Bhaktapur and Boudhanath were my targets- a place to escape the trekking touts and hash dealers of Thamel. They might have been swapped for persistent pashmina salesmen and tenacious tour guides, but it's a good trade off in my books.
Asia's biggest stupa Boudhanath offered a great place to soak in some Buddhist energy. The hundreds of monks chanting while making their paces around the stupa emulated some of the most intense religious energy I've experienced since my time in India. I stayed 2 nights in the Shechen Monastery which runs a guesthouse operation. My freshly shaved head and dark complexion had a few faces wondering where my orange robe was, but being stared at is nothing new to me at this point.
On the other end of the religious spectrum there's Bhaktapur-a living, breathing, medieval city with ancient Hindu temples scattered amongst the fortress like grounds. The guide book had me at 'a place to wander around aimlessly'. I find this goes fantastic with my two favourite past times of eating street food and taking photographs.
I'm just over a month into this adventure, and ever since I finished the trek time seems to be racing away. I've been reading up on news back home and noticed the first snow fall is on the horizon, and in a few weeks it's Christmas time? Feels odd even saying that word. I did a haphazard search around Vancouver before leaving to see if I could track down a Santa hat to wear around India for the holidays, but it was to no avail. I could have one tailor made from Yak wool I suppose. Come to think of it I just might do that.
It's been a fascinating last week in Nepal. Election fever is in the air as the country goes to the polls for only the 2nd time in its history. One of the frequent transportation bandhas (strikes) was called for in the week leading up to election day, which made transportation a bit of a hassle, but I was in no mood to stray too far from my 90 cent espressos in Bhaktapur anyways!
No comments:
Post a Comment