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Published: October 26th 2011
And I'm back! Another amazing and most interesting day in Kathmandu!!!!
We have arrived in the middle of a festival week and today is the celebration of 'wealth'. All store and home owners are busy cleaning, washing, clearing away garbage etc. so that the gods of wealth (I hope I got that right) will provide abundance to everyone. (I cleaned out my purse - hope that counts!)
After a large number of us returned from the flight around Mount Everest, we had a quick breakfast and then it was on the bus and out and about. I was so fortunate to catch up with the Joshi's in the dining room and they steered me towards the yummy vegetable pancakes/curry dipping sauce. YUM-O!
We started our tour at Patan City and the Tibetan Refugee Camp. Quite interesting - check out the photos of the women (at the camp) making the rugs. Wow. Such patience - such talent - and fabulous products. You could hear the cash registers going ka-ching, ka-ching as our passengers made a few wonderful purchases. And then.......an experience of a lifetime and I can't really put in words what it was like to get off the
In the lobby of the hotel
This was put up today, in the lobby, in celebration of the holiday. (Divaldi)bus and then walk about 1 km. to the place where we were having lunch - the Kaiser Cafe at the Garden of Dreams. Because it is a holiday today, everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) was in the streets, on the sidewalks, on the roof-tops (seriously!) - everywhere! There was not one square inch of free space in which to walk - really tough for someone who is 5 ft 1 inch tall like me, LOL! Really tough! We quickly learned how to handle scooters coming up our butts - really! The photos speak for themselves- so I am including more than normal to give you a sense of what we experienced.
At the Cafe, we also wandered around for a bit to get the 'experience' of the holiday spirit. There was lots of singing, music, dancing, and so on. Very festive!!! The streets were decorated and there was a strong sense of joy everywhere - AND smog, traffic, cows, goats, dogs, etc. Really a bizarre and wonderful experience all rolled into one.
From lunch, we headed back on the bus and back to the hotel. Our hotel is located very close to a Stupa (kind of
like a mini-outside mall, if you will) - but also at this location, there are prayer wheels and monks who come to pray at 4:00 p.m. - we wanted to experience that. People were wandering around and around and around, praying non-stop. It was very zen-like and what I had THOUGHT Nepal would be like.
There were also stores all around the circle - and most of us who wandered over made some very happy purchases - me, included! (I don't normally shop but I could not resist getting myself a true, blue Nepalese cap for my cross-country skiing this coming winter!......and I got the prayer beads for my dear friend, Louann).
Then, it was back to the hotel to socialize in the lounge with many of the passengers - it was a lot of fun to just sit back and chat and get to know each other a bit better. Dinner was a buffet - quite lovely - especially the desserts. We had singapore noodles, dim sum, curry chicken, (I had an amazing Thai vegetable soup!!!!! to die for!!!) - and so many other choices.
And now - finishing up the blog and getting ready for
bed. Getting up at 5:30 a.m. makes for a very long day by the time it gets to this hour.
So, good night from all of us on behalf of Travel Guild - tomorrow morning, we are off to Agra - and the Taj Mahal. A magical place, indeed - and another eye-opening, cultural adventure.
Good night, Mom - I love you and miss you!
Happy Pat
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marg
non-member comment
Such Diversity
The world offers so much - and we all enjoy it in different ways - I am greatful to be where I am - cheers marg