How to describe
KATHMANDU ? A
medieval time capsule? An
environmental disaster area? A
pleasure dome? A tourist trap? A
holy city, a dump, a beautiful
illusion? All of the above. There
are a thousand Kathmandus, all
layered and dovetailed and piled on
top of one another in an extravagant
morass of chaos and sophistication.
With nearly half a million people,
Nepal's capital is far and away its
biggest and most cosmopolitan city:
a melting pot of a dozen ethnic
groups, and the home town of the
Newars, Nepal's master craftsmen and
traders extraordinaire. Trade,
indeed, created Kathmandu - for at
least a thousand years it controlled
the most important caravan route
between Tibet and India - and trade
has always funded its Newar
artisans. Little wonder, perhaps,
that Nepal's capital has so deftly
embraced the tourist business.
The Kathmandu most travellers
experience, Thamel , is like
a thumping, Third World theme park,
all hotels and hoardings and
promises, promises, with croissants
and cakes beckoning from restaurant
windows, and touts flogging tiger
balm and hashish to holiday hippies.
The old city , though
squeezed by traffic and commercial
pressures, is still studded with
ageless temples and splendid
architecture. Its narrow lanes
seethe with an incredible crush of
humanity, echoing with the din of
bicycle bells, religious music,
construction and car horns, reeking
of incense, spices, sewage and
exhaust fumes. Sacred cows still
roam the streets, as do holy men,
beggars, street urchins and coolies.
And then there are the outcaste
shantytowns down by the river, the
decrepit ministry buildings, the
swanky five-star shopping streets,
the sequestered suburbs, the
burgeoning bazaars.
But perhaps the predominant
images of contemporary Kathmandu are
those of what passes for progress:
hellish traffic jams and pollution;
a jostling skyline of rooftop
water-storage tanks and satellite
dishes; suburban sprawl, cybercafés,
leather jackets, discos, neon signs,
power cuts and backup generators,
chauffeured Land Cruisers, families
on motorbikes, advertisements for
kitchen appliances. Kathmandu is
joining the global village at
ramming speed. It hasn't abandoned
its traditional identity, but the
rapid pace of change has produced an
intense, often overwhelming, urban
environment.
Nevertheless, Kathmandu is likely
to be your first port of call in
Nepal - all overseas flights land in
the capital, and most roads lead to
it - and you probably won't be able
to avoid spending at least a couple
of days here. It's the obvious place
to sort out your affairs: it has all
the embassies and airline
offices, Nepal's best-developed communications
facilities , and a welter of trekking
and travel agencies . At least
as important, in the minds of
long-haul travellers anyway, are the
capital's restaurants and the
easy social scene that surrounds
them, all of which makes Kathmandu
the natural place to get your
initial bearings in Nepal.
All things considered, though,
you'd be well advised to get your
business here over with as quickly
as possible. If you're intending to
do any sightseeing around the
valley, consider basing yourself in
the healthier surroundings of Patan
or Bhaktapur, or even further out in
Nagarkot or Dhulikhel. These days,
the smart money is on staying outside
Kathmandu and making day trips in,
not vice versa.
