Saturday, May 14, 2011

" Go " Kathmandu


Nine months have passed since we returned from our year of traveling. How is that possible? We are amazed by how easily we fell back into the routine of our daily existence: work, family, and friends. The hardest adjustment has been being back on a schedule. Everything is scheduled: get up, have a shower, make breakfast, drive to work, come home, cut the grass, go grocery shopping, cook dinner, clean up etc. etc. So, we are thrilled to be going to Asia for the first time, and we are really looking forward to NOT being on a schedule again.
The first leg of our journey started with a 13-hour flight to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific. Our 3:00 am departure time looked promising. We were hoping we’d be so tired that sleep would be come easily. The reality: it’s almost impossible to get more than five hours sleep in economy without the aid of medication. It was raining when we arrived in Hong Kong. We cleared immigration and headed out into the airport to find a hotel. We were delighted with the traveler’s lounge we found. We rented a twin bedded room with a shower for six hours and went to sleep. By the time our flight left at 5:30 pm, we were somewhat refreshed. We flew to Dhaka, Bangladesh, endured a two-hour flight delay, and arrived in Kathmandu at midnight.
Our first day in Kathmandu was a holiday. Unlike many other visitors, we knew nothing about it. Holi is a Hindu festival, which celebrates colour. It involves people throwing coloured powder and coloured water at each other. As soon as we left the bed and breakfast and entered the street we were nailed by children throwing bags of coloured water. It was like being in a giant paintball game (except that we were unarmed). They came from everywhere: street level, balconies, rooftops, and the backs of scooters. It would have been a good day to hide out inside, but it was a fascinating cultural event and a photographers dream. The streets were alive with music and dancing. We spent about four hours wandering around before Lynda called it a day. She came out of it relatively unscathed. It seems her “teacher voice” is effective in a variety of situations. Craig, to get those shots, had to endure the “pay back.”
Festival Pictures
Kathmandu is a busy, crowded, noisy city. Pedestrians share the streets with animals, rickshaws, bicycles, cars, trucks and carts. Driving is organized chaos. One has to get used to the incessant honking of horns. In North America, people honk their horns in anger or frustration. In Nepal, people honk to let you know they are there. We were so happy that we didn’t have to drive. One day we hired a car and driver and he took us to four of the major tourist sights around Kathmandu. We went to: Bhaktapur (a medieval city in the Kathmandu valley), Pashupatinath (a Hindu temple and cremation site) Bodhnath (the largest Buddhist stupa in Nepal) and Swayambhunath, also known as The Monkey Temple (an ancient Buddhist pilgrimage site). It was a fascinating and educational day.
After five days and four nights, we were ready to leave the city and start trekking. We awoke early and, along with our guide Dharma, caught the tourist bus to Pokhara. Even though Pokhara is a mere 200 kilometres from the capital, the trip takes nine-hours. Like everything in Nepal, the journey is part of the adventure.

Our Pictures

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

On your mark, get set....

We are eight months post-year off and ready to set out on another adventure. In less than three weeks we will be on our way to Nepal for a month. Our desire to travel and experience the world has not diminished. We consider ourselves to be very fortunate, yet we have chosen this path.

Friends in Ontario recently sent us this article from the Globe and Mail. Perhaps there is some truth in it.