First impressions of Nepal
My first impressions of Nepal are mixed. It isn’t my first trip overseas, but it’s the first time I have picked up my life and moved to another country. There’s a peace treaty, but the government is still in civil war. The army lines the streets, but the people are ever so friendly.
My first diary entry reads: “I hate it here. There’s no hot water, and we nearly had at least 10 accidents on the way from the airport to my hotel”.
My second entry reads: “It’s my second day in Nepal and I’m loving it”.
A trip delayed
My journey nearly doesn’t begin. A week before my departure date, I receive a phone call. My trip is delayed indefinitely. Nepal is still in civil war, and things are escalating rapidly.
Absolute Monarchy
In reality, Nepal has been at war for hundreds and thousands of years. The Kingdom of Nepal, as it is known today, began when the Shar family of the Gorkha dynasty defeated the three Kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Things were going ok when the King died. However, his son was just 3 years old, which doesn’t bode well. He was a weak ruler. Regents were in place until 1837, when he decided to rule independently. But, after 2 years, he stepped back and gave his wife the power to rule. When she died, he gave the power to his junior wife. (In Nepal, kings traditionally had more than one wife.)
His junior wife wanted her son to be the next king, so she asked a friend to help. Her friend, Jung Bahadur, was an ambitious man. He killed his uncle, the prime minister, for refusing to ask the Queen to pardon his cousin. Then he killed the next prime minister along with 40 members of the Nepalese court in what became known as the Kot massacre. And, in a series of clever plays, he forced the court to remove both the King and the junior Queen’s rights. Finally, by 1950, he was the prime minister and Nepal’s ultimate decision-maker. The King (the first wife’s son) was merely a ceremonial ruler.
Dictatorship
King Jung Bahadur Rana loved the British and implemented a modern legal system, like the British one. However, unlike the British, he and his family became ruthless dictators and ruled with an iron fist for over 100 years, isolating the country from the world around them.
Constitutional Monarchy, Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy
In 1951, with the support of the Indian government and some of King Jung Bahadur’s descendants, the Nepalis overthrew the government and the current king, King Tribhuvan, declared the country a Constitutional Monarchy. He died soon after. His son, King Mahendra, didn’t like that decision, so he made Nepal an Absolute Monarchy and returned it to authoritarian rule. Luckily, he was a nicer man who reintroduced Nepal to the world and implemented positive cultural and economic change. But he controlled everything. The parliament. The army. The courts. Anyone who dissented went to jail.
The people were unhappy again. When he died, his son Birendra became King. He was a popular man who agreed to return the country to a Constitutional monarchy and implemented democracy.
Civil War
But, in 1996, civil war broke out. The Maoists wanted to overthrow the government and declare a people’s republic. Years of guerrilla warfare followed.
In 2001, 9 members of the royal family are killed in a mass shooting (including the King and Queen). Everyone blames the King’s son. But he dies soon after, and his uncle, Prince Gyanendra, was appointed King. On 1 February 2005, the King staged a coup d’état, declared a state of emergency, suspended the constitution and assumed complete control over the country. Not the right play. Luckily, on 24 April, he agreed to give this up and reinstate the House of Representatives. In September, everyone signed a peace treaty. It isn’t renewed. By April 2006, as I was preparing to enter the country, violent protests were erupting and nightly curfews were in place.
Then, on 27 April and 3 May, the Maoists and the central government declared a 3-month peace treaty, and my trip was back on. The civil war was still going though.
Edit: While no one thought the peace treaty would last, the civil war ended in November 2006. The Kingdom was officially abolished, and the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal was declared.
First days
Despite the civil war, falling in love with Nepal is pretty straightforward. The people are so friendly, and as you walk through town, the glimpses of snow on the Himalayas take you to another world. The first two weeks go by in a haze. It’s incredible how quickly you can adapt to something so different.
The food is incredible, and my immune system is coping pretty well. I’m coming to grips with the language. The hotel staff have taught me namaste (hello) and ali ali (a little), and my Nepali lessons are coming along nicely. Most importantly, I can now order tea and coffee without sugar. Why do all Nepali teas and coffees come with three sugars?
My home
I met my host mother, Shanti, on the flight from Bangkok. While in Nepal, I stayed at her house with her husband, Prakesh, their two children and a housemaid.
My bedroom is upstairs on the fourth floor, and while it comes with its own “ensuite,” the term is slightly exaggerated! It’s a small room with a squat toilet and a bucket for a shower.
Traditional dress
My first foray into town is to buy a Kurta. The Kurta is the traditional dress in Central, West and South Asia. It comprises a long tunic (top), pants and a scarf. As you can see below, mine is a beautiful light blue.
We shopped in the Nepali section of town, avoiding the touristy section of Thamel. It is a sight to behold – the way cars, bikes and rickshaws dodge each other is mind-blowing. And you can buy everything you can think of from stalls on the side of the street—fruit, vegetables, kitchenware, earthenware and incense. People carry their purchases home, whatever they may be. I’ve even seen a refrigerator on the back of a motorcycle ridden by a man, his wife and their two children.
First trips
Over the first two weeks, we’ve visited most of Kathmandu’s tourist sites. The main sites reflect the region’s religious importance, with both Hindu and Buddhist sites across town.
Religious sites
The oldest and holiest Hindu temple in Kathmandu, Pashupatinath, honours the Hindu god Shiva as the protector of animals. The temple (in gold below) and its grounds are so sacred that only Hindus are allowed in. The entire complex has over 500 temples, shrines and cremation sites. Many local families come here to cremate their loved ones and release their spirits back into the world.
The monkey temple (Swayambhunath) is the most sacred pilgrimage site for Newar Buddhists and is respected by both Buddhists and Hindus. The monkeys in the temple are holy. Manjushri, the bodhisattva of wisdom and learning, grew his hair long and got head lice, which transformed into monkeys.
My favourite site, Boudhanath, is Tibetan Buddhists’ most sacred pilgrimage site. The Tibetan King Songtsen Gampo built the stupa because he was sorry for accidentally killing his father. It represents Buddha’s path towards enlightenment. The plinth represents earth, the dome represents water, the tower represents fire, the spire represents air, and the umbrella represents the void beyond space. The spire’s 13 levels represent the stages a human being must pass through to achieve nirvana*.
*Nirvana here does not mean the US band. It is the Buddhist goal to extinguish passion.
Durbar (Royal) Squares
Nepal was home to several independent kingdoms. Three of the most famous kingdoms built royal squares in the regions now known as Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. Each of the royal squares (Durbar squares) contains a variety of ancient temples and other structures. In Kathmandu, the first of the temples was built in the 3rd century, with different structures added in later periods.
The squares are loud and always full of locals, who often sit around the base of the temples with friends and families. The layout of each square is haphazard, adding to the chaos. You could spend hours here exploring the different temples and people-watching.
See my posts about Patan and Bhaktapur for more on Nepal’s history and the other royal squares.
