Back to Kathmandu

Final days in Nepal - took in some sights in Bhaktapur and Kathmandu.

One of the most sacred Hindu temples of Nepal - Pashupatinath Temple is located on both banks of Bagmati River on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu.    Pashupatinath is the most important temple dedicated to god Shiva. Every year this temple attracts hundreds of elderly followers of Hinduism.

Hindus arrive here to find shelter for the last several 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. Hindus from every corner of Nepal and India are arriving 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.

Holy man at Pashupatinath

Boudhanath Stupa is the largest stupa in Nepal and the holiest Tibetan Buddhist temple outside Tibet. It is the center of Tibetan culture in Kathmandu and rich in Buddhist symbolism. The stupa is located in the town of Boudha, on the eastern outskirts of Kathmandu.  A number of buddhist temples surround the Stupa and it contains prayer flags and prayer wheels.  

Swayambhunath, is among the oldest religious sites in Nepal. Although the site is considered Buddhist, the place is revered by both Buddhists and Hindus. Swayambhunath occupies a central position, it is probably the most sacred among Buddhist pilgrimage sites.The Swayambhunath complex consists of a stupa, a variety of shrines and temples.  It is nicknamed the Monkey Temple.

Beautiful carved doors

On the grounds of the Monkey Temple

These statues are located on the Swayambhunath grounds, and has a few large prayer wheels there.

Chitwan National Park

We took a 5 hour bus ride down to Sauraha, a small village across a river from the Chitwan National Park.  We stayed at the Parkside Hotel.

Here we saw a variety of animals - & took an elephant ride.
The homes were made of bamboo, with a mud cladding.

Elephants are used to work - both for townspeople and with tourists

Bathing with the elephants - a daily event

White rhino

Home in Saurala

Boats for the early morning canoe ride

Crocodile basking in the sand

Smaller crocodile

Sunset

Back to Pokhara

When we returned to Pokhara after the trek, the Maoists called a general strike.  

Here is a very quiet city street.

Took out a boat on the Lake & went out to an island with a Hindu temple:

Here is a photo of the Peace Pagoda and the view of Pokhara and Phewa Lake.

Poon Hill Trek

Jennifer and I embarked on the popular Poon Hill Trek on Thursday morning.   Navin and Biso, our friends from the village, joined us as our guide and porter.    The trek was done over 5 days and we stayed at guest houses along the trail.

The weather was great for trekking.  We had a bit if overcast, but it cleared wonderfully for sunrise at Poon Hill, and then along the ridge for so excited fabulous views of Annapurna South and "Fishtail" mountain.

We also trekked through the most amazing rhododendron garden!  Huge rhododendron trees in full bloom, that seemed to last for miles!   Check out the photos below:

This is the hiking map of the area.  We started st Nayapul, overnighted at Tikhedunga, Ghorepani, Tadepani and Gandruk.

Jennifer, Navin & Biso at the park entrance.

This is the early morning view from Poon Hill 

Here are a few more photos of the trail, landscape and the type of accommodation that we had.

This is our guest house at Tadapani

Lahowchuk - an ICO community and initiatves

This is the village that Innovativecommunities.org Foundation, (ICO) and in particular Jen, Brad, Betty and Jim have been supporting for the past 8 years.   Jen was introduced to the village when Navin was the porter for her and her Mom in 1998.  A friendship developed, and she has returned 12 times.  Brad, Jim and Betty have been here almost as many times.

ICO is currently supporting the village through an education initiative (supporting a public school with supplies and wages for an English and Science teacher); an irrigation initiative (where locals and volunteers have created 2 km of concrete channels to help address the monsoon and rain water; and a farm mechanization initiative, where we will be providing a tractor and supplies and the team will run as a business.

This in Navin's house and where we stayed & there was a welcome celebration for us when we arrived.

Here is a photo of a local school and the school kids that got a back pack full of supplies from our donors.

Here are a few students with their new cleats and soccer balls

Here is a photo of the irrigation canal that ICO helped to build.  We provided the funds for supplies, and volunteers helped the villagers with the physical work required.

We worked with the English teacher to purchase supplies and material for school uniforms from shops in Pokhara.

We are supporting the village to buy a tractor.  This is the type of manual work that they currently need to do.

Pokhara

We caught the half hour flight to Pokhara on Monday afternoon.

Pokhara is the second largest city in Nepal and a popular center for tourists to start their adventure tours.  After strapping our additional bags onto the roof of the taxi, we arrived at the Lotus Inn and met up with Jim and Betty.   Sitting outside, I enjoyed my first Nepalese beer (Everest)

Pokhara street view -- I have arrived!

I took this photo early one morning.

We were preparing for our trip to the village and leave Thursday for a 4 night stay.

Kathmandu, Nepal

We have arrived in Kathmandu  and are staying at the Pagoda Guesthouse in Bhaktapur.   This is a view of the temple in the square.

The city is dynamic and we were able to capture a few sights.

Local shop

Couple of other interesting photos

"Roving" festival