Happy Holi!
Happy Holi! Everywhere you walked down the streets everyone would be cheering saying Happy Holi as they smacked your face with colorful chalk. Holi, as I understand it, is mostly a celebration of the coming of spring time. It is a time to have fun and forget past mistakes and forgive those. It also comes from a Hindu legend involving Vishnu and his follower who fight evil with good. Generally it is a lighthearted celebration (I could be totally wrong but this was the summary I accumulated over the day because everyone had a different idea).
My holi started in Bhaktapur where we began our preparation for war by buying water guns and filling water balloons to drop on passing kids and tourists in the streets. There were a group of kids that gathered right below our rooftop and fired guns and threw water packets. Everyone was fair game, except for the tourists with their fancy cameras who held up their hands in surrender. By 9am I was already slathered in color. At about 11 we ventured out into the streets armed with water guns and packets of color. We were ambushed quite a few times by groups of kids on the corner. We were heading to the happy kids center which was the place where Nicole and Ellen and many of the others at Ghanesh house worked with. It was a big party with Nepali tunes raging and kids dancing, throwing colors in the air. It was such a beautiful sight to see. Paint and water are so simple yet it fills a whole day of endless fun, especially for kids. This was definitely a moment for me of genuine happiness. I said goodbye to everyone at gashness house and headed out with Kat, an Aussie working in Nepal, back to Kathmandu.
Kathmandu was quite a different holi. The streets of Thamel were filled with groups of young people slapping you with color literally every minute. The closer you got to durbar square the louder the music got and the more you were caked in chalk. Personally I preferred the Bhaktapur holi to Kathmandu. Kathmandu was a bit more aggressive with the celebrations. The tourists were targeted a bit more with colors and as I walked back to western tandoori all the tourists just gave a little chuckle at the sight of my caked body. I was actually dying for a shower at about 5pm, but my hostel had no water and apparently Kathmandu had declared it now spring so there was a bit of a shortage of hot water (on all days). That night I was reunited with all my mates back at alobar1000. We headed out for some great after holi festivities to a reggae bar, which actually had no reggae, but where I met some more interesting souls.
The next day was actually a great day even though I kept complaining about lollygagging (yes Adam I love this word). It wasn't till about 3 o'clock that we actually went out for the day. Jerome, Adam, jurre, carl, and I all bought hats and then decided for milkshakes until we discovered this eco resort with a lovely beer garden. They happen to have a solid beer deal (I guess it was destiny). We chilled there watching the hail storm and talking to some older gentlemen who were giving us insight on where the best places for live music were in Kathmanders. I decided that I needed to do at least one cultural activity for the day so Jurre and another guy form our hostel headed out to Budnath, the biggest stupa in Nepal, for the evening. We happen to be lucky as it was full moon. Down every alleyway there were hundreds of candles lit in honor of the full moon. It was a really peaceful and quite poppin night at the stupa as all the monks were out. We picked up some momos and made our way back to the hostel. As I was enjoying my dinner everyone brought out a birthday cake for Jerome, Emma, and I (we had learned a few days ago that it was all our birthdays on march 3rd). Honestly I could've cried. I envisioned my birthday to be nice but a bit lonely. I could never have imagined to meet people who were so kind and inviting. Thanks guys!!! You rule and I miss you all.
That Saturday was when I met my trekking group (whatta bday). I was sad you leave my buds yet again but I was so ready to leave Kathmandu and see some real mountains. Now, here we are, sitting in a coffeeshop in Namche Bazar where Everest is almost within sight of my room's window. So freaking exciting!! It may be a while till the next update so I'll sign off here but just wanted to let you all know that neither the cold nor the altitude has gotten to me yet.
My holi started in Bhaktapur where we began our preparation for war by buying water guns and filling water balloons to drop on passing kids and tourists in the streets. There were a group of kids that gathered right below our rooftop and fired guns and threw water packets. Everyone was fair game, except for the tourists with their fancy cameras who held up their hands in surrender. By 9am I was already slathered in color. At about 11 we ventured out into the streets armed with water guns and packets of color. We were ambushed quite a few times by groups of kids on the corner. We were heading to the happy kids center which was the place where Nicole and Ellen and many of the others at Ghanesh house worked with. It was a big party with Nepali tunes raging and kids dancing, throwing colors in the air. It was such a beautiful sight to see. Paint and water are so simple yet it fills a whole day of endless fun, especially for kids. This was definitely a moment for me of genuine happiness. I said goodbye to everyone at gashness house and headed out with Kat, an Aussie working in Nepal, back to Kathmandu.
Kathmandu was quite a different holi. The streets of Thamel were filled with groups of young people slapping you with color literally every minute. The closer you got to durbar square the louder the music got and the more you were caked in chalk. Personally I preferred the Bhaktapur holi to Kathmandu. Kathmandu was a bit more aggressive with the celebrations. The tourists were targeted a bit more with colors and as I walked back to western tandoori all the tourists just gave a little chuckle at the sight of my caked body. I was actually dying for a shower at about 5pm, but my hostel had no water and apparently Kathmandu had declared it now spring so there was a bit of a shortage of hot water (on all days). That night I was reunited with all my mates back at alobar1000. We headed out for some great after holi festivities to a reggae bar, which actually had no reggae, but where I met some more interesting souls.
The next day was actually a great day even though I kept complaining about lollygagging (yes Adam I love this word). It wasn't till about 3 o'clock that we actually went out for the day. Jerome, Adam, jurre, carl, and I all bought hats and then decided for milkshakes until we discovered this eco resort with a lovely beer garden. They happen to have a solid beer deal (I guess it was destiny). We chilled there watching the hail storm and talking to some older gentlemen who were giving us insight on where the best places for live music were in Kathmanders. I decided that I needed to do at least one cultural activity for the day so Jurre and another guy form our hostel headed out to Budnath, the biggest stupa in Nepal, for the evening. We happen to be lucky as it was full moon. Down every alleyway there were hundreds of candles lit in honor of the full moon. It was a really peaceful and quite poppin night at the stupa as all the monks were out. We picked up some momos and made our way back to the hostel. As I was enjoying my dinner everyone brought out a birthday cake for Jerome, Emma, and I (we had learned a few days ago that it was all our birthdays on march 3rd). Honestly I could've cried. I envisioned my birthday to be nice but a bit lonely. I could never have imagined to meet people who were so kind and inviting. Thanks guys!!! You rule and I miss you all.
That Saturday was when I met my trekking group (whatta bday). I was sad you leave my buds yet again but I was so ready to leave Kathmandu and see some real mountains. Now, here we are, sitting in a coffeeshop in Namche Bazar where Everest is almost within sight of my room's window. So freaking exciting!! It may be a while till the next update so I'll sign off here but just wanted to let you all know that neither the cold nor the altitude has gotten to me yet.
The tradition of Holi sounds somewhat related to that of Marci Gras. Interesting cross cultural and religious connection. Still wondering when you actually got clean!
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