Momo's and street fights

20th Jan, 2018

Today it is Saturday and my first real weekend in Kathmandu.

I did what I normally do and had a (small) sleep-in, and then off to the Farmer's market in the northern part of the city.
My friend Urgen invited me as he is there every weekend selling Momo's and as Momo's have become my guilty pleasure, I thought I had to go and at least check those out..

 I arrived to this place booming of expats, fresh produce from various places around the country displayed everywhere, food stalls with Momo's, Pakistani food, Lebanese food.etc etc. lots of different cheeses like Brie made by Nepali products and sold by, yes of course, a Frenchman!
What is not to love about this place?
I got a nice coffee to start off with and started to walk around the stalls to check out all these various things. Honey, spices, chocolate.. Everything was there

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After a couple of hours and yes, a plate of  Urgen's excellent Momo's, served in a bowl made of leaves, I decided to walk into the city and the tourist area Thamel.











A walk for about 30 minutes, where I managed to almost step into a big crime scene - a huge dead rat and big bird were on the pavement.. I don't want to what the other guy looks like...
Life is rough in the big city.

 
Thamel
Thamel is quite vibrant with it's lingering alleys and streets, full of tourist shops selling North Fake and other copies of high brands. Lots of yak wool products, Hindu and Buddhist statues, jewellery,silk and cashmere schals on streets covered in Buddhist prayer flags.


The culture on these streets is to bargain and haggle, but that is so far off my comfort zone.. and to be honest, I get pretty bored and don't really feel the big satisfaction in saving 100 rupees..

I prefer the other shops where there are fixed prices :) My Swedish DNA is coming out clearly in these situations.

I justify that with the fact that I buy from places like Helping Hands, an organization working with deaf and blind people who are producing products like ponchos, schals etc and selling them through this shop.
 The store manager also informed me today that they are also helping trafficked women coming back to a more normal life by selling their pruducts, so I was very happy to buy my poncho from them.
Proud even.
I leave the bargaining to H and especially his sister, her shopping sprees usually end up being quite cost effective.. :)


I finished off the Saturday by finding my way home from Thamel by foot, I knew it was around an hour walk. My route went through local narrow streets where all sorts can be found to buy, food, shoes, jackets... then I followed a big road that passed by Kathmandu's stadium. I learned that this stadium had a disaster in 1988 when more than 80 people were killed during a football game due to a hail storm that created panic among the visitors and they couldn't get out of the stadium as the exits were locked. Very sad.

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I have finally come home and it has started to get dark, my feet pretty tired after the almost 9km they have walked.
But a very nice day all in all, I can see myself going to this market most weekends to stock up on food and to be in a nice place. But next time I probably walk there and take a taxi home, as it is far to carry and it limits my purchases to only a few things..

A very nice start to the first weekend in Kathmandu.




Love and light,
Jen xx