Curry and Cows in Kathmandu

Namaste and greetings from Nepal! After a mega long trip I safely arrived in Kathmandu. I was met at the airport by Rajesh, who is leading my Volunteer! Nepal programme (through Cultural Destination Nepal). I was given a cream coloured scarf as a welcome and taken to my guest house, where I drank traditional Nepali tea (quite different from the UK version that I'm so partial to!).

 

Since then, I've been eating the traditional meal of Dhaal Bhaat (rice, veg curry, lentil soup etc) - including for breakfast! I've seen cows walking down the street, been stared at (I think I look like a white giant) and I have to say this place is SO different from anywhere I've been before - I guess it'll take a while to get used to it.

 

So far, everyone has been really friendly. As I'm the first volunteer to arrive, Nima (one of the people that runs the guest house) showed me round a bit yesterday. We went to the famous Boudanath stupa, which was cool - very peaceful and colourful in the typical Buddhist fashion. We also visited the Hindu temple in the Pashupatinath area. It's absolutely massive, with monkeys running everywhere and tons of people standing around watching the world go by. Dead people are burned by the side of the holy river. It's a way of life here, but a little strange to watch at first - I wasn't quite sure how to feel.

 

I've got a few more days before the volunteer programme starts, so time to swat up on my Nepali and chill out a bit before the action starts. x