Kathmandu - Nepal

I am now in Kathmandu, have been here for almost a week. I was going to spend 4 only but life has it that I ended up staying. Four days I thought would be enough but nope, there is so much do see, so much to do. I had my expectations and people told me about Kathmandu being so dirty and everyone getting sick from the food. The first I can confirm, but let me tell you somehow it gives it a Burning Man feeling here and we all know I like it there a lot. In reality so one has to realize that the people live here this way all the time, with constant dust and dirt all over, everywhere, your nostrils, your cloth, between your toes, in your food, in your bed. The roads are not paved and the shop keepers tasks to sweep along the road side in the morning seems like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. People are nice here, lots of smiles. Namaste is the greeting, what can go wrong from there I tell you. Its not an easy town, but unlike Delhi this town doesn't only take, it also gives back. I came here for Buddhist reasons and as such I found lots of history and hidden treasures related. Even though today everything here is mixed with Hinduism, underneath one can find amazing sights and stories, especially when you have a great insider guide like I did. I had the pleasure to be shown around the town by a very special woman from the Buddhist community, who actually lived here a long time and knows the inside outs. I have been to sights no tourist will be able to get to and am fully aware of the privileged situation I am currently in here. And so it came that I was able to give a little of all this back, helping out with some paper work for the Buddhist community. It actually enriched my trip to be useful instead of only lazy and to hunt for the next coffee shop. I was looking to deepen my commitment to my practice and I got that here, naturally.
I am a very visual person and such am taking in everything I see, letting the images impact me in whichever way. Often it's the Tibetan prayer flags dancing in all colors in the wind, the smiling faces, the hanging pieces of fresh cut meat on the side of the road, the rickshaws, the birds, the hot steaming Chai in front of me, the free running monkeys approaching gently to take the piece of banana I offered out of my hand (his fingers touched mine and I squeaked in happiness about the new feeling of his wrinkly skinn on mine). And then again it's the begging woman with her not even dressed child on the side of the road, the sad eyes of the man without legs, the dog missing half of his fur showing all the rip cage, the what used to be a river and is now filled with trash river bank (imagine the smell in addition), the man washing the plates in a bucket on the side of the road in dirty smelly water, the cockroach running across the counter of the cafe at the Stupa (actually this one I only laugh about now). I had a thought today that we are all going to drown in trash some day. I don't think we are far off. The other really big thing here in Kathmandu is the electricity situation. The town is said to have approximately 2Mio people. No one knows exactly. The electricity is such that it runs for maybe 4 hours at a time, for maybe a total of 6-8 hours a day, but you never know exactly when it comes on and when it goes off. So I learned to write my emails in word first and then copy paste quickly and sent quickly. I learned the hard way of course, as three times right in the middle the screen went black. And then from there everyone knows that for the next 4-5 hours there is nothing. So, you get up and go home or do whatever you do without electricity, which in fact is not so much if you think about it. During the day seems fine and having food can be managed with gas, but all else - just think about it. I tried to imagine San Francisco this way and just couldn't. You can't. No wonder I go to bed earlier here with no lights to read any more after 9pm, but I am also up super early at 6 am to catch the most day light I can. I am in the mids of all this what people live here day in (actually I am spoiled being at the hotel with running water and generator for the kitchen) and what I am sensing is how much it controls the people, the power over power. It's oil that rules the world money, but it's power that rules the peoples lives. It simply sucks. Of course I could say, let's go back to how it used to be with candles and tomatoes in the gardens, but this is a big city and going back for us is not an option when you also try to make money and play the game of the world with tourism and world politics. Oh man. All this is not written in your travel hand book, but you get for free.

Random thoughts:
Love the roof top gardens
If I lived here I, too, would ride a motor bike.
I am most busy in my day making sure I am not getting run over.
Traffic rules don't exist
Even a tiny car can manage a otherwise described as four wheel only type road when needed.
The roads trips are a bitch for my back.
Namaste is not only the final words in SF Yoga class.
Buddhist sight or Hindu sight, that is the question.
I an sleep on any mattress now, even the one thats only one centimeter thick and should be called rug.
Here I am gladly vegetarian. I don't have to explain why.
Running water is equal value to gold.
German bakeries are everywhere. I thought we were more famous for the sausage, but no.
This is not my last time in this place. Like Arnold: I'll be back!!