David's AW News: Kites in Kathmandu

Greetings from Kathmandu

It's been a really interesting week.. here living in the aftermath of the Gen Z revolution. 

Last Friday I had just arrived and made this YouTube - Meeting the Gen Z ..  and the newsletter for last week here.

Since last week's newsletter Toni from Spain has arrived. He was a little apprehensive about coming given all the news. But like me he is happy to be here.

The manager of the hotel where we are staying told me they had many cancellations. He was so happy that we turned up - we got an upgrade to the best rooms! 

At this time of year the beginning of the climbing and trekking season, normally they are full.. but at breakfast we see maybe only two or three other guests. 

The other day Bicky our Lokta paper supplier took us on a trip to a nearby city to visit a ceramics factory.. Bhaktapur - first time I have been there they have a place called Pottery Square where local artisans sit and make pottery. But there is so much more in this epic town.  Bicky has friends and relatives in that city and they all came to meet us. We had a special tour of this beautiful, very historic place, one of Bicky's friends' wife is actually a heritage architect working to restore and maintain the city's heritage. From  a rooftop terrace restaurant, I was admiring a dramatic tiered temple. Which I later learned was a restoration project run by this lady.

Beautiful Bhaktapur

Burned out buildings.

On the way out of Kathmandu we passed several burned out buildings, others with all the windows smashed in. Bicky showed us we passed the Supreme Court, completely destroyed. He said most people think that was wrong and shouldn't have happened. But there had been a major jailbreak and he thought it was criminals attempting to destroy records. A small tent has been erected in the grounds and Bicky told us the most important cases were being held there.  Life is getting back to normal.

before..

Our taxi driver told us one good thing is that there is no traffic police to annoy him.. and the traffic manages fine (just as bad) but without bad tempered traffic police blowing whistles and directing traffic. The police who were getting increasingly brutal until the government collectively stepped down and went into hiding are very thin on the ground now. Instead army checkpoints and security (but not much on view) keep the peace. Big news here is the Gen Z that started all this are now mobilised to tidy up and fix the damage where they can. Social media is full of posts of police stations being repainted and repaired, street damage being fixed. 

Bhaktapur 

I was surprised - Bhaktapur is not like Kathmandu, it's so calm and peaceful - maybe because of the lack of tourists - but also spotlessly clean and tidy. The people are known to be kind and gentle and it reflects in the nature of the place. After out VIP tour, we had a nice terrace lunch.. then went to talk to some ceramic factory owners that Bicky friend knew. 

I have to say they make beautiful ceramics here, but logistically I'm not sure how to bring to Europe and even if they would be competitive in the market. Let me know what you think..

The pottery square is really interesting.. late afternoon when it's not too hot a truck arrives with fresh clay from a local clay pit. All around the sides of the square are tiny artisan studios which take delivery of the clay and like a public performance make their particular speciality. Then in the centre of the square is very rustic public kilm to fire the finished pots. A very ancient tradition that grew out of the towns speciality which is basically fresh yogurts, or curd as they call it here. Stall and shops all over town sell curds served in chilled clay pots.. very tasty almost like ice cream but more healthy I guess. Anyway the pots are discarded after use.. I watched a guy just making those pots.. out of this ancient art..

I'm so happy to discover this place.. artisans heaven.. I think I have enough content to make a YouTube video.. I'll try and upload something later.

Meanwhile in the EU...

We have some special offers on right now to get up to 30% off selected products - Ends soon. Great time to stock up, ready for the Halloween season.

Here in Nepal it's actually the festival of Dashain starting now.

It's their biggest festival and has a big kite flying theme.. I can already see the sky filling with playful kites. A tradition of kite flying during the Dashain festival. Kites are flown to mark the end of the monsoon season, signal the gods to stop the rain, and symbolise joy and freedom. Everyone not just kids do it, flying kites from their rooftops, and often compete in friendly kite-flying contests.

Toni and I have already been invited to a rooftop kite party, apparently there will be beer as well as kites..

Anyway wishing you all a peaceful and enjoyable week. 

Namaste from Kathmandu 

David