Kamikaze Canuck

We arrived in the city of Bhaktapur (15km East of Kathmandu) to masses of people. We had heard that there was a festival starting soon but didn't know anything further than that. We didn't know it at this point, but this would turn out to be one of the most bewildering events either one of us had ever witnessed.

It turns out that the festival is called “Bisket Jatra” and it coincides with the Nepali New Year where they are celebrating the coming of year 2071 according to the Nepali calendar. Bhaktapur is only 6.6 square kilometers in size and has a population of more than 225,000 people.

 

 

After finding a hotel room, we were astonished to see carpenters working on a 30 foot high wagon-type contraption only half a block from our hotel. Was this a Nepali Trojan horse or something?

 

We followed large masses of cheering people to a place called Pottery Square where we stood elbow to elbow with thousands of enamored Nepalis' while the New Years ritual took place. Vendors were out in full force, selling ice cream, balloons, paan, and a type of jam or jelly in a bag that people slurped up (which look incredibly unappetizing to my Western eyes). People seemed to be absolutely everywhere you looked – even on the roofs of surrounding buildings.

 

 

A large wooden pole, I would estimate nearly 100 feet long, was being erected in the square. Three long, thick ropes were being pulled by hundreds of young Nepali men to hoist the pole. They pulled in synchronized bursts to which the crowd would chant encouragements in time with each burst.

 

 

After each successive pull, men would rush to crib the pole in place with large forked trees (as to not lose any progress). Slowly, foot by foot, the pole was raised until it sat vertical in the ground. This is done at two separate locations in the city and these poles are torn down in a similar manner on New Year's Day. One pole broke and nearly crushed several onlookers in the square.

 

After the ceremony, it was time for us to attend the next event, the pulling of the wagon. This was crazy. The wagon was pulled again by hundreds of Nepali men with three thick ropes. The wagon moved slowly through the city with the wheels slotting into wide tracks in the roadway that seemed to have been there for centuries. Again, crowds gathered around the labourers yelling encouragement as they pulled the massive wagon through the town. I would have to estimated that the crowd exceeded 40,000 in number at this point.

 

The crowds' enthusiasm seemed to build by the minute, culminating in one single event. The wagon broke over a hill and sped rapidly downhill towards the men who were pulling it a few seconds ago. Several of them tried to jump on the moving wagon and were thrown underneath. Last year three people died doing this. This is the video I captured:

 

 

 

It appeared to me that several people were seriously injured although I have not heard a news report yet. Maybe they needed the best push-cart driver in all the land to drive the wagon.

 

The next day we awoke to huge amounts of people enjoying another day full of festivities, including singing and dancing:

 

 

We're now off to Hong Kong – trading in our hiking boots and Hinduism for skyscrapers and Cantonese.

 

 

Hong Kong is also the home to legendary martial arts actors Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.