One of the problems with the festival was that everything was closed. I had by now sussed out a few more places to eat. I had met up with a couple of the other volunteers and had dinner during the week on a couple of occasions and been ton the Bamboo Cafe, great food, just limited choice. The food and drink in Swoyanbhu was about half the price of Thamel and there was no service charge or tax out of the city. That actually added another massive 23% onto the price of anything.
Disdain is a Hindu festival so although most things in the Hindu world come to a stop it did not affect the Work at the monastery, they did however have exams which gave them a few days with no lessons and they were to use this time for preparation. I helped and for the three days leading up to the weekend I sat in the courtyard and was constantly met approached by someone or other with a question. Perhaps the most bizarre was from one of the class five monks who had his account exam on the Monday morning. He asked me the night before if I could explain what the profit and loss account was. I suspect he did not get the required mark.
Travelled back to the city and the hotel premium on the friday afternoon for my usual hot shower. The owner looked quite pensive as I walked in and pointed out a sign at the reception. The cost of a room had gone up from 500 rupees to 600 rupees. An increase of 20%! This was due to the fact it was now officially high season. People would arrive in their droves to do the various treks and adventure trips. Kathmandu would become (more of) a hole and the mud of monsoon would be replaced by the dust . The only consolation is that it is a bit cooler, certainly in the evening. I accepted the rise in prices at the hotel. It was only 80p ! More annoyingly though most of the restaurants had produced a new menu and they had increased their prices by 20 or 25% too. The restaurants annoyed me. The service was generally poor and the food was quite expensive, as was the beer. I had not eaten the other tha than the first week or so and on a weekend but to be honest, the young lad at the hotel cooked as well and the beer and food were roughly half price.
Exam time came and went. I still continued to do my afternoon and evening lessons and actually went in to the temple where the exams were held and helped out giving paper out. Some of the monks quite cheekily asked for answers and while I was there I was constantly getting cheeky smiles from them.
One of the main celebrations of Dishain, which actually seems to go on forever, is the ritual slaughter of literally thousands and thousands of animals. The run up to this mas slaughter was interesting as all around you creatures, goats, ducks, chickens were being led around. I guess you have to appreciate that some people had walked literally days to get to a place where they could slaughter their animal and make that all important sacrifice to the gods. Originally I had intended going to one of these places but as it got closer to the date I decided I wouldn't. Instead I sat with the monks in Puja for the souls of the animals that had been slaughtered.
Finally the long last the festival was over. I was so pleased, mainly because it meant that I could have my coffee, masala omelette and potato curry with tibetan bread in the mornings. I had so missed that. Also, it meant I could once again get regular access to the Internet. God knows what we did before wifi and the likes.
Tragically the first morning after dishain I visited the cafe. Unfortunately I couldn't have my sisal because most of the staff had not turned up for work. It was actually quite typical of the youth. ladpath had given them quite a good holiday, a good bonus but told them when he needed them back. Of course they had probably long bus journeys and walks to get to the village but both waiters had decided to push their luck and extend their holidays.
Like I say, the youth of today. Never used to be like that in my time!!!
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Location:Balaju, Kathmandu
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