Here's the link to some pictures I posted on Picasaweb: https://picasaweb.google.com/redbyrds/Nepal?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Hope you enjoy!
Robyn
Hope you enjoy!
Robyn
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Top of the world
Today is my last full day in kathmandu, so I went to the Top of the World, otherwise known as Mount Everst.
I took a 16 passenger plane to get a closer view of one part of the Himalayas that contains Mt. Everest. I didn't realize that the Himalayan mountain range consisted of multiple ranges, and I'd seen one part of it from Pokhara, and this is another. Each passenger got to walk up to the cockpit and take pictures through the front window. I have no idea how the pictures will come out, either from the cockpit or from my window, since they were indeed taken through a window of a moving plane, not a great set up for a great photo, but we'll see.
After the plane ride, I took a trip to the third ancient city which now makes up the Kathmandu Valley, Patan (pronounced PAtan). More Hindu and Buddhist temples, but this time I just walked around on my own (fighting off multiple offers for a tour guide, but by this time I felt that I somewhat knew what I was looking at), and just spent time taking pictures. This activity did remind me that I am definitely not in line to be the next great architecture photographer! But I did enjoy the time just wandering around by myself.
In the evening, the travel agent I used here in Nepal took me to see a traditional dance show (and dinner, which looked good, but I couldn't eat). They did several traditional dances from some of the different regional tribal peoples in Nepal. I then took him to experience my tribe. We went to dinner at the Chabad house and I ordered falafel for him to try!
Well, tomorrow starts my two day journey back to LA.
Namaste from Nepal!
I took a 16 passenger plane to get a closer view of one part of the Himalayas that contains Mt. Everest. I didn't realize that the Himalayan mountain range consisted of multiple ranges, and I'd seen one part of it from Pokhara, and this is another. Each passenger got to walk up to the cockpit and take pictures through the front window. I have no idea how the pictures will come out, either from the cockpit or from my window, since they were indeed taken through a window of a moving plane, not a great set up for a great photo, but we'll see.
After the plane ride, I took a trip to the third ancient city which now makes up the Kathmandu Valley, Patan (pronounced PAtan). More Hindu and Buddhist temples, but this time I just walked around on my own (fighting off multiple offers for a tour guide, but by this time I felt that I somewhat knew what I was looking at), and just spent time taking pictures. This activity did remind me that I am definitely not in line to be the next great architecture photographer! But I did enjoy the time just wandering around by myself.
In the evening, the travel agent I used here in Nepal took me to see a traditional dance show (and dinner, which looked good, but I couldn't eat). They did several traditional dances from some of the different regional tribal peoples in Nepal. I then took him to experience my tribe. We went to dinner at the Chabad house and I ordered falafel for him to try!
Well, tomorrow starts my two day journey back to LA.
Namaste from Nepal!
Monday, February 11, 2013
Back in Kathmandu
So to get back to Kathmandu meant another bus ride.
No eggs, no chickens, and two seats to myself- woo hoo!
I had finally been able to download and audio book (I get car sick, so no reading for me!), and was able to listen to it for most of the ride (the Kindle battery died after about 5 hours, so I had the last hour or so on my own).
I'm now back in Kathmandu, and tomorrow I will be taking a sunrise (last one!) flight to see Mt. Everest.
I really don't understand how anyone was/is a chilled out hippie here. The city is very crowded. Tons of motorcycles and cars, traffic jams that could rival LA and Manhattan, and drivers with apparently no fear of head-on collisions. Also, there are no sidewalks, so the (brave!) pedestrians share the road with the traffic. It's also very noisy, and there's a bad smell here (I'm sure from all the garbage in the streets/river). How is it that anyone can chill out here? Maybe the hippies had good drugs, and that helped, but personally, I have found the city very stressful on my senses!
I'm looking forward to a dinner tonight that does not consist of rice with re-hydrated veggie crumbles!
Goodnight!
Robyn
No eggs, no chickens, and two seats to myself- woo hoo!
I had finally been able to download and audio book (I get car sick, so no reading for me!), and was able to listen to it for most of the ride (the Kindle battery died after about 5 hours, so I had the last hour or so on my own).
I'm now back in Kathmandu, and tomorrow I will be taking a sunrise (last one!) flight to see Mt. Everest.
I really don't understand how anyone was/is a chilled out hippie here. The city is very crowded. Tons of motorcycles and cars, traffic jams that could rival LA and Manhattan, and drivers with apparently no fear of head-on collisions. Also, there are no sidewalks, so the (brave!) pedestrians share the road with the traffic. It's also very noisy, and there's a bad smell here (I'm sure from all the garbage in the streets/river). How is it that anyone can chill out here? Maybe the hippies had good drugs, and that helped, but personally, I have found the city very stressful on my senses!
I'm looking forward to a dinner tonight that does not consist of rice with re-hydrated veggie crumbles!
Goodnight!
Robyn
Sunrise, Sunset...
Good Morning!
Sunday brought another Sunrise morning.
This morning I woke up again at 5 am (will not necessarily miss this part of vacationing) to climb up to the World Peace Pagoda. That required at 25 min climb (in the dark, as it was before sunrise, so that I could see the sunrise from the top) up many flights of stairs. I think this pagoda, created by the Japanese, and maintained by Japan, China, and Thailand, is called the World Peace Pagoda, because when you finally reach the top, you are too tired for fight with anyone!
It was worth the trek (yes, this is the only trekking I've done here in Nepal, and my own personal Sherpa- guide, only had to carry my bag the last few flights of stairs). It was very peaceful. As we approached the pagoda, I could hear a drum and some chanting. My own personal Tibetan concert. There was only one other tourist, with his guide, so I basically had the place to myself. I watched the monk circle the pagoda. You circle clockwise, as counterclockwise is considered either bad luck, or sacrilegious maybe depending on who you talk to. Once he was done he left, which left just us two tourists and our guides.
I was able to see the sunrise over the Himalayas again. I got a slightly wider range view of the mountains than Friday morning from Sangrakot (the day I went paragliding).
After that, it was a stop at Devi's Waterfall. The waterfall has a Nepali name, but it's mostly referred to now as Devi's Fall, named after a Swiss tourist who fell in and died. Lovely. My guide told me that the tourist was sitting over the fall when the damn broke, and he was swept away. They ID'd his body from his passport, and "nicknamed" the waterfall for him. This story was unsolicited, but did answer my question from my mountain drive. I guess they would have ID'd my from my passport (in my little money belt around my waist, adding more bulk in my picts than is already there!), and possibly re-named the mountain for me. I'm really glad they didn't have to!
After the waterfall it was back to the hotel for breakfast, and to shower/change.
At noon, the guide picked me back up and took me sightseeing. Calling it a sightseeing tour might technically be correct, but it was a stretch.
The Pokhara museum had outfits, jewelry, and artifacts of daily living of the tribal people. That took up about 10 mins.
Then we were off to see the "beautiful white river", according to my guide. I was looking forward to a picturesque riverbank. I had seen the river from the mountain top, and knew that it was fed by the snow of the Himalayas. However, what turned out to be the "tourist" spot to see the river, was a concrete walkway, where the water came rushing through a canal. Not exactly the setting I was expecting. The water is white-ish, and the only explanation the guide (who, as you will see, was much less knowledgeable/ informative than the guide in Kathmandu who loaded me down with facts) could offer was that it was always this color because it came from the snowy mountains. Once the white snow melts, why is the river still white? No clue...
From the river, we went to see a Hindu temple, and happened upon a couple who had just gotten married. I was able to see them close up, and their band/entourage. It was much smaller and simpler than the ones I had seen in Kathmandu and Bagktapour (and probably way cheaper than an average American wedding. Maybe that's the way to go next time!)
We had driven through the "old market", and when I asked the guide to stop so I could do some shopping, he asked me what I was looking for. He was shocked when I told him (it's my Purim costume, and I have a guessing game going on Facebook, so no hints here. Feel free to play along on the blog). He came with me and seemed more than amused by what I got. I also picked up a small, traditional copper pot. They use them for cooking and eating (I got a tiny one, just for serving dips/sides, etc).
That ended my guided tour of Pokhara, and I took myself down to Phewa lake and had a drink, relaxed, and just hung out. It was a nice way to end the day/that part of my trip.
Back to Kathmandu tomorrow.
Ciao,
Robyn
Sunday brought another Sunrise morning.
This morning I woke up again at 5 am (will not necessarily miss this part of vacationing) to climb up to the World Peace Pagoda. That required at 25 min climb (in the dark, as it was before sunrise, so that I could see the sunrise from the top) up many flights of stairs. I think this pagoda, created by the Japanese, and maintained by Japan, China, and Thailand, is called the World Peace Pagoda, because when you finally reach the top, you are too tired for fight with anyone!
It was worth the trek (yes, this is the only trekking I've done here in Nepal, and my own personal Sherpa- guide, only had to carry my bag the last few flights of stairs). It was very peaceful. As we approached the pagoda, I could hear a drum and some chanting. My own personal Tibetan concert. There was only one other tourist, with his guide, so I basically had the place to myself. I watched the monk circle the pagoda. You circle clockwise, as counterclockwise is considered either bad luck, or sacrilegious maybe depending on who you talk to. Once he was done he left, which left just us two tourists and our guides.
I was able to see the sunrise over the Himalayas again. I got a slightly wider range view of the mountains than Friday morning from Sangrakot (the day I went paragliding).
After that, it was a stop at Devi's Waterfall. The waterfall has a Nepali name, but it's mostly referred to now as Devi's Fall, named after a Swiss tourist who fell in and died. Lovely. My guide told me that the tourist was sitting over the fall when the damn broke, and he was swept away. They ID'd his body from his passport, and "nicknamed" the waterfall for him. This story was unsolicited, but did answer my question from my mountain drive. I guess they would have ID'd my from my passport (in my little money belt around my waist, adding more bulk in my picts than is already there!), and possibly re-named the mountain for me. I'm really glad they didn't have to!
After the waterfall it was back to the hotel for breakfast, and to shower/change.
At noon, the guide picked me back up and took me sightseeing. Calling it a sightseeing tour might technically be correct, but it was a stretch.
The Pokhara museum had outfits, jewelry, and artifacts of daily living of the tribal people. That took up about 10 mins.
Then we were off to see the "beautiful white river", according to my guide. I was looking forward to a picturesque riverbank. I had seen the river from the mountain top, and knew that it was fed by the snow of the Himalayas. However, what turned out to be the "tourist" spot to see the river, was a concrete walkway, where the water came rushing through a canal. Not exactly the setting I was expecting. The water is white-ish, and the only explanation the guide (who, as you will see, was much less knowledgeable/ informative than the guide in Kathmandu who loaded me down with facts) could offer was that it was always this color because it came from the snowy mountains. Once the white snow melts, why is the river still white? No clue...
From the river, we went to see a Hindu temple, and happened upon a couple who had just gotten married. I was able to see them close up, and their band/entourage. It was much smaller and simpler than the ones I had seen in Kathmandu and Bagktapour (and probably way cheaper than an average American wedding. Maybe that's the way to go next time!)
We had driven through the "old market", and when I asked the guide to stop so I could do some shopping, he asked me what I was looking for. He was shocked when I told him (it's my Purim costume, and I have a guessing game going on Facebook, so no hints here. Feel free to play along on the blog). He came with me and seemed more than amused by what I got. I also picked up a small, traditional copper pot. They use them for cooking and eating (I got a tiny one, just for serving dips/sides, etc).
That ended my guided tour of Pokhara, and I took myself down to Phewa lake and had a drink, relaxed, and just hung out. It was a nice way to end the day/that part of my trip.
Back to Kathmandu tomorrow.
Ciao,
Robyn
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Shabbos
Shavua tov everyone,
Shabbos turned out to be an interesting experience. The Chabad does't open here until after Purim (a few weeks from now), as that's when the Israeli tourist season starts, so I knew I'd be on my own and had prepared for that. Or so I thought.
I had thought ahead and brought a timer to set the lights with, as I do at home. However, in this hotel, as in the others in Nepal, the room had no lamps, just lights with switches, so they were either on or off. I can't sleep with the light on, so I thought I'd come up with a clever idea. I went to the trekking shops (of which there must be a dozen on the main road here) to look for a lantern. Has they ever heard of, or seen a lantern, that indeed might have been a clever idea. Who doesn't need/use a lantern when camping/hiking? I finally found a store where the guy had a flashlight that also emitted light from the side of the flashlight head, so when you stood the flashlight on its head, light came out from all sides, just below the handle. Better than nothing.
The next problem was the electricity itself. All of Nepal is on what they call "load sharing", so the electricity goes off and on throughout the day and night. The hotels have backup generators, but those only allow for some lights to be on, not necessarily the outlets.
Before shabbos started, as I was getting ready, I had the TV on (they have a channel from India which plays Gray's Anatomy and Homeland, two of my favorite shows!). While I was getting ready, the electricity went off, turning off the tv. OK, no big deal, it was about to be shabbos anyway, and I would have turned it off myself. Oh that I could have! At home, if the power goes out, and the tv goes off, it's off til you turn it back on. Not so here in Nepal. Somehow, when the electricity comes back on, at whatever random time that might be, the tv remembers it was on, and comes back to life! that meant that late in the evening, and all through the night, til 9am the next morning, the tv was on, and because it was shabbos, I couldn't turn it off. My friend, who for a minute thought of coming with me, who could have been my own personal shabbos goy, was no where to be found, and I couldn't imagine trying to explain to a Napli hotel worker why I couldn't turn off the tv, so I spent Fri night falling asleep to, and walking up repeatedly, to the tv.
At least shabbos day was beautiful, and the balcony had a great view of the mountain over lake Phewa, so I enjoyed a relaxing day of reading.
The electricity is off again, so my plan of cooking dinner tonight is literally half-baked (it started to cook before the power went out. Guess it's tuna tonight).
Tomorrow is another sunrise viewing followed by a full day of sightseeing with a guide.
Goodnight!
Robyn
I forgot to add that the grape juice boxes from Trader Joe's that made it all the way through my trip to Africa got smushed and leaked (thankfully they were packed in a ziplock. And the pita that I had so carefully tested by leaving out in a plastic bag at home, where they fared just fine, all turned moldy here (it's more humid so that may be why). Just to round off my shabbos...
Motzie shabbos...
As I was enjoying a hot shower, even the bathroom light went out (it, and one bedroom light are on even with no electricity thanks to the generator). I wondered to myself then, "when had an adventurous, exciting vacation become equivalent to a lack of basic comforts like electricity?' and maybe my next vacation needs to be a "normal" one.
Shabbos turned out to be an interesting experience. The Chabad does't open here until after Purim (a few weeks from now), as that's when the Israeli tourist season starts, so I knew I'd be on my own and had prepared for that. Or so I thought.
I had thought ahead and brought a timer to set the lights with, as I do at home. However, in this hotel, as in the others in Nepal, the room had no lamps, just lights with switches, so they were either on or off. I can't sleep with the light on, so I thought I'd come up with a clever idea. I went to the trekking shops (of which there must be a dozen on the main road here) to look for a lantern. Has they ever heard of, or seen a lantern, that indeed might have been a clever idea. Who doesn't need/use a lantern when camping/hiking? I finally found a store where the guy had a flashlight that also emitted light from the side of the flashlight head, so when you stood the flashlight on its head, light came out from all sides, just below the handle. Better than nothing.
The next problem was the electricity itself. All of Nepal is on what they call "load sharing", so the electricity goes off and on throughout the day and night. The hotels have backup generators, but those only allow for some lights to be on, not necessarily the outlets.
Before shabbos started, as I was getting ready, I had the TV on (they have a channel from India which plays Gray's Anatomy and Homeland, two of my favorite shows!). While I was getting ready, the electricity went off, turning off the tv. OK, no big deal, it was about to be shabbos anyway, and I would have turned it off myself. Oh that I could have! At home, if the power goes out, and the tv goes off, it's off til you turn it back on. Not so here in Nepal. Somehow, when the electricity comes back on, at whatever random time that might be, the tv remembers it was on, and comes back to life! that meant that late in the evening, and all through the night, til 9am the next morning, the tv was on, and because it was shabbos, I couldn't turn it off. My friend, who for a minute thought of coming with me, who could have been my own personal shabbos goy, was no where to be found, and I couldn't imagine trying to explain to a Napli hotel worker why I couldn't turn off the tv, so I spent Fri night falling asleep to, and walking up repeatedly, to the tv.
At least shabbos day was beautiful, and the balcony had a great view of the mountain over lake Phewa, so I enjoyed a relaxing day of reading.
The electricity is off again, so my plan of cooking dinner tonight is literally half-baked (it started to cook before the power went out. Guess it's tuna tonight).
Tomorrow is another sunrise viewing followed by a full day of sightseeing with a guide.
Goodnight!
Robyn
I forgot to add that the grape juice boxes from Trader Joe's that made it all the way through my trip to Africa got smushed and leaked (thankfully they were packed in a ziplock. And the pita that I had so carefully tested by leaving out in a plastic bag at home, where they fared just fine, all turned moldy here (it's more humid so that may be why). Just to round off my shabbos...
Motzie shabbos...
As I was enjoying a hot shower, even the bathroom light went out (it, and one bedroom light are on even with no electricity thanks to the generator). I wondered to myself then, "when had an adventurous, exciting vacation become equivalent to a lack of basic comforts like electricity?' and maybe my next vacation needs to be a "normal" one.
Sunrise and Paragliding
Early to bed,early to rise....I'm still waiting for the healthy, wealthy and wise part to come!
By the time I leave Nepal, I will have seen more sunrises in two weeks than I have in my whole life beforehand. Maybe that's because I live on the west coast where the sun sets, not rises, but I think it has more to do with the early hour of its rising!
My first full day in Pokhara started with watching the sun rise over the Himalayas. This time it was a clear beautiful day, and I was so close to the Anapura (sp? don't have my guide handy) mountain range, it seemed like you could reach out and touch them. The light was amazing, and each moment as the sun rose it cast the mountain tops in another color. Beautiful!
After the sun rose (and I took a million picts) it was time to go paragliding. I kept wondering if I'd chicken out, as I was more scared to do this than I remembered being when I went skydiving. Granted, I was in my twenties then, and as I said recently, youth really is wasted on the young. I remember when I went skydiving though, that at the last minute, my tandem instructor had to push me out of the plane, because when it came to jumping out of airplane, survival instinct kicked in, and I wasn't so keen on the idea. I wondered what would happen when I had to run and jump off the side of a mountain now...
I warned my tandem pilot that I was scared, but he told me just to relax and listen to his instructions. He reminded me that this would be an experience of a lifetime, so I literally pushed myself to do it. While I was scared running off the mountain, the minute that the wind picked us up and carried us off, I had a few seconds of thinking, "OMG! I'm floating in air!", and it was totally worth it! The fear came back as soon as we started to twist and circle in the wind, but those first few seconds were amazing!
Thank GD we landed safely and everything went well.
Next on the day's agenda was a quick boat trip (in rowboat, bigger than the canoe) around Phewa lake. Very pretty.
I spent the last hour of the day tooling around the shops again, then headed back to get ready for shabbos.
Shavua tov everyone (have a good week)!
Robyn
By the time I leave Nepal, I will have seen more sunrises in two weeks than I have in my whole life beforehand. Maybe that's because I live on the west coast where the sun sets, not rises, but I think it has more to do with the early hour of its rising!
My first full day in Pokhara started with watching the sun rise over the Himalayas. This time it was a clear beautiful day, and I was so close to the Anapura (sp? don't have my guide handy) mountain range, it seemed like you could reach out and touch them. The light was amazing, and each moment as the sun rose it cast the mountain tops in another color. Beautiful!
After the sun rose (and I took a million picts) it was time to go paragliding. I kept wondering if I'd chicken out, as I was more scared to do this than I remembered being when I went skydiving. Granted, I was in my twenties then, and as I said recently, youth really is wasted on the young. I remember when I went skydiving though, that at the last minute, my tandem instructor had to push me out of the plane, because when it came to jumping out of airplane, survival instinct kicked in, and I wasn't so keen on the idea. I wondered what would happen when I had to run and jump off the side of a mountain now...
I warned my tandem pilot that I was scared, but he told me just to relax and listen to his instructions. He reminded me that this would be an experience of a lifetime, so I literally pushed myself to do it. While I was scared running off the mountain, the minute that the wind picked us up and carried us off, I had a few seconds of thinking, "OMG! I'm floating in air!", and it was totally worth it! The fear came back as soon as we started to twist and circle in the wind, but those first few seconds were amazing!
Thank GD we landed safely and everything went well.
Next on the day's agenda was a quick boat trip (in rowboat, bigger than the canoe) around Phewa lake. Very pretty.
I spent the last hour of the day tooling around the shops again, then headed back to get ready for shabbos.
Shavua tov everyone (have a good week)!
Robyn
Pokhara- pronounced POkara
Hello All!
I made it from Chitwan to Pokhara on another "tourist" bus that was less tourist than the last one. The first stop for a potty break was literally just behind some rocks on the side of a mountain. I had images of myself falling down the mountain with my britches down, so I decided to wait for an upgrade to an actual hole in the ground. When we got to the hole in the ground stop, there were doors that marked the women and the men's sides. But once inside, I wasn't sure why they'd bothered. The wall dividing the two only went up waist high. I walked in, and just as I was noticing this, a guy walked into the men's side. I think we were both stunned to see the other person! It was a loooong 6 hour ride. At first I had two seats to myself, then a local woman, carrying a carton of eggs got on and sat next me (on the tourist only bus!). She proceeded to pat my knee and say something to me in Nepali (I can only assume it was in Nepali), and when I shrugged my shoulders, a sign I thought to be the international body language of I don't know, or in this case, I don't speak the language, she looked genuinely surprised and repeated whatever she had said again. At that point I closed my eyes, hoping to give off the international signal of, "I'm going to sleep now, please don't bother me", which seemed to work. I just wonder why on Earth she thought I spoke Nepali.
I got here Thurs afternoon and walked around, checking out all the shops on the main street, then stopped to post some picts from Chitwan, then went back to my hotel to get ready for my sunrise adventure the next morning.
Cheers,
Robyn
I made it from Chitwan to Pokhara on another "tourist" bus that was less tourist than the last one. The first stop for a potty break was literally just behind some rocks on the side of a mountain. I had images of myself falling down the mountain with my britches down, so I decided to wait for an upgrade to an actual hole in the ground. When we got to the hole in the ground stop, there were doors that marked the women and the men's sides. But once inside, I wasn't sure why they'd bothered. The wall dividing the two only went up waist high. I walked in, and just as I was noticing this, a guy walked into the men's side. I think we were both stunned to see the other person! It was a loooong 6 hour ride. At first I had two seats to myself, then a local woman, carrying a carton of eggs got on and sat next me (on the tourist only bus!). She proceeded to pat my knee and say something to me in Nepali (I can only assume it was in Nepali), and when I shrugged my shoulders, a sign I thought to be the international body language of I don't know, or in this case, I don't speak the language, she looked genuinely surprised and repeated whatever she had said again. At that point I closed my eyes, hoping to give off the international signal of, "I'm going to sleep now, please don't bother me", which seemed to work. I just wonder why on Earth she thought I spoke Nepali.
I got here Thurs afternoon and walked around, checking out all the shops on the main street, then stopped to post some picts from Chitwan, then went back to my hotel to get ready for my sunrise adventure the next morning.
Cheers,
Robyn
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