Sunday September 20, 2009
Normal
0
false
false
false
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) }
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ansi-language:#0400;
mso-fareast-language:#0400;
mso-bidi-language:#0400;}
You’ll never guess how we
started our Sunday morning. Well, maybe
you can. We were up at 5:00 a.m. for
Anne to catch up on school work, but in our quiet corner of the lobby where we had
wireless, we got live feed of the Georgia-Arkansas game. It was not, I must say, like seeing a game in
Sanford Stadium or watching one on the Prokasy’s big screen. But for three desperate nomads, it was a
somewhat close third. What a way to
start a day! Thank you ESPN, and thank
you Dawgs.
Our guide came at 8:30 and
waited until the game was over. He may
be a Georgia
fan now. We drove for an hour seeing
herds of goat and water buffalo gathered for the festival. I won’t elaborate on the sacrifice part as I
am trying to think only that people will have meat for the festival. The ancient city of Bhaktapur is one of the most interesting
destinations so far. Most of the houses here
date from the 16th century, and the Royal Palace
from the 15th century. When
the palace was built, it had 55 windows, a large number for a structure at that
time. Afterwards, no building was
allowed to have 55 or more windows. Temple Square is
dominated by a large, five-story temple, built by the king for his wife. It is now the most popular temple in the
country. Recordings of the chant, Om Mani Padme Hum, were being played all
over the small town. “The Little Buddha” was filmed in Palace Square where we visited the palace
and found the royal bath guarded by a huge cobra very interesting.
Next, and we were all leery
of this, we went to Pashupatinath, the holy cremation site on the river. Both Buddhist and Hindus use this site. When the ceremony is finished, the ashes are
swept into the river. We were horrified
that small children were swimming only a short distance downstream. The guide assured us that they were used to
that water, having bathed and swam in it all their lives.
Lunch was in an upstairs restaurant
looking out on the Bodhnath.Stupha.
Afterwards, we made the ceremonial walk around it’s base.
We had dinner a short
distance from the hotel in a typical local restaurant where you sat on cushions
on the floor. We were entertained by
singers, dancers and large costumed animals.
Lots of food, some of it edible.
