Pashupatinath, Nepal (April 17th 2017)

On Friday, April 14th, we said good-bye to Shanjiv and his family. Then, along with two of the other volunteers, we climbed into the back of a truck which took us over the bumpy gravel road to the Chitwan Airport. With memories of the long, rough bus ride still fresh in our minds, we decided to fly back to Kathmandu.

Once inside the small airport, we went through an elaborate process somehow related to checking in and having our bags searched. With no x-ray machines, it was a long drawn out procedure.

Our Yeti Airlines flight was supposed to leave at 10:45am. About two hours later, the old propellered plane finally took off. Less than an hour later Jueun and I, along with two of the others, arrived back in Kathmandu.

The next day we went to Pashupatinath Temple. It is Nepal’s most important Hindu temple on the banks of the holy Bagmati River. It is considered the equivalent of Varanasi on the Ganges River in India and its existence dates back to 400 A.D.

It is said that Pashupatinath temple is so blessed that if you are cremated in its premises, you will again take birth as a human, regardless of the sins you have committed in your lifetime. So, a number of elderly people visit this place to spend the last few weeks of their lives in the area.

It's interesting how when the 2015 earthquake hit Nepal, it destroyed most of the nearby structures and turned surrounding buildings into dust. Pashupatinath temple was left undamaged and devotees claim it as a sign of its divine power.

Every day on the bank of this river, open air cremations take place. The eldest son of the deceased shaves his head and completes the rites. Although, obviously odd to us, instead of appearing grisly, the ceremony actually seemed quite serene.

We sat on the other side of the river and watched as bodies were wrapped and laid along the river bank for the ceremony before being placed on wooden pyres. Then they were then set ablaze as fire and smoke rose from the ghats.

Hindu people believe that the cremation ceremony isn’t just a means to dispose of a body, but it is the union of the soul with the universal spirit. After everything is burned the ashes are simply swept into the holy river.

While we were there we witnessed a few of these cremation ceremonies. It was quite amazing and not as disturbing as we had imagined.

Obviously it was a strange experience watching bodies being burned; however, after reading a little about the practice and learning the spiritual importance of the ceremony we were left with a better understanding. This Hindu practice is considered a great honour; especially at Pashupatinath Temple and according to their belief, by burning the body you are essentially setting the spirit free.

It is a certainly a powerful place to sit and contemplate notions like culture, religion, death and mortality. Although we had mixed feeling about going to Pashupatinath, we are glad that we did and we ended up spending most of the day there.

The next day, we spent our time in Thamel picking up a few items we needed for the next leg of our trip. We knew we wound need warm coats for our time in Tibet and we also went to a pharmacy to pick up some pills for our time around the higher altitudes of the Himalayas.

On Monday, April 17th, we headed back to Kathmandu airport and waited to board our flight to Lhasa, Tibet.

Padampokhari-Chitwan, Nepal (April 15th 2017).

On Sunday, April 2nd we checked out of Lemon Tree Hotel and made the 5 minute walk over to the Kathmandu Peace Guesthouse. Once there we checked in and took a rest in our new room. Later in the evening we had supper and met a few of the other volunteers. Our group included people from Brazil, Switzerland, Ireland, Australia, the UK, the UAE and the States.

The next day we had breakfast at 8:30 and then we were taken to the organization's head office. Here we were formally introduced before we started our orientation. We were given information about Nepal regarding culture and religion. We learned a little about the concept of caste along with other  complex customs and beliefs shared by the Nepali people.

After our morning session we came back to the guesthouse for lunch and then were taken to Swayambhunath, also known as Monkey Temple. This fascinating World Heritage Site is a chaotic jumble of Buddhist and Hindu architecture as well as a mob of monkeys.

Visiting Swayambhunath is an intoxicating experience, with ancient carvings and paintings everywhere. The mystical atmosphere was heightened by watching the locals make their circumnavigation of the stupa, spinning prayer wheels as they go along. 

That night we were taken out for a welcome dinner with the other volunteers. They took us to a restaurant called Bhojan Griha which is supposed to be one of the finest restaurants in Kathmandu. It is known for its traditional Nepali cuisine and lively music and dance performances. We all sat on the floor at our table and got to know each other as we ate and watched the exotic entertainment all around us.

On Tuesday, April 4th, we had breakfast at 8:30 and our language class started at 10:30.
After Lunch we decided to take a pass on the afternoon excursion since we had already been to the place on our own. That gave us a chance to pick up a few items in Thamel and take a little rest before supper.

The next morning, six of us in our group were up bright and early just after 4am. Although it was certainly early it wasn't bright until we walked to the place where we caught our bus that would take us to our volunteer placement near Chitwan, Southwest of Kathmandu.

Buses in Nepal are notorious for being slow, noisy and uncomfortable. We were told that much of the road is rough gravel and road closures are common.

As expected it was a long bumpy ride. Stops and delays were frequent and for much of the trip the bus rattled along a narrow road that seemed to somehow cling to the edge of a cliff. It was an interesting and at times thrilling  ride to say the least.

At around 12:30 pm the bus made a stop in a town. We had no idea where we were until a man came on the bus looking for us. It was Shanjiv our local coordinator. We had made it...at least to Chitwan awyway! We were told that this 150km journey would likely take us anywhere from 5 to 7 hours. We made the trip  in 6 hours and 30 minutes.

Although we were all a little roughed up we considered our selves fairly lucky after hearing horror stories of flat tires, breakdowns, 15 to 17 hour trips and finding out that two people had died on the same road in a landslide the day before.

Anyway, after Shanjiv met us we waited on the side of the road for about 30 minutes for a truck. Once the truck arrived we climbed in the back and it took us another 40 minutes over a bumpy gravel road back to Padampokhari, the small village where we would be staying.

The village looked like what you would expect in a country that is overwhelmingly rural and poor. Most people in Nepal live in the country side and farming is by far the main occupation. 

When we arrived at their farm house we were introduced to the other members of the family, taken for a walk around the area, and met some of the animals, before we were taken to our rooms.

The next day, we woke up at about 6:00am and walked over to Everest Academy. The small plain looking school was surrounded by fields, where people worked away doing everything by hand. The building was built in a rectangular position with the classroom doors facing an semi enclosed area. 

We met the principal and were told what they wanted us to do. The school was very basic and the classrooms were bare. The main thing they wanted us to do was to give it a good painting.

Each day we got up early and painted for a few hours. Then we walked back to the house and ate. In the evening we went back and worked until the sun set. It was too hot to work during the middle of the day as temperatures often hovered in the high 30s to low 40s.

We had two large meals a day which is fairly typical in Nepal, the first being about 10:00 am and the second at around 8:00 pm. Every meal we were given daal bhaat. 

It was delicious; however, as time went on I found it hard to eat the same kind of food every meal, every day. 

One day, the principal, teachers, and staff from the school invited us to go out for dinner with them. For them it was a way to show their appreciation and for us it was a welcomed opportunity to go to a restaurant and eat something other than daal bhaat. 

Saturday was our only day off and on April 8th, Jueun and I, along with the other volunteers, took a day trip to Chitwan National Park.  

Chitwan translates into Heart of the Jungle and this 932 sq km park is known as one of the best wildlife viewing areas in Asia.

During our very hot, 4 hour jeep safari, we were able to see deer, monkeys, crocodiles and some rhinos.

We weren't lucky enough to see any leopards or tigers; however, we did get very close to some rhinos. 

Even though it is a protected National Park many of these animals are still threatened by poachers. Sadly we learned a few days later that a rhino was poached on the very day we were in the park.

As time went by we quickly fell into a routine as we watched the rhythms of rural farm life go on all around us. Padampokhari is likely very typical of most rural Nepali villages. 

Cultural concepts such as caste and status still exist and arranged marriages remain the norm. Adult literacy rates are less than 50% and life expectency is only about 65 years old.  We could tell it was a place where everyone worked hard, nothing was wasted and the people seemed remarkably self sufficient and happy.

Each day we enjoyed our 20 minute walk back and forth to school. It was nice to see the smiles and hear the traditional Hindu greeting "Namaste" from everyone we passed. Namaste is used to say hello however, it along with the hands brought together at the chest, literally translates into "I salute the god in you." We got to know many of the people, dogs, cats, cows and goats along the way and we took pleasure in seeing Everest Academy look just a little bit brighter with each passing day.

Shanjiv and our host family took great care of us. From the moment Shanjiv rescued us from the bus until the day Ama placed thicka on our foreheads on the day we left, they made us feel like part of their loving family. 

We got used to the outhouse, well water, stomach issues and constant electricity cuts and we did our best to deal with the heat and our twice a day servings of daal bhaat. During meals or down time it usually didn't take long for our conversations to turn to travel stories as is the case with like minded people. 

We all seemed to enjoy getting to know one another, as six very different people from very different backgrounds came together in a small village to paint a school in Nepal. 

Katmandu Valley, Nepal (March 31st 2017)

You can't really say you've seen Nepal until you've done some Himalaya trekking. Although the weather wasn't great we did get to see, through the fog, some amazing sites and villages during our three days of trekking around the rim of the Kathmandu Valley.

On Tuesday, March 28th along with our driver and trekking guide, Govinda, we left Kathmandu at 8:00am. Our first stop was the village of Bodhnath, which is in the centre of Nepal's Tibetan community and home to Asia's largest stupa. 

From its white dome to its tower painted with the eyes of Bhudda. Depictions of these eyes appear all over Nepal. The monument is highly symbolic and draws pilgrims from very far away. All I could think of was how far we were from home and how completely different this place was from anywhere I was used to. We just stood and marveled at how rich in spirit the people were as we watched them light lamps and walk clockwise around the massive stupa. 

After we left here our driver continued on until we were out of town and in the foothills of the Himalayas. It was here in Sundarijal where we said good-bye to our driver and started walking. 

We walked up and down one hill after another as our path led us through small hill side villages. During this first day we walked 14km, much of it in the fog and we reached an elevation of 2464m. At around 4pm we  stopped for the day in a villiage called Chisopani. 

The most memorable thing about Chisopani for us was the incredible amount of damage left from the earthquake. It looked as if the earthquake had just happened. There were buildings left that looked as though a good swift breeze could blow them completely over.  We spent the night at a very simple lodge where we got to know a few other trekkers and guides.  

The hardest part of the trek so far was staying dry. During the early part of the day the sweat from the heat made our clothes wet and at night the cold damp room did nothing to dry anything. It was a problem we would continue to encounter. 

On Wednesday,  March 29th, we left Chisopani at 7:50am and finally arrived in the town of Nagarkot at 3:20pm. This day we did 20km and unfortunately the sky didn't clear anymore than the day before. 

We trekked most of the day with the group that we met at the lodge; however, there were times when it was just Jueun, myself and Govinda.

Nagarkot is one of the best places close to Kathmandu to view the Himalayas. On a clear day you are supposed to be able to see Mt. Everest. Unfortunately for us the weather did not cooperate. All we got to see were  numerous hotels and restaurants perched  along a ridge with signs bragging about their amazing views.

On Thursday, March 30th, we set out from the cold and damp town of Nagarkot on the last leg of our trek. Both of us feeling like we had pretty much reached our limit, we somehow  managed to make it another 13km and stagger our way into a place called Changunarayan.

In Changunarayan we barely had enough energy left to drag ourselves around the very earthquake damaged temple there. After a brief visit to this UNESCO World Heritage site we met our driver and collapsed into the back of the car which took us back to Kathmandu.

Although this trek left us only imagining the mountain views, it was still an experience we will never forget. Thanks to our amazing guide, Govinda, we got through the three day, 47km trek. It was both exhausting and exhilarating and left us with some VERY stiff and sore muscles. 

Katmandu, Nepal (March 28th 2017)

After our third and final stop in Thailand we were ready to sing along to the old Bob Seger classic, "I'm going to Katmandu. That's really, really where I'm going to. If I ever get out of here, That's what I'm gonna do. K-k-k-k-k-k Katmandu." According to Lonely Planet the city is like an explosion of sights, sounds and smells that quickly lead to sensory overload. We would have to agree that this is an accurate description.

We flew Thai Airways TG319 from Bangkok to Katmandu on Friday, March 24th. We were actually given a preview of what lay ahead regarding the chaotic traffic before we even landed. After circling the city for about an hour and a half due to airport congestion, we were finally given the clearance to land.

Tribhuvan International Airport looks like something out of an old black and white movie. It is a dusty old building that doesn't look like it has changed in years. During our long wait in the "visa upon arrival" line we passed the time chatting with a young Canadian girl and an older Australian couple. After about an hour we received our visas, had cleared immigration and were collecting our bags. 

Once outside we pushed our way through the onslaught of hotel touts and taxi drivers before we found the representative from our volunteer organization. We then drove to Thamel, the main tourist and backpacker district, where we checked into the Lemon Tree Hotel.

Later that afternoon we managed to walk to the Friendship Nepal Travel office. After twisting and turning though the small, crowded streets of Thamel we finally found the small office and met the man, who we were told would be responsable for arranging our Tibet visas. After handing over our money and passports we were told our visas "should" be ready by the end of the week.

Walking around the tourist ghetto of Thamel was an experience in itself. We didn't know what we would see next as we made our way through the congested, dusty old roads. With the combination of people, rickshaws, motorbikes and vehicles of all shapes and sizes, simply trying to walk was a challenge. Pavement and sidewalks were nowhere to be seen and everything around us seemed to be either in a state of destruction or under some stage of construction.

Later that evening we sat back and discussed the events of the day as we ate pork chops and buffalo momo (dumpings) at a place close to our hotel called the Happy Kitchen.

The next day after a very nice breakfast at the Lemon Tree we walked around Thamel some more and made our way towards Durbar Square, which is the historic centre of Katmandu. 

It was here where the Royal Family once ruled Nepal. Most of the Square dates back to the 17th and 18th century; however, many of the original buildings are much older. We were shocked to see how much damage still exists from the 2015 earthquake.

While we were in the area we watched a huge parade before we went for a walk down Freak Street. This famous street dates back to the 1960s and 1970s when it was the great gathering place for hippies and other weird and wonderful foreign travellers in search of spiritual enlightenment and cheap hotels.

Just when we thought things couldn't get any more interesting, we went to a building called the Kumari Bahal which houses a real living Goddess. The Kumari Devi is a young girl who lives in the building. Apparently there are a number of living goddesses in Nepal; however, the Kumari Devi is the most important.

According to custom, the young girl went through a number of tests and met a number of physical requirements in order to be given this role. The Kumari's reign as a goddess ends when she hits puberty.  At that time she returns to the status of normal human being. Although we stood in her courtyard, and like many others stared up at her open window, the goddess girl did not show her face to us on this day.

By this time we had worked up a bit of an appetite and made our way back to Durbar  Square where we went to a rooftop restaurant for lunch. After eating we walked along Asan Tole, one of Katmandu's main commercial streets, and though some of the city's busiest junctions before we made our way back to Thamel.

The next day we went to the Garden of Dreams. This small park is just a few minutes away from Thamel; however, it feels like a completely different world. It was a nice escape from the chaotic hussle and bustle of Thamel. We enjoyed a few hours of peace and quiet here and took a little nap on the grass.

We ate lunch at the Thakali Kitchen, tried daal bhaat for the first time. It is the staple meal of Nepal, which is made up of lentil soup, rice and curried vegetables. It is something we would eat much more of in the days to come.

On Monday, March 27th, we walked from Thamel back to Durbar Square. Here we went to another rooftop restaurant for lunch. It overlooked  Mahendreshwar Temple as well as other buildings in the square.

After eating we poked around and did some shopping at Tole Bazaar. From there we continued on to Nagha Bahal Stupa. This stupa like others is a large bell-shaped Buddhist structure.

Here we learned, from a kind Nepali man, the importance of walking clockwise around stupas. At first when he approached us we thought he was trying to sell us something, until he told us to please walk back around the stupa in the other direction.  Not doing so would mean bad luck for us. We thanked the man and proceeded to walk around the stupa again, this time, as we now noticed, in the same direction as everyone else.

After we had erased our negative karma, we sat in the temple and listened to the monks chant before it was time for us to move on. That evening we celebrated Jueun's birthday by having a nice meal of samgyeopsal at a Korean restaurant and then a couple of pints at the nearby Everest Irish Pub.