Chillin in Kathmandu

Haven't done a whole lot for the last few days but relax and explore Kathmandu, We went to a Stupa a few days ago on the top of a big hill, and there was monkeys everywhere! One jumped on the bench when Doe was eating bananas and grabbed at her arm, so she got up and squealed and the monkey snatched the entire bunch, we videotaped him eating them all.

Yesterday I met a beautiful old man named Kurt, he is 75 years old, grew up in Switzerland, and has been substance farming in the Australian outback since the 1970's, and lived in India in 1953. He had a long white beard and electric blue eyes, as he was so blind he couldn't recognize me or my facial expressions. He moved to Rishikesh India a few months ago to study aryuvedic herbs and came to Nepal for a few days to apply for a new Indian visa and once he got here he knew this had to be the place to stay and study. He told me about how it is to look for land here, and his plans for organic farming and natural irrigation methods. He told me so many amazing ideas and gave me references for different alternative farming methods. And if all goes well he might hook us up with a friend of his in Rishikesh for us to stay with.

Last night was the first big festival night of Du-wali, the festival of lights. There are candles everywhere and lights and flags hanging all over the street from side to side. People decorate their stores with blinds made from garlands of marigolds, and offerings are placed outside the front door with a long trail of brown/red colour leading up the front steps, weaving through the shops and homes and ending somewhere significant inside a room. Youth light of fire crackers every minute and just toss them into the middle of human/motor traffic! It is reminiscent of x-mas, as there is ever carolers that go door to door.

We will probably head out of Kathmandu in the next 3 or 4 days, but not before visiting and the
Boudnanth Stupa.

Shangri La-tea-da!

We arrived in Kathmandu 2 nights ago, after a long 2 day bus ride from Varanasi. The bus seats had such small leg room that everyone in the isle seats had to sit sideways to fit in. After a long 7:30am to 9:30pm bus ride from Varansi we stayed the night in a nasty little hotel right on the border inside Nepal. The next morning we rode from 6am to 4pm through the lush mountains of Nepal into the Kathmandu Valley. The scenery was amazing, the road twisted around sharp angles right on the cliff side as it winded its way up thru the mountains along side a river. The mountains are covered in lush green jungle canopy with vines and massive boudlers, and several stream size waterfalls could be seen pouring from the tops of each mountain right down to the river or road side. I fell in love with Nepal at first sight.

The traffic is bad and the pollution is thick in the city. The city streets are very different from India's, aren't any tuk-tuks, only a few cycle rickshaws, way more cars, and faster motor bikes. The only street animals are fuzzy docile dogs, much bulkier than their Indian counterparts. There are many signs hanging off the walls in the streets [click for photo] and many quality vendors of brass work, wood carvings, tradition instruments, warm clothing, and trekking equipment. he only new annoyance is having dreadlocked holy men [Sadhus] coming up to me on the street, placing a flower in my hair and red bindi on my forehead then demanding 200 rupees!

We are thinking about staying in the Kathmandu Valley for another 5 days or so to see all the amazing world heritage sites. Then heading to Pakora in the west to do some class V white water rafting, and maybe a 5 day or so trek deeper into the massive Himalayas. With some other options such as canyoning, rapelling down the face of waterfalls, and bungee swinging down a big cliff!

Much Love,
Logan.

P.S. Kalan, email me asap, my account works now. Natureofmind@gmail.com

Kashi the Radiant... and smelly

[This post was written a few days ago but took till now to post]

Varanasi is an amazing place. It has all the hustle and congestion of Delhi but much more flavor and character. As one would expect from one of the oldest living cities in the world and the most sacred city in all of India. We spent our first three nights in a nice western style hotel since it was part of our tour package but last night we were on our own. We found a nice guest house in the old part of the city right along side the Mother Ganga [the Ganges for 100 Rs per night! The streets in the old city are only about 3 meters wide at most, so cars don't fit but that doesn't stop the motor bikes and scooters from buzzing along beside you. The streets wrap and wind in every direction with no apparent order, constantly forking out into two or more roads and converging back to one. From the roof top of any restaurant our hotel you can see the whole city, and down into the homes and courtyards of neighboring families. It is almost like a scene from Aladdin, and you could travel the city easily jumping from roof top to roof top. At night you can see large packs of monkeys doing this in a unfufiling search for food.

A young man just walked into the internet cafe burning some frankincense, he stood by the door and wafted it towards me with a feather and then walked out without a word being said.

Our first night in Kashi [as Varanasi is called by the devout, meaning the city that radiates light] we walked down the the famous ghats. Which are long staircases that start at street level and the descent down to the river. During monsoon the water rises up to nearly street level and submerges most of the ghats, and during the late winter when the river is at its lowest, the stairs go down about 3 or 4 stories until they touch the sacred river's banks. The ghats are where people gather to do laundry, take a sacred bath [believed to absolve all sin and bad karma, which it think is incredibly ignorant], launch boats, have picnics, and at designated ghats; burn the dead.

We asked our Tuk Tuk driver, Raj, if we could go and watch the funeral ceremonies and were surprised with how open to the public and tourists these cremations are. We sat down on a bench right beside one family who were witnessing a loved one's cremation. Everyone is dressed in all white as is tradition here. There was 4 bodies burning on top of the pyres, about 30 feet from us, and one was being set up about 20 feet infront of us. Young boys of the lowest caste [untouchables] stacked logs about 4 feet high and then the family got off the bench beside us and covered the body in glittery gold silk and placed it on top. A man came down with some smoldering dry grass, lit off the eternal flame in a nearby temple, and with this he started the pyre on fire from the bottom. He then lit all the clothing on fire and the silk around the head burst into flames. We watched for about 2 hours as the massive pyres with 5 foot flames slow shrank into piles of ash, and the bodies blended in with charred wood. It felt amazing to be dripping with sweat from the heat of a funeral pyre. Every once in a while a man would push the body around with a long bamboo shaft. They bashed the skull really hard about 4 or 5 times to crack it open or else it won't burn. At the end they collect the little pieces of bone that don't burn, and toss them into the Ganga. Raj explained that on a man's body the central rib cage infront of the heart is the part that wont break down, and on a woman it is their hips. I found this very poetic.

Homesickness is starting to set in, but in a subtle and comfortable way. Example; when I look at a clock I think about what time it is in Calgary, and what my Mom, Brother, and Father might be up to. When basking in the beauty of trees foreign to my eyes, or observing the subtle flora such as the grass or the flowers, my mind always takes me to the tall yellow grass prairies with pink and yellow flowers in fish creek, or the massive pine trees that grow everywhere, or to my favorite... the apple tree in my front yard. The two people that I miss most actually are my Brother, and Hector, whom I hadn't seen for months before I left Calgary. Im very excited to breathe the cold dry air and see the glowing whiteness of everything in late December.

Three days ago we went to the ancient place of Sarnath. The Place where the historical Buddha, after finding himself, went to teach his first lesson, the four noble truths, to a crowd five peers, the first Buddhists. The monasteries have been in ruins for thousand years, and the only thing that stands is a massive Stupa built by a old Buddhist king.

tomorrow morning we are gonna get up early to catch the sunrise, and take a boat ride out on the massive Mother Ganga. On the 10th we are catching a bus to Nepal, it stops at a border town in India where we will stay the night, and we will arrive in Katmandu on the 12th!

Much Love to everyone.