A VERY detailed update

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soooo... it has been quite awhile and we apoligize for that - our days were both very long for the past 2 weeks - jason got moved to a different school bc his other school was having exams and then a week of holiday so instead of getting home at 2pm he wouldnt get home until after 4pm. we also took 14 hours of Nepali lessons over the last two weeks - it was a lot of fun, the teacher was great, we joked around with him all the time - it has also been helpful as you could imagine, people seem to appreciate that we are trying to learn and use their language...

so the weekend after we went to Chitwan National Park we stayed in the Kathmandu valley to do some temple sight seeing. We spent the weekend in Thamel which is like the touristy part of Kathmandu. It is only 5 USD a night at the hotels so it isnt bad at all. The first day we went to Patan Durbar Square. This square was very pretty - a lot of the temples and buildings were fixed or still in tact from an earthquake that ruined most of the three durbar squares in 1913. We hired a tour guide to take us around the square and tell us about the different temples and buildings - it was very interesting and helpful to have a guide. We also got to see a Buddhist ceremony that was being held in one of the temples - everything was made of gold in there - it was amazing... we were able to take pictures of most things which was nice - i plan to load them onto the website once i get home so those of you who are far away can still see some pictures 😊 -- oh i almost forgot, that morning, Jason and I went to the Monkey Temple (Swayambath ?? is the real name, but there are TONS od monkeys there - hence the knickname). That temple was a hike - a literally VERY steep and 100+ steps to the top, but the view was wonderful and watching the monkeys was cool - we took pictures and videos for the monley lovers in Rachel's family (coll and bri)

then on sunday we ventured ourselves from thamel to the kathmandu durbar sqaure. we took our lonely planet book guide and somehow navigated ourselves around the crowded crazy city that has no street names ANYWHERE!! (lol) so we saw a lot of the temples that are scattered about the city - we also got to see the Queens pond that was built for her after her son died (i believe) which is across from the first school ever opened in Nepal. Then once we made it into the main square we hired a tour guide again - its just much easier that way since there are no signs or anything explaining the temples or which is which. As I mentioned before, we were lucky enough to see the Kumari which is the living Goddess - she is chosen at about 4/5 years old and has to pass 32 different tests/qualifications - like being born on the same day of Buddha one a night with a full moon and have some Hindu surname (I believe, sorry if I am wrong to those who practice these religions) and she has to spend a night in this temple where she is pretty much hazed in order to become the Kumari - she cannot touch the floor and she only comes out once a year on a certain festival in the fall. once she menstrates or looses a significant amount of blood or is very sick she is no longer the Kumari and the next girl is chosen - pretty much once she is proven to be mortal and/or before she dies bc the living Goddess cannot die - she usually is the Kumari until she is about 13 years old. She is a mixture of the Buddhist and Hindu religions - hence why she has to have some sort of Buddhist and HIndu relations - - so anyways we got to see her - couldnt take a picture, but she came to the window - it was interesting.... the rest of the square was nice - again hopefully eventually pictures will be able to help complete the story/experience..

then last weekend we went to Pokhara whcih is the other main tourist draw aside from Kathmandu. It is absolutely gorgeous - it has a great view of the Himalayan mountain range (when it isnt cloudy - which is scarce during the monsoon season)... the air was clean (no more crazy pollution - yay!!) and there was a huge lake (Phewa Lake). We flew there saturday morning and got there around 9am. We took a boat across the lake and climbed up a HUGE mountain to see the World Peace Pagoda and a Buddhist shrine. The hike was very steep and it was very hot outside, but we made it. the view from the top was amazing - to think we hiked ourselves all the way up there was crazy!! the pictures are very cool. Then we hiked back down a less steep way and saw Devi Falls. It is this huge waterfall that falls into a hole in the ground and disappears until it meets up with the Seti River quite a ways away. It was really pretty, I (Rachel) loved it!! Then we went back and rested and had some dinner.
The next day we went to the International Mountain Meusem bc David (the couple David and Kerrie from work) is a geologist and obviously really wanted to go. It was interesting. That morning the four of us rented a boat again and just paddled on the lake for a good 3 hours. We went back and went to bed early because we were waking up at 4am to go hike up another mountain to see the sunrise.

We all pulled ourselves out of bed to get in a taxi for 45 minutes to reach Sarankot - one of the best view points of the himalayas in Nepal. I could see some stars on the drive up which meant it was a promisingly cloudless sunrise... we hiked the 45 minute hike up another steep mountain in the dark morning. when we got to the top the sun was starting to rise and most of the clouds magically went away as the sun rose. It felt as though we were on top pf the world - and we got a perfectly clear view of the valley below us and the mouintain range around us. We got some really cool pictures that you guys will be able to see later. It was well worth the hike and waking up. The townspeople said it was the first time in two weeks that they had had such a clear morning - we were very lucky and very happy...

now we are back at work. we are planning on going to the Last Resort to go bungy jumping this weekend. We will leave ealry Saturday morning and should return back Sunday evening.

In case anyone is wondering we changed our flights from Saturday to Tuesday - so we will be coming home Wednesday August 9th.

KK - your name and email have been on the list so sorry my love - i dont know what happened - most of the other volunteers here are from england - maybe they know your future husband - maybe we should make a trip out to the UK.... lol

Fooger - sorry to hear that, but if you are happy then I am happy for you - we will catch up when i get back 😊

to my family - thanks for the update - i always seem to get Bri or Kev when i call - and Dad sorry i missed you this morning yet again, but when i called back you had gotten in the shower and then i lost the call again - so tell mom I am sorry i didnt try back - but i was rather frustrated and didnt keep wanting to pay - and actually my friend just tried to call home and the same phone isnt working - so i am sorry that i missed you again - rest michelle and let your leg heal - you dont want to rush back and then need surgery.... i love and miss everyone - please give grandma and pop a hug for me since they are going through some frustrating times right now...

k i LOVE everyone VERY much and i will see you soon!!!! XOXOXOOXO

p.s. miss jessica i assume you are working, but if there is anyway we could hangout when i get back to JFK that would be awesome - let me know. kk LOVE TO MY PIZZLES miss you all!!! XOXOOXOXOXOXOOX

p.p.s. jenna i am in NEED of a haircut and your loving xoxo

p.p.p.s. to my westernmass lovlies cant wait to see you guys 😊 xoxo and hear about everyones summers (italy in particular)

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Comments

[Jessica]

JFK
Hey baby! It sounds like you're having an amazing time and seeing all types of wonderful things... you're so lucky that you got to do this and have these once in a lifetime experiences. It makes it even that much more special that you're with your man (tell Jason I said hello!). I am working and it is quite entertaining, let me tell you! I would love to see you when you come back to the states... I see you're coming into JFK on Aug.9. Do you know what time? I usually work until 6ish, but I can get out earlier if need be. let me know your flight schedule so maybe we can work something out. I'd love to see my little MIT/Nerd Alert... xxoo! missss and lovvvee you!