Oh so fortunate: Wow and Double Wow -- Thurs, 10/22/15

Still in Kathmandu, we were up at five with breakfast at six.  After breakfast, we drove thru deserted streets to the fairly empty airport (so different from our arrival!).  Today is the final day of Dashain, and most people are at home with their families.  One more thing we'll never forget is Krish telling us on our first day in Nepal that traffic signals were "meant to be suggestive only," as our little bus drove straight thru the red light.  Crazy, yet it all seemed to work.  Our flight on a cute little Drukair Turbo-prop departed 9:30/ish for the tiny mountainous country of Bhutan, due east of Nepal. 

All aboard!

And it was a spectacular flight ...

... because I had a window seat

with a magnificent full view of the Himalaya Mountain Range!

Windswept Mount Everest:  Earth's tallest mountain at 29,029 ft.

Kangchenjunga,
the third highest mountain in the world at 28,169 ft.

I sat glued to the window, thankful for such a clear day.

 Love the look of the airport terminal in Paro. 

Our little group of 11, plus Krish our Nepali guide, was met at the airport by Sonam, our Bhutanese guide. We had lunch in Paro, and then set out on an enchanting hour-and-a-half drive to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan.  We'll stay at Hotel Pedling for two nights.  This is rice country and it's harvest time, most of it done by hand (because of small plots).  Our elevation is above 7,000 ft again, but our bodies have adjusted to these high altitudes and we scarcely notice it.  

Holy cow!  (so to speak)

Carrying large loads of grain uphill has to be backbreaking labor.

We came across this little chap near the bridge (photo below) over the River Wangchu.  His family had a roadside vegetable stand and he was sorting peppers.  Apparently we are in "pepper" country ... think spicy foods!

The confluence (chuzom) of the Thimphu (Wang-chu) and the Paro Rivers (Pa-chu).
Chu means river.

Wonderful Gateway Arch at Chuzom.

Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 2008.  Between 1907 and the 1950's, Bhutan was an absolute monarchy.  The Bhutanese are proud of the fact that they have never been colonized (like most of the other countries in Southeast Asia).

Inside a road roundabout, we caught our first glimpse of the Four Harmonious Friends.  It's repeated throughout Bhutan and is a lovely story.  Now in Thimphu, we settled into our room at the hotel, and then visited ...  

The art of making paper is an ancient one.  Here they rely on local production, manual labor and artisan skill. The paper is made from the bark of Daphne Papyri and Edgeworthia Papyri, found growing at high altitudes.

Soaking fibers from papyri (mixed with additional ingredients).

As the worker peels thin wet papers off the stack to place on the heated drying rack (below), Sonam, our Bhutanese guide, stands ready to help.  He's dressed in the native Bhutanese dress.

I believe there is an art to everything.  You know there has to be skill and art involved -- these sheets are, well, they're paper thin!  I'd make such a mess here.

The paper-making factory offered items for sale.  Buying at these gift shops is always optional, but today Jimmy and I bought two small Thunder Dragon (Bhutan's national symbol) wall hangings, which, of course, were rolled and wrapped in hand-made paper.  It was another fascinating visit to see something most people never get to see. We returned to our hotel and dinner.  Thimphu looks like an interesting town, and probably a fun place to explore.

What a Blessing! And Patan ... Wed, 10/21/15

Back on the Bus!  Our group of 11 Happy Travelers!

Meanwhile, these guys just want a bit of petrol in their bikes.
Tomorrow is the last day of Dashain.

While on the bus, our guide, Krish, called out, "Would you guys like to stop in at a local temple to see how the people are observing Dashain?"  Yes, of course!  Wow, it looked crowded.  One more thing about this important festival is the tradition of buying and wearing new clothes, and we saw some striking examples of color while we were Out and About today.  

(We didn't have to wait in this line since we were not actual participants.)
Look at all the marvelous saris.

Perhaps this looks silly, perhaps not, but anyone in our group who chose to could receive a blessing (Tika) from the Brahman at the local temple.  The Festival of Dashain occurs just after the harvest season ... farmers are happy and households are filled with rice and grains.  It's the most pleasant time of year ... the season itself is a celebration.  Dashain is celebrated by both Hindu and Buddhist, with only slight differences and interpretations. Dashain is regarded as victory of good over evil and it's a time of family renewal, highlighted by family dinners, and worship.  Today is the ninth day and the day is fine.  It's wonderful to be in Nepal during the festival.

Barley is an important symbol during Dashain; it's sowed in sand brought from the river, and is called Jamara when it's grown.  The seeds sprout in ten days.  The sprouts, which symbolize a good harvest, are placed on the heads of family members later on in the festival as a blessing.  In this case, above, two volunteers (one male, one female -- in different tents), elected to have the barley seeds placed on their stomachs to grow.  They took no food, and only sips of water, and tomorrow on the tenth day, they'll arise. Amazing, isn't it?

The goat I showed in a previous post?  He'll be a goner, along with a lot of others, as thousands of animals (buffalo, ducks, rams) are slaughtered for Dashain every year.  It's considered an important ritual since it's believed that the goddesses are appeased by such sacrifices.  People also slaughter the animals for family feasts.

As we walked along, this man waylaid us.  He spoke fairly good English and was proud to introduce his 84-year-old mother to us.  She didn't speak English, but she knew he was talking about her and she beamed!  People are simply people everywhere, yet some can transcend the moment!

Such an eventful morning!  Lunch was special, served outdoors at the beautiful Summit Hyatt, and here we sit, all of us with our blessings visible.  (The dessert was fabulous ... so, I ate mine and Krish's!)

Afternoon found us at Patan Durbar Square.  (Who knew there was more than one Durbar Square -- there are actually three in the Kathmandu Valley, all within a few kilometers of each other, and all received significant earthquake damage to the temples and palaces.)

Above is the temple of Lord Krishna, which holds a commanding position in Patan's Durbar Square palace complex. It was built in 1637, in the Shikhara style, imported from India. Beneath its 21 golden pinnacles are three floors. The first floor enshrines Krishna, the second Shiva, and the third, Lokeshwor. Scenes from the Ramayana narrated in Newari script decorate the interior. It's managed by local Brahmans and is still used. Non-Hindus are not allowed to enter the temple (tho a great deal of beauty can be seen from the courtyard).

More earthquake destruction.

This is Hiranya Varna Mahavihar -- known to tourists as The Golden Temple -- a unique Buddhist monastery just north of Durbar Square.  Legends say that the monastery was founded in the 12th century.  The principal priest of this monastery is a young boy who has to be no more than twelve years old.  He's assisted by a slightly older priest, and both serve for only one month, and then both are replaced.  During the month they must stay inside the courtyard.  We saw both the young boy priest and the older mentor.

The roofs and screened windows, including cornices and struts are all gilded with gold. The temple banners you see above that hang down from the roof to the level of the doorway are remarkable. A legend links them with the Buddha, who used them as a ladder to come down from heaven to earth.  Really, quite a sight!

The bird is not part of the temple! 😊

More prayers on the prayer wheel.

This evening, after another very full day, dinner was "on our own."  Jimmy and I elected to eat by ourselves downstairs in the dining room of our hotel, and it was lovely to just sit quietly and enjoy each other's company, and a fine dinner.  It may come as no surprise that Jimmy ordered a hamburger (!!) and I ordered a Caesar salad with chicken ... both excellent, and a happy change from the same old-same old (rice and stuff, that our entire group was growing tired of).

Tomorrow we load up and fly to Bhutan ... another new country!  As with Tibet, we'll treasure forever our time in Nepal, appreciating their culture (and cultural differences), the people and the fantastic monuments and shrines we were thrilled to see, and especially to share ... albeit in a small way ... their happy festival known as Dashain.  

On to new adventures!

Pushupathinath and Boudhanath, Tuesday, 10/20

This morning we slept in (ah, so nice).  At 10 am, we met downstairs in the hotel for a very interesting lecture by Anil Chitrakar, an engineer, educated in India and the University of Pennsylvania, and a "social entrepreneur."  He was recognized as one of the 100 "Global Leaders for Tomorrow" in 1993 at the World Economic Forum and is co-founder of Himalayan Climate Initiative. Following his lecture, three Nepali students were brought in, and our group of 11 broke into three separate groups for a question/answer session, which was enlightening and amusing (age-wise!).

After lunch, hmmm, I'm not usually at a loss for words, but sometimes I'm knocked sideways by sights and smells, and this afternoon was one of those times. Pushupathinath, well, I was not prepared for it, even tho most of the group on the bus was joking about it beforehand, including me.  Please go to the link directly above, and then let my pictures tell the tale.

Pushupathinath Temple is one of the most sacred Hindu Temples in Nepal, and it is where followers of Hinduism go to be cremated on the banks of the Bagmati River (which later meets the Ganges River). 

"They arrive here to find shelter for the last few weeks of their lives, to meet death, be cremated on the banks of the river and travel their last journey with the waters of the sacred river Bagmati, which later meets the holy river Ganges. Hinduists from every corner of Nepal and India arrive here to die.

It is believed that those who die in Pashupatinath Temple are reborn as a human, regardless of any misconduct that could worsen their karma. The exact day of their death is predicted by astrologers of the temple."

Each has his/her own way.  Neither right nor wrong:  It just is.

We were given face masks prior to departing the bus. I did go with the group, but I hung back; just not comfortable at all, seeing.... Is it proper to go view cremation, as a tourist? I was standing above the group, next to one of these stone sepulcher-like structures, with monkeys jumping around me, when wailing began from across the river where the saffron-clothed body's feet (above) were being dipped into the river.

And then:  from bizarre to downright kooky --

Our guide, Krish, explained (via our "whispers") that it's all right to take a picture or pose with these dudes, but they expect money in return.  I thought they were old hippies, leftover from the 60's, but apparently not.  Called Sadhus, they're "wandering ascetic yogis."

Our friend, Irwin, was game.

  Sheila, too.  (But not me or Jimmy)

And then, to turn the day into a complete dichotomy,

as we left the cremation area, we came across this:

This is another Dashain tradition, called ping. A tall swing is made from bamboo and rope. Hindus believe that one should lift off the ground at least once a year, leaving one's worldly worries behind. Assembling a ping can take several hours, and once built, crowds of children line up for their turn at ping. Our group saw several pings while in Kathmandu. Having just witnessed funeral pyres, our guide now called out to us, "C'mon, let's all do it!"

And so we did, all of us ... 

Bernice was first, Marilyn next, and me and Jimmy, and so on.

Situated just beyond the Pushupathinath temple is Boudhanath, the largest Buddhist stupa in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (It's just possible that we've seen all of them in Kathmandu)! The stupa's massive mandala makes it one of the largest spherical stupas in Nepal.

Notice the photo in front showing how the Boudhanath stupa used to look before the April 2015 earthquake badly damaged it, severely cracking the spire.  As a result, the whole structure above the dome and the religious relics it contained had to be removed.  It's hoped the stupa can be renovated.

When refugees entered Nepal from Tibet in the 1950s, many decided to live around Boudhanath. Because of this influx of Tibetan refugees, over 50 Tibetan gompas (monasteries) sprang up around the Boudhanath stupa.  We were privileged to tour one. This is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Kathmandu area, and a most colorful one! 

Today?  Whew!  Tomorrow?  What a blessing!