Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal
Greetings from Kathmandu, Nepal!
This has been one incredible journey thus far. Whoa. Take a moment
to breathe. Nepal is like nothing else I've seen before. I love
it. I'm on day four here now, and I'm just starting to feel settled
here. Getting over the shock.
Once we battled through the mob of men at the airport that all wanted
us to stay at their hotel, and ride in their taxi, it was like stepping
into a National Geographic special. Drive on the left, steer around
the cows laying in the street, hundreds of pedestrians, 125cc motorcycles
everywhere, it was like the madness and order of a beehive a full
tilt. Taxi drops us off, we wander through the ancient streets
of Durbar Square Kathmandu (there is a Durbar Square in each major
city in Nepal), there are street merchants, and ancient temples everywhere.
Somehow Todd leads us directly to the hotel that we had somewhat
randomly selected from Eric's Lonely Planet book. Let me say, the
picture does not do it justice. We enter a dank, dark, musty room
with worn through carpet, sheets that must be older than me, and
hose from the sink running to the shower head that gives no hot water.
250 Rupia.... we'll take it. Feet hang over the edge of the bed,
but for about $1.09 per person it's home tonight.
Less than 5 hours in Nepal and I've had one of the most delicious
meals I've ever had, wandered streets that are right out of an Indiana
Jones movie, and on a hunt to find toilet paper, ...ate some YAK
CHEESE.
It's all happening.
It's all real.
We found our way back to our tiny musty beds and had to just sit,
mouths wide open, and decompress for a few minutes. (Keanu Reeves
voice...) Whoa.
____-----^^--^-^^^--^--______
Tallest Mountains in the world. Sherpas. More Yak Cheese. Aggressive
street vendors. Momos (wrapped like Gioza. Potato and Buffalo are
our favorites so far.)
We've seen more than 40 temples, including the very famous Monkey
Temple. To reach it you must climb an enormous flight of steps carved
from the ground you walk on. They get exponentially steeper and
more narrow all the way to the top. And yes, there are many monkeys
there. This is primarily a Buddhist temple. Buddhism and Islam are
often intertwined in this culture. Our hired guide mentioned that
The Beatles spend some time here in the sixties.
Nepal, and especially Kathmandu is made up of many cultures. The
strongest influences are Tibetan and Indian. The people here are
some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. They are also very friendly.
Times are tough here however, and the street sales people are very
aggressive. That has been my only turn-off so far.
We have only a few days left here. Tomorrow we plan to get out of
the city and see on of the national parks. We will travel closer
to the mountains (which cannot be seen from Kathmandu because of
the haze in the air).
I got up early today at first light and climbed the narrow stairway
to the rooftop to watch the merchants set up their tables of rare
and hand crafted artifacts. Now I'm off to join Eric for breakfast.
It will be my second. I had the first in a small (well, everything's
small) restaurant down the block. I was the first one in. I requested
the Bob Dylan that I saw in the tape collection and ate my honey
pancake with Daihin (natural plain yoghurt).
+jesiah
This has been one incredible journey thus far. Whoa. Take a moment
to breathe. Nepal is like nothing else I've seen before. I love
it. I'm on day four here now, and I'm just starting to feel settled
here. Getting over the shock.
Once we battled through the mob of men at the airport that all wanted
us to stay at their hotel, and ride in their taxi, it was like stepping
into a National Geographic special. Drive on the left, steer around
the cows laying in the street, hundreds of pedestrians, 125cc motorcycles
everywhere, it was like the madness and order of a beehive a full
tilt. Taxi drops us off, we wander through the ancient streets
of Durbar Square Kathmandu (there is a Durbar Square in each major
city in Nepal), there are street merchants, and ancient temples everywhere.
Somehow Todd leads us directly to the hotel that we had somewhat
randomly selected from Eric's Lonely Planet book. Let me say, the
picture does not do it justice. We enter a dank, dark, musty room
with worn through carpet, sheets that must be older than me, and
hose from the sink running to the shower head that gives no hot water.
250 Rupia.... we'll take it. Feet hang over the edge of the bed,
but for about $1.09 per person it's home tonight.
Less than 5 hours in Nepal and I've had one of the most delicious
meals I've ever had, wandered streets that are right out of an Indiana
Jones movie, and on a hunt to find toilet paper, ...ate some YAK
CHEESE.
It's all happening.
It's all real.
We found our way back to our tiny musty beds and had to just sit,
mouths wide open, and decompress for a few minutes. (Keanu Reeves
voice...) Whoa.
____-----^^--^-^^^--^--______
Tallest Mountains in the world. Sherpas. More Yak Cheese. Aggressive
street vendors. Momos (wrapped like Gioza. Potato and Buffalo are
our favorites so far.)
We've seen more than 40 temples, including the very famous Monkey
Temple. To reach it you must climb an enormous flight of steps carved
from the ground you walk on. They get exponentially steeper and
more narrow all the way to the top. And yes, there are many monkeys
there. This is primarily a Buddhist temple. Buddhism and Islam are
often intertwined in this culture. Our hired guide mentioned that
The Beatles spend some time here in the sixties.
Nepal, and especially Kathmandu is made up of many cultures. The
strongest influences are Tibetan and Indian. The people here are
some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. They are also very friendly.
Times are tough here however, and the street sales people are very
aggressive. That has been my only turn-off so far.
We have only a few days left here. Tomorrow we plan to get out of
the city and see on of the national parks. We will travel closer
to the mountains (which cannot be seen from Kathmandu because of
the haze in the air).
I got up early today at first light and climbed the narrow stairway
to the rooftop to watch the merchants set up their tables of rare
and hand crafted artifacts. Now I'm off to join Eric for breakfast.
It will be my second. I had the first in a small (well, everything's
small) restaurant down the block. I was the first one in. I requested
the Bob Dylan that I saw in the tape collection and ate my honey
pancake with Daihin (natural plain yoghurt).
+jesiah