Durbar Square is the generic name used to describe plazas and areas opposite the old royal palaces in Nepal; there are technically three of them in the Kathmandu Valley. This one, located in the heart of Kathmandu city, is more properly referred to as Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square. As the ancient seat of Nepalese Royalty, the royal palace was used not only for royal living quarter, but also used as the center of administration, cultural activities and festivals.
It's also the place hippies used to come in the 1960s to smoke Hashish (legally, at the time). Do you see Tom, Hope and Jeff in the photo below? They are apparently sitting in an area more historically reserved for the stoned. This comes from our impromptu tour guide, but he seemed like an honest soul, so what's not believe? I did Google looking for photos, but when I didn't find any, decided that my Google skills must just be lacking.
You can see Old Freak Street in this photo, it's the small street to the left of the market square:
"Freak Street was the epicenter during the Hippie trail from early 1960s to late 1970s. During that time the main attraction drawing tourists to Freak Street was the government-run hashish shops. Hippies from different parts of the world traveled to Freak Street (Basantapur) in search of legal cannabis. Direct bus services to Freak Street were also available from the airport and borders targeting the hippies looking for legal smokes. Freak Street was a hippie nirvana, since marijuana and hashish were legal and sold openly in government licensed shops." Wiki
This is all of historical interest, only, of course, as it is no longer the 1970s, and now Freak Street is just another touristy sort of shopping area.
This is what Hope bought: an entirely different sort of pipe:
More on her Bansuri in a later post.
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