Advertisement
Published: December 21st 2005
Edit Blog Post
Welcoming Prayers
At the birthplace of Buddha {sorry for the double whammy of entries, it's just that I've stumbled upon a decent connection, oh miracle of miracles, and figured I ought to do it now! I'll even try to upload some photos tonight, but no guarantees}
Nepal has made me breathe easier. The stress accumulated from exactly a month of travel within India melted away the second the air felt fresher and I returned home to a country where green is the prominent colour, and mountains dominate the sky (sidenote: I have realized on this trip just how desperately in love with Vancouver I am... there really is no place like it on earth, try to remember that those of you struck by the doldroms brought on by winter grey!).
Our first stop in the country was the small town of Lumbini, made famous as the birthplace of the great Buddha, and an accordingly magical place. It's a very green town, and walking from a beautiful hotel to a more beautiful green space of Buddhist temples and trees, past the red robes and shorn heads of monks, I felt a peace that has been all-too lacking in the last month. Nature, space, and peace and quiet,
are vital to my mental health. The specific spot of the birth was marked by a less than impressive temple, but the innumerable strands of colourful prayer flags hanging from every nearby tree, combined with the harmonious chants of young monks, combined to make it a very spiritual place. We took in a few of the monasteries situated on the grounds, and I realized how much I'd missed the understated beauty of Buddhist religious expression - it's much more in tune with my personal concept of beauty than the more colourful and kitsch of Eastern religions.
The next few days were spent in Chitwan National Park, and they completed my total seduction by Nepal. Leaving the small village where we spent the first night, we canoed and trekked deep into the park, and spent the night in an even smaller village on the side of a river (a village apparently plagued by a man-eating tiger; I locked my door). We visited elephant and crocodile breeding centres, and saw a wild rhino from the safety of a jeep. I'd hoped to see some of the more dangerous creatures (tigers and sloth bears, as well as wild elephants and rhinos) up
The Himalaya
From a field of mustard close and personal, but after the less than reassuring safety speeches of "run in a zig zag and try to climb a tree" (rhinos) and "maintain eye contact and don't run" (tigers), and seeing the size of the tracks (and there were plenty of tracks, and droppings... we may not have seen many animals but I bet they saw us!) I was more than happy with just enjoying the nature, and the exercise.
Slightly worried that Kathmandu, presumably another polluted, hectic, crazy big city would adversely affect my positive impression of the country, I approached the city with some trepidation... but was actually quite pleasantly surprised by how quiet, peaceful, and beautiful it seemed - there were hardly any cars on the road! Turns out that was because of a valley-wide strike imposed by a secondary political party in response to a shooting initiated by a royal soldier (um, yikes), but even amidst the rickshaw and motobike chaos that quickly resumed, it remained a nice place. The backpacker enclave of Thamel is filled with creature comforts, and great souvenirs, and is sure to blow my budget. The old city is filled with the old world beauty of narrow streets
Trekking Through the Park
Avoiding Rhinos and Tigers and winding alleys, and absolutely gorgeous Newari buildings, and when some of the girls and I took off to explore, we quickly got lost. We somehow ended up in Durbar square (love accidental sightseeing!), and checked out the temples before rejoining the group for a lovely finale dinner and night out. After a little more sightseeing with the remaining few (hiking up to the famous Swoyambutha stupa nearly killed me), and some scrumptious traditional Nepali/Newari food (anyone in Kathmandu, you MUST go to Thamel House Restaurant, it is unreal), I've been left all by my lonesome, and will spend the next week seeing a little more of the country (Bandipur and Pokhara are on the list), attempting to survive a Christmas on my own (sniff), before flying back to the tropics and meeting up with a friend from home, to spend New Years in Bangkok. It'll be bittersweet to leave Nepal, as I've quickly come to love this country, but I know I'll come back, and when I do I may even have the nerve (and the clothing - it is FREEZING) to do some trekking!
A note on the political situation: Before coming here I vaguely knew about the civil strife, but I never expected it to be so apparent. There are tons of army checkpoints on every highway, police officers in riot gear on every street (well, those outside of the main touristy areas... appears Thamel is a bubble of goodwill), and the country as a whole is decked out in so much blue camo that it could easily be Off the Wall circa 2001 (flippant joke, sorry). It's quite unsettling, as I've never gotten used to the presence of guns, and worrisome when events such as the shooting in Nagarkot continue to occur. However, it is a very self-contained conflict, and tourists (I am assured) remain quite safe, though apparently tourism has dropped to crippling lows. Nepalis are a beautiful people, and it's hard to see the turmoil here, but I'm okay, and please don't worry!
hugs all around, and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
- Robin.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.084s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0353s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb