Namaste

Greetings from Nepal. Our time Nepal has been fantastic.

Let’s begin with an apology. It has been far too long since our last post- Internet has not been stellar.

Nepal has been and intense and amazing experience. Our travels involved riding in a car throughout the country and please allow me to take back everything I said about the driving and traffic in Vietnam, Sicily, or anywhere else. The traffic and driving in Nepal is easily the worst we have come across. The terrible condition of the roads, the cars and bikes use any and every means necessary to pass (even into oncoming traffic), there are potholes that can swallow a full-sized car. . . Oh and look out for the cows.

Kathmandu bustles with activity day and night. The city center is full of life. You can’t mistake that you are in Nepal when you walk down the narrow streets covered by prayer flags. It just like what you see in movies. Much time is spent watching where you walk as not to be run over by a bicycle, motorbike, fruit cart salesman, rickshaw or step in a huge pothole. There are restaurants of all types in the center that appeal to people from all over the world. However, the food and drinks (where tourists eat) is very expensive. A beer is $5 per bottle and dinner for two is between $15 – $25. We decided to pay a bit more for the food and skip the drinks which made us feel more confident that we wouldn’t get a stomach bug.

In Kathmandu had a great time visiting four World Heritage Sites. Patan Durbar Square and Kathmandu Durbar Square were magnificent, with their ancient brick buildings celebrating the Hindu Gods.

Most of the building were constructed during the 17th century by the Malla King. Both squares have an entrance fee and are now a museum area. Reconstruction is going on everywhere but there is still much to appreciate in the architecture.

The temple where Kumari lives in the Patan Durbar Square.

We were even able to see the Kumari, a living goddess. This young girl (3 years old) is selected to be the embodiment of divine female energy. She serves as the goddess until her first menstruation begins at which time another young girl that meets many specific attributes is selected.

The areas temples and ancient town were almost completely decimated by the earthquake in 2015. The rebuilding efforts are ongoing but the work is slow – – you know the saying, Kathmandu wasn’t built in a day.

The Boudhanath Stupa (seen in the movie, Dr. Strange) is huge. We enjoyed a wonderful meal of curry chicken from a rooftop overlooking the massive temple. The prayer flags colors symbolize the 5 elements (water, earth, fire, sky, and air). We walked around the temple as it started to rain and watched the monks and tourists scramble for cover.

Just across the pedestrian road is a very old monastery that is still in use today. We visited and participated in the custom of walking around the prayer wheel three times. This is believed to give you good luck. Click the link to see a video of this:

The Swayambhunath Stupa (or Monkey Temple) was our favorite. One – because who doesn’t like a bunch of monkeys running around and swinging like Tarzan on prayer flags, and Two – the stupa was just amazing. The eyes looking out for you and the different small stupas all around the grounds. The Prayer wheels are to be spun for good luck. There was so much to see is was hard to take it all in, including all the monkey business.

Our next three days were dedicated to seeing the majestic Himalayas, first in Nagarkot and then in Pokhara. Unfortunately, the weather never cooperated fully for us to get the views we wanted. The time was enjoyable being spent at the International Mountain Museum, sightseeing the towns and relaxing.

If you look closely through the clouds, you can see the Himalayas. Unfortunately, this is the best we could see.

Our final stop in Nepal was Citwan National Park to do some safaris to see the wonderful birds, the Asian one horned rhinoceros and catch a glimpse of the elusive tiger. Spoiler alert – there is a reason I did not put a picture of a Tiger in this post. I guess that’s why they call them elusive.