Vive Le Generale!

As I write this we are on the train from Fribourg to Marseilles, via Geneva. We spent an absolutely fabulous week in Switzerland. I tried several times to begin a new blog, but decided that I'd rather spend the quality time in the evening with my friends than type away on this old blog. The blog will be here, but my time with Eleonore would not be!

Eleonore met us in the train station when we arrived. I was so happy to see her and to be in her hometown! It was just a quick five minute walk from the station to her flat, which I had heard lots about and seen pictures of. She lives on the top floor of a commercial building, of which the 7th floor has 4 flats, and has a huge balcony with an amazing panoramic view over most of the old town of Fribourg and the hills and mountains behind it. I've seen so many pictures of her balcony view that when I walked out onto it for the first time I couldn't believe that I was actually standing there! 

Fribourg is located 34 km southwest of Bern. The Swiss French pronounce it free-boor and the Swiss German pronounce it fry-borg. My Rough Guide describes it as "one of Switzerland's best keep secrets, it's winningly attractive medieval Old Town set on a forested peninsula in a meander of the River Sarine. Steep, cobbled streets, bedecked with wrought iron lamp standards and ornate inn signs, are picturesque and characterful." 

Yeah.... The guide book pretty much nailed it. It was absolutely stunning to stand on her balcony and be able to view the old town below us. On the hill directly across is a large convent, and slightly below is a large park with a huge swimming pool. After seeing the medieval town below, I was itching to explore those narrow streets.

We dropped off our bags and cleaned up quickly, so we could head to her local bar to watch the Switzerland vs Romania match. I've mentioned that it's the European Championship while we're here, right?

Just in case you didn't know, it's the European Championship and we're watching tons of football. ;) It's amazing to be watching it in Europe! I think that so many people are absolutely surprised that we, two American girls, are so obsessed with and knowledgable about footie. 

We headed to the bar and snagged a table on the patio out front, where they had a large TV showing the match. We ordered beers, and settled in to watch.  It was a fairly sunny evening, and we felt ourselves relaxing. Of course we were cheering for Switzerland. The bar where we were is located in the old train station, and the inside of the building is beautiful. After a bit Eleonore's friend Veronique met us, and we headed to dinner at an Italian restaurant located closer to the old town on the Rue de Lausanne. Lo and I don't speak very much French, so it was to my amusement when I said bonsoir to our waiter and he replied with buona sera! I was informed that we speak Italian when in that restaurant, so I happily complied with my traveler's Italian. Eleonore and Vero ordered a delicious red wine, a Primitivo, and we set about ordering food as we were all STARVING! 

Three pizzas and a pasta dish later, we were absolutely satiated. It was an absolutely delicious meal. I had a pizza with hot salami, tomatoes, arugula, and garlic. By now our exhaustion and jet lag was settling in, so we headed home to get to sleep. 

We woke early the next morning to get ready for our day, as we were going to have a fabulous day doing one of the most tourist things possible - the Chocolate Train! Before you ask, yes it's as cheesy as it sounds, and yes, it was amazing. AMAZING! I mean, we rode in old Pullman luxury train cars from Montreux, a beautiful town located on Lake Geneva (Lac Leman is what the locals call it) to Gruyeres, which is where they make Gruyere cheese, followed by a visit to the tiny hilltop village of Gruyeres to explore and have lunch, and culminating in a visit to the Nestle-Cailler chocolate factory located in Broc. Oh my goodness we were excited. Cheese and chocolate and an old train? Yes please!!!!

We arrived in Montreux bright and early to catch the train. Once we were in our comfortable seats, we were offered pain au chocolate and our choice of coffee, hot chocolate, or chocolate milk. 

Before I delve into our day too much, let's talk about pastries. Especially French pastries. I think I could eat croissants all day every day and never tire of them. Buttery, flaky pastry?! YES PLEASE! Add chocolate? EVEN BETTER! At the Gare de Lyon Wednesday morning Lo and I made an extremely necessary stop at a patisserie to purchase coffee and pastries for the train. In typical fashion for us, we couldn't decide what to get, so we got three pastries! A an apple tart, a chocolate croissant, and a donut called a mascot, which was filled with chocolate cream. And before you ask, yes, they were all as delicious as they sound. So it is unecessary to tell you how much we enjoyed our croissants on the train. I'm going to eat so much pastry on this trip and have absolutely no guilt about it at all. After all, we're walking so many miles each day that it's okay! I can rationalize almost anything. 

The train journey was so beautiful. It was a cool and misty day, and the clouds sat on top of the mountains and settled into the valleys like graceful veils. It was Eleonore's first time on the chocolate train as well, so she was being a tourist with us. We passed through so many beautiful little towns, filled with chalets and surrounded by rolling green pastures. We saw lots of cows grazing, of course, and goats and sheep as well. On the train from Paris to Fribourg, we saw white animals grazing in the distance, so of course my first thought was to say "sheep!" Lo, with her excellent eye sight, informed me that they were in fact cows. White cows. Of course we told Eleonore this and now we laugh every time we see white cows. "SHEEP!" It may be time for a new prescription for my contacts and glasses. 

When we arrived at the station in Gruyeres we were immediately across from the showroom for The Gruyere factory. We trooped in and were given audio guides to listen to during the tour. Our guide on the audio guide was.... Wait for it....

A cow. So funny! Cheesy for us (pun intended?!) but really nice for kids, as I think it was much more interesting for them. The display about the history of the cheese was a bit lacking, but the room where they were making the cheese was very interesting! We stayed and watched for a while, as they had an excellent explanation of the process. We were given a sample of the three different kinds of Gruyere cheese, based on how long they are aged, and then sent on our way. We took a bus up to the old village of Gruyeres, and there we had two hours to walk around and have lunch. We decided to walk around first, so we headed down the cobbled avenue to see the beautiful old village. 

It really was like stepping back in time. If you took away the modern light fixtures and signs, it would be easy to imagine how it looked in the 14th century. The chateau sits at the end of the main avenue, higher up on the hill. The Chateau de Gruyeres was occupied from 1080 to 1554 by the 19 counts of Grueyers. In 1493 a terrible fire destroyed almost everything but the dungeons (what a thing to escape the fire! Why couldn't it have been the Hall or something?!), and the last count ran up huge debts trying to restore it before he fled, leaving his creditors to divide up his land between them. We did not go into the Chateau, but we walked a path all the way around it that afforded us exceptional views of the valley below. At this point we decided we were ready for lunch, and headed back towards the center of the village. 

First we had to make a stop. I would literally never imagine finding this in a quaint Swiss village, but the fact remains that it's there - a bar created by the Swiss graphic artist H.R. Giger, who created all of the special effects for the movie Alien, as well as Poltergeist and Alien 3 and some other scary movies that I'll never see but I know some people love. I'm a scary movie wimp, however I know my father would want to go into the bar so I went in for him! It was soooooo weird! Everything was like the movie Alien, including the chairs, ceiling, floor, walls - everything! I took some photos so don't worry, I'll post them. There is also a museum there full of his work, but it's all his grotesque art - sexualized surrealist visions of machine like humanoids, nightmarish cityscapes, and fantasy porn. Pass! We  had a quick drink in the bar and then went on to find a place for lunch. 

Due to the fact that Gruyeres is a very touristy town, all of the food is extremely expensive. We decided that it most likely didn't matter too much which restaurant we chose, as they would mostly serve the same food for the same prices. We chose a restaurant with a gorgeous view on a glassed in terrace overlooking the valley below. Eleonore recommended that we eat CROUTE !!!!!!!!!!!

This is glorious because it's just excellent cheese on excellent bread along with whatever other excellent toppings you choose. Eleonore and I had one with ham and a fried egg, and Lo had one without ham but with the egg. Oh it was glorious! Served traditionally with pickles and pearl onions, the combination of taste is so delicious. The cheese was so melted and creamy. Our portions were huge! We should have shared, but we didn't know how big they would be. We paired this with an excellent local white wine and left lunch feeling rejuvenated (and also sleepy). 

One of the most entertaining parts of the chocolate train experience thus far was this hilarious woman who was one of the organizers of the train trip. She was meticulously organized and excellent at her job, but was rather bossy - which I suppose you have to be when you're organizing tourists that have no idea where they're going or aren't paying attention or simply just don't care. So of course we nicknamed her Le Generale and started saluting her. When we reconvened at the meeting point to head to the chocolate factory, she was there herding everyone into the proper place. She was really nice and great at her job - Vive Le Generale! 

At this point it was time for our cheese satiated selves to go to the chocolate factory of Nestle-Callier. I couldn't imagine eating another bite, but of course that quickly changed when we entered the factory. I could type out the long history of the companies of Nestle and Callier, but I'd rather not. If you're interested in learning about it, you can visit www.callier.ch

The tour was wonderful - they made it extremely interactive and interesting. You walk into individual rooms that have re-enactments of a specific time period relating to the history of chocolate. So we started off in a room in South America, with the legends of the gods bringing cocoa beans to the people, then to a room for Spain when the conquistadors took cocoa home, then a room for Europe discovering the delights of chocolate, and so on. It was so fun! After that we were given a view of a small part of the production factory, which was really interesting. 

At the very end, the piece de resistance! You get to taste so many of the different chocolates that are made with there. And when I say so many, I mean like 20. In fact, there were so many to taste that I couldn't try all of them, as I was totally chocolated out. Lo was smart, she saved a bunch of them in a napkin to eat later. After all of that chocolate we were desperate for a coffee, so we went to the cafe in the entry to have a coffee and wait for Le Generale to tell us where to be when. 

After this it was back on the train to return to Montreux. The ride back was beautiful, and we celebrated with a glass of prosecco on board. 

Once we disembarked, it was time to go to the home of Eleonore's parents for dinner! I was so looking forward to meeting them. Alexandre and Gratienne recently sold their family home and moved into a modern flat in Vevey. We arrived at their lovely home, and were immediately greeted by the family dog, Ouimac - he met us at the door with his stuffed raccoon in his mouth and his tail wagging. So sweet! Gratienne had prepared us a lovely meal of a soufflé, salad, caprese bites, and then for dessert we were lucky enough to be served the famous double cream from Gruyere! Oh my gosh. Think whipped cream meets creme fraiche but better! We had it with strawberries, and it was divine. 

Alexandre is just like my own father - he kept saying "that's not enough, put more creme on!" Dad would have been proud. We had such a nice evening with them, and it was so kind of them to invite us  to their home. I absolutely hope to see them again someday! Even though they both said that they don't speak English well, they do. Eleonore said that her mother was so happy to be able to practice English at home! Eleonore really wants to bring them to the US, and I hope that happens!

I think it's amazing that, having met Eleonore in Burma, she then visited me in Denver and met my parents, and now I've been able to visit her and meet her family. It's truly an incredible thing when you meet and become friends because of such a strong shared passion for viewing the world and expanding your own personal horizons. Though it's not always comfortable at first, I love pushing the boundaries of my comfort zone. I always grow more than I could imagine and change for the better. The best part of traveling, in my opinion, is the people you meet and the connections that are formed with them. After all, it's all about relationships in this life.

Bonjour France and Switzerland!

As I write this to you, I'm sitting on a train that is traveling through the French countryside. We just departed from the Gare de Lyon in Paris, and our final destination is Fribourg, Switzerland. We stop in Bourg-en-Bresse, Bellegarde Gare, and then Geneva before arriving in Lausanne. We then catch a smaller train to Fribourg. When I look out the window, there are verdant green hills rolling past us underneath a powder blue sky dotted with fluffy clouds. Every now and again a village appears, the church tower keeping guard over the stone houses and cottages spread beneath its gaze. Lo is next to me, reading a guidebook to Switzerland. We are drinking Sauvignon Blanc from the most adorable little bottles, I'm listening to Gymnopedies by Erik Satie (the most exquisite piano music), and I cannot remember the last time I was this plein de bonheur (full of happiness!). As I finished writing that sentence, Lo looked at me and said "all of this makes me feel so fulfilled." Great minds think alike - especially ours, as we're learning on this trip!

This trip began about 15 years ago. That may perplex you somewhat, but please bear with me. We met our Junior year in high school, and immediately became fast friends. We played soccer and music together, talked about boys together, she showed me the movie The Goonies for the first time, she spent Christmas with my family, and we laughed and dreamed together. Foremost among those dreams was our desire to travel when we were older. We talked of where we would go, what we would see, and how much fun we would have. 

Of course, life has its way of intervening in the best of plans. Due to a variety of reasons, we fell out of touch. Never did any animosity exist, life just took us in different paths. Then, suddenly, due to a series of events both good and bad, we found ourselves living in Denver at the same time. We reconnected, and it was like no time had passed since we had been 17 year old best friends. We've both traveled quite often since our dreaming days, but we still wanted to travel together. So we began talking. Where should we go? We tossed around many ideas, but kept returning to Europe. We have both been to Ireland and love it, so we thought about returning there. While this was all happening, I received a message from my friend Eleonore.

Eleonore is Swiss, and she and I met in Burma two years. Our group in Burma became very close, and we all keep in touch quite often. Last year Eleonore and her friend Delphine came and visited me in Colorado and we had a wonderful time! Even since Eleonore and I met she has been inviting me to visit her in Switzerland. I had vague plans of going to visit her sometime this summer, and when she mentioned June as a possible date I immediately thought "what a wonderful idea!" I mentioned to her that Lo and I were thinking of traveling together in Europe and she said "you must bring her! If I have room for one, I have room for two." The wheels set in motion for planning. We decided to fly in and out of Paris and take the train to Switzerland, as we're both absolutely in love with traveling by train. I have been to Paris once before, when I was 16, but only for a few days and I don't remember much other than seeing the Mona Lisa, going to Versailles, being at the top of the Eiffel Tower, and going into Notre Dame. 

We left Denver early Monday morning, on the 13th of June. When we arrived at Union Station to catch the train to the airport, the sky was sharing with us a beautiful sunrise. I immediately took this as an auspicious sign for our vacation. How could it be anything but?! We flew from Denver to Newark, and then had a four and a half hour layover there. We made the most of the layover by going to the United lounge and having wine and cheese to help pass the time. Before we knew it, it was time to board our flight to Paris. We were in the bulkhead of the Economy Plus section, and we immediately became fast friends with two flight attendants, Cathy and Laura. As the crew finished boarding the plane, we were excited to have a seat next to us left open, giving us three seats in row. As soon as we were about to depart, Brad jumped into the seat next to Lo. 

Oh Brad. Tall and gangly and clearly a teenager, he told us how he saw the seat and went for it to have extra leg room. I told him I liked his style, and Lo told him that we were probably going to be kind of loud. Though we were initially disappointed to not have that extra room, we ended up having a great time with Brad. Poor kid - I'm not sure if he thought we were super cool or that we were ridiculous! Maybe a combination of the two? He was a good sport and a really nice kid. Our flight attendants took great care of us, and we even managed to sleep for an hour or two. 

We landed in Paris at 0715 local time, and the day had dawned to charcoal skies and a drizzling rain. Immigration didn't take long at all, and we retrieved our bags which were actually already on the carousel waiting for us! Well done Paris. Then we had the interesting experience of finding our transport into Paris.

I had read about a company called EasyBus. It's an airport transfer service based in the UK and they also have a Paris branch. Very cheap and highly recommended, I went ahead and booked service from the airport and back for us for a total of 17 Euro. We found the place where we would get picked up, and waited for our driver. Once he arrived, we immediately wished he hadn't. In a word, he was - obnoxious. He was flirting outrageously with us, and swearing, and just generally being  unprofessional. The ride couldn't end quickly enough!!! After what seemed an eternity, we arrived at the Palais Royal and we enthusiastically parted ways from him. What a relief! We had purchased SIM cards for our phones at the airport, and we went into a Starbucks (solely because they have wifi) to set those up. A cappuccino and biscotti restored us, and we headed off on foot to find our Air BnB for the night. 

I would like to say that I'm proud of us for packing lightly for this trip! We each have a backpack and a carry on size rolling suitcase. With our gear in tow, we happily navigated the streets of Le Marais until we found our door. After an invigorating climb up four flights of steep curving steps, we found our tiny abode for the evening. A studio perched above the street below, it was small and cosy! We dropped our bags and headed back out to explore. Our initial destination was Notre Dame, so we headed towards the river. We rounded a corner, and right in front of us was the Hotel de Ville. It was absolutely astonishing to stumble upon! It was one of the many times yesterday that I had goosebumps and became choked up gazing upon such an incredible edifice. Currently the Hotel is decked with rainbow and American flags to show solidarity for the tragedy in Orlando. France is showing us such solidarity over the atrocity, just as we did with them when they were under attack. We spent time walking in front of the incredible building before continuing our quest. 

Wandering down the streets we began to see the towers of Notre Dame in front of us. We happened to walk up to it right in front of the main entrance, and it is breath taking lay beautiful! We walked all around the church, spending time in the beautiful gardens at the back of it. Beautifully manicured and filled with flowering rose bushes, it would have been an idyllic place to pass an hour or so, watching the world go by. After that we walked across the Ile de la Cite to the Pont Neuf. Then we decided to meander down the Seine towards the Louvre. We walked down towards the Louvre, and entered the Cour Carree section of it first. As we walked through the entrance passage, we heard the sounds of string music. Ahead of us, playing under an archway, was a cellist and a violinist! It was absolute magic to listen to their music in such a setting. The acoustics were perfect, and I could almost imagine Louis XIV walking through the arch, entourage in tow. We walked across the courtyard and exited onto the Rue de Rivoli. We walked past the Palais Royal, and into the entrance to the main courtyard of the Louvre where the Pyramide is located. Walking into the courtyard was absolutely breathtaking! The sun was shining through the clouds and reflecting off of the Pyramide and the fountains, and both Lo and I had to pause to let the emotions run through us!

We spent time there, taking photos, and then walked towards the Jardin de Tuilieries. We ambled down the dirt paths, and once again I could picture the ladies of the French court in full court dress, strolling and gossiping on the same paths. We checked out some cafes and decided against eating there, instead continuing our walk towards the Place de Concorde where a giant Ferris Wheel is currently set up for the European Cup. All of the carriages on the wheel had a photo of a person wearing the face paint for their country on the sides. We decided to go up in it, and joined a short queue. We ended up in carriage with two Irish guys, who were really nice. Ironically we happened to be in the carriage with the English flag! The men were quick to point out the irony. We had some nice conversation with them, and clearly they were very surprised that we not only followed football and the European Cup, but that we actually loved it as well. The view was amazing! We had a lovely view of the Champs Elysees, the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Tuileries, and all the rest of Paris spread below us. When we finished our ride, we were absolutely famished. We crossed the river and headed down the Boulevard Saint-Germain, in search of a cafe to sit, rest, eat, and enjoy a glass of wine. We found a nice cafe and happily sat down at a table outside. After ordering a half liter of Cotes du Rhone red and food, we settled into some great people watching. Our food arrived and we were so happy! Lo ordered crepes that were flambeed with Grand Marnier and I ordered a Croque Madame. When in Rome, after all! 

We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and then headed back towards our studio in Le Marais. We settled in and Lo realized that, according to her FitBit watch, we had walked more than 10 miles! That combined with our jet lag and general exhaustion meant that we quickly and happily succumbed to nap time. After a nice hour and a half nap, we showered and got ready to head to the Eiffel Tower. Then we realized that it was 9:45, and that by the time we got to the tower we would not have much time to watch on top. So we scrapped that plan and headed down to the bar below our accommodations to watch the Iceland vs Portugal match. We have been so excited to watch the UEFA Cup while in France and Switzerland! The first night did not disappoint. We grabbed a beer at the bar and settled down in. It was only men in there, and I think they were surprised at how into the match we were! After all, it is Lo and me - so of course we were cheering like crazy people! A Swedish guy sitting next to us began talking with us. He and his mates were visiting from Copenhagen for the group stages. Once he discovered that Lo is a hockey fan he got really excited and started talking to us about Peter Forsberg. We talked for about half an hour until the match finished and he and his friends took off to continue their revelry (they'd definitely started the party quite a while previously!). We decided to go look for a bite to eat, as we'd only eaten our one meal during the day. After a failed attempt at a wine bar (cheap wine, the kitchen had already closed), we discovered a corner stand that sold everything delicious. Panini, crepes, and middle eastern/Greek sandwiches. We ordered quickly, a sandwich each, and started talking with some nice Irish guys in front of us. Lots of Irish in the city for the match! Then we saw the size of the sandwiches. Seriously, ENORMOUS!!!!! So we canceled the order for our two sandwiches and decided to share the falafel sandwich. IT. WAS. SO. DELICIOUS! The cook heated a fresh piece of dough on a dome shaped burner/oven, and then stuffed the fresh bread with all the delicious things. It was still huge! We took our food back up to our room and ate while hanging out of our huge windows, watching the street life below. While watching who did we see appear? Our Swedish friends, chanting and singing at the top of their lungs! It was wonderful to see the football culture that is so strong in the rest of the world in full action. 

Being exhausted, we headed straight to bed, as in the morning we would have to be at the Gare de Lyon train station at 11:30 or so and we knew we would need lots of sleep. We also planned to stop at H&M to look for some long sleeved shirts, as the temperatures here are quite chilly! 

We slept like the dead and woke feeling pretty good, considering the time change and how exhausted we were to begin with, even before leaving Denver. We packed up and cleaned our cute little studio, then headed out for a quick shop. So, I hate shopping. Always have and most likely always will. However I have two friends that I enjoy shopping with. Lo, and my good friend Rachel. So Lo and my quick excursion turned into an hour and then we had to hustle back to the apartment to collect our bags and head to the train station. We weren't sure how successful we would be at hailing a taxi, so decided to get an Uber instead. Yeah, really bad idea! In the area of Le Marais where we were staying it is not allowed to drive on the smaller streets. So the first Uber I ordered basically gave up. I watched him on the map, and he drove towards us, then around us, then headed the opposite direction. So I ordered a second one. This one didn't even try to come towards us, so we hailed a taxi so quickly and easily. Lesson learned!!

Our driver was really nice, and he helped us put our luggage (including new H&M bags) in the trunk of the car. I asked him how he was, and he said "In France, no one asks taxi drivers how they are!" This led to a lively discussion of cultural differences and courtesy in general. He delivered us to the Gare de Lyon in no time, and we easily made our train. Ahhhh I love traveling by train! It is so relaxing and I love watching the countryside fly by. Next stop, Fribourg and my dear friend Eleonore! 

A side note - this app HATES my photos and always makes them blurry. Instead of posting photos in the blog, I'll be creating a Facebook album and posting as many as I can in there. 

I'd Like to Order One of Everything on the Menu, Please!

Saturday morning we reluctantly checked out of Dwarika's after one last amazing breakfast. We were excited to be going to India but would miss being in the lap of luxury as it's a rarity! The concierge hailed us a large van for a taxi because of all our luggage and were off! Except in reality, there's a fuel shortage and there were very few taxi's and we all crammed into a TINY TAXI! All three of us in the backseat, bags in the trunk and on the passenger seat up front. Fortunately there was no traffic and the trip to the airport was quite quick. We literally almost fell out of our taxi - think clowns piling out of a tiny car! 

We successfully navigated our bags through bag security with only one minor hiccup - they thought the temple bell that I bought was a gas cylinder! Thats clearly how you know you're in a fuel crisis, when you think tourists from America are smuggling petrol or gas onto an airplane. Haha! Then at the Air India check in the line was actually in front of counters that had no signs over them, rather than the counters with the Air India signage. After a brief wait in the departure lounge, they called our flight to board. We had already gone through three security screenings where they scanned our bags and bodies and also did pat downs (which honestly got quite fresh!) and when we got to the tarmac to board the plane we had to do one more. Thankfully there are separate lines for ladies and gents and there are far fewer ladies than gents, so that helped the process for Mom and myself! Poor Dad. 

I must say that I was feeling rather cynical at this point, after all the pat downs and such, especially since it was Air India making us go through all of this and India is (depending on which source you listen to) responsible for the fuel crisis. So it was with a large amount of glee when I reached the area to have my backpack searched by a surly Indian man and he IMMEDIATELY pulled out three tampons. He was, needless to say, less than thrilled and rather appalled. I on the other hand had a good chuckle! We settled into our seats for a short flight, and before I knew it we were landing in Delhi. It was quite nice to land in the daytime, as when Dad and I had flown through before we landed late at night. 

Immigration had a bit of a line, but not too long, and before we knew it we were in a taxi heading to our hotel. Our hotel was called the Hotel Kyron, and is in an area of Delhi known as Karol Bagh. Karol Bagh is a veritable warren of small lanes and alleys all winding around a central market area which is absolutely jammed with people! Our driver had a really difficult time finding the hotel, and Mom had bought an India SIM card for her phone, so she pulled up the hotel location on her iPad and helped our driver find the hotel! Saved by technology. Our hotel was small but clean and comfortable, and after getting checked we decided to go for a quick walk around the area. We quickly decided that was a bad idea as we had absolutely no idea of how the area worked and the roads were tiny and crammed with manic drivers all going really fast and caring not at all about the pedestrians timidly creeping their way along the edge of the street (ok we were the only pedestrians acting that way, but STILL!). We agreed to make one more lap to try to find a store selling water and snacks and we happened to stumble across a great looking restaurant, Crossroads. In true Kithil style we were absolutely famished and excited for our first meal in India. We walked in and, to our surprise and initial concern, we were the only customers! Then we realized it was about 3:30 and happily sat down. We were starving so set about ordering papadams, palak paneer (which in the US we call Saag paneer), channa masala, butter chicken, and butter naan. Oh, and rice. The waiter kindly accomodated us by putting some soccer on the TV right above our table and we were so happy! Oops, I forgot to mention that we each ordered a Kingfisher beer. Our food began to arrive! And then... it didn't stop arriving. We ordered WAY TOO MUCH!!! I'm happy to report that we ate most of it though. We took our time, eating and drinking leisurely and left about 5:30 to walk back to the hotel. We decided to be in for the night and rest, as we knew we were going to have a hectic time ahead of us. 

After a decent nights sleep in our rooms directly across the hall from one another, we headed down for breakfast. Of course it was a massive transition from the feast at Dwarika's but it was still quite good. I had some potato and pea curry, roti, a hard boiled egg, and chai. Mom had pretty much the same, and Dad ate an entire loaf of bread in the form of toast - ok fine, not quite that much, but I'm pretty sure that he had like 6 slices of toast! Topped with marmalade, of course! After breakfast we asked the concierge to get us a taxi to take us to the ticket office for the Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Delhi. We had booked our tickets online and thats where we were going to pick up the bus itself. After waiting in a fairly dubious area for our bus, we hopped on (pun intended?! haha) and began the tour. I had expected to see mostly Western tourists on this bus tour, but to my surprise we were the only Caucasians on the buses that we were on for the entire day! 

The bus stops at about 16 or so places, and we were going to try to do as many of the stops that we were interested in as possible. Our first stop was India Gate, in the center of New Delhi. India Gate is built on the Rajpath, formerly known as Kingsway under the British raj. It was built in 1931 to commemorate the loss of the 82,000 soldiers of the undivided British Indian Army in the first World War and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The area around the gate is a huge park, and the gate looks kind of similar to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a great place to walk around and see local Delhi life as the park was full of families relaxing on their Sunday off. We got back on the bus and went on on to Indira Gandhi museum. Mrs. Gandhi was the first female prime minister of India (no relation to Mohandes Gandhi, by the way) and she was assassinated in 1984. Her son, Rajiv, became prime minister after her, and he was assassinated in 1991. Mrs. Gandhi's father was the first prime minister of India afterindependence from the British Empire. I highly recommend that you all read more about them - they were a fascinating family. He's a handy link in case you'd like to read more!

http://www.biography.com/people/indira-gandhi-9305913

After this we got back on the bus and headed towards Dilli Haat, which is a bustling market area. When we first got on the bus this morning there was a youngish guy (I'm the worst at guessing ages - maybe early twenties?) standing behind me, and Mom and I caught him fixing his hair in his phone camera. He smiled at us and seemed really friendly. When we got back on the bus after the museum, he got on at the next stop and immediately recognized us. He came up to us and said hi, and asked for a selfie! Many of you may have seen this as I posted it on Instagram and Facebook. It was really sweet though because he was excited to see us again and so eager to get a photo with us! That was a really nice moment to have happen. By this time were starving, as it was around 2:00. We decided to make Dilli Haat our lunch spot. After getting off the bus we went into the market and decided to eat at the first little local Indian restaurant that we saw. Holy YUM IT WAS SO AMAZINGLY DELECTABLE! 

Once again we ordered way too much and didn't care in the least. They had samosas that they were frying at the front of the restaurant so of course Mom and I had to get one each. Then Dad ordered paneer masala and I ordered channa masala and Mom ordered aloo ghobi! Then we got butter naan and I think rice and OHMYGOODNESS IT WAS ALL SO GOOD! We ate really quickly and then screeched to a halt, astonished at how quickly we'd eaten and how full we had become. We looked at our serving dishes and realized that we'd eaten approximately half of each dish. Good grief! That was the meal when we decided that we didn't need to order rice (silly rice, I'd rather have more room for curry anyway!) and that perhaps we should just order two dishes to share between the three of us. 

We left with full tummies and happy souls. We decided that our Dilli Haat experience had been amazing and decided to move on Qutb Minar, which none of us had heard of but wanted to explore nonetheless. We climbed onto a bus which was PACKED full of people and headed that way! However before we could actually head that way there was some kind of a fight between a passenger and the guide on the bus, a really nice and intelligent young woman. Back and forth they went, the man being extremely rude to the woman, until finally the man huffed off the bus with his large entourage in tow. Who knows what actually happened, but there was definitely some Indian drama! And then we were finaly on the way. There was a really nice couple sitting behind Mom and me with their baby boy - the boy was so sweet! You could tell he was tired, but he wasn't actually crying, just more grizzling about being sleepy. They got off the bus at Qutb Minar as well, and we all crossed the road. It was kind of confusing because the ticketing office is across the street from the complex itself, but it's really fun towalk across crazy Indian roads so all was well. I'm mostly kidding - because it is actually kind of fun but it's mostly terrifying! With tickets in hand, we excitedly entered the gates (even though we didn't really know what we were seeing, other than an ancient minaret). Turns out that its actually a huge complex that is dominated by the minaret, which is covered with intricate carvings and inscriptions from the Koran, and is slightly higher than 72 meters. In times past it was considered one of the "Wonders of the East", second only to the Taj Mahal. Work was begun on the Minar in 1202, it was Qutb-ud-Din Aibak's victory tower, celebrating the advent of the Muslim dominance of Delhi and much of the Subcontinent that was to endure until 1857. 

In addition to the tower, there are the ruins of India's first mosque, Quuwat-ul-Islam, which translate as the Might of Islam. The mosque is mostly in ruins, however it retains its sense of majesty. There is a some funerary complex, and set apart in this area is the tomb of thirteenth century Delhi sultan Iltutmish. It is the most attractive tomb, with a plan exterior to the building and an interior decorated with geometric arabesque patterns, calligraphy, and lotus and wheel motifs. 

WWe spent a long time here, wandering around and taking lots of photos. It is a truly beautiful place. During this time Mom and I were approached quite often for photos and I've come up with a rule. When asked for a a photo, I will say 

- Always to children and girls

- Mood dependent on teenagers

- Never to adult men

As silly as it sounds, it does get quite tiring to be enjoying your surrounding and be interrupted over and over again. It happened a lot in Burma, but this feels different for some reason. Less innocent, perhaps? We all three felt that we could have spent a longer amount of time here, but dusk was approaching and we needed to catch the last bus at 4:40. 

When we got back to the bus the same couple with the cute baby boy was on board again. I began talking with them and learned that they were South India and visiting Delhi on holiday. Their little boy, named Devansh, was 6 months old and just as cute as can be! The man worked for Dell and the womon for IBM, and we all had a really nice conversation. It turned out to be extra great that they were so kind and interesting, as the bus ride back to the city center was almost two hours! We were getting really really tired! When we were approaching the last stop, at which we would disembark, I asked the guide on the bus if it would be easy to catch a taxi from the stop. He said NO, absolutely not, no taxi's or tuk tuk's would be there. Well that's a bit scary! The couple offered to let us use their cell phone to call our hotel to have them send a taxi, which was so kind of them! I got on the phone right as we pulled up to the bus stop. Which was in front of a fancy hotel. With a line of at least 6 taxi's out front. Oh, there were also about 5 auto tuk tuk's. So.... clearly the guide didn't know what he was on about! We thanked the couple profusely and said goodbye to them. We walked towards the taxi's and then decided that after our crazy day we could use a little dose of the posh. We walked into the hotel, used the facilities, and sat down in the restaurant for a drink and a snack. I drank my dinner in the form of a gin and tonic, Mom had a fresh lime soda, and Dad had (SURPRISE!) apple pie with ice cream. Lovely meal all around! We easily got a taxii back to our little hotel in the crazy market area -- the drive was quite thrilling! Loads of traffic, everyone honking, cow carts cutting off tuk tuk's that were cutting off car's that were cutting off coaches and all off these vehicles cutting off the unimporant pedestirians!

We made it to the hotel alive and in all of our respective pieces, what a success! We happily turned in a bit early as we knew we'd be having a really busy day on Monday. 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, to Nagarkot We Go! And also I postpone blogging the rest of Nepal.

As some of you may know, there is a severe fuel shortage in Nepal right now. The Nepalese government has been making proposed amendments to the constitution, and these amendments are greatly disliked by the India government. As a result (depending on who you listen to), India has stopped sending fuel to Nepal. Nepal is a landlocked country, India on one side, China (Tibet) on the other. India says that it hasn't stopped sending fuel but that the fuel supplies are being stopped on the border by Indians living on the Nepal side who are against the amendments. Nepal says India has stopped sending the fuel. Either way, there is very little petrol to be found in Nepal. As a result, taxis and cars are difficult to find. That has made things interesting for us, as tourists. 

On Tuesday Dad and I decided we wanted to go to Nagarkot, which is a beautiful place to view the mountains and find nice hiking trails. We asked the kind front desk man, Ramesh, to help us arrange this. He was able to find a car to take us there and back for 5,000 rupees. This is equivalent to $50. In normal situations we might consider that a bit expensive, but it was 1,000 rupees less than the other car that was found. Another way to look at it is that that's only $25 per person, and we would have the car for aroud 4 hours. In my opinion, a great deal! 

The first tourists thought to have visited the area were Punjabi mercenaries recruited to defend the valley against Prithvi Naryan's troops. Stationed at the now vanished ridgetop fort, they quickly succumbed to the "mountain air," proving to be drunkenly incapable when the Gurkha invaders finally arrived. There is a view tower atop the highest southern point of the ridge located at 2,164 m. Dad and I planned to have the be our first destination of the drive, followed by lunch at a hotel in Nagarkot itself. From the top of the tower (which I'll tell you about soon) it's easy to see why Nagarkot has been the site of a fort since Rana times. This hilltop controlled the eastern entrance to the Kathmandu Valley as well as the vital trade route to Tibet. 

Our great driver, Rajkumar, picked us up in his car at about 9:45, and we set off along the highway back towards Banepa and Bhaktapur. The fuel shortage is so severe that buses are beginning to park along the roads leading to fuel stations, forming massive queues that take up an entire lane. Raj navigated these lines with no problem, and we soon reached Bhaktapur where we turned onto a tiny, obscure looking dirt road. Right after we began driving on it, Dad looked at me and said "I say we have 50/50 odds that this road doesn't go the way he wants it to." I laughed and agreed whole heartedly! 

Fortunately for us, the road did in fact go where Raj wanted it to! We bounced along the dirt track, over ditches and an ever narrowing road. In the beginning we were still on the valley floor, weaving our way amongst houses along the sides of the road. We began to climb higher, gaining elevation and winding up through the terraced hillsides, which grow rice paddies and potatoes along with other crops. Dad and I really enjoyed watching the countryside this way. Raj was listening to a very eclectic mix of music, first traditional Nepali and then some Indian rap (in one of the songs the rapper just seemed to be saying phrases that the American rappers all use  - until he started saying "we are all family, rest in peace man, rest in peace!"), then American pop. The Nepali music was great, but the rap and pop seemed to oddly placed in many ways! We saw such great views of small village life on this drive. 

I am having such a major fight with my ipad right now!!! Every time I try to save this blog it deletes it. I've decided to do an overview of the rest of the time in Nepal because I am getting TERRIBLY behind!

Dad and I made it to Nagarkot - the view tower sat atop a hill and had tremendous views in every direction. I conquered my minor fear of heights to climb to the top of a tall and rickety watch tower via a steep metal ladder - that set my toes tingling from the height for sure! Dad did not climb it, so I took photos and happily made my way back down to him. We walked back down underneath the prayer flags towards Raj and the car. When we got there we saw he had the hood up - the engine had overheated from the difficult road we had climbed to the tower.  Dad and Raj happily tinkered under the hood, and got the truck running again. We drove into Nagarkot proper and had lunch at a lovely hotel with a stunning panorama of the Langtang range. Nagarkot was hit quite badly in the earthquake, and its a region that relies almost entirely on tourism for hiking and biking. We were happy to do our little bit to help the local economy! 

We had a gorgeous drive back to Dhulikhel, and when we had said goodbye to Raj, I walked into the lobby to thank Ramesh for helping us find such a great driver. Ramesh got a huge smile on his face and said "he is my brother!" and told me that they bought the car together and it is their side business! What a great endeavor and such nice men. 

After a rest and a shower, we headed back up to the lodge later in the afternoon. I ordered a gin and lime, and Dad and I ordered some momo to share! Momo are like gyoza - steamed dumplings filled with a mixture or either vegetables or meat cooked in spices. We had 5 veggie and 5 chicken and they were AMAZING! This was around 4:30, and we happily decided that would suffice as dinner. Before heading back down to our rooms, we stopped at the desk to get our laundry that we had dropped off that morning. The front desk attendant, a man, handed me the bag with my laundry, but I could see one of my underwear in someone else's bag. Thus ensued a very difficult conversation about needing my underwear in a country where women do not even expose their shoulders or lower legs! I don't think that I embarrased him TOO badly, and with all of my underwear in tow I headed back to my room to pack.

Wednesday morning we all left for the hospital around 7:30. I was really excited as I would be in the Operating Room with my mom all morning. I haven't been in the OR since Peru in 2009 and I have missed it! When we first got to the hospital the staff had a little thank you ceremony for the hospital team, which was really nice. They also recognized Dad and me which was really above and beyond as we had not been involved at the hospital on this trip! The team all trooped into the OR, and the surgeries began. There were to be two gynelogical surgeries and two hand surgeries. It was really interesting to see the OR's there, and observe the differences in equipment and procedure. They are really well organized and so smoothly run. Halfway through the morning Mom came and asked if I'd be willing to go back to the hotel and make sure that everyone's bags got loaded onto the vehicle that would be taking us to Kathmandu. I gladly obliged, and went back to the lodge. The porters got all of the luggage loaded up and we headed back to the hospital, where Claudia (a nurse and the wife of the hand surgeon) invited me to go to the school located at the hospital to see the children and the school itself. I went down there with her, where we saw such adorable children!!!! The school fees run them $325 a year. This is such little money to us, but such a large amount for them - not only in the amount of money but in the amount of change it brings to their lives. Claudia and I are now sponsoring two brothers (also named Raj and Ramesh) whose family lost their home in the earthquake. They are such sweet little boys!

After this the whole team loaded up on our bus and we took off for Kathmandu! When we arrived in Kathmandu we headed directly to our hotel for the next few days. My parents have stayed at Dwarika's quite a few times, and always told me how wonderful it is, but I was unpreprared for the splendor that greeted us. Dwarika's is absolutely the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed in. Beautiful refurbished buildings, amazing ancient woodwork and art, and large, comfortable, luxurious rooms. I happily would have stayed there forever! Perhaps next time I'll be able to stay forever Haha! After some down time to relax and refresh, we all met for a delicious traditional 16 course Nepalese dinner. Everything was so yummy! I've lots of photos but due to the fight that my blog and I are having I'm currently unable to upload photos to it. Suffice it to say that all of the food was really splendid and we all had such a great time. During this dinner my Dad started a debate about - of all things - apple crumble! He claims that the hippies of the 70's brought the recipe and tradition of apple crumble over with them during the backpacking era and that now it is one of the most treasured desserts in all of Nepal! I don't doubt that they brought the desire and perhaps even recipe with them, as its quite common to find apple PIE, but as for being able to easily find apple crumble as well as it being a Nepalese favorite I call extreme SHEANIGANS! So he tried to get some of the members of the team on board with this idea, all of whom looked extremely skeptical - smart people! I have a feeling that this will become quite the debate for the remainder of our trip. Should be FUN!

And now I'm going to let you all know that I'll be blogging the last two days of Nepal at the end of the India trip. I'm having an absolutely TERRIBLE time wiith writer's block, which I partially attribute to the issues with the blog itself. It's awful to have to rewrite the same things multiple times due to it getting erased! And I'm getting extremely behind on India while trying without success to finish Nepal. So please check back in soon for the beginning of our India trip!

Thank you all so much for reading, and I'm so sorry that I can't upload photos right now. It's unbelievably for me to not be able to share the amount of photos with you all that I would like. Hopefully that situation will resolved and I'll be able to share soon!

Love from me to all of you!

A Vengeful Goddess and where is my pet goat?!

Unfortunately Monday morning dawned even earlier than Sunday morning - all thanks to the three extremely loud men from Bangladesh in the room next to me. Dad and I had met them earlier in the day, and they seemed pleasant enough. This must have been before they drank their weight in who knows what, because I was awakened by them at 0200 getting back to their room, turning on loud music, and then proceeding to sing along to their music and laugh at what must have been hilarious jokess that they were telling one another. This went on for about 45 minutes until they finally succumbed to their drunken state. Let the record show that we are staying in a very small town, and our hotel is outside of the town, and we just have the one bar with the very kind local bartender. That poor man must have been at his wits end taking care of them until 2 in the morning!

I managed to go back to sleep until about 0430 - progress! Then when I woke I ran outside to look for stars and mountains. I was a bit too early, so went back inside and read. I went back out around 530 and was treated to a lovely sunrise. I met my parents and the group for breakfast, and learned that my parents had suffered from these drunk men as well, even though they were two doors down from me. Apparently when the men came back from the bar (and I think its amazing that they didn't fall down the four steep uneven flights of stairs we have to navigate down from the main lodge) they were walking in the gardens outside of each room, and they shined a flashlight into my parents room! We think that they were trying to find their room but couldn't remember which one it was (because they were HAMMIED) and so decided this was a great idea. After a fair amount of bellyaching by all of us, Dad went and talked to the front desk manager, who told us he'd had many complaints and would speak to them when they emerged. We went on to enjoy another amazing breakfast (I had cappucino this time - so delish) and then said goodbye to the hospital group for the day. Dad and I made plans to hike to the Kali Temple at 9, and went back to our rooms to get our gear together. Kali is the mother goddess in her most terrifying form. She sounds so friendly! 

The Kali Temple is located on the outskirts of Duhlikhel, and is a prime place to see mountains during the sunrise. Obviously we were not going to be there during sunrise, but we wanted to do the climb and enjoy the view. We set off and walked up the hill to the Arniko Highway. Walking along that for about 1/2 km, we crossed the road into Old Duhlikhel. We walked down past the bus station and up a hill. We saw so many children of all ages walking to school in their uniforms, and I think they were watching us just as much if not more than we were watching them. We reached the base of hill leading to the Kali Temple and began our ascent. To reach the hilltop and  temple you must climb 1000 steps. It was actuallly a very beautiful climb and mostly shaded by large trees. We wound our way ever higher, crossing over the road that also leads to the summit. We decided to walk on the road for one section, which was a great idea while it was paved, but about halfway it turned to large rocks and dirt. Not so great to walk on! At one point we encountered a man walking his goat on a leash! I'm sure that this poor animal was bound for a sacrifice of some sort, whether religious or for dinner, but my first thought was "I want a pet goat!!!!" To those of you that know me well, this will not surprise you in the least as you know that my dream is to open an alpaca, goat, and herb farm (with some free range chickens thrown in there). It was so cute! About halfway up we saw a closed gate that said "Shanti Bao" that led to a courtyard with a huge golden Buddha behind it. I decided to walk up and investigate if the area was open or closed. I rattled the gate to see if it was locked, and sure enough it was. Dad and I retreated to a bench to sit and catch our breath, when I saw an old man approaching the gate from the inside. Dad and I agreed that he would probably let us in if we offered him some rupees, so I pulled a 20 rs note from my bag and walked up to him. I stuck the money through the gate and he opened the gate for us! Success! We entered the courtyard and removed our shoes. From the back, it was evident that the Buddha had suffered earthquake damage. Portions of his golden robe had fallen off in the back, revealing the brick that comprised his form. The view from the platform in front of the Buddha was gorgeous - what a lovely view he has! We spent a few minutes taking photos and enjoying the peace before taking our leave, giving the kind gatekeeper another 20 rupees and a granola bar on our way out. 

We resumed our climb with new energy (thanks Buddha!) and quickly made our way to the top. We climbed another short staircase and then climbed up into a hideous concrete building that was really just a platform with a view tower, and there we found the temple of Kali. I think that Kali must have asked the earthquake to smite that area particularly becuase her temple was quite small and squalid. The platform upon which it was built seemed mostly solid, but the view tower, while standing, was a mess. I foolishly decided to climb up to the top. So.... I have this fear of heights. I don't let it stop me from doing things, but it often strikes me when least expected and ALWAYS makes my feet tingle. I had to climb this metal spiral staircase to the top of the tower (where the walls had all fallen off, by the way!) and my feet were going CRAZY! Yikes. Scary. I took a few pictures and made my way down as quickly as possible. Which was actually most likely quite slowly. 

I made it safely back down and with relief went up to Dad. We drank some water and decided to head back down! We were getting hungry and it was getting hot. On our way down we ran into Lori and Sally, from the hospital group, making their way up. We had told them about the hike and were happy to see them! We walked back through Duhlikhel towards the hotel, checking out a restaurant that we had heard was decent on the way. It was not decent. It smelled like urine, was filthy, and we did an immediate about face to head back to our hotel restaurant. After a great lunch on the balcony overlooking the Himalayas, I prepared to visit Namo Budd. I've copied and pasted the history of Namo Buddha below because its really long!

The Ancient Story of Namo Buddha

A long time in the past, many immeasurable eons ago, our teacher the perfect Buddha was practicing on the path of learning. Below is the story of how he was overcome with compassion when he saw a tigress tormented by starvation and offered his body to her without a moment’s hesitation.

In the distant past, there lived in this world a king named Great Charioteer (Shingta Chenpo) who ruled over a small kingdom of some five thousand subjects. Due to the king’s accumulation of merit, all his subjects enjoyed happiness and well being; rains came at the right time while crops and livestock flourished. The king had three sons: the oldest was named Great Sound (Dra Chenpo), the middle Great Deity (Lha Chenpo), and the youngest Great Being (Semchen Chenpo). Powerful in the martial arts and radiating confidence, the two elder sons always helped the king in governing the kingdom. From his earliest years, the youngest son, Great Being, was very bright and endowed with spontaneous kindness and compassion. He gave freely and generously to others as if to his only child.

One day when the weather was fine, the king along with his queen, sons, and ministers left the town for a relaxing time in the country. The king and queen rode upon an elephant while the sons, ministers, and retinue were mounted on beautiful horses. After half a day’s ride, they arrived at a place of thickly wooded forests resonant with birdsong while nearby blossomed a tapestry of flowers in rich variety. The king was pleased with the scenery and ordered a large encampment to be prepared for everyone’s enjoyment. The servants immediately unpacked everything, set up tents, and laid out a hearth of stones for cooking. Soon the ground was covered with tents as clouds billowed in the sky above. The servants bustled about, preparing a variety of foods and offering tea and liquor to everyone. Then the young people began to sing, dance, and play, transforming the encampment into a celestial realm. The king, queen, and ministers watched the entertainment while enjoying an eighteen course meal accompanied by wine and sake.

Then the three princes, in the full flush of their youth, picked up their bows and arrows and headed for the forest. As they walked along, they noticed a den in the dense woods. They crept up to it and saw inside a tigress sleeping beside her cubs. Great Sound and Great Deity laid arrows on their bows, making ready to kill the tigress, but Great Being stopped his brothers, saying that killing was completely wrong. When he looked into the cave again, Great Being noticed that the tigress was not able to move, for she had just given birth and she also feared that if she left to hunt for food, another animal might harm her cubs. Tormented by hunger, she lay on the ground unable even to lift her head. Great Being was moved to tears with compassion that arose from the depths of his heart. He asked his brothers, “What
kind of food would save the tigress and her cubs?” They responded, “This kind of red Indian tiger eats the warm flesh and blood of a recent kill. So if you want to help her and the cubs, you must find flesh and blood that are fresh.”

Great Being thought for a moment: “It’s indeed true that to save the tigress and her cubs, warm flesh and blood are needed. But then I’d have to kill another living being, and that would mean killing one to save another. What else can I do?” He thought for a long while but did not find a solution. Then his brothers said, “We came out here to have a good time. It’s pointless to worry about this tigress and her cubs. It’s time to return to our parents.” And so they left.

As he followed his brothers back to the encampment, Great Being thought, “For a long time, I have been cycling in samsara, wasting countless lives, sometimes due to excessive desire, sometimes aversion, and sometimes ignorance. I have rarely met such an opportunity to accumulate merit. What real use is this body if not for the Dharma?” Finally he decided, “This time I must be truly generous.”

Before he had gone very far with his brothers, he said to them, “Brothers, you two go on ahead. I have something to take care of and will catch up with you soon.”

He took the path to the tigress’s den quickening his pace. When he found the collapsed tigress, she was so exhausted
that she could not even open her mouth. Great Living Being reached out his hand to touch her face, but she was so weakened she could not even bare her fangs. So the prince sharpened a splinter from a nearby tree and cut his body to draw blood, which he allowed the tigress to lick. Not long after, she opened her jaws and stood up. With a roar, she pounced on the prince and devoured him.

The two brothers waited a long time, but the youngest prince did not come, so they set out to find him. Reflecting on what he had said earlier, they had no doubt that he had returned to the tigress’s den. When they arrived and looked inside, there was nothing left of their brother but blood, bones, nails, and bits of clothing. The tigress had consumed him. At this sight, Great Sound and Great Deity immediately lost consciousness; it was a long time before they recovered their senses. The two gathered up the pieces of their brother’s clothing and, sobbing with deep sadness, set out for their parents’ encampment.

During this time, the queen was taking a nap and in a dream saw three doves flying high in the sky. As they fluttered around, a hawk struck and carried off the smallest one. Waking in terror, the queen immediately related her dream to the king. He replied, “Hearing your story, I believe the three doves are our three sons. The youngest of them, carried off by the hawk, is my most beloved son. I’m sure that something dreadful has happened to him.” So saying, the king immediately sent out servants to look everywhere for his son.

Soon, the two princes arrived and the king asked, “Did something bad happen to my beloved son? Do you have any news?” Choked with sadness, the two were unable to speak or even breathe for a while. Finally, they sighed deeply and told their parents that the tigress had eaten Great Being. Upon hearing this terrible news, the queen fainted right away. The king too was overwhelmed with immense sadness and tormented by sorrow. After a long while and with profound sighs, the two princes, the king, and the queen rushed to the place where the youngest prince had died. When they arrived at the opening of the den, what met their eyes were the bones and rivulets of blood left behind by the tigress. The queen recoiled, overcome with sobbing, and did not recover for a long while.

Meanwhile, the prince had been reborn as Great Courage (Nyingtob Chenpo). He wondered, “What did I do to be reborn here in the celestial realm of Tushita?” Through his divine eye, he thoroughly examined the five realms. Great Courage saw that, gathered around the bone fragments he had left behind, were his parents and two brothers. They were sunk in lamentation and completely miserable. He thought, “My parents are experiencing such unhappiness, it could threaten their very lives. To lighten their spirits, I’ll go talk to them.” He descended from space to the lofty sky and spoke words of encouragement to comfort his parents: “I’m the prince Great Being. After giving my body in generosity to the starving tigress, I was reborn in the celestial realm of Tushita.” With tears in their eyes, the king and queen said, “Son, you who are like our very heart, offering your body to the tigress was certainly most praiseworthy. But whom can we tell of our suffering in missing you?”

Great Courage replied, “Please do not be unhappy. The end of birth is disintegration, and the end of gathering is separation. No one can transcend this for it is the nature of things. It is the same for everyone. If you perform evil actions, you will fall into the hell realms; if you perform virtuous actions, you will be reborn in the higher realms. Therefore, diligently pursue virtue. Make aspiration prayers, and in the next life we will definitely meet in a celestial realm.” After a few more words, he disappeared. The king and queen became a little happier and made the commitment to pursue virtuous activity. They created a small casket covered with seven kinds of jewels in which they laid the bones of their son and a stupa was built over the place in which it was buried. 

So there is now a shrine and a monastery built on this place, and it is on top of a mountain and SUPER BEAUTIFUL! I was really excited to go there. A jeep from the hospital picked me up, and I found that Susen, the wife of the new CEO at Scheer Memorial Hospital, would be accompanying me. We bounced along the usual mostly okay roads until we came to the not so great dirt roads. It was quite apparent that this road had most likely washed away completely during the earthquake and its aftermath, and it was being rebuilt. It was a great drive up there! We wound our way ever higher, climbing through small villages. The first view of Namo Buddha, took my breath away. It looked like an eagle majestically resting on its perch. Appearing to be at ease, yet so powerful at the same time.  Our driver deposited us at the base of the monastery, and we set off on foot to explore. Walking around this monastery was an adventure in itself. Narrow pathways leading to secret shrines, winding staircases taking you to towers festooned in prayer flags, and breath taking views whereever you look. The monks were all in class when we were there at first, so we had free run of the place. We walked up a steep pathway that led to a chaitya, which is a small Buddhist monument that often has images of Buddha at the four cardinal points. There is a tea house atop this area, we stopped and ordered masala chai. I met a very nice kitty at this point -  some might say that he was the Nepalese Frank! He of course was following us around meowing. I wanted to cuddle and feed him, but both of those activities are on the no list! I'm sure he has a very nice life compared to street kittens in cities. We began to walk back toward the monastery, and encoutered a nice stupa of Buddha on the way. Once we approaced the monastery, Susen suggested we try to see if the shrine was open. It was and as an added bonus the monks were dismissed from class! They began to enter the shrine as we walked up the steps to it. No photography was allowed inside, but it was an overwhelming array of the colors of the rainbow. Blue, green, gold, red, covering everything! Filled with prayer wheels and bells and gongs and flags and beginning to teem with monks from age 5 up to who knows how old! Most of them were quite young. It was a beautiful site to see. When we began to descend from the shrine, a monk had begun the call to prayer with a gong that he had picked up and was carrying around. I would have loved to just sit in a corner and watch all the monks stream in to worship together. Alas, our time was short and we made our way back to our jeep and fearless driver. 

We bumped our way back down the road, and reached the hotel where Susen and the driver dropped me off before continuing on to the hospital. What an incredible experience! I loved the contrast of visiting a temple of a wrathful Hindi god in the morning, and a tranquil monastery focused on peace in the afternoon. 

After a shower and a small rest, Dad and I made our way up to the bar to wait for the team to return. We started talking with a Rotary Group who were mainly from Australia. They were all opticians and were in country doing eye clincis and glasses fittings. Several of them had been to Nepal more than 15 times.

It is truly wonderful to see these people that are so willing to give to others. We have met so many people while we are here that are either here for disaster relief to help with consequences from the earthquake, or to continue ongoing missions that have been established here for years. 

Global Health Initiatives has programs in Nepal, Rwanda, and Peru. The project in Nepal is focused on uterine prolapse. Women play a very important role in Nepali society, yet are given a very low status. Not only do Nepali women give birth and raise children, they also spend their days working in the fields, cooking, cleaning, and spend hours every day carrying water to their families, often touting urns weighing 30 pounds.

These cultural and gender traditions contribute to the high frequency of uterine prolapse in rural Nepal.

Uterine prolapse is a painful and debilitating condition. Many women suffer in silence in a nation that struggles with extreme poverty, only seeking help when symptoms cause them significant distress with their families.

GHI has undertaken an ambitious project in Nepal. In partnership with Scheer Memorial Hospital and ADRA-Nepal, the Nepal Women’s Health Initiative works to address complex issues surrounding the reproductive health of Nepali women with a specific focus on uterine prolapse. 

My mother has been to Nepal 11 times. Initally she was on the trips as a scrub nurse in the Operating Room. Over the years her role has evolved, and she is now focusing on women's health projects outside of the Operating Room. She is such an inspiration and role model to me. 

When she came home on Monday evening, she told us that Doctors Without Borders had come into the hospital today with a prolapse patient for them. This was amaazing for several reasons - first and foremost, the GHI project has been successful enough that a world renowned organization is aware of them and bringing them patients. It is also amazing because it means that others are paying attention to the plight of these women and working to help them as well. What an achievement and WAY TO GO MOM!

We had a nice dinner of Nepalese cuisine before calling it a night. Oh, and excellent news! The hotel had asked those obnoxious Bangladeshi men in the room next to me to leave! I happily settled into the peace and quiet of my room with the door to my garden open and the lovely night sounds coming into my room and soothing me to sleep. I was just drifting off when suddenly I head what sounded like 6 giggling girls walking down the hallway towards the room at the end of my hall. Sure enough, they were in the room next to me! They were loud, listening to music, and singing. They did quiet down rather quickly, much to my relief. Early next morning I was up drinking tea in my garden, when they came pouring outside into their garden and started walking and talking all over. They began speaking to me and I asked where they were from.... anyone have any guesses?!

If you guessed Bangladesh, you win all the prizes! Which includes buying me a pet goat. Haha!

Namaste, my dear friends.