After lunchtime, I'd like to see Durbar square the last time,around sunset time this time, before I leave next day. But since it's early then, I decided to wander around at first. From International, I already knew the direction very well. From the main street, then through small alleys,it took about 25 minutes before I arrived at the shopping center in Kanthmandu, called Indra Chowk.
Named after a temple for Indra, the deity of the sun, Indra Chowk( courtyard) is traditionally a center for the sale of blankets and cloth, and there are often many merchants even on the platforms of those old temples.
It was a extreme crowd, on a working day,office time, so I began wondering if that day was a festival or not.(Turned out to be crowded as usual.) Besides temples, museums, this is also something I like very much when I travel: the vivid local life . Following the people flow from one alley to another,forgetting the directions, watching all types of stores, and local peoples' faces, I hesitated if I should have one or two more days here, even many people criticize Kathmandu badly for seriously bad air pollution, dangerous traffic, and always black-outs.
I walked past the bronze ware store, where I purchased a lamp. The boss still remembered me, and smiled at me. We exchanged 'hello' before I was kinda pushed away. I'd been thinking about buying more bronze wares, like cups and plates; but in the end decided to give it up for heavy weight and cold touch in winter of my city.
There were some 'mobile' stores on wagons, where different beans and peanuts were stir-fried live in a small pot then sold in sizes of bowls,and then wrapped in used newspaper cup.But,they tasted really good. I checked with many of them, prices ranging from 20 rs to rip off of 100rs.
I still have time for some afternoon tea. I walked into a very local cafe, called Durbar Square Cafe, in the east of the Basantapur. A vegetable pizza and a bottle of coke cost 165, inclusive of 10% tax. Honestly the environment was no comparable to the fancy ones in Thamel, but obviously good enough as a popular hangout for its local young customers and office workers.
After a little rest, when I returned to the square again, and climbed up to sit on the terrace of the Maju Deval, like so many locals did, a guide came up to me and began to chat with me.He wanted to guide me around.'It was an off season now', he explained in perfect English about his working history and his viewpoints on Nepal's current situation. I liked his attitude, for his emphasizing one work chance from me to introduce the culture and his country, totally not in a begging style.I explained my plan and he expressed his understanding and wished me a pleasant journey next day and welcome back.
The sun was lower, and I began to move to another temple, Krishna temple, where I noticed a local young man shooting the flow of people from the third terrace. Among the loud noises by the beggar kids,(maybe it was their territory), he started by welcoming me to Nepal. Mistaken again for a Japanese, I told that I came from China. The locals have pretty good impression on China, and even some scenic spots have big discounted prices for Chinese visitor, including Patan musuem and Bhatapur old town. He used to work for a good hotel and now beginning to take camera to record the city and its people. This was kinda of talk I like to make with locals,in equality.
The sun came out of clouds and then back behind, thus casting beautiful glows on the street and faces of people, either women in colorful saris, men walking bikes or carrying heavy loads on their heads. But it was so fast when the sky began to dark down.
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