Holi - February 28

The weekend after Pokhara was Holi, the festival of colour. It's one of the biggest festivals in Nepal, especially for young people.
Besi and Bhote both came to visit for the weekend, so everyone was able to spend the fesitval, which was on Sunday, together. Being an important festival, it was a holiday from school. Everyone had arrived by lunchtime on Saturday, so after a lunch at the Gurkha Inn, we headed up to the Durbar, this time taking a route along a ridge at the western edge of town. (the first time we went, with Amy and Kirsten's headmaster, we went along an eastern ridge) This route took us past Mahindra Joti, Hari and Magnus' school, which was fun to see. The building is huge, but is open brick, not painted, so it doesn't have the same aesthetic appeal.
The temple itself was much quieter this time, so it had a very different feeling. I was able to more fully appreciate the buildings themselves, while last time I experienced the temple in full use. The feather covered stone where the pigeons and chickens are sacrificed was still there, and still gruesome.
The tradition at Holi is to throw balloons filled with paint and coloured powder at each other. Its impossible to go out on the streets without getting covered in colour. Thus the basis for the appeal of the festival!
Caitlin, Will (the Besi house stayed with us, while the Bhote house stayed in Gorkha) and I walked up to Gorkha on Sunday morning, and by the time we got there our faces were covered in red powder and we had several large splotches from balloons. Some of them sting a little at close range!
Once everyone arrived at the other house, the day really got started with an impromptu water fight, to get into the spirit. Water balloons proved too timely to make and heavy to carry, so we opted for water bottles filled with coloured water, which could be sprayed. Many of the kids on the streets did the same thing; it was those on balconies and roofs that threw water balloons, and even dumped buckets of water!
So we ventured out. We were a big group of foreigners in a town that doesn't see many white faces, and all clearly dressed for Holi; needless to say we attracted a lot of attention! As we walked along the main road, our group got steadily larger, as we were joined by some Nepali teenagers, who loved covering us with powder. From that point on, we were pelted with water, paint and powder until we returned to the house. By that point we were drenched, multicoloured, and very happy.
Our walk through the streets attracted some attention, and a photo of some of us appeared in the Annapurna Circuit, a national daily newspaper! Apparently we were big news.
Although the main part of Holi in Gorkha seemed to be in the morning, it didn't stop in the afternoon, when the four of us headed home. We still got buckets of water poured down our backs, and more powder. Although we got damp again, we had it much better than Besi and Bhote, who had to go home that afternoon. They rode about halfway on the top of the bus, wet. Buses all day were soaked in paint and water, often with those on top joining in the fun and throwing balloons.
The powder was strong! Our faces were covered in red and purple powder; there was no skin visible. It took a lot of scrubbing to get it all off, and blond hair was temporarily dyed purple and orange.
Holi was a fantastic festival to be a part of. Although it would have been much larger in Kathmandu or Pokhara, having spent so much time in this area, it was nice to celebrate close to home.