Jungle and concrete

So we've already mentioned that our first stop (besides one night in London) was Singapore. We didn't completely get what's the deal with that city-state. On one hand amazing progress, high-tech trains inside the city and buildings that look like they were taken from old science fiction posters; and on the other hand cheap asian street food and unbearable tropical heat and humidity (afterwards we learned that the city-state is located only 137 kilometers off the equator and its lowest ever recorded temperature was 19 degrees celsius. Jesus).  

a jungle in the middle of the city

an actual jungle, with monkeys and stuff

the empire strikes back

Besides, there's a general feeling that there is something not entirely innocent hiding beneath the shiny and organized facade. Our couchsurfing host (who was wonderful, by the way) told us that except for the famous fines (yes, 500 dollars for eating on a train) there is a general tendency for government intervention in all areas of life, compulsory army service even though it's not clear what the national military threats are, and scary broadcasts urging citizens to report any suspicious persons or objects, even though to the best of our understanding there has never been a terror attack or any other kind of security issue there.  

!Singapore is a FINE country

And have we mentioned that since the first elections in 1959, the same party has always won? Singapore is the country with the third-highest GDP per capita in the world, it consistently has one of the lowest corruption rates measured, but it's defined by the Economist not as a democracy but as a "mixed regime" (a mix between a democracy and a non-democratic regime). Oh, and any gathering of five people or over requires police approval, there is a mandatory death penalty for murder, and Amnesty claims that the city-state probably has the world's highest per-capita execution numbers. Somewhat scary.  

"this is local sign language for "please kindly carry on, good sir

Regardless, a cool concept from there that we should adopt is their food courts. A food court in Singapore (whether on the street or in one of their many malls) consists of a group of tables surrounded by lots and lots of stands – everyone grabs whatever they want and everyone sits mixed together. Fun and convenient, and every dish usually costs just 4 or 5 bucks. The other cool thing is their creative attitude towards tourist attractions. It's especially obvious in a new site opened in the city – the Gardens by the Bay. People sat and thought – there's a whole area here by the sea, attached to a complex of fancy hotels. There's nothing interesting there. Not an ancient cultural center, not a nice piece of nature, nothing. What should we do? Invent something. We'll build big trees out of metal, wrap some tropical vines around them and call them "supertrees". Sounds cool, right? Add a huge botanical garden and two gigantic glass domes with whole tropical biospheres inside, and you have a site that's completely artificial but somehow very local.  

!supertrees

!this is what they look like up close

!?also - WTF

By the way, one conspiracy theory suggests that the idea for the Gardens was born when someone realized that the Marina Bay Sands hotel complex (the one designed by Moshe Safdie, that looks like it has a giant boat on top, which apparently houses the world's largest indoor casino) has a stunning view of the city on one side, but nothing interesting on the other – and that's why the park was built. P.S. If you’ve seen the finale of the second season of the Israeli version of The Amazing Race, that's exactly where the finish point was.  

the aforementioned hotel

the view from its roof, on the non-Gardens side

*** In a dramatic shift of atmosphere, we left Singapore and landed straight in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Anyone who's ever exited an airport in the Far East is familiar with the swarm of attacking taxi drivers, and in this sense Kathmandu is no different. We booked our hostel in advance, and it was significantly more expensive than most (a whole US$20 for both of us per day, including breakfast). On the other hand, we didn't have to look for a place on foot in the rain and there were also really interesting people there, and not the usual assortment of post-army Israelis (no offense) and drunk Brits. We met a 31-year old American who left her life behind and went on a one-year-long quest to visit all seven natural wonders and is planning to write a book about it (here's the link to her site); we met a 65-year old guy who has been to all seven continents (yes, including Antarctica), is planning a month-long trip to Africa next year and recommended we do a "mountain flight", where you are taken above the clouds for a vista of the Himalayas and get to under 10 kilometers from the peak of Everest; we met a couple who look like they came out of "Into the Wild"; we met a girl from Singapore who was stuck in a snowstorm at Everest Base Camp for three days, without communication, and told us about someone who started going crazy and tried to undress and go outside claiming she was hot; and we met two Israeli women in their fifties on their way to India.   When we got to out hostel, we started to hear some disturbing news regarding the weather (it's been raining nonstop for a few days): one of the biggest storms in years has hit India, and the effects were evident in Nepal; it's snowing in the mountains and many of the trekking routes are closed; all the local flights (the only way to reach the beginning of the trek to the Everest Base Camp unless you want to walk there for a week) have been canceled for a few days; and no one knows how long this will last. We heard a different forecast from everyone we met, from "it'll clear tomorrow" to "it's going to be like this for at least two weeks, go to India instead".   The weather cleared up pretty fast, and the very next day it stopped raining and we got to see Thamel, Kathmandu's busy market/tourist area, in all its muddy, noisy glory. It was fun to eat three-dollar meals and buy 10%-priced hiking gear, but we wanted to get to the mountains. We booked a flight for a few days ahead, hoping the weather will clear up by then, and went to a small town two hours away for a short hike in a more rural area.   Despite the well-known adage "fun things are fun" (S. Cohen), it turned out that the common recommendation of seeing the sun set and rise from the local mountain wasn't worth it. The hike the next day, however, was tough but beautiful, full of astounding views and tiny villages. And terraces. Terraces everywhere. We couldn't figure out if the local children are just social or whether they're trying to get money. Unfortunately, a few times we suspected them but they just wanted to say hi and give us flowers. But then we met two boys that after a few minutes of walking together started making demands ("water give!", "money give!", "dog give!") and mooned us when we politely refused.  

terraces

terraces, terraces

Neriya gets a tip for being adorable

Who is this dog? Well, that's Momo, who is traveling around the world with us. He likes to travel and play Jungle Speed, but he doesn't like to shower or to eat soup. He likes to get his picture taken in different places and connect with the locals, and he's running this blog for us.  

this is me

Anyway, at the end of our day trip we saw a sunset much more beautiful than the one we came for a day earlier, and we had the dubious honor of being the only guests in a hotel. The hotel was run in the best third-world tradition of dir and disorder, with a thin veil of elegance in the form of a well-dressed staff who kept addressing us as "sir" and "ma'am". One example: we asked for mineral water at breakfast. We weren't sure if the waiter understood us, so we told him "bottled water, bottle of water". He made a positive face and came back after a few minutes, serving us – with a bow, no less – a bottle of mineral water to our table.   Empty.   On the way back to the big city, we stopped to marvel at the world's second-highest statue of Shiva, one of the central gods of Hinduism. Listen, it's pretty tall. What's the story behind it, you ask? Did local monks build it over decades? Perhaps it is a remnant from an ancient village that worshipped it 400 years ago? Almost. It was built by a local water-tank tycoon to show his devoutness. Actually, there is a complex around it featuring a restaurant, a hotel and a spa; we're not sure which came first. The spa offers a variety of treatments, from an aromatic oil massage to a therapeutic enema. We returned to Kathmandu shocked at the lack of authenticity of the local landmark.  

one pretty tall statue

two pretty tall people

Before we finish, a tip: if someone keeps telling you "don't worry", that's when you should start worrying. Not anything serious, but we weren't completely wrong for being skeptical of a load of laundry's ability to "sun"-dry on a cloudy day.   And finally, another short video. Tomorrow we go to the Everest!   P.S. We forgot to write in the last post – if you were wondering about the logo, it's thanks to Lev and Anna, who included a drawing in their lovely card we got from them for our wedding.