Day 24: Kathmandu, Durbar Square

Trip Start Sep 21, 2006
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Trip End Jun 01, 2007


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Sunday, October 15, 2006

Durbar Square and the Royal Palace in particular have more sandbags, barbed wire and soldiers than my last visit, which is no surprise. The tourists still pose with sadhus, prayer wheels are turned, bells are rung, Ganesh is still smothered in vermillion and the cakes at the Snowman Café are still moist and generous. Western T-shirts are popular, whatever the subject. I spot Sid Vicious, World Cup, Kurt Cobain and even Britney Spears and Westlife.
What seems to be arranged gangs of women with babies wield empty bottles and demand milk. Sadhus try to impress a marigold bloom on your forehead, for a donation. There are scams.
Sat atop the towering pagoda of Maju Deval to watch the world go by, I get chatting to a literature student and arguing about the war in Iraq (second time today). He donates his favourite book of Indian poetry.
In the evening, Nar invites me over to his house to meet the family and share a daal bhat (the national dish - a watery lentil soup with rice and pickles) that Nar eats everyday, usually more than once. The four of them share a single room not far from my hotel. The kids are delightful and I entertain them with drawings.
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