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Published: December 21st 2010
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Completely exhausted from my trek, I spent a couple of weeks relaxing in Kathmandu and catching up on my sleep. I spent my first couple of days back with two of my friends that I made on the trek. I also spent a lot of time hanging out with my buddy Sunil. I met him through his sister Sandhya who I worked with at QCI for a little over a year. He took me to see a lot of sights in and around Kathmandu, plus we became regulars at some of the bars. The area that I stayed in was called Thamel, which is a neighborhood set up for tourists. It was a nice change for me from Africa because there was a lot of variety in the food available, a luxury I have not always had the past few months.
Kathmandu is a very lively city. With its narrow streets, lots of cars, motorcycles, and foot traffic, the roads are always busy, until about midnight when it appears to suddenly shut down. One of the first sights I went to see was Swayambhu, also know as the Monkey Temple. Swayambhu means self-arisen. It got its name because, according to
Sandra, Justin, Wanda
Chillin in a bar in Thamel legend, it rose up from a lake. The whole Kathmandu valley used to be one big lake. The temple itself is a mix of Buddhism and Hinduism, the two main religions of Nepal (almost 80% of the population is Hindu).
Another place I went was called Pashupati. It is a place with many Hindu temples, and has a very dirty river running through it. On this river, people of the Hindu religion take their deceased. They first lay the body down by the river to 'cleanse' it, and then they carry it over to a pyre where they cremate it in public. I was right above one such cremation. I stared down at a sad family saying their goodbyes to a middle aged man. Last was his wife, who was weeping over his uncovered face. It seemed to me very impersonal to witness this grief as a public spectator, but in the back of my head, I would tell myself that it is OK to watch, and OK to be there, as this is a cultural experience. Once they lifted the body onto a pile of hay on a concrete slab next to the river, they covered the body
in hay, head last, and lit it on fire. I had to move after a while as the smoke was going right into my face. I did not finish watching the burning. I saw some things I do not find appropriate to write about in this blog. It was my first and last cremation.
I also went to both Durbar and Tarbar square more than once. They are both areas with many temples. Durbar literally means palace. Durbar square is where kings were once crowned and ruled from. One of the days Sunil and I drove with a friend of his a good hour East of Kathmandu to see some countryside and mountains. I got some great pictures of a sunset, where the mountains were glowing red. They almost looked fake as they appeared to be floating high in the air. I have never seen mountains so impressive in my life as the Himalayas.
After seeing what I wanted to see in Kathmandu, I jumped on a 7 hour bus ride West to the town of Pokhara. Pokhara is a popular place for tourists, and it's where all the locals tend to go on holiday. It sits at
Pashupati
The river where they purified the body the base of the Annapurna range, which gets the 2nd most trekkers every year after Everest. It is also nestled right next to a large lake to add to the already impressive scenery. It has a small strip called Lakeside which has many different restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. I decided I wanted to explore the countryside around the city, so I rented a motorcycle for a couple of days. The first day a friend rode along with me. We got lost for a while until we found our way up to Sarangkot, a spot on top of a large hill with great 360 view of the area. That day it was cloudy so we couldn't see Annapurna at all. I ended up going back up there two days later at 0530 am to catch the sunrise. It was worth the effort. It was perfectly clear that morning. Watching the sunrise from that point is a must do if you ever find yourself in Pokhara. I also rode Northwest of town for a while until I reached a small village about 30 Km away. South of Pokhara, was my favorite riding road. The road was very curvy and in good condition.
It went up for a ways and transcended a small mountain. From there, I rode up to a shrine called Peace Pagota, which had excellent views of the lake, Pokhara, and the Annapurna mountains behind it.
After a few great days of riding, I headed back to Kathmandu. This time it took 9 hours because of road construction and really bad traffic. I spent my last few days in Kathmandu hanging out with friends. Nepal has been my number 1 on my 'places to go' list for a long time, and it didn't disappoint. Trekking in the Himalayas is a must do for any well traveled person who is semi active and enjoys the outdoors. The people in Nepal are very chill. Walking down the streets, I would not get hassled anywhere near as bad as I would in places like Egypt or Ethiopia. It was a nice change. I hope to return sometime and do the Annapurna circuit. My last day in Nepal, as I flew away on my Nepal Airlines flight to Bangkok, Thailand, out of my window I had a perfectly clear last view of Everest. Our plane was cruising at about the same height. Looking
out of my window at the 1st, 3rd, and 4th highest mountains in the world slowing going away behind me, I thought to myself, what a perfect way to end my trip to Nepal. (2nd highest mountain is K2 located in Pakistan)
I now find myself back in Bangkok. I have been here twice before, in 2000 and in 2005. I am planning on spending Christmas with my friend Pom who I met my first time here. After that, I am spending a couple of days hanging out with a cool Belgian couple I met in Uganda. For New Years, I will be in Phuket visiting my friend Amy, whom I haven't seen since college about 11 years ago. After college, she moved to Japan for a while and now Thailand.
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Panzy
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Nepal
Reliving my 5 weeks in Nepal- thanks for the blog. Merry Christmas and safe travels... an amazing adventure