Lumea lui Răzvan

To keep the monkeys away

Somehow with a six month delay, Jennifer Lopez’s “On the Floor” seems to be the power play this side of Himalaya. Good. Second day in Nepal went smooth. Extended visit to Durbar square – Kumari didn’t show her face at the window as it was a holiday during which she’s suppose to stay hidden – and lots of photo opps. Saddhus (of course I paid them), beggars, temples, colors, pidgins, meat and vegetables for sale, mandalas, ladies neatly dressed in safaris and ricksha drivers, all popped up in front of my camera lenses.

Trinkets in Durbar

I am a foreigner

Looking for some drinks in Durbar

Whoa!

Had lunch at a Thai restaurant (tasty phad thai) and went back to the hotel. Done my jeans as I chickened out at the last minute about the monkeys at the temple and made my way, by bus, to Swayambunath together with the rest of the group.

The main stupa at Swayambunath. The top of it

At 3 in the afternoon when we got there the monkeys were surprisingly sedated. Probably taking their afternoon nap. The monastery itself never ceases to amaze anyone. It’s a puzzle of big and small stupas with a nice assortment of museums, altars and cafes. And restaurants with great rooftop views. A quaint mix of holiness and commercialism. Damn you, capitalism. A girl in our group developed a passion for dogs and monks. Buddhist monks. So she only photographed the two. I suggested she named the Facebook album when she would eventually upload the photos – “Of monks and dogs” . She said she would do so.

For sale, for sale

Where's mummy?

Had a ginger tea on a rooftop at the monasteries and started our way down to Thamel on foot. Traffic in Katmandu manic as usual. In the middle of all the chaos some kids were swaying on a swing hang on a huge tree hunched over the street. Got photos to prove it.

Beer anyone?

Chiken breast! Nevermind the stench.

Dinner was a simple affair of huge portions of Tibetan food at a restaurant called Nepali Kitchen. And a San Miguel beer.

What I learned from today’s experience? That people love Kathmandu even if it’s dirty, polluted and it stinks. Because it’s colorful, lively and has a certain vibe.

While I write this post JLo played ten songs ago. Five songs ago again and now it’s four songs up and after another one “On the Floor” will hit me again. I hope that wasn’t too confusing. Fact is there’s a club just downstairs from my hotel window where the party goes on well into the night.

The flowers of KTM

And about the title of this entry: nothing special. I saw it on a poster advertising a jazz festival in the capital and I thought it sounded cool.