Forgive my not remembering the names of all the sights, its late and i dont want to disturb any one. Tomorrow we wake up at 5:30 for a 6 hour bus ride to the beginning of our trail. We then hike 4-5 hours and end up at our first village where we will have a celebration with the locals. Im excited about this trip. its put together by locals and Dr. T who support eco-tourism. We learned about the organization that is responsible for building and bringing health care, education, development tools and cultural enrichment to over 1000 villages! I still have allot to work out what exactly they do but Im looking into volunteering at a school for 3-6 months maybe after thailand if i can figure out the travle situation..
SO today we visited three hold sights. The first was one of the more famous shiva temples in Nepal and also a old empire of sorts, with a palace and other gold stuff. We got to see an art school that does traditional Nepal art which, names escapes me, that tells the stories of Buddha and the paths to enlightenment. It takes 12 years to become a master working for 7-10 hours 6 days a week. They use brushes that have one to five hairs in them and a master painting can take months to years! they were beautiful and i was ready for them to leave me there. During lunch we witnessed a rally for the return of Maoism (sp?) aka communism. It was so strange to see red flags with the hammer and sycle and people shouting. I suppose growing up in America there is no way i could be unbiased but i think we are taught to distrust and even hate communism. Im also reading a book on Soviet Russia which is very depressing and made me even more skeptical. ALso saw pottery making.
The second holy site was where thy cremate the bodies of the dead then throw the ash into the holy river which connects to the Ganges (SP? holy river in India) Pretty powerful yet a little strange to breath the "BBQ" as Dr T said of humans. The river is so dirty! I cant believe how much trash is thrown into a holy place! Its a matter of awarenessi suppose. ten years ago they threw banana peels and nothing happen so why is plastic different? they are not raised to think about next generation or health when its all they can do to survive today. The bodies are burned in order of caste system, the further up the river the higher caste you are. In 2008 ( i think..) one of the princes went crazy and shot 13 members of the royal family, his siters wife father everyone.. Many believe it was a conspiracy but its claimed he had unrequited love. They burned them all at once and was a huge day of morning for Nepal.
Next the largest Stupa in Nepal and maybe the world. a stupa is an upsidedown bowl shaped building thats solid inside with some decoration on the top. surrounded by prayer wheels its a Buddhist temple. I led Mayrav, the bind isralie women joining us for the trek, around a bit and got to experience through her different senses besides sight. She is so brave to be treking in the Mountains and traveling by herself I am so excited to see how our relationship develops and how she adds to the trek. Well im tried and how to pack, hopefully more info coming soon if i can find internet.
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