04-13-2012: Happy New Year 2069 !!!!

I am in a cafe having breakfast looking down at Sukuldhoka "plaza". It is full of people. It is loud with honking and music. Mostly Nepalese and some tourists.

It is fascinating to be here for the New Year Celebration. So much is going on: markets mix with ceremonies. Yesterday the most interesting part was to walk around and sit somewhere for a while, talk to locals, and watch life happening. I am really tall here ;) And it seems to attract kids attention. I spent quite some time with different groups joking around.

For the big ceremony last night, people pushed down the street a big and colorful chariot all the way to Hanuman Ghat. Then a huge amount of teenagers in full testosterone adrenaline were trying to lift up a massive poll with enormous ropes. It is like a tree trunk with a sort of cross at the tip wrapped in blue cloth with Green branches at the extremities and long ornamented draperies hanging of it. This went on for hours. Teenagers were yelling their lungs out jumping around. The plaza was packed with people constantly moving around pushing each other to make their way. I was glad to be 3 heads taller than most people to watch all of it happening.

This morning I got up at sunrise to take some pictures. Good idea since the whole town was up too. I went straight back down to Hanuman Ghat and witness people praying and giving offerings... and animal sacrifices! So many chicken are going to die today. Women, all dressed in red saris and golden jewelries, come up to the main chariot (and a smaller one near by) with plates filled with rise, flowers and spices, and a chicken under their arms. They hand over their chicken to the kids who seem to own those chariots. Then the kids cut of the head of the chicken who keeps moving frenetically even after losing its head. After the ritual the chicken is given back to its owner who leaves with the chicken in a plastic bag. This is a bit gross but I have seen chickens being killed as a kid at my grandparents farms. And I will not judge it as it is part of the culture here.

All this is fascinating. Tonigth celebration is to put down the the big poll they lifted yesterday. I am going to continue exploring Bhaktapur. I think I will go to a smaller town called Patan tomorrow.

The celebration tonight was pretty crazy. Throughout the day teenagers still as exited and loud as before kept moving the big Chariot down the street. At sundown they rotated the Chariot to go back and then it was time for the pole to go back down. I didn't know how they were going to do it. Letting it fall seemed crazy and super dangerous since there were people packed everywhere around the pole, and I wasn't so far either.

But when time came people went hysterical, shouting. They untied the ropes at the base of the pole, spreading them out. Teenagers were jumping around yelling and swinging of them like monkeys. And suddenly the pole started falling. Imagine a huge tree truck which just been cut falling onto the ground with the noise and damage it can make. This is what happened! As the pole was falling people started fleeing and I was stuck in it trying to not fall. I don't know how nobody died but sure a saw a couple of guys who barely avoided to be crushed flat. And right after people ran back to pole to jump on it. This was impressive, exhilarating and really scary at the same time. From what the manager of the guesthouse told me people die sometimes. I have a feeling nobody cares when that happens.

After all this madness settled down I realised my passport was missing from my pants side pocket. I froze. I looked around for a bit with no hope because of the madness and amount of people running around before. Some people saw me looking down and asked what I was looking for. And a couple of minutes later this guy shows up with my dusty passport in his hand. I really don't know how he did it. It was dark and still really busy around, but I was so happy. He didn't want anything in return and I really insisted. Thank you very, very much Monsieur ;)