Yesterday we left Kathmandu to visit a village which had the usual stupas and monuments. We then headed to a mountainside hotel, the Dhulikhel Mountain Resort, that has spectacular views of the Himalayas, including Mt. Everest. It's only 87 miles away in a straight line, but it can take up to 2 weeks walking to get to the base camp. Helicopter rentals are $3500 for 4 if you want to take a short cut. When we got settled in it was cloudy, and the mountains were there somewhere, we just couldn't see them.
We had dinner consisting of real food for a change, and went to bed anticipating a gorgeous morning with gleaming snow capped mountains and a view of the Big One.
What we got is a rainy day, and cloud cover thick enough to hide even the nearest foothills.
The morning's project was a hike to a monastery on the top of a mountain (where else?). The group split into hikers and wimps who would ride the bus to the top.
Off we went, hiking in the rain. Really more of a half-rain, half being in the clouds sort of thing. Umbrellas and raincoats were initially used, but it got too hot so getting wet was the better option. Better wet from rain than sweat. It wound up taking over 3 hours.
We had dinner consisting of real food for a change, and went to bed anticipating a gorgeous morning with gleaming snow capped mountains and a view of the Big One.
What we got is a rainy day, and cloud cover thick enough to hide even the nearest foothills.
The morning's project was a hike to a monastery on the top of a mountain (where else?). The group split into hikers and wimps who would ride the bus to the top.
Off we went, hiking in the rain. Really more of a half-rain, half being in the clouds sort of thing. Umbrellas and raincoats were initially used, but it got too hot so getting wet was the better option. Better wet from rain than sweat. It wound up taking over 3 hours.
At a potty break about 2 hours into the hike, I spent a couple of minutes picking off leaches. I was wearing light colored pants and they stood out, which is good because they are about the thickness of a pencil lead and about 1/2 long. But they trave like inchworms, stretching out to over and inch, then pulling their backsides forward.
A few of us got lost by following a sign to a stupa which was more than your average stupa, it was one that people make pilgrimages to, called the Namobuddha Shrine. It is the place where it is said that Siddhartha came before he became enlightened and became the Buddha. He found a tigress who was starving to death and cut off a part of his body and gave it to her. To each his own.
Pilgrims we became, and did our 3 round walk, then headed up the mountain to the monastery getting passed by the local bus. One look, and you wonder how anyone lives to maturity here.
When we got there our bus riders were all antsy to get moving since they'd been there for hours cooling their never hot heels. The monastery looked like a 5 star hotel, so we passed on a visit and got on the bus and headed to, where else, lunch.
The lunch break was at a restaurant with a beautiful view of the Himalayas that was completely clouded over.
Next stop was the small town of Panauti where we crossed a swinging bridge, watched another cremation, and then came across some school kids putting on a dance review in the middle of the street in front of a school. The "got talent" craze has even reached the boonies of Nepal, the kids were made up for TV and did a fine dance number.
Back to the bus to fight the traffic back to the hotel where we stayed the first two nights. I'm not sure how I got an exotic "Indiana Jones" image of Kathmandu in my head, but it's a typical Indian city except that instead of total abject squalor, it's up the ladder to the basic squalor. The smog may well be the worst of any city in the world. I don't usually have a problem with smog, this stuff had me coughing within an hour of landing. Downright awful, and it actually blocks the view. Still coughing, hoping I make it through tomorrow morning when we head to Tibet.
When we got there our bus riders were all antsy to get moving since they'd been there for hours cooling their never hot heels. The monastery looked like a 5 star hotel, so we passed on a visit and got on the bus and headed to, where else, lunch.
The lunch break was at a restaurant with a beautiful view of the Himalayas that was completely clouded over.
Next stop was the small town of Panauti where we crossed a swinging bridge, watched another cremation, and then came across some school kids putting on a dance review in the middle of the street in front of a school. The "got talent" craze has even reached the boonies of Nepal, the kids were made up for TV and did a fine dance number.
Back to the bus to fight the traffic back to the hotel where we stayed the first two nights. I'm not sure how I got an exotic "Indiana Jones" image of Kathmandu in my head, but it's a typical Indian city except that instead of total abject squalor, it's up the ladder to the basic squalor. The smog may well be the worst of any city in the world. I don't usually have a problem with smog, this stuff had me coughing within an hour of landing. Downright awful, and it actually blocks the view. Still coughing, hoping I make it through tomorrow morning when we head to Tibet.
Traffic is almost beyond imagining, even for hardened LA types. I was running my gps and it had our moving average at around 10 mph. We seem to drive for hours and hours (and we do) and checking the gps and map, the Dhulikhel hotel is only 18 miles as the crow flies from our in town hotel. When we left the village we were about 12 miles out from the hotel, but it took us over 2 hours. Stop and go in blinding smog all the way.
Despite the traffic, hard seats, smog and bad shocks, we eventually got to the hotel where we finally got a hot shower and prepped for dinner.
Tomorrow is an unusually 8 am departure instead of the normal 4 am one. We may actually get a good night's sleep and be ready to hit the bricks in Tibet. We say Namaste to Nepal.
Augie
LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT, especially the comments on the human condition yours & the locals. It is refreshing to hear the real skinny instead of the spin one usually reads. My question, did MAM & Rhonda walk. if so Kudos to them. I would have been a wimp. Miss you all but appreciate your efforts to keep us with you on the trip. I know when one is tired, sometimes blogging is the last thing on your mind after a long day. It is appreciated & I do not take it for granted especially after todays post. Mah
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