Life in Kathmandu

This is the third time, I'm in KTM. I was here in October 2008 as a tourist. I was recovering from my Tibet-tour, where I had altitude-sickness. So I stayed at the Hyatt-Regency Hotel for 5 days. I was impressed by the traffic, buildings, and people here at that time.

In 2010 I came back for two months, and stayed in a too expensive flat, with swimming-pool. I build up some connection with my friend Anin, director of a bank, member of the local Rotary-club, director of a cashmere-factory. Really a nice guy...helped me all the time, and connected me with dentists, doctors, golf-players, restaurants etc. I drove around with taxi's and used my both feet to get anywhere, because I had 'time' on my side. I had a mission, so I went after some things, like dentistry and cashmere/silk.

Now, I'm back and rent a cheap apartment from a French lady, who returned to France for 8 weeks. I also could use her scooter to drive trough KTM. This was the first time that I was driving myself. You drive left, and it's dangerous. There are not really any rules here. You have to look out for holes in the road, bikes passing you at the left and right, incoming traffic on your lane, because they triple pass on the other side.
When you are waiting in traffic, you inhale all the gasses around you. So I always keep at the left side of any vehicle. Exhausts are mostly on the right side. Turning left is rather easy, but o my God, turning to the right is spectacular, a matter of life and dead. They use any square inch to pass or cross you. The easiest way to do this is : keep somebody always on your left, as a buffer. A car or van, even some bikes are good enough, and then go with the flow. It's the law of the strongest and quickest. They do not give priority, never. it's so absurd. Even when there are 100 cars in front of you, they honk, to get passed those 100 cars. I guess they are not clever, those drivers.

Thamel

This is the commercial and touristic part of KTM. Now in June and July, there are not much tourists here, because of the monsoon. But there are tourists here off course. Nepali cling on to you like a fly on jam, asking anything to buy. That happens every 20 meters. After a while you get used to it, but it gets boring.
Sir? Riksja? Sir? Taxi? Sir? Smoking, hasjies, massage? Sir? Good restaurant? Sir? Buy this, buy this?
The restaurants serve all the same tings, and you can eat for 2 to 4 euros. Wine and beer are expensive, because it's all imported. Even though Carlsberg and Tuborg have their own breweries here. At the evening bands are playing in each bar, which give a katatonic sound of different musics, but they don't care. Everybody wants to drive trough Thamel in those narrow streets, to make customers. So it's overcrowded , gasses, honking, noise and they drive like lunatics, passing you by inches. So you have to look where you walk, if not they bump you with their mirrors.
Most of the tourists here are overdue hippies, dressed in pyjama's, wearing their hair in dreadlocks, pony-tales, samurai-look, looking like warriors and would-be guru's. Strange...
Women try to copy the Nepali style-dress. Looks silly, because once they are back home, they dress normal. Also strange...

Business

When you talk to Nepali about business, they want to make quick money, because your a foreigner with money. Thinking on the long term is not in their dictionary. I tried several time to convince them to think this way, but they really do not understand. When you want reduction, they look at you with a face full of questions. When you send an email, you have to wait for a week for a reply, so I keep on visiting them. better then email, just confront them again and again..
If you make an appointment, they are always to late, much to late. If you  phone them, there is probably no answer, they do not have an answering-machine on their cell-phone, or a lady says in Nepali, phone is not connected, or the number doesn't exist anymore. they do this often, switch number..so you can start all over again.

Language

I learned a few Nepali words, just to communicate. They wonder if you do that, that makes them alert. Then they have a feeling, you are not a tourist, but one of the locals. That helps...
Everybody speaks a bit of English. Sometimes you do not understand it, because some of them are not so clever, which makes conversations sometimes difficult, specially when you do business. In restaurants it's ok, but even then you have to watch what you order. I could be you get something totally different on your plate. So when that happens, don't bother, just eat it. You get tired sometimes to discuss over things that are wrong understood.

Housing

All houses are build earthquake proof, which means nothing here. Because with the first quake to come, 70% of KTM will collaps. It's made very simple, all the wiring are at the outside, plumbing also, electricity also.
So if you walk in the streets, it could be that you bang your head into wires. Phone, cable, electricity, internet, whatever, hanging to the walls, crossing the streets, or lying on the road. Dangerous when it rains...
Everything inside the house is also simple. There is nothing straight, everything is hanging loose, bad connected, all covered with a layer of brown dust. Metal fences are in front of each window, so you can wash them in any lifetime. So you can't trough them, they are grey.. Water supply is a problem, you never know if you can shower,or even if there is hot water. The water comes by gravity from a bin placed on the rooftop. A pump pumps up the water to the bin. Off course only when there no powercut, because you need electricity to do so. Powercuts are every day, sometimes for about 15 hours in wintertime. Instead the have inverters and batteries. They take over, when there is a powercut. But then only some lightbulps in the house. So no fridge, TV, freezer, or any contacts in the wall.
In the monsoon you have to keep your windows open, because of the heat.So all the dust comes into your house. But also the rats, lizards, spiders, mosquitoes, and other insects I have never seen. Even moths the size of a car! So curtains are dusty and discolored, never washed, holes in it from insects etc.
Isolation in the walls doesn't exists, so you can hear everything from outside. The neighbors coffing, farthing, pissing, arguing with the wives, sick children crying, pumping water, shouting merchants in the early morning, like 6 o'clock, dogs barking, roosters at 4 o'clock....crazy world here.

Spitting habits

It seems to be a habit to gargle and spit you blubs out! It's disgusting and you get never used to it. It's been done by everybody, man and women. They gargle at home, open the window and spit it out. All day long, everywhere you go, spitting in the streets, on the sidewalks you can find dry ones...
Against the wall in the buildings also, all dried up, in different kind of colors. You really have to watch your steps sometimes, walking the streets. Even when your in bed, you hear the neighbors spitting and spit it outside. Like my neighbor, I hear him pissing in a bowl, and trow it into the garden at night. Also disgusting!

The Zoo

They have a zoo here, so I visited it. In the middle of it, they have a big pond, where an elephant bades. It's the attraction of the zoo, and they organize rides on he back of this animal. They have a playground for children, and lot's of garden and trees. You find here some exotic animals, but we in Europe have the same, I wonder about this. So our Zoo's aren't that bad at all...

Hands

Yes what about hands? Well, everybody their hands are dirty. Even my own hands, and I do nothing really. Twice a day I clean my fingernails, and wash my hands. I do not understand where it comes from!
That's one of the hygienic problems here in KTM. Why do you think they invented the "namaste"-greet without touching? It's clean he... When I shake hands, afterwards I go to the toilet and wash my hands. Not immediately, but soon after. If you imagine how the restaurant kitchens work, I wonder.. Dentists and doctors, they wash about 50 times their hands. And they are lucky..
Even the government organize campaigns for clean hands. Guess what happens? Nothing, just as in traffic..
It's one of the sources of diseases, in ears, noses, mouth and other openings of the body. I would not like to think what happens under the belt, if you know what I mean!

Gay-city

When I was wondering trough the streets of KTM, I saw often guy's hanging around each other, like they were in love. I was thinking, waw, I saw it everywhere, thinking like Jan in Wonder-gay-land. It seems the case, that this is a habit regarding friendship. They walk hand in hand trough the streets, or embracing, or sit on each other lap, holding hands.Weird sight, really...
One guy told me once, that it originally comes from the not so affectionate way of women interact whit men.
Also because of arranged marriages, because it's not allowed in Hindhu-believe to marry for love. So the guys are standing in the cold, and just look for some affection with other guys. Strange...