Back in Kathmandu we did a day of sight-seeing and conveniently it was the Buddhist New Years so lots to see! We went to the biggest stompa in Nepal and walked around it spinning the prayer wheels as locals hung prayer flags. Many monks gathered and once again, we sat in on their prayers and chants in the monastery, this time accompanied by instruments such as gongs, flutes and drums.
We also went to the holy river where cremations take place. It was quite disturbing as we literally watched families burn the bodies of their deceased loved ones. One family was particularly in a state with wails being heard from across the river where we sat and watched politely from afar. They basically take the body that is wrapped in bright cloth and covered with colorful flowers and place it on a cement platform just above the river. It is hardly a river now but a meager little stream, however; it eventually joins with the holy river Ganges in India and therefore people continue to use it for cremations. Literally everything is thrown into the river including all the cloths, flowers and eventually ashes. Meanwhile random kids and others not associated with the family capitalize at the opportunity to take metal detectors and search the area for any jewelry or money that has come from the body. A few meters away from all this ladies were washing clothes in the dirty river and families were bathing.
After the body is placed on the logs on the platform, the family take turns to walk around the body three times. Then the son lights the fire in the mouth where the soul is meant to escape and the professional men do the rest. It takes around 4 hours for the body to burn and Des and and I went and got a better view of the burning bodies from higher up. I felt sick to my stomach at the disturbing scene--although I had to keep in mind it is very traditional and completely normal here. However, I saw the toes curl up as they burnt and a leg fell off right in front of my eyes and was kicked under the burning log.
Over the bridge other people were having open cremations but that side was for the elite as the rich people could afford to be burnt such as royalty and political figures. Back in the day the platforms burnt bodies according to caste and class having the poorer at the end and working the way to the end based on payment. Today, apparently the "poor" side of the river costs around 5000 Nepalese rupees to have a cremation service (50 euro).
We went into a market-type place following this where I saw one of the most disturbing sights in all the travels. A woman had her little boy on display on a blanket on the ground begging for money. He was sweating like crazy in the hot hot sun and as I looked down I saw his lower half was exposed to passer-byers. His genitals had been burnt off and he had burns and scar tissue all around his thighs. I have no idea what happened to the poor thing but he looked awfully uncomfortable and it disgusted me that the mother was using him as a commodity or a way to make money by making him suffer in the heat and what probably was very embarrassing and painful for him. Whether the situation was deliberate or not I don't know and I tried to think that it wasn't but I kept getting a flashback of a book I read (A Fine Balance--Rohan Ministry) where deliberate amputations and blindness is caused to children when they're very young so that they can bring in more money for the family than the adults without limbs etc.
We went to the monkey temple which was a large stompa and had a great view of the city. We also went to Dunbar square which is extremely Chinese influenced in how it looks.
Kathmandu itself is a nice but very polluted city where many people walk around with face masks on. The shopping is great for outdoor lovers as they have brilliant replicas of North Face everything. The food left something to be desired but Des found a place where he had the best steak he's had in ages---they call their meet "buff" steak or "buff" burger. At first I thought it was a spelling mistake but it's actually water buffalo. On the streets there are big bright orange wild boars with mo-hawks and whole goat heads and other bits laid outside on tables where people come and pick out the section they'd like to buy---not the most hygienic of systems! The city is also without electricity for 16 hours a day so things are very difficult for them as the government doesn't invest enough money into fixing the problem and therefore the entire city depends on generators. Many of the local shops are in tiny little closet-like entrances--very charming!
AND NOW...on to Thailand! x x
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| Ceremonial saffron |
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| Burning for good luck in the New Year |
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| Traditional Nepalese dress |
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| Monks |
We also went to the holy river where cremations take place. It was quite disturbing as we literally watched families burn the bodies of their deceased loved ones. One family was particularly in a state with wails being heard from across the river where we sat and watched politely from afar. They basically take the body that is wrapped in bright cloth and covered with colorful flowers and place it on a cement platform just above the river. It is hardly a river now but a meager little stream, however; it eventually joins with the holy river Ganges in India and therefore people continue to use it for cremations. Literally everything is thrown into the river including all the cloths, flowers and eventually ashes. Meanwhile random kids and others not associated with the family capitalize at the opportunity to take metal detectors and search the area for any jewelry or money that has come from the body. A few meters away from all this ladies were washing clothes in the dirty river and families were bathing.
After the body is placed on the logs on the platform, the family take turns to walk around the body three times. Then the son lights the fire in the mouth where the soul is meant to escape and the professional men do the rest. It takes around 4 hours for the body to burn and Des and and I went and got a better view of the burning bodies from higher up. I felt sick to my stomach at the disturbing scene--although I had to keep in mind it is very traditional and completely normal here. However, I saw the toes curl up as they burnt and a leg fell off right in front of my eyes and was kicked under the burning log.
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| Family around body |
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| Body burning--note: the feet |
Over the bridge other people were having open cremations but that side was for the elite as the rich people could afford to be burnt such as royalty and political figures. Back in the day the platforms burnt bodies according to caste and class having the poorer at the end and working the way to the end based on payment. Today, apparently the "poor" side of the river costs around 5000 Nepalese rupees to have a cremation service (50 euro).
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| The "rich" side of the river |
We went into a market-type place following this where I saw one of the most disturbing sights in all the travels. A woman had her little boy on display on a blanket on the ground begging for money. He was sweating like crazy in the hot hot sun and as I looked down I saw his lower half was exposed to passer-byers. His genitals had been burnt off and he had burns and scar tissue all around his thighs. I have no idea what happened to the poor thing but he looked awfully uncomfortable and it disgusted me that the mother was using him as a commodity or a way to make money by making him suffer in the heat and what probably was very embarrassing and painful for him. Whether the situation was deliberate or not I don't know and I tried to think that it wasn't but I kept getting a flashback of a book I read (A Fine Balance--Rohan Ministry) where deliberate amputations and blindness is caused to children when they're very young so that they can bring in more money for the family than the adults without limbs etc.
We went to the monkey temple which was a large stompa and had a great view of the city. We also went to Dunbar square which is extremely Chinese influenced in how it looks.
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| View of Kathmandu |
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| Dunbar Square |
Kathmandu itself is a nice but very polluted city where many people walk around with face masks on. The shopping is great for outdoor lovers as they have brilliant replicas of North Face everything. The food left something to be desired but Des found a place where he had the best steak he's had in ages---they call their meet "buff" steak or "buff" burger. At first I thought it was a spelling mistake but it's actually water buffalo. On the streets there are big bright orange wild boars with mo-hawks and whole goat heads and other bits laid outside on tables where people come and pick out the section they'd like to buy---not the most hygienic of systems! The city is also without electricity for 16 hours a day so things are very difficult for them as the government doesn't invest enough money into fixing the problem and therefore the entire city depends on generators. Many of the local shops are in tiny little closet-like entrances--very charming!
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| Orange wild boar sporting a mo-hawk |
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| Goat--head on left |
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| The cupboard shops |
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