Do you have cold drinks? I ask....Whisky, beer?? the lady of the grocery store replies!!it's 4:30 pm and I am not even in the busiest street of Thamel (the tourist quartier of Kathmandu)..that at 7 pm is already back pumping loud music and live dance performances in the exclusive disco bars!!!
The breakfast at my hotel is very filling, for this reason I am asking to get the eggs boiled so I can take them with me and leave them around in town; I stopped a rickshaw man, as I have seen them sleeping in their "vehicle" at night and have a miserable life, and offered them to him...I am sure he didn't understand my intentions and he replied, "do you smoke? I have good ashish!!!" (ashish that in hindi language means blessing by the way!!!)
The capital is getting back to his usual life; israeli, and not only, tourists are slowly coming back or out of their hotels or cheap guesthouses and the game is on again..
Somewhere else in the country maybe somebody is still waiting to get a shelter above his/her head, but life is cruel and we should know it by now....
I have been visiting shyly and discreetly the two historical towns few kilometres out of the city of Kathmandu (Bhaktapur and Lalitpur) that were seriously hit, where some buildings are standing thanks to big wooden poles, sometimes with signs on it asking to drive slowly!!! A lot of destructions and a lot to rebuild, and the people cannot do much more than slowly return to their usual lives, with markets and shops slowly getting to normality, a normality that anyway was not as rosy even before the disaster!
It's easier to find food and pretty much whatever you need, everyday there is a new place re-opening, and I am pleased to have available the popular steamed momos as option for my meals. (momo is the tibetan-nepali for dumpling or raviolo).
The breakfast at my hotel is very filling, for this reason I am asking to get the eggs boiled so I can take them with me and leave them around in town; I stopped a rickshaw man, as I have seen them sleeping in their "vehicle" at night and have a miserable life, and offered them to him...I am sure he didn't understand my intentions and he replied, "do you smoke? I have good ashish!!!" (ashish that in hindi language means blessing by the way!!!)
The capital is getting back to his usual life; israeli, and not only, tourists are slowly coming back or out of their hotels or cheap guesthouses and the game is on again..
Somewhere else in the country maybe somebody is still waiting to get a shelter above his/her head, but life is cruel and we should know it by now....
I have been visiting shyly and discreetly the two historical towns few kilometres out of the city of Kathmandu (Bhaktapur and Lalitpur) that were seriously hit, where some buildings are standing thanks to big wooden poles, sometimes with signs on it asking to drive slowly!!! A lot of destructions and a lot to rebuild, and the people cannot do much more than slowly return to their usual lives, with markets and shops slowly getting to normality, a normality that anyway was not as rosy even before the disaster!
It's easier to find food and pretty much whatever you need, everyday there is a new place re-opening, and I am pleased to have available the popular steamed momos as option for my meals. (momo is the tibetan-nepali for dumpling or raviolo).
locals relaxing just opposite the Durban square of Lalitpur
kids asking for chocolates (or posing for pictures!!)....
a lady proudly cooking Newari food in Bhaktapur
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