STL DPB On The Road: Kathmandu

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Sunday was a fascinating and exhausting day of touring major sites around the city. The frightening relief above is Seto Bhairab, a terrifying manifestation of Shiva in the central Durbar Square. It is kept closed off most of the year except for a festival now getting underway. Unfortunately, we will miss the main event Tuesday night, when potent rice wine flows out of the pipe and young men jockey for position to slup it up.

The man at the left is a sadhu, a wandering Hindu ascetic. In theory, they renounce earthly pleasures, except that some of them consume staggering amounts of marijuana. To enhance the spiritual process, of course. That always was the point, wasn't it?

STL DPB On The Road: Kathmandu

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There are many responsible people in Kathmandu. Too many.

It's been nine years since I was last here. It's different; everything changes. More fancy, Western-looking stores on Durbar Marg, a main shopping street. Crumbling streets and sidewalks, an infrastructure broken down during the years of the Maoist civil war. Now they are in charge, democratically elected, the monarchy abolished. Far more trash in the streets. Same throngs of the desperately poor, but now the occasional middle class family in their own car. Well, at least in this part of town. The restaurant our group dined at last night had Nepali dishes on the menu, but it also has penne arriabatta and sachertorte.

Tourist stuff tomorrow.
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Why Is This Man Smilimg?

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Another scene from the Festival of Nations.

Today we fly from Delhi to Kathmandu. The real adventure begins.
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Airports and Airplanes

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Sorry, this is sort of filler, but greetings from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. In an hour we board our flight to Delhi. By the time this post goes up Friday morning in the US we'll be over Russia or the Middle East or Something-astan or I don't know what. I've loved airports since I was a child.

When I was growing up in Queens, my friends and I would ride our bikes to La Guardia and JFK (Idlewild back them). There were observation decks on the terminal roofs. The international airport was my favorite. In the background of this picture you can see the livery of United, Swiss, Aer Lingus, Turkish, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. American, our regular airline, is up front.

AND A BIG HOWDY FROM DELHI! We just got to our hotel. Smooth flight, good service. So far, so good but my brain isn't completely screwed into the socket at the moment.

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We're Outta Here

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Guest photo by Mrs. C., taken in Kathmandu a year and a half ago. A young Buddhist monk walks past Boudnath Stupa in the sunset. You can see more of her Nepal pictures here.

We leave today on a 19 day trip, going through Chicago and then on to Delhi, a 14 hour flight. One night there and then Kathmandu Saturday. Tibet on Tuesday. I may post a few days ahead if I get some editing done on the plane - no problem with Internet service in India. With luck I'll post something from from Nepal, as long as there is a place to hook up my laptop. No uploads from Tibet - the altitude is too high to run a laptop without damaging the hard drive. The Chinese government blocks Blogger, anyway.

Team member ShadowyOne will cover St. Louis as much as possible while I'm away. Expect a big tub-o-photos from Asia starting about September 22. Hasta la vista, y'all.

The Blues

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From the St. Louis Festival of Nations. American blues certainly counts as part of the spectrum of international musical art. This picture is one of the early shots in my hands project. Those arched fingers cover a harmonica, a blues harp. So simple an instrument, yet so capable of the sound of human melancholy.

TOMORROW: K KK KK KK Kat... (guest photo). Time to head way, way east. No Arch picture this week.

CDPB Monthly Theme Day: Big

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Hommage à Ronald: the biggest things in town. Sort of a nice repetitive pattern going, too. Big doin's today throughout the CDP world. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Two days until the big plane ride...