I love Nepal!

I made it! I am here and having a wonderful time! Nepal is really fascinating. It is right at the crossroads of India and Tibet so there is a really interesting mix of cultures and of Buddhism and Hinduism. It took a bit longer than expected but that's okay- the flight to Kathmandu was supposed to only be about an hour and 15 minutes but once we got there we couldn't land because of low cloud cover or something so we had to turn around and land in the Indian city of Lucknow, chill on the runway for a bit, then fly back in again. It ended up being about 6 hours. But while I was waiting to check in I met a really cute Swiss girl and we were able to sit togeter so that was fun. She is a school teacher and came to Nepal to volunteer teaching for a couple of months. I'm planning on meeting her for dinner tomorrow in Pokahara!

Anyways right of the bat you can tell Nepal is a lot less developed than India. I read that 9 out of 10 Nepalis depend on subsitence farming, it's one of the poorest countries in the world. It didn't even really open up to modernization until the 1950s. I'm so used to the slick design and tight security of US airports, their airport was quite lax and small. My trekking operator picked me up and greeted me with a garland of fresh flowers! Since I had woken to leave for the airport at 2 AM the previous night and spent the rest of the day sleeping and what not.

I spent all today sightseeing, it was fantastic! I started off visiting Swayambhunath or the 'Monkey Temple', a Buddhist stupa on a hill overlooking the city. I had to walk up 365 steps to the top. The stupa contains a lot of symbolism. The domb represents the creative womb, the 13 discs on the spire the 13 steps to Nirvana. The brown painting is supposed to make it look like a lotus flower. The Buddha's eyes are a feature unique to Nepali stupas and the "nose" beneath them is actually the Nepali number 1 symbolizing the unity of all things. Also, the view was incredible.

Then, I checked out another Buddhist stupa called Boudhanath, a very holy site and one of the largest stupas in the world. It was pretty similar to the first one just a lot bigger. I got to observe a group of monks being led in prayer, that was really amazing. I'll upload the video I took if there's time.

Next on the agenda was Pashupatinath, the largest temple complex in Nepal and the holiest Hindu site in Nepal, built in 1696. Pashupatinath is an incarnation of Shiva who protects animals and the patron deity of all Nepal. Most of the temples were closed to non-Hindus but it was still way cool. I even got to see the ghats where they were cremating bodies on the side of the Bagmati river. How close the person's ghat can be to the temple is determined by their caste and status.

Then my guide took me to the local market at Indra Chowk. I have a confession to make, I ate a huge chunk of a freshly cut pineapple there. The guy touched it all over with his hands and then poured Nepalese water all over it! Ahhh and I still ate it. I just miss fruit so much. It is so hard to eat a balanced diet when every time you eat fruit you risk getting sick. Anyways, it's been a tense couple hours waiting to see if I get sick but I think I'll be fine.

Lastly we went to Durbar Square, a famous World Heritage site with tons and tons of temples. My favorite was probably the temple of Kumari, it really demonstrates the mix of Hinduism and Buddhism. Kumari is the living incarnation of the Hindu goddes Durga and they select a Newari (Newars are the native people of Nepal) Buddhist girl from a certain caste as Kumari after determining if she meets 32 physical characteristics and that her astrology does not clash with the kings. Then once she menstruates she returns to mortality. I went to her temple and waited for about 30 minutes and saw her for about 5 seconds when she appeared in a window. So crazy.

So tomorrow I leave at 6:30 to take a bus to Pokhara where I'll sightsee for the afternoon and spend the night. Then I will leave to trek for about 5 or 6 days so I probably won't post for awhile. Also sorry this post has no pics, I tried to upload them but the computer here is just not having it. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow in Pokhara. I love and miss you guys!!!