Pathways of Kathmandu

Walk down an alley where not many tourists go, find a small chia dive & watch the Nepali people. Talk to them & learn of their ways & pick up some language. Make a Nepali friend & have them take you to a hole in the wall resturant & have fun being the only "padeshi"(foreigner)there, 'wowwing' them with your Nepali language skills. Vist the temples & squares & learn where these people came from.

Quick Tips:

Children are cute, therefore making excellent scam artists. Everything from the usual sick mother/father/sibling to "help me buy school books". If you want to buy them something, this goes with all beggars, besure you tell them your going to open it or write in it so they won't be able to sell it back. Make some Nepali friends, hotel clerks are great, so they can tell you where to start your dining so as to prepare your body for the changes in food &, please, try the food. You don't know what your missing.

Best Way To Get Around:

If your in Thamel, Jalakhel or the other fairly westernized parts of town enjoy the walking. But to get to on end to the other start out on the taxis to get your feet wet (it also helps to sharpen your bargining skills, they will try & take you for as much as they can) & if you ever think you're ready, take a Nepali bus. Wall to wall mass of humanity. Oh, sometime when in Thamel, treat yourself to the experience of a Rikshaw to New Road.

The accommodations at the Highlander were very nice for the price I paid. I was there in off season so the price was cheaper. The beds aren''t western but if you like a good firm mattress you''ll love these, next time I go I''m bringing a Nepali mattress back. The bathrooms were pretty nice, I was just glad I didn''t have to share with the whole floor when my stomach started reacting to the foods. Many of the rooms have TV''s but I would recommend spending as much time out & about as you can. The staff is also very friendly & is more than willing to help you find a place to eat, tell you a reasonable price for the trinket your thinking of buying & even invite you on a trek to their village if you get to know them. One side of the guest house overlooks the Pumpernickel Cafe (a personal fav) & the other looks out on the Roadhouse Cafe''s Patio seating (another good restaurant). It is also a fairly quiet guest house. link

Local dining in Nepal can be quite an experience & a surprise to find such excellent food for so cheep, many times only $.50 US & almost never $3. I had a meal many times for a quarter. It all depends on your likes though. The more local the cuisine & resturant, usually the cheaper its going to be. The more westernizied it is, the more it will be.

To give specific directions to anyplace in Kathmandu is almost impossible because they do not have street names & addresses per se. You can only give general directions & landmarks.

The Blue Fox is located just off the Jawlakhel choke on the same side as the Walls ice cream/Bakery Cafe, with said cafe on your right side. It serves a variety of Nepali, Indian & some Tibetian dishes. The Tikkari chicken & naan (type of bread) were my favorites. The water is filtered but drink at your own risk.

The MO-MO shack serves MO-MOs & only MO-MOs. It also is off the choke. If you walk around the NTC building on your left side keep going till you pass a corner store. It's right after it & has green doors. Learn a little Nepali because they speak very little English. A plate of MO-MOs costs about a quarter. Don't drink the water.

If you've got a bit home sickness & are tired of Nepali cuisine, Thamel is the place to go. It is probably the most westernized place you will find in Nepal. Two of my favorite western restaurants are right across the street from each other.

The Fire & Ice Pizzeria has some of the best pizza you will find in Thamel. It's located at the "entrance" of Thamel where all the taxis hang out & where they usually will drop you off at. It's on the side of the street that has the temple buildings. You can get ham, chicken, tomato, cheese & different veggies but as you are in a Hindu country, no beef, but thats no big loss. I never had any but I believe they also serve spaghetti & some other pastas. They also have some great soft serve ice cream. For about $5-6 you can have your own pizza (about 14"), a soft drink & some ice cream & still be able to leave tip.

Just across the street & up some stairs is a place called Himalayan Java, a very western coffee house, that serves a variety of soups, some wraps, sandwiches, appetizers & some local dishes & also desserts. I don't care much for coffee but my friends told me that it was really good. Being a western restaurant, be prepared to pay more western prices, especially if you get a whole spread.

In Thamel there are 2 great pasta houses that are nearly caddy corner to each other, Casa della Pasta & the La Doche Vita. When you get to the Khukuri knife corner in Thamel go down the narrow street right in front of it. When you get to the end of the street La Doche will be on the 2nd floor of the corner on your right & the Casa is just opposite.

Both resturants serve excellent Italian dishes, both with great atmosphere. I visited the Casa more but my time was shorter than I liked. They have good lassagna, spaghetti & other dishes. Both are highly recommended.

While Nepal is a Hindu kingdom & therefore regard the cow highly, there are places to get steak. The 2 major ones are Kilroy's of Kathmandu & K-Too, which is an off-shoot of Kilroys. Both places have an excellent atmosphere about them for the westerner who needs a taste of home. The Menu has a good variety of steak & chicken dishes.

K-too is located just down the street from Casa della Pasta & "Barnes & Noble" bookstore, before you reach the Roadhouse Cafe. It's an upstairs resturant with a very rugged look. One of the dishes I must recomend, when in season, is the apple mo-mo's... They are a must with ice cream.

Kilroy's is a bit harder to get too but most know where it is so ask around. It has an excellent outside dinning area with a waterfall & big group table shaped like a tree stump. They have excellent sandwhiches & chips/french fries.

Pashupatinath is one of the most sacred places in the Hindu religion. It is set up much like the Jewish temple of old, with different courtyards for those who are Hindi & those who are not.

To the right of the complex is a white hospice building where the near death await their final hour so that they might have their feet placed in the holy Bahgmati river while they die, so that their spirit may escape on to paradise.

After this the family wraps the body & prepares to place it on the funeral pyre they've built. The height of the pyre is representative of how wealthy the family was since the wood must be bought & transported to the temple.

There is more to Pashupati than just the temple complex. Up on the hill there is a place called the Sadhu grave yard with idols of Ganesh & holy stones & different buildings & is inhabited by the local monkeys.

Pashupati is somewhat paradoxal. On one side of the river are devout Hindus, worshiping their gods & mourning their loved ones & across the river are peddlers, beggars, tourists & those Hindus who are there just to blow some time. It is of some note that Bob Dylan wrote "Knocking on Heavens Door" while watching the cremations at Pashupati. If you go, spend some time in reflection.

The stupa at Bouda is one of the largest in Nepal, if not the world. The devout come to walk around its circumfrence, spinning its prayer wheels. The truly devout circle it by prostrating themselves, getting up & prostrating themselves again. They do this in a clockwise fashion so that thier right hand is on the side of the temple. In many Asian cultures the left hand is both literaly & figuritvely "unclean", always use your right hand.

There is much culture around the Stupa. There is a Bhuddist Monastary where you will often hear them chanting & you can even watch them. Just off to the side of the moastary is a prayer wheel about the size of a VW Bug. There are many stores there too, filled with singing bowls, masks, jewelery & there is even a store with traditional Tibetian clothes & instruments.

I would recomend spending the afternoon there. Eat lunch at the Stupa view or the Three Sisters & watch the people & explore their stores & culture.

Did your friends ever forward you that story about how this person got their lawn frog stolen & every month or so they would recieve pictures of their frog indifferent locals: Once in France, then Germany, England & so on? Then one day the door bell rings & its their long lost aunt or someone holding their well traveled lawn frog.

Well, I was at my mother's house before I left for Nepal & she had picked up a new box of Rice Crispies. So, of course, I just had to get the toy that always settles to the bottom of the box. When I finally fished it out it turned out to be a plush 3 in. figure of Donald Duck & then I remembered the story, so I decided to do a photo series of Donald Duck goes to Kathmandu.

Being my first such photo series it's not quite what I wanted. I also always forgot him or forgot I had him when I would go to the squares or temples so I missed out on having him at the major sites. I will be traveling more in the new year though & plan on working on expanding Donald's world travels.

Hope you enjoy.