Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2017
Edit Blog Post
When we decided to go to Nepal and Bhutan it probably would have been a good thing to think through how long it would take to get there. From Columbus to JFK, 2 hours. From JFK to Abu Daubi, 13 hours, from Abu Daubi, 4 more to Kathmandu. Add in layovers and we left at 7 a.m and arrived at Nepal, day one When we decided to go to Nepal and Bhutan it probably would have been a good thing to think through how long it would take to get there. From Columbus to JFK, 2 hours. From JFK to Abu Dhabi, 13 hours, from Abu Dhabi, 4 more to Kathmandu. Add in layovers and we left at 7 a.m and arrived somewhere around noon the next day. Our guide, Anup met us at the airport with leis of marigolds and the traditional greeting of "nameste", meaning that "I greet the goodness in your soul" or something cool like that. A nice shower and soft bed was all we needed to get ready for the first day in Kathmandu. After breakfast we headed out under the guidance of our guide, Anup, who grew up here, and went to Swayambhunath. This Buddha
Stupa stands high above the city and is filled with pilgrims and others saying prayers and making offerings. The Buddha's eight eyes follow all who approach while prayer wheels spin, prayer flags flap in the wind, and the air is filled with incense. There are plenty of monkeys around looking for a hand out as well as dogs (did these guys send a memo to the ones in South America) laying about everywhere. Count on a cow or two as well. We then went to Durban Square, another UNESCO World Heritage Sight that has some 30 plus temples for religions ranging from Buddhist to Hindi to heck, I could not keep track of the names. Unfortunately, the earthquake of 2015, occurring exactly two years ago, destroyed many of them and damaged almost all of them. At several sites there are simply piles of brick, others show some damage, while others are cracked and several stories shorter than they were before the quake. One temple that does still exist is the Temple of Kumari, a real-live living goddess. Usually chosen when she is three or four, she presides over the temple and was an advisor to the king...but there is no
king any more, not since 2006. But she still is there, and honored, and we hung around for a while until the nine year old goddess provided us with an appearance and a blessing, that looked, for all I could tell, like a simple haughty look of disdain that children of that age are often so good at. In order to arrive at out next stop our guide procured rickshaws that pedal powered us through narrow streets, past shops with all sorts of merchandise pouring out their doors, and through traffic I would not normally dare take on in anything less than a Sherman Tank. Back on our bus our intrepid driver pushed us through six lanes of traffic on a street that was in the process of being expanded but not yet there. We made friends from the window of our bus with children and parents on motorbikes (they are packed into the traffic and more than once we spotted families of four zipping along beside us), soldiers in military transports, and monks coasting by in their red robes. Lunch was fine, but the highlight was learning to make 'momos'. These are small, steamed dumplings filled with vegetables or
New friends
Only Marcia can get a family in the middle of traffic to pose for a photo. chicken and served with pepper sauce meant to strip off your stomach lining. Yahoo! It was great fun to make these under the direction of the patient chef who would deftly help you, as in do most of the work, and then say, "Oh, you've have made that beautifully." After lunch we visited the Great Bouchard Stupa and joined worshippers in circling the huge dome, spinning prayer wheels, and ringing bells. We also stopped at a Thangka School where artists are trained in the pain-staking Thangka art, which can involve brushes as small as one bristle and uses gold for much of the embellishments of the paint. One will make its way home with us, it is a circular rendition of the 'mantra of compassion.' Tonight is to be a dinner of local foods and traditional dance.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.05s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 23; dbt: 0.0287s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb