There Were No Monkeys

It’s been two very hot days here in Kathmandu. I wish I knew the temps, but I’m sweating even when sitting and that happens at about 85-90 degrees…so that’s my estimate. Yesterday was spent exploring the city of Kathmandu. Like other capitals, it was crowded, polluted and filled with guides, tours and souvenir shops. What was unique was there were plenty of hiking, trekking and mountain climbing rental shops that were homes to great replicas of North Face, Columbia, Mountain Gear and other great brands!
It’s great to know that Stephanie (my travel companion) and I are similar when it comes to being tourists. We definitely enjoy meeting locals and people watching rather than participating in guided tours and walking through museums. So when we approached Darbar Square, we were able to stroll the galis (alleys) and enjoy all the temples and pigeons. Yes, I said pigeons. There are so many pigeons…it’s quite disturbing actually. I’m so paranoid that one will poop on my head that today when we felt raindrops on our hike, I was convinced I was pooped on. Steph reassured me that the only thing on my head was white hair (insert sad face here).
So Darbar Square is where the city’s kings were once crowned and now remains as the traditional heart of the city. The square dates back to the 17th and 18th centuries, but a lot of it was damaged in an earthquake in 1934 and was rebuilt, but not to original form. We visited many temples and my favorite, the dancing Shiva statue!
Stephanie and I returned to the hotel soon after to enjoy essential oil massages. Interestingly enough, there were no essential oils and I think I might have received a very “special” massage by my masseuse. But I try not to think too much into it!
TODAY… well it was AWESOME! We decided to visit the Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park that is home to fantastic flowers and even monkeys, bears and leopards (or so we were told). The teeny tiny taxi we took up to the entrance was entertaining. Being a bit nervous about this very empty national park, we asked the driver to take us up to Tarebhir, from which we would hike to the nunnery and back down. Not sure if that was the best decision. The drive uphill was frightening. The road narrow, the edge so near that just a little weight shift and the car and we would be gonners and with the car lacking any type of power or even breaks, we figured, this might be the way we were meant to go. However, when we arrived to our destination, we were pleasantly surprised. The views were outstanding. We hiked to the Tibetan Nunnery of Nagi Gumpa. There are about 100 nuns that reside there and even higher, is the Bodhnath Ka-Nying Sheldrup Ling Gompa that holds retreats for foreign students. And other than all the very interesting bugs and snakes (my biggest fear that I did not handle well today), there were NO monkeys.
Stephanie and I enjoyed our leisurely hike back, stopping for a cold soda at the end. So refreshing!
We also met our team leader today and some other volunteers…some of which have lost their luggage and are not as pleasant as I’m sure they would be if they had their things.
Overall, it was an awesome day!

Spending The Day With Buddha

I'm going to begin this with some very helpful Hong Kong advice. Dress lightly, it's like Hot Yoga OUTSIDE! If you have a long layover in Hong Kong, I suggest spending the day at Lantau Island. After going through immigration, head straight toward Terminal 2. There you will see signs for electronic lockers. I highly suggest it. Have a $1 coin (Hong Kong dollars). It's about $30 for 4 hours. I paid $60 and I was out for about 6 hours. You pay when you pick up your things. After that, exit the airport nearest the lockers. Head over to the bus stop on the right that has a sign for S-1. For $3.50 it takes you straight to where you would catch the cable car to Lantau Island. Have exact change because they won't give it to you. The cable car does not open until 10AM, so it's best to grab some coffee and chill out in the courtyard. At 9AM, you can buy a bus ticket (to Lantau) and a cable car ticket (from Lantau) for $92. It's a great deal and the route is so scenic. The cable car is extremely frightening as I sat all alone and was imagining my death if the car happen to fall. After about 15 minutes though, I was fine.
The bus drops you off right on Ngong Ping Plauteau and that is where the Tian Tan Buddha (Giant Buddha) is. It is an 85-foot high bronze Buddha statue. It's amazing!
There are monasteries and other great paths. I decided to walk down Wisdom Path, in hopes to be enlightened in some way. Nope. In fact, I got super scared when four dogs kept growling and barking at me. My inner WISDOM said to turn around...and that is what I did!
To my friends out there with kids, Hong Kong is a great place to vacation with kids. It's hard to take anything seriously here when even at this very beautiful Buddhist hot spot you've got an animated dancing monkey show about sharing and Hello Kitty EVERYTHING! As I walked towards the cable cars I decided to stop and have lunch at Zen Noodles. I assumed it would be rude to ask for hot sauce so I just ate my bland noodle soup and headed back.
After the 25 minute ride in the cable car, I decided to cool off in the mall. There's a lot of security...like Vegas actually. After recalling how much I hate malls in every country, I decided to take the S-1 bus back to the airport. And though I know I should have had another noodle dish or something of Hong Kong fashion, I opted for Popeyes. I know I know...leave me alone!
Overall, it was a great day in Hong Kong. I look forward to my return where I will be getting a foot massage and maybe even my hair did!

Two Weeks Till Kathmandu

I'm at work, not able to get anything done. I am listening to Bollywood oldies and the first song I hear is from the film Teesri Kasam (1966), Chalat Musafir. The song basically describes a caged bird who has been set free and decides to make the most of the different places she lands.
I've been traveling all over the place since October of 2009: India, Greece, Italy, Spain, Morocco, and now Nepal. Never could anyone imagine that I was a caged bird...not even myself. But maybe I was. I limited myself to many things in life. This last year has turned me into a free bird. I have nothing holding me back and I'm taking full advantage of it.
I will arrive in Kathmandu in exactly two weeks. Stephanie will be there waiting for me and I totally look forward to meeting my sweet friend in a foreign land.
She and I are planning to be total tourists the first few days in Kathmandu, taking in the amazing sights of the city as well as the Kathmandu Valley. I hope to also visit some monastaries.
I would like to take this time to thank all of you that donated to my volunteer trip to Pokhara. According to government data, 9.5 million people in Nepal live in less than adequate housing. That means the structures are with thatched roofs and straw walls, sometimes supported by pillars made of bamboo or old timber. Water is often unsanitary and few dwellings have toilets or electricity. These dilapidated houses are also a fire risk; nearly 10,000 families lose their homes to fire every year. Thousands of others lose houses to landslides, floods and other natural disasters each year.
I am honored to be a part of a team of over 300 volunteers from around the world to provide not just houses, but homes to the people of Lakuri village.

Please stay tuned for further posts on this amazing journey! Dhanyabad (Thank you)!