Beware the Monkey Gods.

Everyone wants to be your guide in Nepal, everyone. Richard and I bargained our first rickshaw ride and headed down to Durbar square or Hanuman Dhoka. This is the religious center of Kathmandu and houses dozens of shrines and temples. We flew down the narrow precarious streets of the city watching Nepali life go on, once out of the tourist area (Thamel) things go about very differently, and you finally are the minority. Back in Thamel there are probably more white people on the streets than Nepalese. We got dropped off at the corner of the square and were immediately greeted by a Nepalese man "Hello my friends, what country are you from?" "America." I say. "America! I love America, America is very good country, let me be your tour guide!" It is sometimes very hard to say no, and you have to admire some people's determination. "We don't have much money, but thank you for the offer." "MONEY! No money, I will pay you, I have no cash, but I will write a check. Free tour." I liked this guy, he had charisma. But this is how they get you, I immediately think of people like my mother, she would not have as much luck as me and would probably have two dozen personal guides.

Durbar Square was running wild today, it was day one of the 'Festival of the Dogs.' Wild dogs were running around the square and had Tika (paint) on their foreheads and flowers draped around their necks. It was all pretty hilarious. I saw a dog that looked identical to Tiger Lily all painted up like a Hindu god, she would have liked this. We paid the modest tourist entry fee to the temple area (200 rupees) and watched as people would pray and chant and street vendors selling various holy goods for rituals. A holy man approached us "My friend, you have beard, just like me, you must be a Holy Man. We must have picture together." Richard snapped a shot. Mr. Holy man wanted 200 rupees for this, a bit steep for a photo. I declined his asking price and handed him 5 rupees for his time. Tourism in Nepal has started many bad habits among the locals. Those who come to photograph all the "strange and interesting people" created frauds who dress up like holy men and expect money for a photo, we watched many other well off westerners pay large amounts of money time after time. I learned later that a real Holy man would never ask for any money, as they have chosen a life of simplicity.

From Durbar Square we took a quick short cut down Jochne, which used to be called Freak Street back in the late 60's, when hippies would gather here, and so was named after the strange freakish white people. Huff from work recommended a small cafe on this street claiming the best chocolate cake in Kathmandu. And so Richard and I stopped in the Snowman Cafe and had some banana chocolate cake and milk tea, better than anything you can get in the US. We jumped on another rickshaw and started heading towards Swayambhunath, or more commonly known as the 'Monkey Temple' as hundreds of monkeys like to call this temple home. This Temple, or Stupa, is a holy place for Buddhists. The temple dates older than 2,000 years old and the architecture around the site is equally as old. The path to the temple is something out of a story book, you first walk through a archway and start climbing up thousands of steps up the side of a small mountain, the stupa is on the top. On the way up you pass by many Buddha statues and shrines, there are hundreds of thousands prayer flags strung up every which way you look, and monkeys, shit loads of monkeys. Let me quickly explain monkeys in Nepal for a moment. At first site, I say to myself "aww, a little monkey, I think I'll have a picture." I take my picture and watch another tourist repeat the same thing I just accomplished, only she was not as lucky. The monkey leaped from a standstill and landed on this woman's head and gave her a little wallop. From this point on, I learned to always yield to these simians. You are not allowed to disrespect monkeys though, as they are a representation of the god Hannuman, or the Monkey God, for Hindus. I for one do not wish to upset these gods for their teeth are bigger than mine.

Exploring the Stupa was probably the most exciting part of the trip so far, from the top of this mountain you can see all of Kathmandu, we are away from all the tourist hubbub. And it is very serene and peaceful. Hoards of Buddhist monks are seen walking about, and sitting in chanting meditations. After walking around some more , we start to head back through the "real" Kathmandu. Jumped on one more rickshaw and came back to Thamel just in time for my Nepali lesson.