Yesterday Sunday
Jan 19th was a day of dual focus. Maya my hostess Kate’s daughter
had a party for her 8th birthday. And her father Daeng, my Thai host
spent quite a bit of time surveying reports of the Bangkok Demonstrations. At a
much more pedestrian level I went off for my third visit to Durbar Square in
Patan.
Kate spent days
preparing for the onslaught of near 8 year olds, expats and locals who were
friends of Maya. The amount of excitement was matched by the variety and colour
of all kinds of cup cakes, fairy bread and even that old Nepali dish,
Pavlova. The guests left with packages
of goodies like those handed to first class airline passengers. I sought and
was granted permission not to attend, though I was regaled with highlights on my
return where Kate described the food consumption as a “sellout”.
Durbar Square in
Patan, a section of Kathmandu, is an ancient and sacred site and magnet for
tourists local and foreign. The buildings comprise a former royal palace, now
an excellent museum, several Hindu temples, two tall stone pinnacles, a water
dispensing fountain and nearby the Buddhist Golden Temple. Though the area had
fallen into disrepair it seems the Austrian pitched in and restored buildings
and the curating of the museum. Though deservedly declared a World Heritage
site local Nepali people enjoy the surrounds as a common outdoor living room.
Nooks and crevices provide spaces for intimacy and the long benches facing the
sun are full of older men and women chatting.
To convey such a
visually rich set of places in writing or photos is not possible unfortunately
or fortunately lest they be taken for granted. Nonetheless I will put in a
couple of shots.
I
couldn’t resist the one with the old mate.
Maybe that’s enough for now and more anon.
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