The Kathmandogs

- Dedicated especially to one fluffy dog I know :)

I've been feeling rather tired lately... The air must have made my throat really sore. After work today, I've just been lying on bed resting.

One thing you can't help noticing when you're lying in bed, while in Kathmandu, is the constant welcome of dog barks. There are sooooo many dogs in Kathmandu! Stray dogs and non stray dogs alike. Many households own dogs... and more than just one. While walking on the streets, it's almost impossible to not pass by any dogs.

The Kathmandogs sleep and laze around in the day. Napping dogs sleep through the cacophony of honking motorbikes and bustling buses. I'm sure they smell the humans who walk past them, some even stepping over them, but they appear oblivious. When a pedestrian walks by, they look up briefly and turn away.


"People? No big deal. They walk around me all day long."

 (FYI: Most stray dogs in Kathmandu are immunized against rabies. You can easily tell by looking at their "stamped" ears.)

When the night draws close, these fluffy creatures wake up and exercise their senses. One dog starts barking, and the next one joins in, and the next one follows the call... Before long, the neighborhood of dogs star filling the atmosphere with different frequencies of woofs.

The neighborhood I live in has many expats and long term visitors, working mainly for NGOs. One of their main complains is the inability to sleep at night because the dogs are too loud.

Last night, we had dinner with the owner of the guest house. Great food, great company. We talked about his brother who currently lives in the UK. I asked him how his brother likes it.

"When he first moved there it was very hard for him.. He couldn't sleep at night, and for the longest time he couldn't figure out why... He tried different things, and then one day he realized why.."

"He didn't hear the dogs bark at night."