Hi All,

  This is my last email about our Tibet/Kathmandu adventure.  It seems as if it has taken longer to write about it than to actually live it.  And it has only been the last week that when I wake up in the middle of the night I don’t have to figure out where I am.  I really miss both Tibet and Nepal, but am getting back in tune with Puteri.  Threre are quite a few cruisers here we like and we have started biking everyday when it’s not raining.  When I shopt at my favorite vegetable stand at the Tuesday Night market, the owner calls me "sister" now.  And thankfully, the man at the fried chicken stand now knows we want the breast so last night I didn’t have to illustrate.  Randal usually points to his chest when he’s there, but he skipped the trip last night.  We’ll soon move the boat to Sebana Cove where it will stay while we go home to the US.  The man who had recovered our boat cushions is there and Randal has another project for him.  We like to bike around that area too.  And there are monkeys, amonitor lizards, and an occassional wild pig for entertainment.  The development frenzy around Puteri has leveled most of the forest so there’s not much to see or do right here at the marina.  One day there will be with all of the plans for this area, but we’ll be long gone into the Med and who knows where.

Ru

Kathmandu – part 3…….The End

We ate breakfast here every day, lunch and dinner many days.

They had wifi, good salads, wraps and large portions of food and were located next door to our hotel. We chatted often with one young waiter who always seemed to be there when we were no matter what time of day. One day he came to our table and invited us to go to his home and attend the wedding of his friend. Randal said sure (which surprised me) and asked where he lived. He said that we would have to fly there but that we would stay with him for a few days! We made sure that we understood his Nepalese English and indeed he did live a good distance from Kathmandu. We thanked him but said that we were leaving in a day so really didn’t have the time. He was quite disappointed. He was a very sweet young man and very capable. Randal gave him some money and asked if he would use it to buy a wedding gift for his friend. I wish I had a photo to show you. We wish him well.

“Our seats” where we ate, used the wifi and just sat and read.

This sign was over the cash register where you paid. Great idea!

You know you’re not in Kansas when the bank’s named Siddhartha.

No one knows MLB but they do know FIFA.

Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Thamel was a colorful jumble of everything packed into a small area referred to as the “tourist ghetto.”

Narrow streets full of shop keepers inviting you in “just to look.”

It was a great place to buy heavy wool sweaters and professional level trekking gear neither of which we need. But it was fun to look.

Lots of great used book shops though the prices weren’t as good as Singapore’s Brash Basha.

Who are the Gurkhas?

"Gurkhas have been part of the British Army for almost 200 years, but who are these fearsome Nepalese fighters?

"Better to die than be a coward" is the motto of the world-famous Nepalese Gurkha soldiers who are an integral part of the British Army.

They still carry into battle their traditional weapon - an 18-inch long curved knife known as the kukri.

In times past, it was said that once a kukri was drawn in battle, it had to "taste blood" - if not, its owner had to cut himself before returning it to its sheath.

Now, the Gurkhas say, it is used mainly for cooking.

The potential of these warriors was first realised by the British at the height of their empire-building in the last century.

The Victorians identified them as a "martial race", perceiving in them particularly masculine qualities of toughness.

After suffering heavy casualties in the invasion of Nepal, the British East India Company signed a hasty peace deal in 1815, which also allowed it to recruit from the ranks of the former enemy.

Following the partition of India in 1947, an agreement between Nepal, India and Britain meant four Gurkha regiments from the Indian army were transferred to the British Army, eventually becoming the Gurkha Brigade.

Since then, the Gurkhas have loyally fought for the British all over the world, receiving 13 Victoria Crosses between them.

More than 200,000 fought in the two world wars and in the past 50 years, they have served in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Borneo, Cyprus, the Falklands, Kosovo and now in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They serve in a variety of roles, mainly in the infantry but with significant numbers of engineers, logisticians and signals specialists.

The name "Gurkha" comes from the hill town of Gorkha from which the Nepalese kingdom had expanded.

The ranks have always been dominated by four ethnic groups, the Gurungs and Magars from central Nepal, the Rais and Limbus from the east, who live in hill villages of impoverished hill farmers.

They keep to their Nepalese customs and beliefs, and the brigade follows religious festivals such as Dashain, in which - in Nepal, not the UK - goats and buffaloes are sacrificed.

But their numbers have been sharply reduced from a World War II peak of 112,000 men, and now stand at about 3,500.

During the two World Wars 43,000 young men lost their lives.

The Gurkhas are now based at Shorncliffe near Folkestone, Kent - but they do not become British citizens.

The soldiers are still selected from young men living in the hills of Nepal - with about 28,000 youths tackling the selection procedure for just over 200 places each year.

“ If there was a minute’s silence for every Gurkha casualty from World War II alone, we would have to keep quiet for two weeks ”

Gurkha Welfare Trust

The selection process has been described as one of the toughest in the world and is fiercely contested.

Young hopefuls have to run uphill for 40 minutes carrying a wicker basket on their back filled with rocks weighing 70lbs.

Prince Harry lived with a Gurkha battalion during his 10 weeks in Afghanistan.

There is said to be a cultural affinity between Gurkhas and the Afghan people which is beneficial to the British Army effort there.

Historian Tony Gould said Gurkhas have brought an excellent combination of qualities from a military point of view.

He said: "They are tough, they are brave, they are durable, they are amenable to discipline.

"They have another quality which you could say some British regiments had in the past, but it’s doubtful that they have now, that is a strong family tradition.

"So that within each battalion there were usually very, very close family links, so when they were fighting, they were not so much fighting for their officers or the cause but for their friends and family."

After the Gurkhas have served their time in the Army - a maximum of 30 years, and a minimum of 15 to secure a pension - they are discharged back in Nepal.

Historically, they received a much smaller pension - at least six times less - than British soldiers, on the grounds that the cost of living is much lower in Nepal.

But with more choosing to settle permanently in the UK with their families, campaigners said this left them suffering considerable economic hardship.

They won a partial victory in March 2007, when Defence Minister Derek Twigg announced that all those who retired after July 1997 would get the same pension as the rest of the Army."

Story from BBC NEWS:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/2786991.stm

Published: 2008/03/18 16:32:24 GMT

Ram Kumar Khatri; a pretty interesting fellow.

Early one morning Randal and I were strolling through Thamel and were approached by Mr. Khatri. You know how that goes; you think “what’s he selling?” But he wasn’t selling anything unless you count the copy of Quarterly Development Review that we bought for $5. Mr. Khatri is the founder, editor and publisher of this journal as part of his quest to “contribute towards the Development of Women and Children, Environment and Tourism in Nepal.” According to his bio in the journal, Mr. Khatri was born January 1, 1945 in Kathmandu. He spent most of his working life at the Agricultural Development Bank retiring as Division Chief in December of 2002. He is currently enrolled as a PhD student in the Department of Economics, Tribhuvan University.

Randal makes a contribution

The journal includes a section to help promote tourism.  Mr. Khatri asks visitors what they like most and least about Nepal. The comments are aimed at officials who can make changes, not at other tourists. He asked us about our goals for life too. Randal and I both commented on how friendly people seemed but how poor the country was and wondered what would change that. My goal was to get up in the morning and know I was the only one controlling my day! After we’d been chatting for a while he told us about the school he was building and invited us, not only to visit but to stay there for a while. Our second invitation in the same day! Again we had to say no because we were leaving the next day.

Another sign in the Thamel area.

During our day walking around Thamel we passed the same middle-aged begging woman about 5 times. The last time I passed her I was tired from walking around for fun. I thought of how she must have been feeling walking around all that time having to ask for money. She looked tired and discouraged and her skin looked a bit ravaged. I can’t remember what I gave her, more than a few bucks but not a great deal of money. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Hopefully Mr. Khatri can make a difference.

I was surprised that the $US was the first on the list and not the Euro.

This little boy was sitting outback behind his parents fruit stand eating up the profits!

And that’s about it. I think we short changed Nepal by only spending such a short time and that was my fault. Flights sort of dictated that we stay 4 days or 7 days and I thought 7 would be too many since we didn’t plan on doing any trekking. Friends who spent more time there seeing the countryside and trekking the mountain areas said they were beautiful. But so it goes….

The End….

Ru

Our time in Kathmandu was very short, just 3 full days. Our first day we toured some of the nearby Buddhist and Hindu sites. The second and third days we stayed around the small area of Thamel where streets are lined with small shops and restaurants and at least a dozen used book stores all catering to the bunches of western tourists who come there. Our hotel was located there and it was an easy place to spend a few days. The hotel was comfortable but it had no electric kettle and no hot water in the shower until about 7:30 am. And when Randal took a second shower late one afternoon, there also was very little hot water. We had a thermos in our room and when we called the front desk they would get it and fill it with hot water….as long as we wanted it after 7:30 am. We were only paying $40 per day so the fact that it had hot water at all…. Ronnie and David started out at a youth hostel for about $2 per day but only stayed one night; something about too many bugs…

While writing my email I reread David and Ronnie’s page about Nepal. It was a reminder about how colorful, chaotic, energetic and very poor Nepal is. And that Nepal is home to 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world. Lots of people go there to trek and there are zillions of trekking advertisements up and down the streets of Thamel.

Especially after Tibet, Randal and I found Kathmandu very hot and between us had very little need to see any more Buddhist temples. And though our guide was very nice and undoubtedly needed to earn money, his English was really hard to understand so there wasn’t the rapport with him that we’d had with Lobsang in Tibet or our guide Rusli back in Tana Toraja in Indonesia. But, what there is to see fairly close to Kathmandu are Buddhist temples so that’s where we went. And also to a Hindu temple which was quite interesting.

The view from Monkey Temple

Our first stop was “the Monkey Temple” located up on a hill not very far from Thamel. It’s called Monkey Temple because once you saw lots of monkeys there. We saw about a dozen which seems like nothing compared to the gangs of them back at Sebana Cove and Rebak. Swayambhunath is the real name. “Swayambhunath, one of the most important cultural and historical place of Kingdom of Nepal and listed as one of the World Heritage Sites from 1978, is located about 2 km. to the West of Kathmandu. “ http://www.multinepal.com/swayambhu/index.html

There were people praying, but most people had come earlier in the morning before work.

I didn’t see the vibrancy here that I did in Tibet. It was as if the sun had bleached all of the color and energy. Maybe we had just visited enough Buddhist temples in Tibet that we just weren’t interested.

“It is prohibited to Take a Snap Sitting on the Buddha.”

More working women just like the ones in Tibet

We left the Monkey Temple which had few but very well behaved monkeys and drove through the dusty crowded streets of Kathmandu to our next stop, Boudhanath.

The dome of the Boudhanath stupa is 120 ft. in diameter, 107,639 sq. ft. in width, and141 ft. tall.

“The Great Stupa of Boudhanath stands approximately 6 km North East from the centre of Kathmandu valley….It is one of the most important place of pilgrimage for the Buddhist. In the past, when the trade routes to central and western Tibet were fully open, traders, pilgrims and travelers sought blessings at the stupa for safe passage over the mountain passes and gave thanksgiving to it upon arrival in the Kathmandu Valley. Today is towers over a small Tamang village that since the arrival of Tibetan refugees in the 1960s has become the centre of a thriving town of monasteries, craftsmanship and businesses. “

From the brochure we got with our ticket into the area though I’m really not sure how they keep people out with all of the shops lining the area, but we bought tickets.

Looking down from the roof of the temple across the way.

People circumambulate the stupa, many turning the thousands of prayer wheels that are set into the wall lining the walk. Around the outside are shops and restaurants and it’s a very lively area similar to Thamel. It kind of reminded me of the plazas in Italy!

Randal and friend under the watchful eyes of the Buddha.

While he was sitting here, Randal met the group of students and the professor from Virginia Tech who guessed that he was from Bedford.

Supplies for the restaurants and bars that surround the plaza.

You can see the woman in green turning some of the thousands of prayer wheels along the path.

I’m not sure what this is; I just liked the mug used to scoop it out.

Thangka artists.

We passed a shop and our guide took me in while Randal sat on his bench. The shop was downstairs and the gallery and studio upstairs.

http://www.tibetanpaintings.com/thangka-painting.htm offers a good description and explanation of Thangka. “A thangka may portray the Buddha or some other deity, or a concept in Tibetan cosmology, astrology or medicine. The iconography of the thangka is rich in information about the spiritual practice of Buddhists and the Tibetan worldview. …… A spiritual and religious expression as much as an art form, the process of learning to paint thangkas is rigorous. In the first three years, students learn to sketch the Tibetan Buddhist deities using precise grids dictated by scripture. The two years following are devoted to the techniques of grinding and applying the mineral colours and pure gold used in the paintings. In the sixth year, students study in detail the religious texts and scriptures used for the subject matter of their work. To become an accomplished thangka painter, at least ten years training is required under the constant supervision of a master. After the training process, students still need five to ten years to become experts in the field.”

The owner of this shop took the time to explain some of the aspects of the actual painting process to me. He knew I wasn’t there to buy because I told him right away. Because we had spent so much time in monasteries I couldn’t just look at the Thangka as art and didn’t want to buy it as a religious object. And the really nice ones, once he showed me how to see the differences, were too expensive and not something we’d want to put on a boat or leave rolled up for years. But he was very kind and liked to share his knowledge. He was Chinese so I told him about our Chinese boat and he said that he was on his way to LA for an art show.

Randal and I finally got on our bikes today and rode to Gelan Petah the town about 8 miles from the marina.  Our first stop in town was the bike shop.  Randal had replaced one tire before our Tibet trip, but was afraid the other needed to be replaced with the spare he had bought at the same time.  Luckily our local bike shop guy had been out biking with his friends and their ride ended at the shop shortly after we got there.  He kindly changed the tire and refused payment telling Randal that the service came with the purchase of the tire. Randal, of course could have changed the tire himself, but having someone else do it is so nice.   Next we went for a snack at the Awana Cafe and while we ate watched lots of other "real bikers" pass through town.  On our way back to the marina we heard the sound of squealing tires, thankfully not on our road, but on an impromptu track.  There were cars racing around obstacles and Randal stopped to watch for a bit but I kept riding.  After a bit Randal caught me and we finished our ride in time for me to follow the Red Sox blow their last game with the Mariners.  Poor Sox.  These next set of emails are about Kathmandu. 

Ru

DoraMac

Road to Kathmandu

Just leaving the border about 10:45 am in our hired vehicle. The single lane roads were just wide enough for two cars to carefully pass each other and curvy so you really had to trust the driver you had met 10 minutes before you started and also trust his vehicle. But he was a good driver and patiently stopped when we needed to take photos.

Our vehicle was 4 wheel drive and a good thing because we drove a good way along this dirt road.

Homes and shops came right to the edge of the narrow road where these boys were waiting to go to school. Many Tibetans leave Lhasa to go to school in Nepal where they can learn “British/Indian” English.

The scenery was incredibly lush especially compared to the dry Tibetan landscape.

The homes, built along the ridge road, used stones to hold down the roofs. We passed several tiny communities that actually struck me as more isolated than the nomads in Tibet. At least in Tibet there was so much open space. Here the mountains and forests crowded in. “Too much green.”

This photo could have been taken in Southwest Virginia.

Lots of terraced agriculture.

Animals always have the right-of-way.

Nepal is Hindu so cows are sacred.

We left the lush countryside and began to pass through city sprawl interspersed with lush fields.

Roads seemed to be under construction with buildings crammed together all along either side of the wide space which was the jammed under construction roads.

Kathmandu was the most jam-packed with dust- masked police trying to direct the crazy traffic.

We arrived about 3:30 pm first dropping David and Ronnie at their hostel and then going to our Kathmandu Resort Hotel. We were glad to be out of the chaos of the Nepali roads!

It’s a very good thing that I did not see Everest as a young man as the grip of the dream may have had me then as it has now. But back then It would have been more dangerous. The trip is not entirely over yet as today is Friday and we do not fly out of Kathmandu to Singapore until Sunday. We will have one or two days in SG to collect supplies before returning by bus across the channel to the boat. But I can tell you this. Seeing Everest is going to be the highlight of the trip for me. It is so majestic, so spectacular, so imposing, that you would think it so close you could touch it.

From our perspective at Everest Base Camp, the closest we came to the mountain, the sign said it was fifty miles away but you looked for reasons for it to be closer, but there were none, except for its amazing volume. If Everest could speak, it would say come to me.

The mountain was partly covered with clouds sometimes and we saw it from several different angles but base camp was the best.

Randal

Mandala Resort Hotel Hi All, The population of Kathmandu only feels like 10 million.  A book shop owner told us 5 million and the restaurant manager told us less than 3 million.  But a UNESCO report I found on the web predicted 2.5 million bu 2020.  I don’t know if our guide was wrong or we misunderstood what he had said.  Napalese English and New England and Virginia English are not always the same.  However, Virginians can always understand other Virginians.  Yesterday while our guide and I were learning about Thanka (maybe spelled wrong) painting, Randal was waiting outside the shop.  He met a group of Americans and asked where they were from and they said Virginia Tech.  I forget exactly how the story goes but Randal was asked to say "y’all" and the Tech professor immediated guessed he was from Roanoke.  Small world.   Today we visited a half dozen book shops along the road near our hotel.  Lots of young western tourists and lots of funky shops and restaurants.  We ran into one of our Tibet tour buddies David.  He works in the Netherlands as an aeronautical engineer and is on a 7 month vacation!  He and Ron were really good tour mates.      At dinner tonight we had a brief conversation with a woman our age who just finished 3 years in Tibet as a health aid worker for an Australian government project.  Randal struck up a conversation with her as we waited to pay our bill and she waited for her food. I’m sitting in the hall of our hotel to use the computer.  I can hear a group of people who must be watching the FIFA games because they just let out a cheer.   Tomorrow is our last full day here and then we leave on the 4th. Ru

Cafe Chops

Mandala Street

Hi All,

  We’ve seen lots and hiked to the Everest Base Camp…..not all that far from the bus but at 17,000 feet even a bit of uphill walking is work: breathtaking for many reason.

   The journey to the border from desert to tropical rain was pretty dramatic.  Now we are in Kathmandu with 10 million people…at least that’s what we were told by our local guide.  Very different than the open spaces near Everest.

  Today we’ll walk around the touristy part that looks like a very crowded, yuppie college town.  Food in Nepal really good, giant portions, and fairly inexpensive.

  So that’s it.

My Sox are falling to pieces! 

Ru