Hong Kong ...... and Chile ??????

Hong Kong! Evan's first time, Andy's second time (but it has really changed...). A great day of sightseeing and eating! Spent the morning on the Kowloon side, including walking along Nathan Road, browsing a street market, watching Tai Chi in a city park, strolling along the waterfront, and visiting some temples; afternoon on the Star Ferry across Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong island, where we ate at a Buddhist restaurant, explored the antiques shops along Cat Alley, visited more temples, snuck into a skyscraper's elevator to the 76th floor for some brilliant views, ate dim-sum overlooking the harbor, and got another Star Ferry. We were so tired (as had been going for 24 hours straight) that we then headed back to the airport fueled on strong, black coffee (plus slightly nervous about the flight arrangements made haphazardly in Kathmandu - Evan was paged to security to be given boarding passes for the next leg of the flight .... and where were the bags going again?!!) - it all went well in the end.

We arrived in Vancouver a day before we left Hong Kong - bizarre! - because of the date line (our flight left Hong Kong 00:05 am May 14th and arrived in Vancouver 8:30 pm on May 13th!!!) Night in Vancouver, then bus back to Bellingham.

Have spent the last two days trying hard to re-adjust back to Western culture. People seem quite stressed (about what?), everything seems so clean (too clean!), and it was so quiet at our house that our ears were ringing!!! We have also spent the better part of two days mowing, weeding and cleaning..... mmm could think of better ways to spend our time. So now have begun planning our next volunteer trip ... Chile ...... stay tuned for news on that development!!!

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"Remember how many people didn't wake up today, who would love to feel what you do today." (Maya Angelou)

Our Nepal Top Ten

Our last entry from Nepal - WOW!

Well as promised, here is our Nepal Top Ten:

10. FOOD - although there have been some less than ideal experiences, we have enjoyed trying all kinds of new stuff - lentil pancakes, momos (Tibetan dumplings), juju dhau (king of curds - sort of yogurt), lassi (sort of milkshake), pakuda, yak cheese balls, etc .... lots of interesting tastes (even a nibble of water buffalo...)



9. LAKES AND RIVERS - from the beautiful and serene Phewa Tal lake we boated on in Pokhara, to the smelly and garbage choked Bagmati holy river in Pashupatinath, water plays a vital role in the rituals, customs and life in Nepal. Don't think we'll ever forget the burning remains of cremations being swept into the holy river ....

8. CHAOS - now a lot of the time, this was not a favorite thing. However, once you get used to it, it sort of feels OK. The constant traffic noise, temple bells, children playing, chanting, monkey screams, Om Mane Padme Hum from the CD stores, and the continual refrain of the one Nepali folk song we now know by heart (think of Disney's "It's a small world" Nepali style). It's noisy, congested and crazy here - and overwhelmingly so; but it wouldn't be Nepal without it either.

7. COLORS - everywhere - prayer flags in red, blue, green and yellow, saris all the colors of the rainbow, homes in lime green, bright blue, pink, gaudy temples and gods of all colors, brightly decorated trucks, and the ever present red tika paste on temples, faces, streets, statues and even animals (we've seen tika'd dogs, cows and and even a holy tortoise!)

6. ARCHITECTURE - from wonderful crumbling temples to old stye Newari homes (reminiscent of English tudor style homes) , everywhere we've been has Architecture (with a capital A) that is uniquely Nepali.

5. COWS - nowhere else do cows have the right of way - they lay down in shop entrances, wander across busy roads bringing traffic to a halt, step into restaurants to sniff the rubbish bins, and generally go wherever they want to. It is still a fascinating sight to see people stepping off the pavement (sidewalk) to let the cow pass, and to see trucks and cars swerving around the napping cow in the middle of the roundabout.... of course if you kill a cow, it would mean jail time or possibly an on-the-spot lynching! Cows are holy, and they seem to know it!

4. WILDLIFE - despite the pollution, poverty and crowds, the animals are brilliant - we've seen rhinos, monkeys, languars, peacocks, elephants, crocodiles, gharials, mongeese, deer, lizards and lots and lots of birds ..... plus dogs and flies and cows.....

3. HIMALAYAS - seemingly ever present - suddenly the smog and clouds clear, and you realize you are surronded by massive white peaks ... in the town, on the bus, on the plane .... oh and we got to fly past Mount Everest (so you can't beat that!)

2. LIVING RELIGION - it's everywhere and ever-present. Temples pop up all over, and we still have not managed to get to grips with more than 10% of the different gods and goddesses. Statues and lingams crop up so often you have to be careful not to trip - plus many of them are very old (6th century on...). And there are gods for everything - from removal of obstacles and destruction of life to small pox and toothache. Morning devotionals where worshippers can be seen offering rice, tika and money, to the bells, the devotional singing and chanting ..... PHEW! Overload!!

1. PEOPLE - what brilliant, funny and friendly people - their kindness, their patience and gentleness with rude or stupid tourists, and their pride in their country. The best thing has been the people we have met - both locals and other volunteers. And we have been fortunate to call many of them friends. We have been inspired at their motivation and determination, humbled by their spirituality, and spoilt by their attentiveness and service. Fabulous!!

That's all for now! Next stop Hong Kong.

Namaste!

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"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one." (Albert Einstein)

Temples, a Stupa, and those Familiar Bells

Our second day back in the Kathmandu area took us to Patan. The receptionist at our guesthouse told us how to get there on the bus... it sounded quite easy. We walked to the southern edge of town and worked out which bus went to Patan by simply asking. Now, the flaw in our logic appeared when we got on a bus that the conductor said did not go to Patan... but the elderly man in the front seat said it did.... in future we will listen to the conductor. We got off the bus after about 40 minutes when it veered in the wrong direction. Thanks to Andy's map reading skills, we were able to walk the last 1.5 miles and actually found it, and it was worth it!

Here was a square chock full of ancient Hindu temples to various Gods, a royal palace, and a busy market. There was also a large water conduit/pool where we saw many containers lined up and locals waiting to fill with their daily water. Imagine having to do that every day because you didn't have running water. When we approached the Vishwanath temple, we were told we could go in, and it was awesome! Up at the top of the stairs was a bright red Shiva and others as well... the color was outstanding. As a side note, it is always lovely to be in a country where people aren't afraid to use bright colors. We finished up our Patan visit with a visit to the museum... learned loads about Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.

Today we went to Pashupatinath, Nepal's most important Hindu temple on the holy Bagmati River. We arrived by bus successfully this time! It was a humbling experience as, besides the amazing temple structures, we witnessed a cremation ritual from start to finish.

We next walked through the deer park, where Shiva is said to have once frollicked as a golden deer, to Bodhnath, the most important Buddhist stupa in Nepal. It is said to possibly contain a bone of the Buddha. Colorful prayer flags flapped in the breeze overhead as we circled the stupa, spinning the prayer wheels (147 niches contain 4-5 wheels each.. that's a lot of spinning... we needed a nice sit down and a Coca Cola after that!). We met a lama and later paid a visit to his monastery, Tsamchen Gompa. Andy lit butter lamps here before our walk and bus journey (again successful) back to Bhaktapur.

And so this marks our last night in Nepal. Feelings are mixed. We feel ready to go home but also reluctant to leave the rich culture here we've come to love. Though it will be nice to sleep past 4am without interruption, we are going to miss the sound of the early morning worshippers ringing the temple bells as part of their daily devotionals. Nevertheless, tickets are purchased, and plans are made, and tomorrow night we begin the journey back to North America (with a brief visit to Hong Kong on the way).

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"The critical question becomes whether you're more committed to remaining where you are or to where you want to be." (Marcia Wieder)

Gridlock, cremations and the Curd King

Well here we are in Bhaktapur ... feel like we have totally scored as we called to reserve a room in a local guesthouse a week ago and now have our own balcony on the top floor overlooking Taumadhi Tole - an old square chock full of statues, temples and general interesting things going on. Bhaktapur is really great - we have spent the day wandering from temple to square to old thing - even walked down to the river to the cremation ghats and found a smouldering pile of ashes .... One of the cool things about Hinduism is the celebration of life and death as a part of the religion - for example, some of the temples have very erotic carvings on them with all sorts of carryings on ... one temple even has erotic animal pairings! Elephants, goats and even tortoises are going at it!!

The Buddha is actually strangely mixed in with the Hindu gods and godesses, and the religion is a heady and strange mix of all sorts of practices. We sat and watched at a temple to Vishnu this morning, seeing rice and tika (red paste) offerings, and watching the comings and goings. We have also discovered (and braved without any repercussions) a fantastic dessert that Bhaktapur is famous for - it's called the King of Kurds, and is a mixture that tastes like very good Greek yogurt with some vanilla cream mixed in .... Really tasty - we plan to live on it for the next few days.

Anyway, we need a little R and R and treating after the 8 hour bus ride to get here from Pokhara. It was sad to say goodbye - Andy's adopted dog (yes, he takes after his mum...) showed up to say goodbye and was rewarded with three of the expensively imported hob-nob biscuits bought specifically for the bus journey - then another dog showed up and Andy felt guilty ... well you can guess how that story goes! We had one last look at the apartment and at the clinic as we headed out of town - promising ourselves that we'll be back.

Once in Kathmandu, there was then an hour and a half in a taxi. Getting a taxi was a major barterring event - various random prices were quoted and no one seemed excited to take us - when we finally set off we realised why - although only about 10 km (6 miles) from Kathmandu, the horrendous (noise, smoke, fumes, pollution, dust, flies, etc.) journey was completely stopped for about half an hour when we found ourselves in total, complete gridlock - impatient drivers had started going in the lane of oppostie direction (including our own taxi driver). This ploy worked OK for a few minutes, until traffic wanted to go in the other direction. A lot (I mean A Lot) of hooting and yelling ensued. It was an experience.... When we finally arrived in Bhaktapur, it was bliss to enter the center of town where few cars are allowed, and to surround ourselves only with pedestrians (admittedly, several of them trying to 'guide' us and sell us trinkets).

But this is why it is all so worth it - last night we sat at a roof top restaurnat (chowing down on King of Kurds), watching the full moon rise over the town and gazing down at the procession of monks and various others marching through the square to celebrate the Buddha's birthday (It's today actually - Happy Birthday Buddha!), and listening to the sounds of devotional chanting, drumming and cymbals coming from the temple next door. Priceless!

In our last couple of days we are going to visit Patan (another very old and temple crowded town) (this time by bus!), and to Bodnath (a Buddhist site). Even though we miss the clinic and our new friends, it is nice to have a couple of days for ourselves to relax and have some time off.

Tonight it's more King of Kurds!!!

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"Embrace this right now life while it's dripping, while the flavors are excellently wholesome. Take your bites with bravery and boldness since the learning and the growing are here in these times, these exact right nows. Capture these times. Hold and kiss them because it will soon be very different." (Jill Scott)