Lisa - life half way around the world: NEPAL

I have found that sitting in a place where you have never sat before can be inspiring.

- Dodie Smith

I continue, even two years later, to be amazed, surprised and pinching myself to believe some of the things we have experienced during our stay in Asia. Each trip we take tends to take us a little further out of our comfort zone and into an ever more exciting adventure.

We have just returned from an action packed, sensory stimulating and life changing visit to Nepal. Nepal has always been out there as a place we would "someday" like to see. We felt that the girls were too little to take them to such a place as this, but the last two years have emboldened us to push ourselves into turning "someday" into "today." So we planned our trip with the Jenkins and Spiers families and went on a most fabulous adventure.

A view of the Himalaya Mountains from our aircraft at 30,000ft!!

This post will cover Kathmandu. If I don't break this trip up into multiple posts it will end up a book instead of an entry:-)

KATHMANDU: we arrived and set out at once to see 2 of its most important religious sites.

Nepal is both Buddhist and Hindu. Buddha was born born in Nepal in the 5th-6th century BC and it has been a country of pilgrimage for the 1 billion Buddhists worldwide. On the other hand, Hinduism was long supported by the monarchy and Hindu dominated government.

We went first to see the great stupa Boudhanath. Boudhanath is one of the world's largest stupas and is the most important Tibetan Buddhist monument outside of Tibet. There are many legends of when and how the stupa was built, but it is believed to have been built in the 5th century AD. It is also believed to enclose holy relics such as parts of the Buddha's body (bones, hair, teeth) and objects touched or used by him. The stupa has been sealed for centuries so no one knows exactly what lies within.

Thousands and thousands of colorful prayer flags adorn the stupa.

Buddha's "searching" blue eyes are painted on the four sides of the spire, and above them rise the 13 golden steps to "nirvana."

Prayer wheels are mounted around the perimeter of the stupa - it is said that each spin of a prayer wheel here is the equivalent of reciting the mantra embossed on it eleven thousand times.

This is by far the most colorful part of Nepal that we saw.

On the side of the stupa there were several people practicing yoga.

This woman and her child, or grandchild, followed us around for a good part of our visit. They were so intrigued by our children and never strayed too far from us.

After about an hour the kids wanted a picture with the little girl.

This was SO striking to us! It is the first time we had seen the tradition of applying charcoal to children's eyes to prevent infection/disease.

Such beautiful and reverent children.

One thing we have found strangely unfamiliar in Asia is the freedom to walk on, climb on, and completely explore the treasures of the area.

The pilgrims who come are one the greatest things to witness. Throughout the Himalayan region the stupa is known for its powers of wish-fulfilment and blessing.

Prayer flags are vibrant against a smog filled city

Our next stop took us to Pashupatinath. I must admit that this next spot shocked each and every one of us. Our wonderful tour guide, Krishna, warned us that we might see a real life cremation. We were completely unprepared for what we witnessed.

Pashupatinath is Nepal's holiest Hindu pilgrimage site. There are many temples and statues (which non-Hindus are not allowed to enter), but it is the somber sight of public cremation that haunted us. As we walked up to the river site, we saw one cremation completely underway and one that had just begun the ceremonial rites. We sat on the opposite side of the river, completely engulfed in smoke, and stunned into complete silence as we watched these families mourn and burn their loved ones. As we watched the two taking place, another body was brought to one of the pyres and the process started from the beginning. Krishna, who is a Hindu, explained that the ceremony takes place within 3-4 hours of death. The body is brought to a pyre where the sons carefully place the body on the stack of wood. There are differing ceremonies performed and then a lighted piece of wood is put into the deceased's mouth and then the pyre is set alight. This burns for 3-4 hours and then the ashes are scattered into the river below.

I am not including all of the photos, but even these are quite graphic. I know some of you share these with your children so review and decide what to share at your own discretion.

The cremation already in progress

A new ceremony about to begin.

Setting the first light in the deceased's mouth

I really cannot tell you how long we sat here...we were all silent, saddened and shocked to witness what happened before us.

I must admit that I have never in my lifetime seen a dead body - and I have only ever been to two funerals/memorials. Nothing could have prepared us for this "real life" experience.

Now another new experience was to witness the Sadhus. Sadhus are dreadlocked "holy men." They favor the Hindu deity Shiva. The Sadhus follow Shiva in one of his best-loved guises, the "wild, disheveled yogin", the master of yoga whose hair is the source of the mighty Ganges river. They live solitary lives and own nothing but what they carry. Like Shiva, Sadhus also make liberal use of intoxicants as a path to spiritual insight...

After a rather stimulating day, we settled into the most loveliest of places that must exist in Kathmandu. The Dwarika's Hotel is artwork in and of itself.

Bronze and hand carved woodwork is renowned in Kathmandu.

Every doorway and window is beautifully enhanced with these hand carved pieces of art. I saw a Discovery Channel special in which they described the demise of these beautiful pieces of artwork. Earthquakes are prevalent here. And when a building falls down, the people run to take the wood to BURN. There are agencies established now that try to beat the looters to the punch and to save these incredible pieces of artwork. It is a sad fact of life in one of the world's poorest countries.

Kathmandu is a really very dirty city....this is a little piece of heaven right in the middle.

A traditional Nepalese dinner

Momo....aka dumplings served on beautiful bronze ware

Day two took us to even more beautiful structures...and another very foreign view of "normal" life.

Bhaktapur is an ancient city that looks and lives as it must have for centuries. It is a stunning blend of stone streets, mud-brick and dark wood. The wood carvings in this small city must be some of the most intricate and beautiful pieces of art in the world. The city was founded in the ninth century and by 1200AD it was the ruling center of Nepal.

Shopping for souvenirs

Stone carving as it must have been 1,000 years ago

I fondly think of this gentleman as "Yoda." I think he must be very wise.

Beautiful bronze work all over the city

Again...I am amazed we are able to touch, much less climb on, statues that are hundreds of years old!

Daily "shop"

The kids on "elephants"

Keri, Vanessa and I

Everyday life.....

The local well...

On our walk up to Bhaktapur we nonchalantly passed a Hindu worship site. It was a tucked away little temple area that on any other day/time we probably would have not given much time and thought to. However, on this day, in this country, a very normal activity was about to take place.

We were caught by the music playing, which was a musical chant. And there were brightly clothed women all overlooking the men partaking in a ceremonial ritual. We did not think much of it until Krishna pointed out the goat standing alongside. He indicated that there was about to be an animal sacrifice. We all took about 10 seconds to properly realize what he was saying. We were standing not more than 3 feet from a daily ritual that could not have been any more foreign to any one of us. Nepali Hindus seek favors from Kali (a fearsome, yet popular mother goddess who demands blood sacrifice in return for her favors.)

Although we hightailed it out of there before the killing began, I did read that the Nepalis are "gentle" in their worship and "lead their offerings to the slaughter tenderly." Anyone who knows me knows that I am an emphatic animal lover. Bambi and Old Yeller scarred me for life and I have not been able to stomach any movie where an animal is hurt...even in Hollywood. While I do my best to keep an open mind on these topics, I find sacrificing a particularly hard one to accept. I try very hard to understand it from a sociological standpoint, but I really cannot endure watching it.

So we thought we had escaped it by leaving before it began....

However, we had to pass back by the little temple spot on our way back to our van. Once again, we found ourselves in the first 2 days witnessing scenes we were completely unprepared for. Again...use your judgement on what to share.

On our first pass by the temple we saw the ceremony beginning with music and passing sticks through the fire

The goat before....

Apparently the sacrifice involved a water buffalo bull, a sheep and the goat. The head of the bull is here but on the other side of me are the headless bodies of all three.

Katie feeling about as I did after seeing the aftermath of a "normal" day in the life

When all is said and done, none in our group could say that their outlook on "normal" life would ever be the same. What we had witnessed in just 2 short days will forever change us. Life is most definitely not "normal" to anyone who doesn't live it. It is a great lesson I have discovered on our journey into these foreign lands of Asia.

Beyond this - we had some shopping that we had to cram into our days. We had a list of "must-haves" that had to be found! Number one on the list was a "singing" bowl, or as we were corrected by the shopkeeper...a "healing" bowl.

These metal bowls are handmade and make a very loud vibrating noise when this tool is rubbed along the outer edge. It is similar in sound to when you rub a finger around the top of a crystal glass...only you can also feel the vibrations. Hence, it is used as a "healing" bowl. The bowl is placed on a problem area and the vibrations help to alleviate the problem...not sure what the scientific rationale is, but then many things in Eastern medicine are not founded in science.