Happy Holi!

Day 1 of my trek coincided with Shiva's (a holy God's) birthday. It is celebrated by having a big feast at the end of the day. In order to have this feast kids need to earn money. In order to earn money kids hold a rope across the road, trail, wherever people need to cross and in order to cross you have to give the kids money. So driving out of Kathmandu in our big tourist van there were kids trying to stop us and the hundreds of other vehicles with tiny rope, it didn't work out so well for them. However, as we got on the trail there was no way to pass but to give them some change. As we climbed higher and higher there were STILL these adorable kids there, but none of us had any money left so at times our guides were able to get them to lower it for us, other times we had to hurdle over or sneak by. Today, my last day in Nepal is the final day of this ongoing celebration, called Happy Holi. It is celebrated all throughout Southern and SE Asia, but is the worst here in Kathmandu. I received warning lastnight as I was falling asleep and heard some gossip about this "Happy Holi". Wear clothes you don't mind getting stained, you're gonna get soaked and foreigners are their main targets.

I woke up early this morning and made it out to breakfast before any of it got started, just in case taking the bare minimum with me in a plastic bag. I spent some time making phone calls after that and by the time I headed back for my hostel it had started. It was madness, I walked out and immediately had a bucket of water dropped on my head, then water balloons thrown at me, then water balloons with dye in them, then kids running up with powdered paint rubbing it all over me, my hair, arms, legs, body. Go figure, as I hate shopping I decided to wait and do it my last day here. Very few shops are open and getting to them is impossible. So I ran around a bit looking for anything and as time passed it just got worse. The guys began to get drunk and were attacking me in groups, grabbing and touching everywhere. I gave up and made it back to my hostel, thank god I splurged and decided to spend my lastnight in one with a restaurant, hot shower, internet, taxi service and gift shop… I am not going out on the streets again and have a few hours left to kill here. Luckily there are a lot of people doing the same thing so I have good company. Thank god it all washed off with ease too. I would have got some weird looks boarding a plane, arriving in Austria and meeting my host family.

I am so excited for Austria and the farm! The outback, koalas, kangaroos… =)