Looking for some sort of meditation retreat, I booked myself on the Vipassana course in Kathmandu. It was for 10 days and with over 10 hours of meditation a day, it was quite a challenge. 4am starts, complete silence, no reading or writing, segregation of men and women etc. After a little more of adjustment to the 'real world', I will see how it affected me! The technique of Vipassana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. Vipassanā (Pāli) o [View Full Entry]

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Boudha etc. I am so behind in my blog that I am now not sure what I have done and what I haven’t, but I shall try to catch up in reasonable chronological order! Here are a few photos of the lovely guest house where I stayed in Boudha, which is run by the Shechen Monastery. I have also included lots of photos from a day we had in Kathmandu looking at many of the wonderful temples. [View Full Entry]

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This was a place of great tranquility. After experiencing the rustic lifestyle of Goljung this place was a palace of comfort where I taught English to kids from the ages of 5 to 20. The Monastery is run on donations from around the world supporting kids who come as orphans, from poverty, and from far off remote regions. Here they're giving food, shelter, clothing, an education, medical coverage and with that, they are given hope and a chance for something better, something different. The genuine courtesy, selfless generosity, and honest kindness of both the children and the teachers was a soul [View Full Entry]

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"It's the Himalayas!" Himalaya, Sanskrit for 'house of snow', where the Sherpa people live on the edge of the inhabitable along the 'Roof of the World'. Referred to as 'tigers of the snow', they are the unsung heroes behind every summit attempt of the world's tallest. After the climbing season, they return to their villages, families, farms, and herds. It wasn't unusual to discover, while talking to a lodge owner or a yak herder, only if asked mind you, that they have, indeed, been to the summit of Everest. Typically, the answer came with that far-off gaze of distinct remembrance followed [View Full Entry]

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It was time for me to put to good use the money that my friends had given me for the orphanage kids here at Sunrise. They have very few books so it was decided that we would visit a great book store in Patan. We went through central Kathmandu and there was once again a protest of some sort. That seems to be a daily occurrence here. Every morning I read the local paper and there has been a demonstration, a Banndh (shut down of everything) or a protest of some kind. It’s a very new government (the Maoists are out) [View Full Entry]

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Mainly photos this time, don't want to tax you too much! Once back from Patan, the children fell on the books and were totally absorbed for ages. Once the community library is up and running these will be rotated there too, so they really will be greatly appreciated not only by the orphanage kids, but the kids in the local community too. Thanks girls. The money you gave me at Jackie’s and my birthday lunch went a long way and got some great reading material that is hugely appreciated. P.S. Anyone want to sponsor a slum kid? About $30 a month [View Full Entry]

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Kalimati Slums. This is another project of Emma’s at Sunrise, and Emma and I visited the slums with a few children from the orphanage yesterday. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I have driven past many slums in various countries and it’s always horrifying to imagine people actually living in conditions like that and I always thought that the people would be hostile, angry that we are the have’s and they are the have not’s, but it was different. Partly due to Emma being there and what she is trying to do for them of course, but what really surprised me [View Full Entry]

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I feel that so much has happened since my last blog that I hardly know where to start. I always try to keep text down to a minimum as I know it is so much easier reading a story through pictures and everybody loves looking at photos! So, where to begin? Firstly I am simply loving living in Boudha and shall soon take some photos of the lovely little guest house where I am staying and the environment around it. I have managed to get a micro van to school and back and even went into town and had to change [View Full Entry]

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During my shopping expeditions around Thamel I have become friendly with a lovely young man, Raju, in one of the local shops. I have bought a few gifts for friends and family and a couple of silk rugs there and now whenever I pass the shop I am invited in for a cup of chia (Nepali version of chai! ) During one chat over chia I mentioned that I would love to buy a traditional mandala Thangkas and Raju said that a friend of his paints them. So we went and visited Sonam Lama, a very good looking and talented young [View Full Entry]

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Bodhnath is about 6km from Thamel and being there is like strolling around a town in Tibet. There are Buddhist monks and people in national Tibetan dress everywhere. The shops sell Thankas (traditional Tibetan paintings) and Tibetan artefacts. The stupa is huge and very imposing and is believed to have been built in AD 600. There are lots of wonderful shops, cafes and restaurants around the perimeter of the stupa and I loved sitting sipping a latte watching the world go by. People walk around the stupa clockwise and spin the prayer wheels built into the walls of the stupa as [View Full Entry]

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