I forgot that I had a dream to go to Nepal until the moment that I bought my plane ticket in Bangkok...what a thrill. I was blessed to be supported by my sisters, spent a few more days with the girls from california and then decided to leave earlier than originally planned...i wanted to stick with the Thailand theme of eveything changes!
My last night in Bangkok was great with a large selection of food from the market, some sweets, and a thai style family sitting with heather and stacy in sarah's apartment. We had a birthday party for eachother (b/c we will miss all our bdays until we see eachother again - heathers super cute idea) and sang and spent the evening sharing more of our lives together and being silly. I was excited to go back into the big world by myself again and i have my sisters to thank for the new love i have found, the sense of groundedness, and my spirit sparked. It was a thrill to get on the airplane.
The flight into Kathmandu was the most beautiful thing i have ever seen - i know i say that alot. But i was in AWWWWW. THe airport looked hundreds of years old, got my visa and bag, met some travelors, and hopped into a taxi and was welcomed into the city by the biggest holiday of the year Dawali (sp?). It had the feeling of xmas, new years eve, mardi gras, and halloween all in one. the city was buzzing in its own timeless way. Lights, firecrackers, noise, people, total madness. We got plopped in Themel - the tourist trapp - and i found my way to a guest house which would be my home for the next couple days. THemel is the place to shop ....defintily not the real Kathmandu/Nepal. I was lucky to have been embraced by a few local nepalese who showed me the dark dingy real places to eat, the unique escape places, the local music bar, the nearby temples, and the way out of the madness. One day I sat and talked with a westerner, Chris, who lived in left hand canyon (co, near nederland) and is now a tour guide between spain and nepal and we shared similar pasts of partying, music, sobriety, love, pain, spirit, life and we discovered also that we were both adopted. It was totally wild!!!! It was a good way to ground myself as i tried to circle around and settle into a new country...and the serendipitous moments confirmed that i was on the right path.
Chris told me about a place that he walked to- Boudha, which i read about and felt connected with, and i decided to go there the next day. I went for a day visit to one of the world's largest stupas. It is Nepals religious center for a considerable population of Tibetan's. I instantly loved the energy and vibration of the place and had a magical day of having tea with tibetans, ceremonies, blessings from monks, prayers, and so many other profound moments that i knew that i wanted to come back and spend a few days there. It was real Nepal, away from crazy tourist land. The little nook was free of cars, honking, motorbikes, a pestering sales and tour guides. I LOVED IT!!!!
I got back to themel and was trapped one more day and ended up visiting the monkey temple (Monkeys EVERYWHERE) and walking through the jungle and getting a glimpse of Kathmandu and the mountains from way up high! My Nepalese friend Surya (sunrise) took me there and out for real nepalese food. The day was nice and in the end I was ready to move onto the next place as the crazyness of Themel was bogging me down and my sweet nepelese friend was getting too attached.
I arrived in Boudha, checked into a monestary guesthouse just in time when someone checked out early, and made my way to the most local looking resteraunt i could find. I had warm ginger honey tea and fresh fruit with curd and muesili and chatted with a travelor who ended up being a part of one of the most magical, fairytale like days ever! Richard, 56 and a world travelor, told me about all his day trips he has been taking and i asked him to join him for the day. We headrd off on a very packed "bus" out of the city into a village about 30 minutes north. As soon as we leave the city the land opens up to farms and villagers and hay stacks...beautiful! We landed in a village that was timeless. Crumbling buildings, weathered nepalese, colored cloth, children, dirt, earth, carved wood shutters, farm animals, and cobble stones. These villages are like movie sets but the real thing. We stop and talk about our lives and philospophies as a little girl comes over and says hi to us. RIchard has an idea of where he wants to explore, untouched ground from his last adventure there, and i mention following this dirt path that leads passed patterned farms into a tunnel of trees down into the unknown. He has his mind set on his plan and after that discussion the little girl comes skipping over and takes my hand and convinces us, with her friendly hostess way, to follow her down the path to the unkown. I laughed and joyfully joined her. The day has just changed and we walked, dance, laughed, and sang with her for over and hour up and down valleys of farms and villages over plataues and moutnians to her home. It was soooo magical and straight out of a fairy tale. SHe had the purest fun spirit. as we turned of the main path we started walking up a stone stair pathway shaded by trees that went along side old earth looking houses. a goat was at the top waiting to greet us. I felt like a hobbit the whole way. the land, the layers, the colors, the patterns of farms, the haystacks, the fairy girl. It was amazing. we finally reach the top to see her earthen home that was lit inside by a small fire. the cows and goats provided for them and the small garden and lemon tree. we had black tea with her and her brother and sister and learned more about the joy and pains of life as a nepalise. It was OUT OF THIS WORLD. I laugh at the playground of the world and all that happens to me. Richard knew that this experience was the doing of my magic. It was time to head back so we didnt miss the last bus and the little girl came with us all the way back to town. Which by the way is where her school is. she walks 4km to go to school and her brother travels 3 hours a day to go to work. mostly by foot.
On our way down we stopped on a plataue to absorb the magnificent beauty of the day. the little girl and i share a moment and have a deep warm heartfelt hug. We looked into eachothers eyes and she started to cry and asked me not to forget her. I found myself holding back the tears because i felt that i needed to be strong for her, wiped her cheek, looked into her eyes, and told her to be happy. Once again my heart was split open. It was a humble and genuine moment. We headed back into town holding hands and picking flowers said farewell and wandered more around the ancient place with huge smiles, bright hearts and shining spirits. We stopped to eat at a local dark resteraunt, the lights went out (the governement turns the power off at least 4hours a day) and enjoyed a local meal while looking out the window watchng the crescent moon come out and two planets perfectly aligned with it. Truely a priceless experience. We were told the last bus back to "home" was at 6:30..well that was wrong. THere was no more buses to get us out from this far off village and we/i was at such peace with the wonders of the world there was really no reason to worry. some how it works out. after hackeling with a taxi driver who wanted to charge us an arm and a leg and some ruppees for a ride back a private bus with students returning from a picninc offered us a ride....we got the last seats on the bus...the roof with about 12 other students!!!! OF COURSE I thought to myself, now i get to ride on the roof and watch all the stars pop out around the beautiful moon that i am so drawn to while going through the valleys in nepal. PERFECT!!! The ride was pretty exciting as we often had to lay down to avoid wires and trees. We got back to boudha and joined the tibetans on the walked around the stupa. its like jumping on a conveyer belt or an escalator. chanting, praying, singing, swirling energy all around. it was exhilirating. we stepped inside, absorbed all the energy and both said WOW simultaneously as we felt the whole world go through our souls.
The night ended with a meal back at the resteraunt we met at and talked, had tea and organic dark chocolate from colorado (thanks Kurtis!) out in the courtyard at the monestary. we wished each other well on our travels with the open possiblilty that our paths may cross again!
No Plans....the best way!!!!!!!!!!!!
