Crowne Plaza Hotel Kathmandu-Soaltee

... of his reincarnation who I will meet in a month or two when he returns from retreat in Bhutan. Should be exciting. Getting outside the city was very uplifting and it is really a beautiful region. At times I could even make out the towering Himalayas through the smog but I think that experience is being saved for later. That should be amazing. I love mountains. All in all things seem to ...

... food (momo dumplings and soup) at a cheap Tibetan restaurant and after played pool. Today I met an Israeli guy who was in Kolkata with me. I keep meeting people I know from the trip here.. much more than in Israel ! Today I am going to buy music for my Ipod, read and pack. Tomorrow I have a flight for Delhi so I have to eat alot of good pastries, cakes and Tibetan food until then.<br>

It probably should have occurred to me that if there was a school strike yesterday, it may mean that I would not have to work today at the school. I thought it was only high school though. Guess not.<br><br>I've decided to go exploring today though the task seems daunting but I should be able to find the Buddhist monastery that I have heard about not far from here - a 45 minute walk at most. <br><br>I woke up at ...

... From the beginning of time the practice of worshipping an ordinary pre-pubescent girl as a source of supreme power has been an integral part of both Hinduism and Buddhism, a tradition which continues even to this day virtually in every household. They call this girl Kumari Devi and worship her on all the religious occasions. The young kumari gets a fairly raw deal in life though. The selection of the living goddess is quite an interesting one, it's a highly elaborate tantric ritual ...

... town in Nepal. We drank BrainBusters late into the evening until we eventually got thrown out of the bar when a couple of local people started a bar fight. We were perfectly happy to skip back to the hotel at this point. Everyone was merry despite our rude departure, and the evening ended veryvery well.<br> <br> The remainder of my days spent in Kathmandu was spent enjoying the company of the fantastic group of people I have had the pleasure of traveling with for the past ...

... the spectators to my hotel owner when he asked me about my day; he smiled and said, "Yes, it's a very relaxing place." And the whole vibe at Dakshinkali was "fun day out." It was festive and happy. Whole families were there. They had picnics. <br><br>The first thing you notice about Dakshinkali is the line of people (hundreds) waiting for (must be) hours to get into a tiny temple and behead their animals. Around the temple are sadhus who give people ...

... that much better. <br><br>The sessions continued regularly from about 2PM until 6AM the following morning. My mouth and lips were dry and parched...I had a few bottles of water but even small sips brought violent consequences. Should I seek out a hospital? I was supposed to catch my bus at 7:30AM, so I went ahead and packed, checked out and started walking the few km to the bus station. I told myself if I could make it there with my pack, I would get on the bus and hope for the ...

... of which there are many) almost everyone in the streets of Thamel (the area of Kathmandu to which virtually all foreigners gravitate and in which we are staying) seems to be after money. Although a firm shake of the head is all that's required to get the message across that you don't want to buy tiger balm, daggers, backgammon sets, funny springy ring things, flutes or rickshaw or rides, it becomes a bit trying when you are stopped every few seconds by a vendor of one of these ...