Kathmandu
Kathmandu, Nepal, 2014-02-09 12:00 by Laerke
Wow! This city is so intense! It is filled with sights, sounds and smells. Just a little walk down the street is a sensory overload, there is so much to see everywhere. Old men in the traditional Nepali cap, women in beautiful yak wool shawls, school kids in uniforms, rickety looking cycle rickshaws, motorbikes, cars, minibuses and small lorries all jostle for the little space the narrow streets offer. The buildings are a mix of newer, ugly concrete buildings and gorgeous old wooden houses carved with exquisite details, some of these look downright ancient! Many shops occupy an impossibly small amount of space, some of them no larger than a broom closet. From these small shops all kinds of goods are sold, out of one shop a fantastic aroma of spices caught our nostrils as the shopkeeper was grinding spices for a customer, next door is a brass store that sells pots, pans and trays in all sizes and shapes. Across the road is a sari shop where the beautiful fabric is hung out against the raw brick façade that looks like it is at least a couple of hundred years old, the colorful silky fabric shimmers against the dull, dusty wall. A man pulling a bicycle with a large load of bright yellow bananas is overtaking two sadhus cloaked in orange robes and with long dreadlocks hanging down their backs, this effectively blocks the road for a few seconds resulting a symphony of angry honks from a small horde of busy motorbikes.

The city is build up of a lot of small squares each with a small temple it seems, these squares are connected by a myriad of roads and narrow alleyways. Many buildings have tiny gates, only half the height of a normal door, which leads into inner courtyards, which will leads to another courtyard and another. We very quickly abandon our map and just walk wherever we fancy content to be lost in this crazy, magic city.

At one square we see an entrance to a temple and enter, it is a beautiful old building with a tiered roof. There are golden decorations and a hustle and bustle of worshippers and a gazillion pigeons. After praying the worshippers buy dried corn kernels for the pigeons. Sounds of bells and the flapping from the wings of pigeons fill the air. Nobody seems to mind us being there, and we greedily drink in the experience.