Holi

Today Kathmandu celebrated Holi. We got child care (not a holiday for kids!) and headed out with a group of friends to Patan Durbar Square. Last year Jeremiah was trekking during Holi so I was excited for him to experience it. We went out equipped with water guns, dye and our phone and money in a plastic bag.

(Most of these photos are from our friend Emily - I wasn't brave enough to bring the camera out around all that water!)

There seem to be two techniques people employ - the nice "happy holi" smear of color or the attack with water balloons, buckets and smushing the color around your face. Both are fun until those water balloons get thrown too hard or you get the dye in your mouth (gross!). We had a lot of fun with the little kids in the area.

At home we did a kid's version with Tegan and some friends. A few long showers later we've gotten most of the dye off but our skin has a bit of a red tinge to it. Hopefully tomorrow's morning shower gets the last of it!

On the road

Losar Cham

It feels like the beginning of the year is spent celebrating a lot of "new years" (the western calendar, Chinese calendar, Tibetan and Nepali New Year is coming up). March 1st marked the beginning of the Tibetan New Year. Part of the celebration includes masked dancing called Losar Cham.

Lo means year
sar is for sar-pa : means new
cham : means sacred dances.

The dances are performed on the second last day of the Tibetan calendar to purify and eliminate all negative feelings, thoughts and actions of the finishing year.

Jeremiah went to this Losar Cham at Benchen Monastary.

Swayambhunath

Haatiban Resort

It's always nice to get out of the city a bit; this weekend we tried out Haatiban Resort. It was about a 40 minute ride to the bottom of the road, then about an hour and 15 minute hike up the hill (more like 45 without the extra weight and hold-up factor of a baby and toddler).

picture by Molly

At the top of the climb we put our bags in our rooms and quickly made for the outdoor seating at the restaurant to have drinks, play cards, let the kids nap and watch the cloud cover burn off to give us some great mountain views.

From this point we could see the whole Kathmandu valley and had fun trying to guess which building was what.

We stayed one night (sleeping in a "king bed", really 2 twins pushed together) and in the morning had a sub-par breakfast made entirely enjoyable by the views and company.

Overall it was a nice trip and the ease of getting there was great, but the service wasn't good nor was the food. Namo buddha is still our favorite getaway, hopefully we make it out there again soon.

15 facts about our house

1. Our bedroom door has a peep hole.

2. We know we're load shedding when we open the fridge and the light doesn't come on.

3. Every armoire and drawer has a lock and key.

4. Last year we had to go outside and turn on our water pump each day to fill our water tank then listen for the over-flow and run out to turn it off. This year we have an automatic pump that turns on and off by itself. Love it!

5. Our washing machine is in the bathroom and a hose runs across the room into a drain in the floor.

6. You know it's garbage pick-up day when a man walks down the street blowing a whistle. Who knows where the garbage goes.

7. We have a gas stove and water heater (that heats only our shower) and the gas comes from tanks we replace when empty.

8. We have 7 dressers, one for every room in the house.

9. On the roof we have a solar heater for water (the only source of hot water at all taps except the master bathroom shower). It's a bunch of tubing that holds water and is warmed by the sun.

10. Each bedroom, 4 of them, has their own bathrooms.

11. Many of our wall light fixtures are meant to be outside, and most of them are mounted upside down.

12. Rope is strung in the top floor bedroom to hang dry clothes - no driers here - for when the weather isn't nice enough to hang outside.

13. We keep bottled water by our bathroom sink to brush our teeth.

14. We have no tv.

15. We have great internet.

 

Cheese!

A lot of the cheese you can get here in grocery stores is highly processed kraft singles-type cheese. So at the weekend market we stock up on the good stuff! Here is the stall we affectionately call "the cheese lady" (who always gives Tegan props for understanding the awesomeness of cheese).