The Holi Festival

With only 5 days left in Nepal, Chantra and I decided to visit Chitwan National Park.  The park itself was o.k.  We rode elephants into the national park and saw a couple of cool things like crocodiles, rhinos, and warthogs but it wasn’t as fun as I thought it was going to be.  Actually, my favorite part of the whole Chitwan experience was the Holi Festival.  The Holi festival occurs every april and celebrates the victory of lord Vishnu over the demon Hiranyakashipu.  The celebration itself involves throwing heaps of colored powder and water on each other and random strangers. 

We were walking through town when we heard loud pounding music and decided to follow that cacophony of noise.  As it turns out there was a large gathering in the center of town that was filled with locals covered in a rainbow of colored powder who were dancing and undulating to the unending beat of Nepalese music.  The only thing I can compare it to is a rave, minus the ecstasy of course.  It was fantastic.  Old and young alike were swept up in the joy and happiness of the Holi festival.  Colored powder and water were being flung in every which direction and there wasn’t a single person that wasn’t covered from head to tow in a spectrum of bright powder. 

At first me and Chantra only watched the spectacle that was being played out before us.  Until I noticed that several of the children kept looking at us.  I could tell that they desperately wanted to cover our clean unsoiled clothing in powder.  So I smiled and waved at the nearest one, and then it was on!  She smiled back and the next thing I knew, me and Chantra were enveloped in a multicolored cloud of dust.  Kids started running up from every direction and slathering our faces with powder.  Even some of the adults got in on the action and before we knew it, we were just another pair of multi colored bodies amidst a sea of rainbows.   It was so much fun!  A giant water fight that lasted hours.  We were chasing and being chased by some of the most adorable kids we’d ever met.  I have so many great memories of Nepal and this day was one of the best.  What a fantastic way to end our time here in this Himalayan paradise.  I’m really going to miss this place, but now it’s on to Laos.  See ya then!