This is Holi

So Holi was much as anticipated and I got very colourful. I decided to go to Gorkha for the weekend to check out the palace. I am trying to visit a few more places before my parents get here in case there are some hidden gems that I need to show them. Gorkha may well be one of them but the hideous bus journey, 1500 steps to get up there and the fact that we can’t set foot inside it (as non-Hindu’s) may just rule it off the list.

I arrived late on Saturday and was pretty glad I did as I had finished my book on the way and had no other form of entertainment. I went out looking for something to read but was thwarted by the lack of a bookshop. I did get a copy of the Kathmandu Post and out of desperation also bought the January 17th edition that was yellowing in the window (for which I was charged full price!).

In the morning (of Holi) I set off early to reach the palace at the top of the hill. I had read about the steps and assumed that once I hit the trail I would be on my own. Unfortunately (today at least) there are shops and homes all the way to the top which meant that I felt like I was running a gauntlet as children shot water pistols and threw water balloons at me. Luckily the little ones were a really poor aim and I got away lightly. The other line of attack is to rush up and put dye over my face. I didn’t really mind this and knelt down so they could reach me. It was on my way back through the main village when the attention and dye got a bit much for me. Older boys, well into their twenties (one man politely asked to cover me in dye and then struck up a conversation telling me he was a police man!), roamed in gangs and rushed me rubbing their hands all over my face. It was a bit intimidating and I was really glad to get back on the bus. Though for the whole drive home we were doused in water every time we stopped to let in more passengers.