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Sat 27 Oct
Finally, after all these hours travelling I have landed in Nepal and all of a sudden I am not petrified but unbelievably excited! I can't wait to get on that flight to Lukla and get on the trail although my bravdo may well fail once I have actually seen this huge lump of rock and ice.....
I am staying in a lovely hotel with check this out, hot water and a western toilet! I have never had it so good, especially when I woke up this morning relieved to find myself free of bed bugs..... I have met some of the team but there are only 4 of us here chilling ut early but the rest arrive tomorrow. It starts soon! :-)
Sun 28 Oct
Today we took another crazy taxi ride to a Nepalese medieval city called Bhaktapur. It is still a working city so heading away from the tourist streets led us to some pretty colourful and nasty areas which was great to see but not so nice to smell..... The city is very funky as it is filled to the brim with wooden careved temples and stone statues of animals, often doing some rather graphic things! (the 'erotic elephant temple' for one) Really cool and I managed to not purchase some silver door handles shaped as cobras which I thought would look awesome on a wardrobe but guess I best not get ahead of myself! hahaha However, I must dash as it is now dinner time and I haven't eaten anything all day other than a fruity yoghurt shake....I am so responsible, eh?
Mon 29 Oct
Sooo, the exped has officially started! We are all here and looking forward to getting going. We had a group day today going to a very important Hindu temple where there is a hostel that the very elderly go for their final days and once they have gone they get cremated by the Holy (or skanky...) River Bagmati so their askes can be swept into the water ready to float away to India. While we were there we saw a couple of cremations and it was beautiful but very gross at the same time and didn't smell very nice!
There is also a series of 11 temples there to represent the windows that threw themselves onto the fire of their late husbands cremation. This was initially legally enforced as well! The place was also full of Holy Men covered in yellow paint and looking like a bunch of stoners. It is impossible to tell the difference between the real men who sacrificed everything including their family for religion and the fakers who are there simply to rake in the cash from photos. very sad indeed....
After, we went to Bodnath which is a huge and massively important Buddhist temple. It was so beautiful with buddah's all-seeing eyes looking down on you from every side and streams of prayer flags everywhere. It is where the Tibetan Culture is free and uninhibited so the monks wander from the many monastries in their flowing burgundy robes. Very very amazing
Whilst there I got a blessing from a monk and now I wear the red cord around my neck with pride. I am sure I will build up a collection by the time I reach the mountain....(I am taking every bit of luck I can get!)
It was such an amazing place and a great way to finish the easy bit of the exped. It is officially the last day here and tomorrow morning we are on the first flight to Lukla and then our long trek to the mountain. Wish me luck!!
- comments
Sameer Hi Michelle, I am sure you will get to see more of the same thing during the expedition.... so enjoy! Good luck. Have fun, and keep your mean streak under control. :D Bye
Silvia Crystal Hi , Neepal is great location , if you are not visited this place yet then plan it as soon , i recently visited this place through cheap flights , thanks
catherinetramell good travel experience of travel in Nepal.. use beautiful image..