A Mix of Cultural Events: Tibet, America, Bhutan, & Nepal

This month we've got a few events going on. First up this Friday is Losar, more commonly known as Tibetan New Year. Usually there are some celebrations out at Boudha where the Tibetan community of Kathmandu in large part lives. Kim and I went out there last year for the celebration and there were some tensions between Tibetan's who wanted to parade a portrait of the Dali Lama around the stupa and local authorities that are very sensitive to the wants and fears of the Chinese. I suspect it will mostly be lighthearted celebration and throwing some of that flour stuff up in the air while people cheer and chant stuff in a language that I can't comprehend. I really do love the people out at Boudha so I am looking forward to this.

Next we move back to my native United States as there is the upcoming Super Bowl next Monday morning which we will not be able to watch it appears. The only place that appears to be showing it is Phora, and as we are not members it doesn't look like we'll be seeing it there. So back up plan is in effect and the projector will get hooked up to the laptop which will have to stream the audio and have the play-by-play board from ESPN on. Now in some countries you might be able to find a stream of the full broadcast, but in Nepal the internet just isn't up to streaming live video feeds. The plan is currently to supply plenty of buffalo wings, pulled pork sandwiches, and nachos along with some beer and other light alcoholic drinks. A perfect start to a Monday morning with some football. Looking forward to a good game between the Packers and Steelers.

The following weekend we are leaving for a short five day trip to the small Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan. This country is a little difficult to get to and travel in, as the government sets a minimum amount of money to be spent per day and you have to receive a letter of invitation arranged by a travel agency to visit. After a few weeks of e-mails, scanning passports, and wiring cash we got our plane tickets and letters of invitation. One highlight for me will be visiting Taktsang Monastery, better known as tiger's nest, which sits on the side of a cliff roughly 3000 feet above the nearby valley. This is one of the most dramatically placed buildings on the planet and I've always wanted to go there since I first saw a photo of it. Our trip will also coincide with the Punahka festival which I think celebrates the victory over invading Tibetan forces and the result is lots of dancing, costumes and what should be a good time. Really looking forward to this trip and am not really sure what to expect.

After we get back it will be a week and a half to get things in order before Donnie and I set out to reach Everest Base Camp and the Gokyo Region. Yes I did this Trek just last Sept/Oct, but this time we will be walking in from Jiri, rhododendrons should be coming into bloom and I'll get another shot at going over the Cho La pass that I couldn't get to due to being turned back by the Ngozumpu glacier. I'm really looking forward to the part of the trek from Jiri to Lukla as I haven't done it since 2002 when the country was in the midst of civil war, I'm curious to see what those villages and towns are like along that part of the trail now. I remember many of the villages along that route fondly, and they have been some of the better ones I've stayed in amongst the middle hills of Nepal. That trail is also an endurance tester, as over the course of traversing the many ridges passes and valleys on your way to Everest your total elevation gain is higher than the summit of Mt. Everest, roughly 9000 meters, or 27,000feet. 

So there should be some fun things to talk about and pictures coming up soon, certainly an interesting month or two.

Wanting to Write Something Positive

The more settled I get in Nepal the harder it is for me to find things to write about it, as nothing seems all that different to me. So just like back home, conversation and thought about the country turns to the events and politics that the country engages in. In this area it is quite difficult to say anything positive about Nepal, and so I have put off writing about it. For instance I really wanted to write something about Nepal Tourism Year 2011, but as I started writing about it, I found that the entire piece was cynical and disparaging. Indeed it is hard to look at what has been done for this and come up with a single good thing to say, and what makes it worse is that the general population seems to have high expectations of it.

Sure people should come to Nepal, it's a great destination, it has the best trekking on the planet, it's temples, people and culture are something that can be spellbinding, and places like Chitwan offer some of the best jungle safari's in the world. For all these reasons and more people should come to Nepal, and more tourists could certainly help the economy here, but that really isn't the issue. The issue is that Nepal declared 2011 tourism year, and then proceeded to create no new incentives to come here, did not reduce the archaic paperwork or ease the terrible visa process, they actually upped the fees for tourists at places like Bhaktapur and infrastructure throughout the country continues to get worse instead of better. There were no new trekking routes opened, no permit requirements eased on some of the more interesting trails, etc. At the airport the visa lines are still terribly long, but there is a nice shiny newly painted gate as you leave the airport that declares "Welcome to Nepal". Sigh.

Return to Kathmandu- Losing all Focus

So I'm finally back in Kathmandu after a short tour of Cambodia and Thailand. Before I get to the topic of this post I have to give some serious praise to Thai Airways. I've flown them before and they must be one of the best run and most customer friendly airlines I have ever used. While normally US based companies have superior service than overseas competitors, I find our airlines are terrible. Thai airlines have always been very helpful, and their planes are clean, the food isn't bad and their in flight entertainment isn't bad at all. They also don't charge extra for drinks on the planes like some outfits do now. My flight back was with Thai airways to Dhaka in Bangladesh, and then I had a connecting flight through the local carrier to KTM. When I checked in the woman at the counter upgraded me to a direct flight, and it was a flight that departed earlier getting me home three hours early and on a much better plane. So big thanks to them, and I can't recommend them highly enough.

Sometimes it's strange how your perspective of things can change so much in a short time. Before I left for this trip, I'll be honest I wasn't really all that excited about it. Sure I was happy I would finally get to go see Angkor Wat and I was looking forward to being at the ocean again, but mostly I saw it as cutting into a really good rhythm I had gotten myself into that had me writing some of the best stuff I had put together in my life and a running schedule that had put me in some of the best shape of my adult life. Then there was that sync I had finally found with the flow of life in Nepal, picking up supplies, making meals, everything had kind of found its place, so the idea of getting out of that gave me a bit of worry that I might lose a bit of it by the time I returned. This was a well placed concern.

Stepping back into Nepal the other day I couldn't help but feel a bit confused as to what I was actually doing here.  I got home and after unpacking a bit and taking a quick nap I got a chance to Skype Kim back in the states and chat a bit. She asked me, "So what did you miss about Kathmandu?" I was stumped.  kind of stared at her over the screen for a minute while my brain frantically searched for an answer, I stuttered a bit. "I missed running out to Boudha. It will be good to make some more salsa and see people at the market. In the evening before sunset I missed being able to look out at the Himalaya on the horizon. Once it warms up a bit it will be nice to get back out into the mountains, I really do enjoy it out there." But the answers all felt at least a little bit empty.

To be honest what I hadn't missed was the load shedding, the lack of warm water or water at all. I hadn't missed the dark cold nights, the polluted rivers and trash strewn roads. I hadn't missed the dust that covers everything here. I hadn't missed the honking, or the terrible driving habits, or the lack of any shared sense of what common courtesy is. Even though Thailand and Cambodia are extremely different from where I am from, Nepal is another whole dimension.   I hadn't missed the unreliable access to goods, especially certain food, and I hadn't missed the constant hassle that is dealing with everything that is life in Nepal. Coming back home to Nepal, I had completely forgotten why I was here.

I'm now sitting in Imago Dei since my internet isn't working at the house and trying to gain a little focus back. Over the last year I've had a chance to read some of the best, and most important books, I've ever read. Without a doubt I've written the best stuff I've ever written. I've had a  chance to travel to some of the most amazing places I've ever been, and I've interacted with people who I'll never forget. When you look to see where you are geographically and ask why you're there the answer may not always be one of social or practical efficiency. When I really sat and thought about why I was here now, it was mostly because time is cheap and can be purchased at a fraction of the price you get it for in the west. what I missed most about not being in Nepal is the slow rate of wealth depreciation over time, which allows for a stronger focus on the things that you really want to concentrate on and devote energy toward.

I had been so focused before I left that all of the impediments to life that Nepal brings to the fore had melted away as a small cost for what it was allowing me to concentrate on. Now having lost that rhythm, having lost that strong focus the reality of where you are sitting stares you in the face, and without a little mental concentration and a focus on perceptions it's easy to become frustrated with my surroundings. Strangely coming back to Kathmandu I feel further away from it than I have in almost all of my time here. Maybe it's a passing disorientation from my recent trip, maybe it's something more, only time will tell. For now I'm back in Kathmandu, and it's been an awkward homecoming.

Mr Smith Goes to Kathmandu- One Year On

So today this blog turns one year old! I had no idea what I would be writing about when I originally put this together, and looking over the posts from the last year it's interesting to me to see how it all shaped up. All in all I've had a great experience over the last year, from the final preparations to come here in December to now when I'm planning to leave Nepal for the first extended period since coming here (I'm heading to Thailand/Cambodia for a short time). While any experience has its ups and downs, this one has been mostly ups and a great experience over all that I'm glad has been a part of my life. Not everything goes as expected, but that is in an ironic way that's something we expect.

So before I left I wrote a post on Why would you want to move to Nepal, and now that it's been a year I thought it would be interesting to revisit some of those thoughts and see what I have done, what I haven't done,how reality matched up with expectations, what I'd still like to accomplish and what was just naive thinking. I'll use Italics to quote the original text.

Giving the Palace The Run Around

Now as I stated recently, I'm the only person I usually see running in the streets of Kathmandu. During a conversation with some expats while we were in Bhaktapur observing the Gaijatra festival the topic of exercise came up and someone mentioned "It's not like you can go running in Kathmandu". Well you can, I do. Kind of. It's a little more like an obstacle course, and in some ways it makes things more interesting. Some times though you just want to run and not deal with all of the traffic and people and cows or whatever might get in your way.

As I've mentioned, the only place I see people running jogging most of the time is around the palace. The house owner of my apartment also recommended it to me as a place to go running. So the other day I didn't get a chance to go out until sometime around 5PM. I really wanted to go running, but the traffic out by the ring road on the way to Boudha would be terrible during this part of the day, so I took the opportunity to try out the route around the palace. I gave it two laps plus the distance from and back to the apartment.

Map showing the route around the palace, almost exactly 1.6 miles.

The palace route has some real advantages going for it. First there are sidewalks around the whole thing, and in most places you can actually use them. In some places they are full of people, like near the east gate and over by the foreign ministry on the west side, but other than those two spots you don't have to run in the road. Because really no vehicles go in or out of the palace area for the most part, you don't spend too much time dodging cars or getting stuck in traffic. Another bonus is that the trees and bamboo that line the walls provide some decent shade from the sun. With many of the normal obstacles removed from my path I was able to keep a fairly consistent pace. Also the mile and a half loop that isn't far from home allows for a nice variable run depending on how I feel, and if I pull a muscle or something it isn't a long walk back to the apartment. 

So with all of those advantages, you'd think this would be my new route, but I think I'm gonna stick to the Boudha route. The main reason is that the air quality around the palace is terrible. Sure I cross the ring road on my way out to Boudha, but for the most part the air isn't all that terrible on my way out there. Around the palace I felt like I was constantly sucking exhaust. Narayanhiti Path and Kanti path are especially bad. The sidewalks that are concrete are fine, bu the brick ones, though even enough for walking are a bit tough when running, during these segments I usually shifted to running on the side of the road. While the trees and bamboo provide shade, they also provide homes for birds and fruit bats, and thus when running under the trees on Kanti Path especially, not only do you have to dodge poo from the sky, but you have to inhale the smell of the poo on the sidewalk. 

While the sidewalks are nice, young Nepalis seem to like to take up as much space on a sidewalk as they can. I don't think it's done on purpose, but it's common to see four people spread out perfectly to take up the entire length of the sidewalk, and thus you end up jumping off and back on to the sidewalk. The sidewalk near the foreign ministry is always full of Nepali people waiting to get a passport. The quantity of people there is always really high, and due to this the number of people already walking in the street is already high, thus you end up dodging people and oncoming traffic through this section. Also there is very little difference in elevation over this route, just a few places with some minor variation giving some gradual up hill and down hill segments. On my route out to Boudha I get a couple of really good hills in each direction, so I get some good practice on both up and down hill running.

All in all maybe not a bad place for an early morning run before the traffic gets going. I'm sure I'll use the route from time to time, but all in all not too impressed. If I want to do some distance running once in a while it might not be a bad option if I got up in the morning and did like five laps or something. Running long distances otherwise gets me too far from Kathmandu, and I'd hate to strain my calve way out by Sundarijal or something. 

It's a Cultural Difference: Running Through Traffic in Kathmandu

Now I've been better at keeping up some good habits than others. For instance I am no closer to speaking fluent Nepali now than I was three months ago. This is of course my fault, as I haven't kept up with classes and spend all my time speaking to people who speak English. Sometimes I'm really good about sitting down and writing, and sometimes not as much, but I have stuck to it and get at least three pages written or edited each day. In line with that project I have also been reading quite a bit and have been going through rather in depth books every week or two. Thank god for Kindles, because I would never ever find the books I'm reading anywhere in Kathmandu, or most US bookstores for that matter. I have also kept up my running, and continue to run to Boudha about every other day or more, and that has made for some interesting adventures.

South Asia as a whole doesn't seem to be all that interested in athletics. Sure they watch and occasionally play soccer and cricket, and in the press I see things about badminton, table tennis and judo, but serious competitive athletics are just not part of daily life for school kids apparently, not on any scale like what we do in the US anyway. As for running you occasionally see people do some fairly lazy laps around the palace wall, or a few people on cardio machines at some of the gyms, but even there it is most often expats. I have never ever in all my times I've gone running seen another person running as well. You see some Nepali's doing back breaking work, so they aren't afraid of breaking a sweat, but they seem quite averse to doing so if they don't have to. Judging from some of the puzzled looks I get as I go running and some of the conversations I have with people here, most Nepali's don't have any idea why you would put yourself through running across town.   While people back in the US might think you're still nuts they implicitly understand the health and fitness benefits that go along with running, and I'm not sure that is ingrained in the psyche of South Asia.

As I have finally gotten back to actually running and not just jogging I am starting to find that I actually can move faster than a large segment of Kathmandu traffic, which brings some benefits as well as some awkward situations. Kathmandu has an incredibly dense population, and there are people everywhere. There are no sidewalks, so people, bovines, dogs, and all manner of transportation from tractors and tuk-tuks to SUVs and school buses all fill the roads. Trash is not collected in bins or bags, but dumped in piles on the side of the road for pick up. The monsoons have eroded some parts of the streets and new sink holes have opened up in places to add to the already large array of pot holes, large puddles, open manholes that one can encounter in the streets of Kathmandu. This all makes for some tricky maneuvering when you are running, and you rarely get to keep a nice even pace as you have to switch sides of the roads, temporarily jump up onto a limited sidewalk, or slow down as you reach a traffic jam.

The strangest thing is that people do not look where they are going for the most part, and even if they do see you coming they continue on what ever path they are on, regardless of if they are on foot, on bikes, motorcycles or in a taxi. The other day I almost slammed into a woman who just stepped out in front of me without looking, luckily I just put my hands out, and kind of moved to the side so as not to fully collide with her, but had I been a motorcycle or a car, she would have been seriously hurt. Bicycles tend to go at a very lazy pace through the city, and often many of the men I pass who are on bikes feel it is some kind of personal challenge to them that I have run by them and start peddling a little faster. For a minute they will get ahead, especially if we are on a down hill, but then they go back to their lazy pace again and I pass them. I get the most puzzled looks from these guys.

The funniest thing is when I get out past the ring road I start passing a lot of the white mini-vans that transport people out toward Boudha. I'll pass them in traffic, and they will pass me on some open road,  but then I pass them again when they stop to drop people off or pick them up. Then as we inevitably hit traffic again as we close in on Boudha I often am running right next to them, and the looks I get from the boys that holler out where the van is going and collect money from passengers is priceless. Sometimes they or someone else in the van will try and say something to me in garbled in English, and sometimes they will even cheer me on. I passed a school bus the other day on a downhill where the bus had to keep stopping for speed bumps. The children on the bus had moved to the side I was passing it on and many of them were cheering me on, and as the bus hit traffic I pulled away to them all pointing and laughing.

Now navigating traffic here is on a bit of a learning curve, as many of the rules and signals from back home just don't apply. Blinkers for instance often are a signal saying that it is OK to pass on the side that blinker is flashing on. On the buses and vans that have young men hanging out the door, they kind of hit the side panel of the vehicle every once in a while, two whacks indicating that it is OK to proceed and one whack means stop (they are signalling to their driver). This is done most often when they are backing up, when people are trying to squeeze by each other in a very congested street and when passenger vehicles are letting people on and off. Horns also constantly update you on a vehicles location, if they are coming up behind you or if they are coming around a tight corner. Luckily Kathmandu traffic rarely exceeds about 25 MPH giving you plenty of time to assess your situation in relation to everything on the road, and more often then not in stop and go traffic you can actually move just as fast if not faster than they can. In fact I am averaging about +/- 17 minute runs out to Boudha right now, and there is no way in hell I could get a taxi out there that fast.

When I get to Boudha I generally do three walking laps around the stupa to kind of collect myself and take some deep breaths. Often a curious monk will start talking to me, and several have asked me why I am sweating so much. I tell them, that I ran from Lazimpat, and they just kind of look at me like I have three heads, but are then happy to move on to more traditional conversation about where I am from, if I have seen the monasteries here and some general questions about any interest in Buddhism. Taxi drivers waiting at the exit to Boudha, people normally perplexed that westerners would want to walk instead of ride in a taxi, always point and shake their heads as I go running back toward Lazimpat. Sorry guys, it's faster and it's free.

I really think that in my school days I learned as much from athletics as I did in the classroom. In school you learn math, English, critical thinking, problem solving, analysis, etc. In athletics you really develop discipline, courage, character, teamwork, and leadership. While those traits can be tested under other non-athletic conditions, it seems to come naturally and easily in that kind of environment, and is something that most youths enjoy. Track and cross country are not expensive sports, you just need a place to run, any country or community can support that. It's somewhat strange then to see a society where it is so under utilized as an educational and developmental tool. To be honest, as cool as it was to have those kids cheering me on as I passed their bus, I kind of wish it was myself and other adults cheering them on.

Running to Boudha

I love to run. To most people that seems like a crazy thing to say, but I truly do enjoy it. Before I came to Kathmandu I had expectations of doing some running at the valley fringe on a regular basis, but the reality is that getting there is a pain in the ass. The pollution put out by the traffic on the larger roads seemed like just too much to put my lungs though, and the back roads can be extremely cramped for space, uneven, and have many blind corners. I was holding off until we got membership into Phora, thinking I would just use cardio machines or make use of the 600 meter path around the perimeter there. 

Then as I posted during the maoist bandha I took the opportunity to run the traffic free streets out to Boudha, which was just about a perfect run. The route is about 2.6 miles, has one really good up hill and one good down hill. So when I got the urge to run again I thought about my options and said 'what the hell' and gave the same route a shot with traffic. 

The Stupa at Boudha

Kopan Monastery

So today I went for a walk heading toward the north end of the valley, thinking I'd try to get to the valley edge. I ended up drifting a bit more to the east and saw this cool looking building up on what looked like a not too distant hill and decided I'd try to check it out. The building ended up being Kopan Monastery just north of Boudha. 

The building that I first saw was, pictured in the distance above, was actually off limits to visitors, but other parts were open. It must be a bit of a tourist attraction as I saw plenty of Europeans here.

Biking to Sundarijal

So up until now I have been somewhat hesitant to engage in any kind of movement around the city in any format other than foot, that I was in control of anyway. Taxis are fine, because I'm not driving, and the driving does seem a bit crazy. Last night, with the expectation that the strike would still be going on, I had rented a bike to go out to Sundarijal and do some hiking out that way. With the strike now called off I would get my first taste of biking in Kathmandu traffic. Admittedly this was a Saturday morning, which is the lowest traffic time of the week, so it was a good day to try it out. The route we were taking brought us out past Boudhanath and up to the valley rim. Below is a map highlighting the route from Boudha to Sundarijal.

Running the Bandh

So today is day five of the strike, and you are starting to notice that supplies of certain things are running low. The place where I normally get eggs, has no eggs. Vegetables and fruit are becoming more withered and in less supply. People's patience with the Maoists is starting to run low, and reports are popping up here and there of shops opening in defiance and a few Maoists actually getting beat on instead of the other way around. Tomorrow there is a peace rally in Durbar Square which seems to be organized by several groups that are sick of the strike. The Newar community in particular seems ready to tell the Maoists to get lost, and I think they will represent a large chunk of the people at the rally tomorrow (at 9AM for those interested).

There is a central tenant in stoic philosophy that says to take that which seems to be an obstacle and make it instead enhance your life. With that thought in mind I took advantage of the clear air, and streets filled only with pedestrians to go for a run. I ran from my apartment in lazimpat to Boudhanath, just over two and a half miles. There was a light rain, but it was warm, and was almost perfect running conditions. It was really a great running route, with long straight aways and gradual inclines and declines, with good sized hills on either side of the river. Almost a perfect mix of terrain. Normally I would never ever be able to run this route due to the sheer volume of people and traffic, not to mention the exhaust you would breathe in over the course of the run.

Do they Burn the Bus on Losar?

So Tibetan New Year, Losar, was celebrated yesterday. It is actually celebrated for 15 days, and yesterday may have been the second day of it, but I can't keep track of what is going on. They did have fireworks on Saturday over in the direction of Boudhanath so I have a feeling we were there for day 2 of celebrations. Anyway, we walked over and found that you could get into the square for free (saved us 400 NRS!) and there were tons of people, including a whole lot of Buddhist monks, all going clockwise around that giant stupa. When we got to the far side where the monastery is there was a large crowd and they were preparing for the celebration. Some friendly Nepali police stopped by in riot gear and there was a little pushing and shoving....not sure what that was all about, but they had to move the picture of the Dalai Lama while they were there. After that the crowd gathered, sang some songs and at the end we threw some flour (I think) up in the air. It was all very confusing to me, but it was fun to watch. I've uploaded some pictures from below.

After a short snack overlooking the whole square we decided we should catch a taxi back. Problem was there were no taxis for some reason. Odd. So we start making our way back in the dark, with my biggest concern being the possible stepping in something I would greatly regret (the streets here can be rather filthy). Kim has a little trouble with depth perception, especially in the dark, and was more afraid of ruining an ankle and not being able to go hiking. So we keep going and no taxi's, but lots of police in riot gear. This entails shields, bamboo sticks for whackin, helmets and a few guns that can launch tear gas and other crowd dispersers. They are moving some people around, but as tourists they just ignore us.

So after passing through a market and picking up a candle for Kim we come to a bridge with all kinds of people on it looking at something. The guy we got the candle from had said something about an accident, and as we get to the bridge there is lots of broken glass on the ground, and down by the Bagmati River is a bus that is on fire. It is clear immediately that the bus being on fire is not an accident. Kim wanted to take a picture but with police blowing whistles and moving toward the crowd on the bridge I advised against it. So anyway we continue on back to the house, passing more police and eventually getting home. Once the power came on I was able to get on line and find out that apparently a bus had hit and killed a street vendor, and injured a few other people. As this is the third time this has happened in six months (!) people went about attacking that companies buses and burning them. Apparently there were four, we only saw the one. So here is a link to the article on MyRepublica.

Apartment, Trekking and Holidays

Well the first big news is that we decided on an apartment! After discussing what we really needed a bit we did decide on taking the cheaper apartment in eastern Lazimpat. The home owners seem very nice, the apartment is very sunny and it really is a good location. We signed the lease today and put the deposit in for three months yesterday. Now we just need to get a gas cylinder for the stove, internet hooked up and buy bedding and kitchen stuff. We owe a big thanks to Pradip for all his help in finding the place and helping us with the stuff we need to to get settled (not to mention putting us up in his home for the last three weeks!). I'm excited to get moved in and will post some pictures as soon as we get them. The location is just about a quarter mile east of where we had been, and though it's a bit further from Lazimpat proper, it's closer to Bhat Batani (a good sized shopping complex).

Next up is trekking. Looks like our first trek is going to be in the Langtang region, Kim and I are going to do the Tamang Herritage trail combined with a trek up the Langtang valley to Kyanjin Gompa. For those not familiar with their Nepali geography, Langtang is a region just north of Kathmandu and on the border with Tibet. When I was here last time in 04' I hiked the Helumbu region which is directly north of Kathmandu, and I made it just to the southern edge of what is considered Langtang. The Tamang people are directly descended from Tibettans who moved into this region over time. This area was the major trade route between Kathmandu and Tibet and was famous for its salt trade. The Tamang Herritage trail supposedly lacks a little in views, but is said to be much like what Langtang was like twenty years ago, and not too many tourists. That part takes us within a days walk of the Tibetan border before we head south into Langtang proper. The langtang valley should be a good first hike, ascending only to about 12,000 feet (although there is a day trip I might do that gets you up to 15K) and is a gradual ascent up the valley. At the turn around there is spectacular views of mountains and Glaciers. When we know when we are going I'll post a map and itinerary. I've read the bus ride, only 120+/- kilometers is a brutal ride that takes upwards of ten hours to get to the trail head.

Nepal has more holidays it seems than any country on earth. This Friday is Maha Shivarati, which I don't know much about but when we were here in 2002 we attended part of the event. It has something to do with Shiva, and lots of Sadhus (Hindu holly men, ascetics) travel to Pashupatinath, Kathmandu's most sacred Hindu temple. Kim and I could get close, but as non-believers we are not allowed inside. Something like a quarter million people descend on this place on Friday. Last time I saw this it was kind of interesting to see all the Sadhus in their body defying yoga poses, with their ash and paint covered bodies. I'm not sure if we will go this time though. The other upcoming holiday is Tibetan New Year (Losar) which kicks off on Sunday and goes for two weeks, We will most likely stop by Boudhanath again to see any thing going on up that way. Supposedly at night they blow horns and light thousands of butter lamps. If we go trekking soon enough up around Langtang, we may even catch something up that way as I've read the Tamang people celebrate Losar as well.

Trip to Boudhanath

The Bouddhanath Stupa is one of the largest in the world, and the surrounding blocks are home to many Tibetans that came to Kathmandu following China's occupation in 1959, and many Sherpa people that have moved here from the north east of the country. The area surrounding the stupa sells everything one can imagine having anything to do with Tibetan Buddhism, including prayer flags, lama hats, bronze statues depicting the Buddha and all the other characters of Tibetan mythology, Thankas (religious paintings), and a mish mash of the usual tourist driven merchandise.

Aside from the tourists there actually are many devout Buddhists that make their way here to either visit the Stupa or study as monks/nuns in the many schools that have pooped up in this neighborhood. Westerners are actually accepted at many of these schools now and you occasionally see some white dude walking around in the maroon robes.

This picture I think best shows the sheer size of this stupa, compare its base with the adjacent buildings and people. It's huge!

The prayer flags tied to its peak and flapping in the wind were a great sight. Other pictures from our trip to here have been added to the February folder and can be viewed on the left hand side of the page.

On a final note we walked over to this location from our apartment which is only about three miles away. That said, navigating a city where most streets have no name, and walls and other obstacles regularly block ones path is difficult and maps are of almost no help. This was the first time I got to really put the Garmin my dad got me to use, and I'm happy to report that it worked great. I was able to draw out a route in Google Earth, convert that KML file to a Garmin file using a program called GPS Babel (highly recommended) and uploaded it to my device. The combination of a shift in Google earths imagery and my devices lack of perfect accuracy made for slightly altered path, but all in all it guided us right to the destination with ease. Can't wait to use this in the mountains!