Homeward Bound

Here are some photos I took while hanging out in Durbar Square yesterday and Pashupatinath last week. Some cool things I saw that I did not take pictures of out of respect and/or it was illegal

• The Kumari - the virgin living goddess. She's about 8 years old and lives in a little house in Durbar Square. Her feet aren't allowed to touch the ground and as soon as she starts puberty, she's replaced. There are a bunch of signs (that I have little info on) that lead to the next Kumari being chosen. She came to the window while I was there and looked bored and pissed off, frankly. Apparently, there's a curse on the Kumaris that leads to the death of any sons they bear, so they rarely get married. I'd be pissed too!



• Funerals at Pashupatinath. Pashupati is a huge temple in which only Hindus are allowed. You can walk up a hill, though, and overlook the temple and the bank of the Bagamati River (which is connected to the Ganges and, therefore, sacred). Bodies are brought to the edge of the Bagamati and the whole family participates in preparing it for the pyre - purifying it with water from the river, applying the tika (the circle of red powder on the forehead), etc. Then the body, wrapped in a sheer-ish white cloth, is brought to the pyre. **Queasy stomachs read no further** It's the eldest son's job to make sure the skull cracks open in the fire - as that's how the soul escapes the body. Apparently it needs to be helped along sometimes.

I have a ridiculously long layover in Bangkok until tomorrow night - so hopefully I'll be able to do something touristy (and cheap) before heading back to the US.

Kathmandu Pics

I have, once again, neglected my blogging duties. I'm jamming on work (sadly this is not a sightseeing trip), but here are some photos I've managed to snap in the times I haven't been glued to my laptop or stuck in Kathmandu traffic.

Headline: "B'deshi (Foreigner) Gets Mendhi on Left Hand - Most Exciting Thing to Happen All Day!"

Holy Monkeys Batman!

Good Craic in Kathmandu

Baby Karate at Pashupatinath

Boudhanath

About 3 miles outside of Kathmandu is Boudhanath, the largest stupa in Nepal. It's a sacred site for Buddhists, particularly Tibetans. I had the chance to check it out last night and try out the night function on my camera (thanks Dad!).

Frommer's says it better than I can, so here's some info from them:

"Legend has it that Boudhanath Stupa was built after an old woman asked the king for enough land to build a shrine to the Buddha. The king agreed to give her only as much land as she could cover with the skin of a water buffalo. The woman cut the buffalo hide into thin strips, and, laying them end to end, formed a large circle that "covered" far more land than the king had intended to donate. Though he had been tricked by the old woman, he agreed, and her buffalo-hide circle became the circumference of the stupa.

With three square tiers surrounding the central circle of the dome, Boudhanath is built in the form of a mandala, a symbol of the universe that is often used in Buddhist meditations. The stupa also symbolizes the five elements within its design. The base symbolizes earth; the dome, water; the spire, fire; the crescent atop the spire, light; and the flame shape topping the spire, ether. A low wall set with hundreds of prayer wheels circles the base, and Tibetan pilgrims circling the stupa often spin them.

You enter the stupa grounds through a colorfully painted gateway that leads off the busy bazaar street that runs through the town of Boudha. Once inside the complex, remember to walk clockwise around the stupa. Opposite the main gate, on the north side of the stupa, is the entrance to the stupa itself, and just inside the stupa entrance, lamas often set up low tables beneath a tent and perform pujas. You will often hear them ringing their bells and chanting in the hypnotic drone of the Tibetan language. From this antechamber, a wide staircase leads up to the base of the stupa dome, where niches containing images of the Buddha can be seen."

Credit: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/kathmandu/A20281.html

Some other stuff I saw and learned that I won't just cut and paste from Frommer's (is that frowned upon by hardcore bloggers? oh well...):

• The eyes painted at the base of the spire are the eyes of Buddha
• The flags you see are prayer flags. They're red, yellow, green, blue and white representing fire, earth, water, sky and wind. By hanging the flags, the prayers printed on them are carried up to Buddhist deities.
• Boudhanath is an extremely important pilgrimage destination. Swarms of people walk around clockwise reciting prayers and spinning the prayer wheels. Others prostrate themselves (lie down on their stomachs), get up and then do it again for every single step.
• The Boudhanath neighborhood is a cultural and religious center for Tibetan Buddhism. It started as a stop on the trade route to Tibet, but when the Chinese invaded in 1959, many Tibetans fled here and have settled in the area surrounding the stupa.

It's a really beautiful and lively place. I'm so used to associating sacred places with quiet, and Boudhanath is anything but quiet. It was a pretty incredible thing to see.

Namaste Nepal!

I arrived in Kathmandu on the 28th and, through some sort of divine intervention - Hindu or otherwise - I'm staying at Dwarika's, the most gorgeous hotel in the city.

The founder, Dwarika Das Shrestha was jogging around Kathmandu back in the 50s and saw an old building being torn down. The intricately carved wordwork of the Newari tradition was going to be used as firewood - so he bought the carpentars freshly cut lumber and saved the centuries old pillar. Until his death in the 90s he, essentially, ran around Kathmandu saving the artwork that was being destroyed to make way for more modern buildings.

The Courtyard

Dwarika's hotel is built in the style of "Old Nepal," right down to the tapered glued bricks, and houses all of the carvings that Mr. Shrestha save. There's even a workshop where Nepali carpenters are trained to create wood carvings in the old style, to fill in missing pieces and build additions. In the evenings birds fly in and out of the rafters, and there are dancers and musicians playing traditional Nepali music in the courtyard. Totally zen.

The view from my room

Tonight I'm heading to check out one of the temples and hope to have some good photos for my next post. I'm thinking of everyone often! Namaste!

Sadarghat

I have been a very neglectful blogger, but my project in Bangladesh is finally complete, so I have a minute to breathe before heading to Nepal.


Yesterday, I went to Sadarghat, an enormous ghat (wharf) in Old Dhaka. There are throngs of people and it smells to high heaven. Totally fantastic. Some boats are used to take produce and the like between Dhaka and other places in Bangladesh. The steamboat ferries are used to shuttle people back and forth between Dhaka and the southern regions. A bunch of people work in Dhaka and then head back to their "home villages" every so often to visit family and bring back the taka they've earned.


I got to walk around two of the boats and it was like stepping into the 1800s. "Lower classes" are on the very bottom level and entire families sleep on mats on the floor. The mid-level has rows of couches for sleeping and the upper decks have cabins for those who can afford them. They're not exactly luxurious. Sort of reminded me of some "bedrooms" in NY where three of four walls are hugging the bed.


Here's a link to some of the photos I took at Sadarghat and earlier in the week in Gulshan.


Goodbye Dhaka!

Hey! Who turned off the...? Oh wait, they were already off.

According to the New Nation ("Bangladesh's Independent News Source,"), Bangladesh's energy demand is about 5500 MW per day, but only 3000-3500 MW are generated.

http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_36185.shtml

OK so bla bla bla megawatts bla bla bla on-grid generation bla bla bla coal reserves. What it means for the day-to-day in Dhaka:

• Blackouts for an hour about four times a day. Our office has a generator, thank goodness, so lights and internet stay on but the AC conks out.
• All stores - grocery stores - everything, close at 7 PM by government decree. They stop letting people in at about 6:40, and guards are at the door to make sure no one can get in.
• No streetlights at night. Anywhere. Last night I had dinner with a friend from Dhaka who says that it's been like that since she could remember.

I'm pretty sure it's worse out in the rural areas, where a bunch of people are off-grid anyway. I've been really fortunate to stay and work in places that have generators - what could be totally insanity (and heat stroke)-inducing, is just a minor inconvenience and makes it feel like more of an adventure.

Deshi Food or Good Food?

Yesterday I went with a colleague for Deshi (as in Bangladeshi) food. I'd commented that I hadn't tried any local food really since I'd arrived, so yesterday I was was taken for a serious Deshi lunch.

Down a side street and up some stairs, the interior of the restaurant looked like a noodle shop in NY's Chinatown. Nothing fancy. Just some tables and tablecloths. And a fish tank with enormous fish taking what may have been their very last little swim. The menus were big laminated pages and also very Chinatown. The "Deshi Food" in the left column and "Good Food" designated on the right. I found myself concerned with the propsect of mutual exclusivity since we were definitely here for the Deshi food.

The waiter, seeing I was a foreigner, brought over a knife and fork. When eating Deshi food, locals use their hands. Right hand only, as left hands are used for la toilette. ::Somewhere my mother has just lowered herself into an enormous vat of purell.:: I offered that I'd like to try using my hands and was, basically, verbally patted on the head. Silly Cara. You will just make a mess. This is true and I was so relieved to use utensils.

So, lunch consisted of:

rice

dal (lentil soupiness)

• red spinach


• chicken tikka masala

"shrimp" (actually the size of a lobster)

and fried pomfret (pictured here)- I heard pommes frit. Ha ha. No fork and knife for these guys - just pull the meat right off the bones. (Photo attributed to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/%20vkn/91446158/)

It was really good and I have filled my foodie adventure quota for the week.

Wallah Wallah Washington

Dhaka is the rickshaw capital of the world - rickshaws, driven by rickshaw wallahs, are all over the place, mixed in with the traffic, fighting for a spot in between cars. I snapped a photo of this one from my car window as we were driving through downtown. I have yet to take a ride in one, but it's on my list of things to do before I leave!

You can read about rickshaw wallahs in Dhaka in this BBC article - bit dated, but gives you an idea: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/2300179.stm

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors

I'll be honest. I haven't seen a whole lot of Dhaka yet. My days so far have basically consisted of our office's driver picking me up at my hotel, driving me to the office, and then back again at the end of the day. I haven't been holed up inside the whole time - I've been out on the street and properly stared at. Oh, the staring. At first I felt like a less-beestung-lipped-sans-adopted-children-and-Brad-Pitt-for-that-matter Angelina Jolie. That, however, is quickly morphing into feeling awkward- I tower over everyone else and the staring makes me feel like I have something huge on my face that no one has the heart to tell me about.



So, from the little I've seen, the thing that's stood out to me the most is that walls are everywhere. The buildings along the streets of Gulshan, the section of the city I'm staying and working in, are all tucked away from the road behind enormous metal gates, cement walls, etc. Driving down the street you feel like a little car marble in a pinball machine. Gulshan is the fancy neighborhood, so there are office buildings, and what I presume are nice apartment buildings - but you don't really see much past the gates. Even in Gulshan, though, the streets are lined with tiny vending stands, women begging with their babies in their arms, and kids who should be in school but can't afford the fees.

More tomorrow after lunch at the American Club and hopefully some sightseeing with colleagues from our office here.

**Photo isn't mine (www2.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/rfisman/dhaka.htm). I hope to take some tomorrow.

Driving Miss Cara

Traffic in Dhaka is like nothing you have ever seen. I promise you. On the street - cars, rickshaws, auto-rickshaws, mini-trucks, bigger trucks and people darting out of every corner. I think what makes it particularly heart-palpitation inducing for me is the whole driving on the left side of the road inheritance from the British. Not only is everyone and their mother darting in front of you, cutting you off and nearly side-swiping you, but they are doing so from the right side - which in my brain feels like an enormous game of Chicken.* With cars. And rickshaws.

This video is pretty tame and sums up the situation nicely: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPDixVDkaq4

* I have a very nice driver who is extremely capable. So no worries there, Mom, Dad, et al.

Watching Sabrina in my Bangkok hotel room...

Globalization is truly an amazing thing. I'll admit that I'm usually on the side of "local! local! local!," and if I have the option I'd rather shop in a homegrown store than in Walmart. But, after 36 hours of non-stop travel, I am truly happy to see Bogie and Audrey Hepburn on the screen. Hooray for globalization!

Today's Recap:

Miles traveled - 9542.5
Airline meals eaten - 3
Pairs of Ipod earphones broken - 1
Pairs of earphones purchased - 1

Today's Highlight: "Etiquette Bells" at Incheon Airport

These lovely buttony things are in every bathroom stall at Incheon International Aiport. At first glance, I thought perhaps they were little alarms or something a la the "help, I've fallen and I can't get up!" lady. But no. So much better. They make a flushing sound to mask, I guess, any embarrassing sounds that may emanate from one's stall. I hit it out of curiosity (I swear!) and it makes such a fake sound - like the bubbling brook sound on my nature sounds alarm clock. Hilarious.