Two Days in  Nepal

    I arrived in Kathmandu on the evening of the 13th. Exhausted, sweaty, and tired I made my way through the airport. My first stop was the visa counter. Although I had already applied for my visa back home, for some reason I had to pay for it in the airport. The line was long, but things moved along quickly. Then I entered my second line. This time it was immigration. For as small as Nepal is, it sure gets a lot of visitors from everywhere. Immigration was a little lengthy, but I made it through without any hiccups. The best part was when the officer asked why I was visiting Nepal. Of course I said tourism, however my tired self really wanted to say, "well I'm not here for the burgers." I get frustrated when I'm exhausted and stupid questions annoy me. Once I finished with immigration I was excited to get my baggage and head to my hotel. Little did I know I'd have one more gateway through hell to pass through before this could happen.

There was one more security check before I could pick up my luggage. They wanted to scan our carry on bags. Although I was annoyed, I thought "ok no big deal. I'm almost done." Then the Morgan Freeman voice chimed in: "Heather was not almost to her baggage. Heather would almost lose her mind before she even saw her baggage." I expected questions about my Ozempic cooler bottle. People always think its water or they want to inspect the medication. My medicine, as it turns out, was not the problem. It was my jewelry. I packed a bunch of bling because I knew I'd wear it in India. Well, security thought I was possibly smuggling in jewelry from somewhere else so I had to open EVERY SINGLE JEWELRY BAG. Then when they saw items that were fake gold, like my Betsey Johnson necklace, or gold plated like my jewelry from India, they kept asking me if it was real. I was BEYOND annoyed at this point. They wouldn't let me hold my purse with all my money in it so that was just hanging out which bothered me. As I was attempting to answer all their questions without losing my patience this was what was going through my head: "Dude do you really think if I was a jewelry smuggler that I'd smuggle stuff in a big white bag in my carry on stuff? Also, do you honestly think I'd come on a plane in economy if I had any sort of money to buy this stuff if it were real"? They finally cleared me and I was off.

I met my tour contact and driver. I received my khata, a traditional ceremonial scarf from Nepal, as a welcome gift. The awesome thing about the tour company I use is the fact that they always welcome their customers traditionally. I checked in to the Marriott then did my usual first night routine: a shower, pajamas,

and order room service. Despite having several options, I decided to go with spaghetti with alfredo sauce and mushrooms. Trying new food is never a good idea when you are exhausted so I went with comfort food. This is what I received. I don't recall any mushrooms and it wasn't even really that bad until I ate a black olive. YUCK! Black olives should never be in alfredo sauce. Afterwards I hit the sack. 

I met my guide and driver the next day at 11 am. They wanted me to rest and sleep in and who am I to argue on that? Jay had asked me that morning what I was going to visit and to be honest I wasn't sure. I didn't do the research on Nepal that I did on India last year. I think with everything I've had going on before my trip I just dropped the ball. Yet it was ok because it was a surprise. On my trips abroad I just try to 'roll with it'.

The first stop with my awesome guide Naveez was the Swoyambhu Mahachaitya otherwise known as the monkey temple. Who loves monkeys? ME!!! I was super excited. I was even more excited when he told me I did not have to walk the 400 steps practically straight up. 

I did have to walk up some steps to reach the top, but once up there the view was amazing. Of course there were monkeys everywhere which I took a million pictures of. The families that gather here on Saturdays, their only day off during the week, and the monks make sure the monkeys are fed. I'm sure if I had food or water they might have tried to come at me, but of course my guide wouldn't allow me to be that crazy. After explaining all the historical significance, I made an offering at the top. Here are located temples for Hindus and Buddhists. Nepal is primarily Hindu as I learned. So I decided to light my candle, make my prayer, and then I received my red paint on my forehead. Since the picture placement has a mind of it's own, just try to roll with it.

 Next up wax Hanuman Dhoka Durbar Square. This complex contains the Royal Palace of the Malla kings and the Shah Dynasty. So, basically this is 16th and 17th century architecture. While many buildings are still original some have been rebuilt since the Nepali earthquake in 2015. What is beautiful, besides the buildings themselves, is the number of countries that have allocated funds to help rebuild these structures. The United States, China, England just to name a few. These structures are not open for anything these days. Just here to be admired and help with tourism. I think it's great the world wants to preserve such beautiful architecture and such a peaceful culture. 

I learned very quickly that despite being similar to India, how unique Nepal is.  It's a very quite place. Not because it has to be, it just is. Unlike India where people drive like maniacs and are constantly honking at each other, Nepal doesn't permit this anymore. Honking is only permitted on twisty, roads up the hills where it's necessary.

While Nepal does have a KFC, no I didn't go, they do not have any type of McDonald's or other restaurants like this. Any chains they do have are Asian chain restaurants I've never heard of. One of the reasons for this, in my opinion, was because Nepal was never conquered by any modern foreign nation. The British did attempt to take Nepal during their Imperial phase, but the Nepali army was so strong with their sword fighting skills that even British guns and canons could not over take them. I also learned  that Nepal remains neutral on most world politics like Switzerland. Only recently have they decided to side with the Ukraine. They currently only have an interest in Gaza because Hamas is holding someone from Nepal. Men and women can join the military here, but if they want to fight in war campaigns such as WWII then they have to enlist through a foreign military service like England or France.

The most amazing part of this day for me was sighting the Kumari. The Kumari is selected the Shakya clan of the Nepalese Newari Buddhist community. She is revered by Buddhists and Hindus alike. Those are the only two groups allowed to receive a private blessing from her. Ok, let me back up a step and explain in basic terms what this girl is. The Kumari of Kathmandu is considered royalty and considered a living goddess. She is a prepubescent female who is selected after she has proven to meet the 32 eligibility requirements, which predominately focus on her appearance. Once selected she will live inside the palace and only come out for religious gatherings or celebrations. She handles all of her many responsibilities and schoolwork inside the palace. If she has time, 2-3 times a day she will appear at her window and allow people to look upon her face. She is not allowed to be photographed. Sighting her is hit or miss since she doesn't appear at any certain time if at all. I got to see her so I consider myself extremely lucky. It was on my bucket list. And in case you are worried about her don't be. Once she enters puberty a new Kumari is selected and she returns to her family to live a normal life and marry. 

                                                She appears in the top, center window.

The rest of the afternoon we continued to explore. During lunch I branched out and tried Mo Mo. Mo Mo is a dumpling served several different ways. I had mine steamed. They can be vegetarian, but I decided to try water buffalo. I still can't even believe I ate it. I'm not typically that outgoing. It was actually very good. It reminded me of beef. We also did some small shopping then I headed back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we drove way up into the steppes of Nepal. I've never actually seen a steppe in person outside of a history book so the nerd in me was excited. Besides the beauty of the country, going up high allowed me to view the peak of Mount Everest! I had no idea there were so many peaks with names. A few of them were actually sticking up from Tibet so that was sort of cool. 

                                   Everest is the little peak behind me on the left.

The rest of my second day was filled with more 16th and 17th century architecture in historic squares and temples. After lunch and shopping we visited our last place, Pashupatinath Temple which is dedicated to the God Shiva. Besides worshiping, this temple all provides the services for cremation. Stacks of wood are arranged with incense and flowers, then a wrapped body is placed on top and burned House of the Dragon style. Families gather behind to pay their respects during this process. Anyone can watch as this happens and the smoke is definitely in the air. As we entered the path to walk towards the temple I smelled the scent of incense immediately. The guide asked if I wanted a mask and I said no. I told him I enjoyed the smell. Being the classic idiot I am, it didn't occur to me till on our way back that I wasn't just inhaling incense. I was inhaling people's bodies! As smart as I can be, sometimes I'm just a huge donk. So I probably took a couple people back to the hotel with me in my lungs. Maybe they wanted a chance to travel more, lol. I was also able to photograph some holy men. They wanted me to get in the picture with them, but I think a man in a loin cloth can do just fine without me in the picture....eeek.

Ok enjoy the Nepal photo/video dump!

                                                             Water buffalo mo mo

                                                       I found my Cricket kitty!

                                                         Red and yellow poinsettias!

                                                                The burning bodies

 

The Steppe

Trying to get myself some good luck.