. But here it is a bit more difficult, as this is Kathmandu, "Where the streets have no name!"
Nepal is not only Kathmandu. Thousands of people come to Nepal because of the nature which is unaffected by the modern life and technology. Himalaya's with impressive peaks such as Everest (8848m) and mystical life styles protected by the Himalaya's are also main attractions. . And we should not forget the jungles which are home to many endangered species such as bengal tiger, single horned rhino... However within all these riches, Kathmandu has a special place for me. The city easily makes you a part of itself. When I reach the city I leave my luggage in the hotel and start wandering. A few minutes later I feel like I have been in the se nameless streets forever. The crowd takes me in and swallows, as it does for everything. I lose my identity and reencarnate as a part of the chaos and a piece of the mud on the street...In Kathmandu... ...
During whole my trip, whenever I returned back to Kathmandu, I felt relaxed. Each time I said "I am now in known territorry, I do have a place in this chaos, I am in Kathmandu." I don't know if any other city makes you feel like this.
Himalaya's
There are different options for seeing Himalaya's. People with limited time and plenty of money prefer plane, helicopter, baloon tours. Whereas people with plenty of time go trekking. You can plan treks that last one day, five days or years. Nepal did not have motorways until 1960's. So the mountain trails, paths connecting villages are still in use. You can walk around the whole country or cross Himalaya's using these roads. However this was a bit inconvenient for the first expeditions to climb Everest or other peaks. The adventure used to start from the Indian border.
Today you can walk your way until the base camps by trekking and having a cup of hot tea or a cold coke in the villages.
"Trekking in the Himalaya's" is very popular and has changed the face of the country. The walking trails are made suitable for tourism by the government. You can stay in rooms or camp in the villages. Food prices are standardized. You can either order from the menu (a-la carte) or cook yourself (self service). You can walk your way from village to village with minimal luggage. A point to consider for your health is water. You can boil the tap water or use iodine tablets to clean it. Or you can buy bottled water. But be warned the prices rise with the altitude. And in Kathmandu you can find almost anything including "Evian".
During trekking we were a team of four. Me, Bariþ, another Turkish guy with whom I have met by accident, Dambar who knows where we are going and Nimru who is carrying most of our luggage. We finished our trek in four days one day earlier than we originally planned. During the first days before we got used to trekking, it was quite striking to watch Nirmu carrying the luggage with his slippers and us breathing heavily. During our days in Annapurna we walked abiut 6-7 hours per day. WE used 
to wake up very early, walk for a few hours, have a lunch break and then continue until our desination for the day. Not all the villages have electricity, the villages without attract less tourists and ther are more peaceful. In these villages you sleep after the dusk so that the very first rays of the sun on the Himalaya's are yours to see..
Macchapucchre peak looks like the highest peak around. But it is just an illusion as it is the nearest peak to us. The peak looks like a fish tail and it is considered holy. Climbing the peak is not allowed so it is one of the few places where no man has ever gone before. At the end of our trek we reach Poon Hill (altitude 3500m), probably the most popular destination for Himalaya trekkers. I also wake up before the sun rise with all other tourists and climb the hill. The climb is not easy, it takes about 45minutes and it is pitch black. On the way there is a grave. Somebody's heart was not strong enough for the climb. On the top we all try to photograph the sun rise while our blood declines to flow due to the cold.
My hands can not feel the shutter anymore. Luckily the sun also rises and only then we realize how beautiful Himalaya's are with red rhodedendron flowers in front. A view (and cold) that's hard to forget.
Safari alla turca
We spend a day idling on the Pokhara lake just to regenerate some energy to see another side of Nepal. Now our destination is the jungle, wild life in Chitwan National Park . First we enjoy elephant safari very much. Elephant safari is 4 people sitting on an elephant who try to stay on the elephant, protect themselves from the branches and try to take photographes of the animals
they see (if they can). It was quite exciting while we were chasing a rhino. However seeing wild animals is a bit of chance, we could not see much during elephant safari but we found the excitement we were looking for during bird walk.
Compared to safaris in Africa, during which you stay in jeeps and protected with fire arms, our bird walk can easily be called Turkish style safari. You walk behind your guide who only has a stick in his hand right into the jungle which contains tigers, leopards, rhinos, bears and wild boars. In the beginning of the walk we are briefed to not to run away from the rhino in a straight line, to look into the eye of the tiger and slowly walk back, all warning which I took as oxygen masks in the planes until we meet wild life acouple of meters away. We see several wild boars, two rhinos fighting and a tiger eating the remains of a deer he hunted.
Another reason for the name “Safari Alla Turca” is our guides comments when we were sitting beside the fire that night. "It is for sure that the tiger would have attacked us if it was not for the elephants that arrived just at the right moment."
Short people in norrow streets
What attracts me in Nepal is not the above activities themselves , it is more the details in the activities. Chats with the people, kids trying to sell you "Tiger Balm" which is good for anything, Hindu's performing Budist rituals and the feeling of being alive all the time. ....
EAncient buildings and temples ara just around everywhere in the cities. Three cities KAthmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, in the Kathmandu valley are adjoined. People first settled in the valley in small groups later these quarters has joined and hence the
cities has formed. The streets look like a labyrinth. The best way to understand these cities is leaving the main streets and trying to find your path through the allayways, narrow streets between the temples and houses. These paths are indicated on some tourist maps and in someplaces they are so narrow that only one person can pass at a time.
Durbar squares in the cities are must to see. The squares host palaces and many other temples and buildings. Kathmandu Durbar square is very nice palace where you can spend your days watching the life pass by.
These squares and many other temples and buildings in Nepal are considered "World Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO. Some temples such as Pashupatinath, Buddha's birthplace Lumbini, Janakpur- birthplace of Sita, hero of Ramayana famous Hindu epic are considered holy and many pilgrims visit all the time.The practice of creamtion according to Hindu blief is performed near Bagmati river just behind the Pashupatinath temple.
Believe it or not!
Many people in Nepal are either Hindu or Budhist. Religions and bliefs are mixed up in Nepal. At first I had difficulties in understanding the Nepalese approach to religion. Hinduism and Budhism are totally within each other. Nepal as being in between India and Tibet has synthisised the two religions. Hindu's show respect to Budhist symbols just like their symbols and vice versa. And "No, that is not possible, it is wrong, they need to get proper religious education, either in school or in familyu" I thought. It took me sometime to comprehend how humane, how peaceful, how a modern approach it was.
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Swastika:
A holy symbol for both Budistm and Hinduism, representing peace, good luck... And inspiration for Hitler!!!
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Budism is more common in Himalaya's and in the region behind Himalaya's. But after Tibet has become part of China many immigrants from TIbet has settled in the cities. So Tibetian budism is alive in various regions including Kathmandu and other cities.
K"Freak Street" where the hippis has first settled is far from its hey days. Today tourists prefer the Thamel area which resembles the Beyoðlu in Istanbul (Covent Garden in London, St. Germain in Paris', etc...) You can find many hotels, restaurants that appeal to the western taste and hundreds of agencies which can arrange everything for you. If you ever go to these agencies do not forgeet to bargain. and bargain and bargain. The people here can just lie about anything (rates, plane schedule, distance. days. food...) you can think of just to get more money. And these lies are just a part of their profession. And if you ever tell them that they are lieing and you know the truth they just smile and say "you caught me!" and continue lieing. And now you can have the opportunity to think of right, wrong, values and perception..
Never without Horning!
Traffic and transportation is a bit hard to get used to. Horning was swearing, it was an insult, at best it was a way to tell "get the hell out of here" for me. So it was quite a task for me to accept the sound of a horn as a mean of existance. I thought that it as a joke that most of the cars had the sign "Horn Please!" in ttheir back. Later I learned that the very first obligation for driving in Nepal is horning. Another point to consider is ; the vehicle in front can stop for whatever the reason is (enjoying the scenery, toilet, flat tire...) if there is a reason at all. And you are also supposed to stop behind. Of course you can take over if the traffic is OK. But be careful there may be a truck taking over another one. And there is no point in getting angry neither with the one stopping on the road or with the one coming from front. Either you squeeze or one of you pulls back. .
The cars are old and the roads are not waht we are used to. 200 km. between Pokhara and Katmandu takes about 7 hours. I don't think I will ever forget what our driver said after they changed a flat tire. The bus had two wheels on each side of an axe and I had warned them that the tyres were different in size. I was replied "No. It is OK. This one is new..."
Regarding the developments (the prince kills the whole royal family and himself when he is not allowed to marry a girl belonging to the former ruling dynasty), I am not sure how correct the coverage in the press is. . But there are a couple of things it reminds me. I first thought of my friends telling that in Nepal marriages are generally arranged by their families. Then the contradictions in Nepal (Évian versus iodine tablets) and third page news....
Rüçhan Ziya, Copyright 2001
RZiya@RuchanZiya.Com
When to go: Most convenient times are either after the monsoon (September - November) or before the monsoon (February - May). It is also possible to go trekking in the winter if you don't go too high. In the summer you can visit regions (Mustang,. Dolpo) that do not receive monsoon rain..
How to go: The most popular way is reaching Katmandu by air. No direct flights from Turkey. Another option is by land via India.
What to take: If you do not have trekking equipment you can buy them from Kathmandu or Pokhara for convenient prices. Don't forget your medicine. No need for a cellular as Turkish operators di not have roaming aggrements as of May 2001. .
Communication: There are no public phones in Nepal. You can phone by minute in one of many shops in Thamel. Turkey is one of the most expensive destinations. Internet access is relatively cheap and common in Kathmandu and other cities. Even if t is slow it is effective. I would suggest getting a web based e-mail account and using it as the main communication mean.
Other Activities: There are much more to do in Nepal. What I could notice was rafting, mountaineering (you climb peaks over 6000m), mountain bike, golfing, casinos. You can find anything except sea in Nepal..
Interesting: Nepal - Turkey time difference is 3 hrs 45 mins. (GMT +5 3/4)
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