I’ve been searching for Kathmandu. The real Kathmandu. Prowling the narrow streets and alleyways almost every day. It’s dirty work. Maybe even a little dangerous. There are stone culverts running along the sides of the alleyways that you are sharing with fellow pedestrians, scooters, cars and trucks, that you are expected to repair to if the hell-bent-for-leather scooter heading straight at you decides he needs the space you’re currently occupying more than you do.
Dirty work. Every morning the shopkeepers brush yesterday’s dust and dirt into the street where you’re walking, using a broom made out of natural grasses. I see the broom man pushing his impossibly overstacked bike everyday. I marvel at the skill needed to keep ten feet of brooms stacked on a bike without using any line.
You can really get lost In Kathmandu but I’ve noticed that each street has a different character or special product. While name-brand technical gear can be found spread around just about anywhere, it’s mostly found on a specific street. Some of it is even real. After all, Kathmandu is staging for serious trekkers.
The city was hit by the 2015 earthquake more than I would have thought. Most buildings had some damage, some just slumped down into a pile of rubble. (The Netflix 3-part documentary Aftershock about the quake is worth watching.)
I had my first mo:mo, on a five floor walk up restaurant in Durbar Square.
Make sure you get them fried, not just steamed!
I find myself warming to Kathmandu.
Lately on my walks I finding certain parts of Kathmandu to be almost charming.
Hi Marce and Jack
I’ve never been to Nepal and I’m unlikely to do so…I’ve really enjoyed these posts from Kathmandu, thank you! Vivid pix, makes me wistful for new places. I also liked your take on the Burma railway…so admiring that you had the courage and stamina to take the longer route to hellfire . There’s a powerful novel by Australian writer Richard Flanagan called The Narrow Road to the Deep North, won the Booker in 2014, its setting is the construction of the Burma Railway. Recommend. X
My sister also recommended the book. It’s on my reading list.