My Love/ Hate relationship with Katmandu!

I developed this love hate relationship this weekend. I visited a couple of temples
and had some nice food, so I will list the positives first:

* Found a gorgoeus cheap Veggie restaurant, Im not really eating meat here as its rank!
* Found a coffee shop thats like starbucks but cheap, where you can chill all afternoon
and drink lovely coffee. The seatee was so comfy that I took a nap! Different continent, same sleep Jenny!
*Saw lots of monkeys at the monkey temple (real name Swoyambhu) and more monkeys at Pashupati temple, they are so cute, but avoid eye contact as can turn nasty.
* Met some new volunteers, lovely group of girls and even a fellow Yorkshire lass.
* Getting into all the attrtactions free and having cheap bus fare with my volunteer card.
* Constantly been facinated by how much suff ppl can carry on their heads! The winner so far is a fridge freezer, will let you know if I see any better!

Ok and now for the negitives:

* Got stuck in the middle of a protest. It was non violent but still freaked me out a bit.
They were protesting about the shops been open on a staurday, (Holy day), for the tourists.
* How many steps there were to get up to the monkey temple, once again I was wearing Flip flops!
* At the monkey temple a couple had a domestic and she started throwing rocks at him, but she had a really bad aim and keep missing him and nearly getting us, so we made a quick retreat!
* Pashupati temple is the Hindu crematorioum centre as well as a temple. Hindu's have open cremations and there were several going on and you could see and smell the burning bodies and the mouners. I really felt like I was intruding by being there and make a quick exit. Other tourists stood about taking pictures, which made me feel sick. Our guide of the temple was actively encouraging us to take photos of the service too, to which he got a bit of a gob full from the other volunteers about " How would he feel if it was his realtive" etc. We seemed to have more respect for his religion
and people than he did.
* There is also an old ppls home at the temple, where old ppl are sent to stay if they are close to death. They go there as its close to the cremation site. Dont like that idea at all!
* The streey kids in Katmandu are constantly begging, they spend anything they get on glue and are often seen with a bag of glue. If you give them any money they spend it on glue, if you give them food from the shop they sell it back to the shop and use the money for glue, so you really cant win. The locals say help is available to the kids but they have to give up the glue and they either cant or wont, which is really sad.
* Tiger Balm! I really dont know what it is, but im sick of been offered it for sale by locals every two minutes! Its a constant hassle. A good thing I have learnt to do is reply in French or German, if they think you cant speak English then they leave you alone. Since I know very little in either language then its normally in Germam "I have a Fat dad" (Sorry Dad) or in French "Its straight on and on the left". Good old English education!
* The Smell - In katmandu the smell is either car fumes or litter, the latter been so bad it makes me gip!
* The traffic - I think every taxi, bus, motorbike, and Rickshaw driver has a death wish! They are crazy, there is no system to the traffic and all the drivers seem to play chiken with one another! They dont knock peddestrians over as if they do they have to pay your hospital fees, but it is very common to be wacked by a mirror!
* Finally the weather - Moonsoon just about sums it up!

Anyway im back in my little village now and all is calm again, and I have washed the stench of Katmandu out of my hair!

My plans for next weekend are to go bungee jumping off a bridge over a 160m drop into a gorge, If I dont bottle it! (Please dont panic mum and Grandma its saftey record is excellent!), followed by a day of rafting. There is about 10 Volunteers going so it should be a laugh.

Well thats all for now. Ill keep you posted with more adventures soon, And will upload the pic of this weekend when the PC here decides to let me!

Love Me x