We went to church at an international church...people from all over the world. Then, we went to lunch with friends of Tae Hun at a Japanese restaurant...ate Nepali food - very delicious ( Japenese food is known to be 'bland' to others, exactly right for my taste buds)!!
I have the most gracious tour guide imaginable...we went to the old city center of Kathmandu where The King's Palace is...Kathmandu is over 2,000 years old and the buildings date back to the 14th century... It was amazing, I have included some pictures.
We missed the living goddess, but went into her courtyard...a seven year old girl...you can read more about this belief here, if you are interested... http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/kumari.php
We shopped a bit...fascinating...this is like the clothing district of New York City...all of the shops around the valley go here to buy for their stores. It was so colorful.
I was wrong about the dirt roads...that is only in the suburbs, so to speak, there are many main roads that are paved, but the traffic is the same...when there are lines (probably put their by some westerner who doesn't understand Nepali traffic) they are ignored. It is a very very calm chaos, if you understand what is happening. I looked up some you-tubes and many people call it crazy and insane...our perspectives are skewed by our experiences. Do we organize ourselves out of relationships and care for each other? I am still amazed by the lack of anger and the intense consideration for each other and for foreigners.
Today we are flying to Pochara...the second biggest city in Nepal...where we will (God willing) get to see the largest mountain range in the world (8 of the 10 tallest mountains, include Mt Everest and K2). Hopefully, Wed will be a motorcycling day.
I have the most gracious tour guide imaginable...we went to the old city center of Kathmandu where The King's Palace is...Kathmandu is over 2,000 years old and the buildings date back to the 14th century... It was amazing, I have included some pictures.
We missed the living goddess, but went into her courtyard...a seven year old girl...you can read more about this belief here, if you are interested... http://www.visitnepal.com/nepal_information/kumari.php
We shopped a bit...fascinating...this is like the clothing district of New York City...all of the shops around the valley go here to buy for their stores. It was so colorful.
I was wrong about the dirt roads...that is only in the suburbs, so to speak, there are many main roads that are paved, but the traffic is the same...when there are lines (probably put their by some westerner who doesn't understand Nepali traffic) they are ignored. It is a very very calm chaos, if you understand what is happening. I looked up some you-tubes and many people call it crazy and insane...our perspectives are skewed by our experiences. Do we organize ourselves out of relationships and care for each other? I am still amazed by the lack of anger and the intense consideration for each other and for foreigners.
Today we are flying to Pochara...the second biggest city in Nepal...where we will (God willing) get to see the largest mountain range in the world (8 of the 10 tallest mountains, include Mt Everest and K2). Hopefully, Wed will be a motorcycling day.
Ancient King's Palace...
I love the design of the windows...light without access...humans, birds or even flies would need to really concentrate to get in.
Entrance to the court yard of the 'living goddess'
Shrines, shrines and more shrines with lots and lots of pigeons...
This is an inspiration for worship, but the explanation is gone from my brain...
Shopping district...
Worshippers
It's not only the clothing district of Kathmandu that is colorful--all of your pictures are bursting with color!
ReplyDeleteMaybe the drivers there are kind and considerate because kindness and gentleness is a part of their culture. They don't need traffic rules because they would just naturally work things out. Here, we tend to be more egocentric; we need the rules so we don't forget to look out for the other guy. However, saying that, I love order, so Kathmandu's calm chaos would probably give me jitters.
Beautiful pictures and lovely insight to the culture there Joy! It reaffirms my belief that human beings are intrinsically kind and loving. That the "rules" often keep us from connecting and reaching out to one another. I love the colorfulness! Off to look up the "living godess". Thank you for sharing! Enjoy your ride!
ReplyDeleteI'll expect the BEST pictures from Pokara! I had a great first day at the school!
ReplyDelete