Headed to Bhaktapur on Tuesday to go shopping and see the beautiful scenery. Bhaktapur history goes back as far as the early 8th century. It was a 40 minute ride from our hotel by taxi. The ticket to enter costs 15 bucks. Upon arrival everyone wants to be your tour guide. after being in Kathmandu for a week, you learn to put up a force field because everyone wants your money. We chose to tour ourselves.
There are lots of temples and merchants in Bhaktapur. Walking through the city, I stumbled into a music shop. Lots of drums where lined up along the walls. I grabbed a Madal off the wall and started playing. The merchant quickly gave me another one and said “this is the one you want.” It did sound better. A Madal is used for traditional Nepali folk music. It sounds like a cross between a Tabla drum and an African talking drum. I really started to gel with the instrument. As we where jamming, a few teen kids came into the shop, Dennis and his brother. They hung out with us the rest of our time in the music shop. Then carried our stuff around for the rest of our shopping spree. These kids reminded me of the Bowery boys in NYC in the 30’s with some punk rock mixed in there. I started referring to him as “Dennis the Menace,” feeling comfortable with him right away.
After finishing up in Bhaktapur we started our exit. Dennis the Menace asked if I could buy him a book. Didn’t take much–how could I not buy him a book? Books are good! I said no problem, and followed them to the “book store.” As we walked I started to get the feeling I was being hustled. When we get to the book store, the “uncle” wants 4000 rupees (about 40 bucks) for the two books. I say no way. I offer to buy one book for the kids. After I leave, they bring the book back and do it all over again to another tourist. The Nepalis are very proud people and tipping is not part of their culture. So the street hustle is a job these boy took on. As an old punker, I can respect that. It was only 20 bucks, and I liked these kids. So I handed over the money.
And after all, the photo I got of Dennis the Menace and his brother is priceless.
