Kopan Monastery and Babur Mahal Revisted

This weekend has been absolutely jam-packed with unforgettable sightseeing with Mike, Amy, and Ethan.  I was so exhausted last night after a long day of sensory overload that I could not write a blog entry.  Fortunately, I have tonight and tomorrow morning to get caught up.  And man, oh man, do I have some amazing things to share with you.

On Saturday morning, Shree, the family driver, drove Amy, Ethan, Gideon, and me through the winding back streets of Kathmandu, up into the hills to Kopan Monastery.  This Buddhist monastery is perched on a high hilltop, effectively distancing it from the hustle and bustle of the crowded city below.  It is peaceful and breezy, an ideal place for reflection and meditation.  The monastery is home to Buddhist monks ranging in age from six or seven years old to eighty or more years old.  It also serves as a Buddhist retreat center for visitors from around the globe. 

The four of us had a very peaceful morning exploring the grounds of the monastery, admiring the hilltop views of the city, watching the monkeys and birds, reading the inspiring quotes posted on the walls, and observing the antics of the playful young monks. 

 

  

  

 

 

  

 

From Kopan, we made our way back to town and met up with Mike at the U.S. embassy club and commissary.  After some American-style grocery shopping, we all headed to one of the family’s favorite lunch spots, Che Caroline, a French restaurant located in Babur Mahal Revisted.

Babur Mahal Revisted is a fabulously restored series of outbuildings that once served the Rana Palace (the Ranas ruled Nepal from 1846 to 1951).  It’s a ritzy little respite from the ruckus that is Kathmandu.  Wandering through the narrow walkways and cozy courtyards transported me back to the time of Casablanca and old school expat society life.  It was a surreal spot, so different from the Kathmandu that I’ve gotten a bit used to this past week.

 

 

  

  

 

We enjoyed an excellent lunch before heading over to Patan Durbar Square… coming up next.

Searching for Chindi in Kathmandu

In preparation for our upcoming trek, Nima, our Sherpa friend from Sonoma and our trek leader, asked us to meet up with his brother-in-law, Chindi, who lives in Kathmandu.  Chindi is helping to make the trekking arrangements, including reserving our flights to Lukla and helping to secure our trekking permits.

Before we left California, Nima gave us Chindi’s cell phone number and the general location of his home.  Unlike Western cities, Kathmandu does not utilize addresses.  Don’t even ask me how this works.  I have no idea how people get mail, find one another, or locate businesses.  It’s just the way it is and it seems to work for the folks in Kathmandu, but it’s got me totally flummoxed.  According to Nima, Chindi lives in the Naxal neighborhood in Kathmandu, right by Mike’s Breakfast, a popular Western-style restaurant. 

I’ve been putting off calling Chindi, mainly because I was feeling shy about cold-calling a stranger in Kathmandu.  I wasn’t certain if he spoke English all that well, and I felt nervous about calling him.  But today I plucked up my courage and called his cell phone number.  Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Hello, may I speak to Chindi Purpa Sherpa?
Someone: Hello?  Hello?
Me:  Hello?
Someone:  Hello?  Hello?  Hello?
Me:  Hello!  Chindi?
Someone:  Hello?  Hello?
Me (finally realizing the phone was being passed around to someone who spoke English): Yes, hello!  Is Chindi there?
Someone:  No, no, he is not here.
Me: Is this Chindi’s cell phone?
Someone: Yes.  He forgot to take it with him today. 
Me: Oh, well, can you tell him Nima’s friend Emily called?
Someone: Yes, yes.
Me: And that I’d like to meet with him tomorrow at Mike’s Breakfast.
Someone:  Yes, yes.
Me: At 9 o’clock in the morning.
Someone: Yes, yes.
Me (starting to doubt that yes really indicated complete understanding of my message): When is Chindi coming home today?
Someone:  Oh, maybe 3 o’clock.
Me:  Okay, I’ll call him back.  Thanks.  Goodbye!
Someone:  Yes, yes.  Goodbye!   

Later in the afternoon, I called Chindi back a number of times but was unable to get through to him. 

While we were out and about, Gideon and I decided to check out Mike’s Breakfast (which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, by the way).  After a few drinks and French fries, we decided to try to find Chindi.  He lived right by Mike’s Breakfast, right?  How hard could it be?  We started by asking the staff at Mike’s Breakfast if they knew Chindi Purpa Sherpa who lives nearby.  No one recognized his name and I wondered if we were being silly to even ask, recalling folks who upon finding out I went to Virginia Tech would ask, “Did you know so-and-so?  I think they went to Tech when you went there.”  I would always scoff at the question, wanting to point out the fact that there were about 26,000 other students at Virginia Tech at the time I was there.  The chances of me knowing your buddy are ridiculously slim. 

But I digress…

So, we asked folks at Mike’s if they knew Chindi.  No one did, but one man said, “Oh, well, some Sherpas live around the corner there.”  He knew this only because there were prayer flags on the roofs of some of the home—a sign that Sherpa people lived within.  The man pointed the way and we headed down the street. 

We spotted a building with prayer flags on the roof and I asked some folks hanging out in a small Internet café on the ground floor if they knew Chindi Purpa Sherpa.  They kind of laughed and said no.  We walked to another building topped with prayer flags, and again, I asked a man if he knew Chindi Purpa Sherpa.  I had very little hope that he would, but he surprised me by saying, “Chindi?  Yes, he lives upstairs here.”  Yes!!!  He called up to Chindi, and in a few moments, Chindi came down to greet us.  Gideon and I could not believe we had actually tracked down this complete stranger in the uber-crowded city of Kathmandu.  Chindi couldn’t believe we had found him either.  Perhaps Gideon and I should become private investigators or bounty hunters when we come home. 

Chindi invited us up to his family’s flat for tea.  We met his beautiful mother, who couldn’t figure out what in the world two Americans were doing in her dining room.  We ended up having a lovely visit with Chindi (who spoke excellent English, by the way), discussing all matter of things including his family, trekking, Nepal, Tibet, China, and more.  And we made arrangements to meet on Tuesday to visit the Office of Tourism with him to purchase our trekking permits.

In a few days, we’ll see if Nima is impressed with our trekking abilities; but I’m certain when he hears this story, he’ll be impressed with our tracking abilities.

A day with tour guide Ethan

Today was Ethan's day to show us his two favorite places in Kathmandu--the zoo, and the bookstore.  I was thrilled at this plan because those are always two of my favorite places to visit in any city.  Of course, I knew the zoo would be a very different experience than I was used to, and indeed it was.  Here is the sign at the entrance of the zoo, followed by its English translation.

Unlike an American zoo, the only thing separating you from most of the animals is a chain-link face.  If you were foolish enough to stick you hands through the chain, you would most likely suffer a fate like the poor boy in the warning sign above.   Take a look at the photo below.  It's kind of difficult to tell, but the leopard we were observing was no more than an arm's length away from us.  It was quite agitated at the moment as well due to the Siamang monkeys howling in the cage next door.  

The tigers were by far the largest tigers Gideon and I had ever seen.  They were in a sunken pit which made me feel a little better about watching them from such close range.

 

  

 Kathmandu is a highly polluted place, and the zoo was no different.  However, there was evidence of an environmental initiative to clean up the zoo and care for the animals' environments.  Besides the new ban on plastic bags in the zoo, there were also many signs depicting everyday ways to conserve water.

 

Here were some other signs that captured the feeling of the Kathmandu zoo.

 

 

The hippos are always a favorite for us... there's something about them that remind us of Josie, our Boxer.  Maybe it's the eyes, or that big, bulbous snout.

  

 As with most zoos on a school day, it was packed with visiting school groups.  In Kathmandu, most children wear uniforms.  Other than that, there's very little difference between school kids here and school kids in the states, especially concerning the thrill of being on a field trip for the day.

  

The highlight of our visit to the zoo was meeting the Asian elephant who was out for her morning walk.  Ethan and I handed her a few rupees for the opportunity to pet her rough trunk.  She deftly accepted our offering with the finger-like end of her trunk.  After visiting with the crowd, the elephant wandered over to the lake in the middle of the zoo for her bath and play time.  She had a ball splashing around in the water and finding things to play with and balance on her head.  It was clear that this was her time to enjoy herself after performing for the crowds on land.

  

  

Playing hide and seek with the kids

  

  

  

 

 

One other thing caught my eye at the zoo.  There was a rickety old collection of amusement rides for kids.  They didn't seem to be in working order, but I have a feeling they were.  Fortunately, Ethan didn't seem too interested in trying them out.  Good choice.  

  

The Kathmandu  zoo was an experience that reflected my take on Kathmandu perfectly.  The creatures of the zoo, like the people of Kathmandu are absolutely beautiful.  The environment was run-down, dirty, and not adequate for the animals, like the city of Kathmandu.  But all in all, it was a most wonderful experience, absolutely unique and unforgettable, just like this city.   

Our next stop on the Ethan highlight tour of the 'Du was Pilgrims books, the Kathmandu equivalent to Borders.  Pilgrims was a multi-level collection of books and gifts.  It was rather dark inside, like a moody old bookshop, due to the afternoon power-outage.  My favorite section was the self-help section.  So many helpful titles... I could have spent the entire afternoon there.  

 

 

Thanks for a great tour Ethan.  I think you have a future in the tourist industry, and that's coming from someone who knows!

My kind of doctor visit

I knew it was going to happen.  I was long overdue for a cold, and there’s nothing like 32 hours of traveling, plus highly polluted city air to push my immune system over the edge.  A headache, congested sinuses, and an overall drained achy feel had me stuck at home all day yesterday.  But today I decided to take action against this assault to my system. 

At the suggestion (via Facebook) of Aunt Debbie, Amy’s mother, I decided to visit a local Ayurvedic doctor here in Kathmandu.  Aunt Debbie made a habit of visiting the Ayurvedic healing center when she visited back in the fall.  My understanding was that the treatment would involve a healing full-body massage, and would cost what I would normally hand over for a co-pay for a doctor visit in the U.S. (approximately $20-$30).  And it would very likely speed up my recovery from my cold.

Off I went to the Ayurveda Health Home.  After a brief consultation with Dr.Rishi Ram Koirala, it was decided that I would benefit from a 90-minute full-body healing massage, followed by a 30-minute facial massage, supplemented by an herbal steam treatment of my face.  I couldn’t agree more. 

My therapist, Pernilla, spent over two hours massaging my aching body, stimulating various pressure points and effectively unblocking my clogged up lymphatic system.  My sinuses opened up and I started breathing through my nose again.  My body was reduced to a pile of putty on the table.   

After the treatment, Dr. Koirala met with me again to determine the next steps of treatment.  He asked various questions about how I was feeling after the first treatment.  I suppose the treatment mellowed my brain just as much as my body, because after a while, the doctor stopped asking questions and said, “You’re too relaxed to talk now.  We’ll talk when you come back again.”  I had to laugh when I reflected on how dopey I must have been during the conversation.  But, not to worry, I told him; I will most definitely be back.  I have found my doctor in Kathmandu!

Birthday time in Kathmandu

Yesterday, Ethan turned six years old.  In his short time on the planet, Ethan has lived in Maryland, India, and now, Nepal.  He is a special little guy and he is living the kind of adventurous life most folks only dream of. 

Unfortunately, Ethan’s big day was slightly less than perfect because he too came down with a bug.  When he arrived home from school, he was so wiped out that he stayed in the car while Shree washed it.  When he did come into the house, he went straight to his bed, barely noticing the birthday balloons and banners Neesha had decorated the house with. 

Instead of going out to dinner at Ethan’s favorite restaurant in Kathmandu (a Japanese sushi place, I think), Mike picked up some Pizza Hut pizzas.  We celebrated at home by candlelight since the power was cycling on and off throughout the city—a fact of life in Kathmandu.  Fortunately, the children’s Motrin had kicked in a bit and Ethan was able to work up enough steam to eat dinner and birthday cake, as well as open his many gifts from his parents as well as those sent by adoring family members back in the States.

I wonder what Ethan will be like twenty years from now, after a childhood spent all over the world.  He definitely channels Dennis the Menace right now, but I have a feeling he is going to grow up to be the kind of person who will make friends and feel at home anywhere.

Swayambhunath, A.K.A. The Monkey Temple

Yesterday we made our first foray into the city to visit Swayambhunath, a Buddhist temple set high upon a hilltop in Kathmandu. 

I was told there would be monkeys at the temple, but other than that, I had no idea what to expect.  The first thing that caught my eye were three huge, golden Buddhist statues sitting at the base of the hill. As we wound our way up the hill, past shrines and prayerful pilgrims, we were struck by the sight of thousands of prayer flags waving in the blue sky above.  The iconic Tibetan flags were strung from trees to temples to statues, filling the sky with a rainbow of colors.

Shree dropped us off about halfway up the hill and after paying 200 rupees a piece for admission (approximately $3.00 each), we started working our way towards the top of the hill.  The hill is covered with every manner of statue, temple, stupa, and stone sculpture, each more colorful and detailed than the last.  I was surprised to learn that the religious iconography on the hill is actually a combination of Buddhist and Hindu symbols, reflecting the diverse views of the people of Kathmandu.

 

 

As we neared the top, the place took on the feel of a hilltop village, complete with shops, schools, restaurants, and squares, not to mention many peddlers, visitors and pilgrims.  We spent some time admiring the Nepali handiwork for sale along the way, taking mental notes of items we would barter for on a later occasion.  At this point, I lost Gideon to a shopkeeper intent on showing him meditation bowls and Nepali rugs.  I didn’t see where he went, so I continued on to the top of the hill. 

Oh, what a sight.  The crowning jewel of the temple complex is the Swayambhunath stupa, a gleaming white dome representing the earth, topped with a thirteen-tiered structure of golden rings, symbolizing mans’ ascension to nirvana.  All around the base of the stupa are intricately carved prayer wheels that pilgrims spin on their way around the stupa.  Fluttering all around are the colorful prayer flags carrying prayers to the heavens, through the incense-laden air.    

And of course, there are the rhesus macaque monkeys climbing all over the stupa and wandering the grounds of the complex.  Like most western tourists, Gideon and I were absolutely tickled by these lively creatures.  We got a kick out of their brazen attitudes, munching on food offerings left by pilgrims, chasing each other across the prayer wheels, making themselves right at home in the nooks and crannies of the stupa and surrounding structures. 

 

  

I wasn’t afraid of the monkeys, but after chatting with Sunita about our visit, I realized maybe I should have been.  She told me the story of a visit to the Swayambhunath with a friend and her friend’s mother when she was a child.  She had brought a handful of peas to feed the monkeys.  When she tossed a pea at a monkey, it landed squarely in the monkey’s nose, becoming lodged in its nostril.  Sunita was shocked, as was the monkey who let out a screech alerting the other monkeys of the assault.  A troop of monkeys came running to her aid, and turned on the mother of Sunita’s friend, grabbing and tearing at her sari and scaring the dickens out of Sunita and her friend, not to mention the poor mother who the monkeys blamed for the incident. 

Fortunately, we did not have any monkey incidents, but I will probably give them a wider berth on our next visit.