Happy Holi!

Well we are back in Kathmandu and it seems I inadvertently planned for us to be here during the Holi Festival. Another festival, sounds great, right?!

The Holi Festival is like a rite of Spring; it's a reminder to people that Spring and the Monsoon season are coming. The main civilian method of participation in this celebration is to 'play Holi' which equates to throwing colored water on your friends, neighbors and random passerbys.

My mom and I got a whiff of the game last night after we arrived back here from Bhutan. We took a stroll through Thamel, the tourist ghetto of Kathmandu. At some point water came pouring out a window above me and onto my head. I was miffed to say the least not having a clue as to what was in the water or why I was a target. Then we spotted kids with water bombs (clear plastic baggies filled with water) waiting for just the right moment to nail a hapless tourist right in the ass. I thought for awhile these were just games Nepali kiddies played on foreign visitors but then it was explained to us that there was to be a festival and the water works were part of it.

This morning we decided to damn to torpedos or better put - water bombs - and walk from our hotel to Durbur Square in Kathmandu. We mapped out a path to get there and I had it in mind that if things got really crazy we would duck into the National Museum to escape the festivites.

And so it began, kids from every direction ducked out from shops, windows and just plain in the middle of the road taunting my mom and I with little baggies full over water. Needless to say we got nailed a time or two (at least). We walked for some time and then decided to hell with it and hopped into a rickshaw to make our way down to Durbar Square. Wise move I realized after catching a glimpse of some Westerners not only drenched but with color all over their face, hair and clothing.

The rickshaw presents another interesting experience of course and that is navigating the narrow streets of Kathmandu and competing with taxis, scooters and motorcycles for room on the road. It's quite an experience, horns are honked continually, engines die here and there as taxi drivers have to make their way around skinny corners in low gear and there we were in a covered rickshaw powered by a fairly thin Nepali man in pedaling the bicycle in sandals.

Durbar Square was nothing short of amazing. Temple after temple, angry goddesses, people dressed in colorful clothing, water balloon fights, vegetables and fruits being hawked on the street.

Kathmandu provides a riot for the senses. In retrospect the capital of Bhutan, Thimpu is a sedate little town nestled in a valley with sleeping giant mountains on both sides.

I need to blog more about the last week in Bhutan and seeing as how things will be insane outside here for the afternoon it seems like a good time to catch up. We've been assured that the water portion of the Holi program ends at sunset today!