Thursday, October 15, 2015

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!


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. 















Friday, October 9, 2015

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!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

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. 







































Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Inappropriate Bus Crashes and I Hope I Didn't Fall Asleep During Dinner!

Well, I wrote half of this blog earlier this morning, and somehow it was erased. Man! I hate writing things twice, because I feel like I lose a lot of the verbage I used and humor I wish to interject. Here goes again!

Sunday morning dawned bright and early. Well.... except for the bright part. I woke up at the lovely hour of 0215 and let me tell you, it was definitely not bright! In fact, I went out into my garden off of my room at the Duhliklhel Lodge Resort, hoping to see stars and the moon! All I saw were hazy skies... so back inside I went. I read.... I drank tea.... I worked on the last blog.... I finally went back to sleep at 0500 and slept until 0615. Thanks jet lag! It have been worse. I actually felt decently rested when I went up to breakfast. How delicious breakfast is here definitely helped me rouse! Excellent potatoes cooked in spices with onion and pepper, channa masala (chikpeas cooked in masala spices), fresh fruit, and freshly made omelets. Mom clued me in that if you ask, they'll make your omelet with spicy peppers instead of the mild kind, and it is so yummy! Breakfast of kinds, in my opinon. All washed down with a masala chai - great way to start the day! The Himalaya's have also been showing off for us since we've been here. Early every morning I'm greeted with a great treat during sunrise, where the sun illuminates the high peaks. Others have said that it can be difficult to see the peaks from here, whereas we've seen them everyday. I'm sure that the lack of pollution can be attributed to thedecreased  emissions from cars due to the fuel crisis, and though that has made transportation difficultt at times, I'm very thankful to be able to see the mountains so well. 

Dad and I made plans to go to Panauti, 7 km south of Banepa (where the hospital is) in the morning. I had originally typed out my own version of the following information about Panauti, but I really don't feel like doing it again! The following is from Rough Guides website about Panauti, and its the same information that is in my guide book. Incidentally, if you're looking for a good guide book brand, I would highly recommend Rough Guides. I've used their books for many countries and have really liked them.

"Built on a single stratum of rock, PANAUTI is said to be the safest place in these parts to be when the next big earthquake hits. The best-preserved Newari town after Bhaktapur, it’s an enticing enough place at any time, leading a self-sufficient existence in its own small valley 7km south of Banepa. Its centre is a perfect nugget of extended family dwellings, temples and public meeting houses, all built in the Newars’ signature pink brick and carved wood, and at the bottom end is a cluster of riverside temples and ghats.

Wedged between the Punyamati and Roshi streams, Panauti forms the shape of a triangle, with a serpent (nag) idol standing at each of its three corners to protect against floods. Buses pull up at the newer northwest corner, but the oldest and most interesting sights are concentrated at the streams’ confluence at the east end of town, approached through a distinctive entry gate.

The shrine area at the sacred confluence, known as the Khware or Tribeni Ghat, is a tranquil spot. The large sattal (pilgrims’ house) here sports an eclectic range of frescoes depicting scenes from Hindu (and sometimes Buddhist) mythology: Vishnu in cosmic sleep, Ram killing the demon king Ravana, and Krishna being chased up a tree by a pack of naked gopi (milkmaids). Krishna is the featured deity of the pagoda temple next door, too, where he’s shown serenading his gopi groupies with a flute. Other small shrines dotted around the complex are dedicated to just about every deity known to Hinduism.

The Khware has been regarded as a tirtha (place of sacred power) since ancient times, and on the first day of the month of Magh (usually Jan 14), it draws hundreds for ritual bathing. Beside the river, the tombstone-shaped ramps set into the ghats are where dying people are laid out, allowing their feet to be immersed in the water at the moment of death. Orthodox cremations are held at the actual confluence, but local Newars are cremated on the opposite bank, apparently to prevent their ghosts troubling the town.



Read more: http://www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/nepal/the-central-hills/the-arniko-highway/panauti/#ixzz3nmTdWtxR


So Dad and I had a car picking us up at the hotel at 1000, and our driver showed up early and in a van similar to the old Toyota 4 wheel drive van my parents had when I was a kid. Those things are TANKS and can go anywhere. Perhaps that should have been an omen about the road that lay ahead of us!

Our driver was very polite and an excellent driver, and I wish I could tell you his name, but he spoke absolutely no English at all and therefore I have no idea. He is also a brave man. We drove back along the Arniko Highway to Banepa, and then turned south. I made the mistake (what a rookie move!) of saying how nice the road was, and it immediately turned to absolute crap. I think that even before the earthquake and subsequent landslides it was probably mediocre at best. However, this presented no challenge for our fearless driver! Remember that basically all roads in third world countries are at best two lanes, generally one large lane, and used as at least three to four lanes. He barrelled confidently along in our non-Toyota van, expertly avoiding huge boulders and ditches that seemingly emerged from nowhere. Suddenly, he had to hit the brakes. We were in a "town" which was really just an area in which there were more than five buildings in a row, and two buses on the road ahead of us had become locked in a passionate embrace. Ok fine, they had tipped into each other and were stuck. Same difference! There was quite the log jam of motorbikes, trucks, and vans waiting to be able to sneak around the low speed non accident accident. Incident? We'll go with incident. So Dad and I hopped out of the van to get a closer look. Many locals were helping to prop up one of the buses wheels with wooden slats to lift the bus high enough that the two vehicles could detach without damage to either. We watched this for a few minutes until we realized that it was much more fun to watch all of the locals watching the chaos. Families of four on motorbikes, buses crammed full of people, open back trucks delivering anything and everything to people outside of the cities. I love people watching, and this was wonderful! 

Finally they had success and the buses detached. Then of course we had to wait for the jam to clear, and we were on our way! Bouncing along this dirt road, dodging obstacles of all kinds including children and kids (kids as in goats!), rocks and ditches, chickens and dogs, we arrived in Panauti. Our driver dropped us in the main square, and we took off. Actually we had no idea where we were going, so we slowly began walking in what seemed to be a good direction. Miraculously, it was the correct one! We crossed under a gate and entered the old town. The Newari architecture there was just fabulous. It is like a mini Bhaktapur except I found it to be better. No tourists AT ALL! No cars. Just the occassional motorbike, the locals, and Dad and myself. We walked past shrines, and cisterns, and tiny shops, schools and vocational academies, women drying their rice in the sun, women shaking their rice in woven baskets to rid the grains of the husks, dogs sleeping in the shade, children playing - we had stepped back in time. When we got to the Khware, we saw all that the guidebook described, and it was beautiful. I had not expected to find such tranquility, after the mayhem of Bhaktapur. If you come to Nepal you must visit Panauti - but if you don't come visit DON'T TELL ANYONE or else it will become crowded and commercialized! We spent an hour or so walking around, enjoying the peace before heading back to our driver and van. 


The drive back was much less eventful, and after about 30 minutes of bumping along a dusty road, we reached the hotel. We had lunch and rested for a bit before deciding to walk into Duhlikhel, the town that our hotel is just barely outside of. It turns out its only a five minute walk into the town, and more specifically into the old part of the town that contains the temples we wished to visit. We knew the general direction in which we were heading, and we soon realized that we had no idea where we actually were. Both Dad and I enjoy what we call "being the right amount of lost." It means that you aren't actually lost, there's no danger, and you can most likely easily figure out where you need to be. We wandered up and down streets until we found a temple, then walked into the temple compound and enjoyed the views. Then we went back onto the streets, winding our way around until we magically ended up where we had wanted to! We had a map but didn't use it. Ah yes, being the right amount of lost is the best. We grabbed a spot on a curb and watched the world go by. School had just adjourned for the day, so we watched the children of all ages walking home - and we watched them watching us! By this time it was about 4:30, and we walked back to the hotel for a quick shower and happy hour in my parents room before dinner. Happy hour consists of gin and tonic and delish local potato chips!

We walked up to dinner, and I mostly remember dinner before my exhaustion overtook me. At the conclusion of the meal Dad and I said our goodnights and somehow safely stumbled down the three steep flights of stone steps to our room. I took a shower and immediately collapsed into bed! What a fabulous day in Nepal.