MIKO Noodles

I kept seeing this commercial for MIKO Noodles on TV, it kept repeating over and over again. The advert was at least a minute long. It was basically a story involving this old Japanese guy slurping noodles. When I went out to get some things at the little store near us I discovered the MIKO noodles and was easily sold by the advertisement. They cost 15 Nepalise Rupees, .02 USD. They were worth each penny, let me tell you. They claim to use Japanese technology...impressive.

Monkey temple

Headed out to the Monkey Temple a few days ago. My Colleague Zak and I hired one of the hundreds of rickshaw drivers to haul us out there. After bargaining for a fair price we settled on this tiny little guy, though at the time we didn't think much of his size. On two occasions we had to get out because he got stuck in some mud. It was actually quite a terrible ride because there was so much dust you basically had to close your eyes and try and cover your mouth. In total it took about 40 minutes or so before he let us off at the bottom of a steep hill and near the entrance of the temple.

On the way there I saw some pretty horrific scenes of poverty and pollution mingling together in ways I never thought was possible. I photographed a couple of things that stuck out, but it would be quite rude and uncomfortable to take pictures of many of the other things I saw.

Soon after the rickshaw let us off we walked over a small bridge with a stagnant river passing underneath it. I could smell the water from above and it wasn't a pleasant smell to say the least. Never have I seen so much garbage, all piled on the banks of the river and in the river itself. What's more, looking down the river a bit I could see women and children swimming or bathing in the water. A picture of this is in the post as well as one from another account on the way back in which a giant cow decided to lay down in a pile of garbage and mud causing a traffic jam.

Now, the temple (Swayambhunath) was quite interesting being one of the oldest holy sites in Nepal. What I found most interesting was the fact that monkeys, stray dogs, pigeons, homeless people, orphans and monks could all live together and only fight a little.

First impressions: Kathmandu

Kathmandu, a city of about a million and a half people. Traffic lights and traffic rules for that matter are apparently absent, cows and yaks roam the streets in competition with stray dogs for a few measly scraps left in piles of colorful garbage brushed up against the side of street curbs. And the cars, bicycles and motorcycles scream by in clouds of exhaust fumes that just about make you gag. All this with a beautiful back drop of the picturesque, often cloud covered Himalaya mountains endlessly stretching, slicing clouds at the edges of the valley hinting at some notion of nature, fresh air and cleanliness.

When we exited the plane into Kathmandu airport it reminded me a bit of south America, minimal, dire need of remodeling and stale. As we walked through a long hall to where I presumed the VISA processing station would be a small peculiar looking Nepali man waited anxiously with a bouquet of flowers. He was sweating and I could tell he was nervous, even from far away because he seemed to be almost shaking. As I got closer he suddenly shouted, "Your Excellence!" and forced the flowers into, no not me, but the chest of what I think was a Korean man decked out in an over sized conservative suit, the kind republicans wear. The whole thing scared the shit out of me because as this happened a security guard stuck out his arm and stopped me and a few others from moving forward and possibly disrupting this incredibly awkward scene. I looked for the Korean man who was probably some sort of government official while I waited in line for my VISA, but he mysteriously disappeared most likely through some secret exit. 'Your Excellence' is easily my new favorite way to great someone, absolutely astounding.

From here on I haven't been out too much because I'm working. But I snapped a few pictures, one from my apartment and some random street shots. I heard there is a casino in the hotel beside my apartment building with free drinks and dinner. I'm quite tempted by this. I'll be out and about soon enough as I have about six weeks here, so rest assured you can look forward to some more posts.