I'm on vacation!

  Kathmandu, Nepal
Sunday, September 17, 2006

I'm on vacation!! All the other trips I have taken out here have just been on days off. Now I have about 6 weeks to travel in and around Nepal. I am staying in a neighbohood called Thamel that has crazy streets croweded with shops and people.

Thamel

Spent the day sightseeing around Kathmandu. Started the day at Swayambhunath also know as the Monkey Temple. This picture is from walking up the stairs where there are plenty of monkeys.

Swayambhunath

After that I headed south of town to a smaller town called Patan where an annual festival was going on--locals dressed in traditional clothing parading through the town to the temples.

Patan

Next I headed about 30 minutes east of Kathmandu to a town called Bhaktapur. It is a very old and much quiter town where cars are not allowed. They are know for their wood carving window frames in the buildings.

Bhaktapur

Then back to Kathmandu to some temples on the east side of the city. A crazy monk at Pashumpatinath, a Hindu temple where the locals bring their dead to be cremated. The stupa at Bodhnath. You see this type of stupa all around this area.

Pashumpatinath

Bodhnath

Tomorrow I leave for a 2 day white water rafting trip, and then spend about a week travelling in Nepal. The song I picked for this trip is "Om Mani Padme Hum" which is a Buddhist chant. This is the six syllable mantra of compassion of the Buddha Chenrezig, who vowed not to enter enlightenment until he had liberated all sentient beings from the sufferings of the different realms of samsara (the eternal cycle of birth, suffering, death and rebirth). He is highly respected by the Tibetan and Sherpa people. The literal translation is "Oh hail to the jewel in the lotus flower". Thus as lotus flowers grow out of the muddy stagnant water, we too can grow out of our fear, ignorance, delusion etc, by placing the jewel of the teachings of the Buddha into ourselves. In this way we can reveal our perfect Buddha nature like a beautiful lotus flower. Saying the mantra invokes the blessings of Buddha Chenrezig. I heard this chant and song in all of the countries I visited on this trip.