Dirty Dancers & Nepali Nightlife - aka A Very Random Evening

So, this week just gone it was last Friday of the month. No it wasn't! I hear you cry, and that's what I thought too. Shiva Sir (the InCharge at my school) wanted me to go out on the last Friday of the month - I thought fine, that's not for another couple of weeks and went ahead and made plans for the weekend. But no, he meant the Nepali month, as all the hostel children would be going home.

 

Still, the crisis was averted and we arranged to go out on Saturday instead. This started off with him saying he'd been waiting for me since 2pm, even though I'd specifically told him I would be busy until 5pm, and him saying "it doesn't matter" - but I had told him, which really frustrated me! Anyway, off we went to Budhanilkantha, where there's a famous image of the god Vishnu as Narayan laying down and covered in snakes. It was pretty impressive, and so good to get out of the city - we went for a walk among the hills, and there's beautiful graded land there (and not quite so much rubbish as in the city).

 

After that, we had to run to catch a bus to Swayambunath, aka the Monkey Temple. After a seemingly epic journey, we arrived in the dark to find most of the gates shut and a long walk to get to the entrance. This didn't deter us from walking the 365 steps to the temple though. As I had my overnight bag, this was good training for trekking, and I had to watch out for monkeys wanting to steal things and jump on my head in the dark! I have to say, the view across the city at night was worth it when we got to the top, and I was pleased we had made the effort.

 

After that, Shiva decided we should go to Thamel for some food and 'entertainment'. OK, said I, thinking to myself "hmm, this should be interesting". The first interesting thing was the taxi drive down the hill - the driver tried to take us down a path with steps on, then kept stalling when he realised he couldn't and went to reverse...

 

Still, we eventually got to Thamel, where we wandered around for ages looking for somewhere to eat. It took even longer than when I go somewhere with Andrew ( ;-) ). This seemed to make no sense to me whatsoever as we were spoilt for choice, and I knew I'd probably have to pay (and indeed I did - for everything from this point!). But I kept stum, like a good girl! We ended up going to a Tibetan restaurant that was almost deserted by that time (we had spend so long walking around) but nice, and had some food and beers.

 

It was around this time that I started pondering the situation, when Shiva said I mustn't tell Dev where we had been. I was like "Why???", as I hadn't been under the impression we'd been doing anything wrong...I certainly hadn't anyway. This made me feel slightly uncomfortable, but I was confident I could take care of myself!

 

After dinner, we cruised to a different restaurant for some traditional Nepali music. This is where the night started to get more interesting - and infinitely more amusing for me (though of course, I am subtle and diplomatic person, so I didn't let this show!). We entered what looked like a typical Indian restaurant, except there were two stage type things - one with women singing and dancing and dressed in red, the other with men singing and playing traditional instruments (think along the lines of bongos). I was happy to hear the music, even though the women did sound a bit like cats being strangled...

 

There was also a dance floor, where only men were dancing in a slightly camp way - I might even go so far as to say mincing. Shiva  went up for a boogie, and watching him and the others jiggling and swerving around I was reminded how different this place is from the UK. I could imagine certain of my friends chuckling if they had been there, or getting into it in a slightly humorous way.

 

Almost before I could tell what was happening, I was being whisked off to the next place. Now, as we walked in, I could see a checkered stage with a mirrored wall at the back. A woman was dancing, wearing clothing a little like a Turkish belly dancer's, jiggling around to some Nepali music. Nothing particularly strange about this. For some reason, Shiva insisted I have soup (even though I had just eaten soup???) while he had 7Up! Weird.

 

But things started to get weirder...I noticed that there were several poles on the stage, and the place was called something like 'The Blue Room' - perhaps this was a clue? Anyway, the next thing I knew there were two women dressed in black, one in knee high leather boots, gyrating against each other, sliding down the poles etc. They were followed by a succession of dancers wearing very little. Shiva was hooked, and there were also lots of other men and women there too.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a prude. But somehow all this seemed a little strange. Perhaps I just don't understand the culture, but it seemed very unHindu. And the fact that Shiva said we mustn't tell made it seem wrong, even though it perhaps wasn't, if that makes sense! It was fun, and definitely something I'll remember - and finally, proof that there is local nightlife in Nepal! But I was happy when we finally left.

 

After several minutes of debating, we negotiated a price and got in a taxi to go back to school. Now I can say I truly know what it's like to be driven in a car with zero suspension, along bumpy roads. But we eventually made it home, at around midnight, and I managed not to turn into a pumpkin...