Happy New Year 2064

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Trip Start Apr 03, 2007 Previous
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  Kathmandu, Nepal
Saturday, April 14, 2007

Yep, its New Years Eve here and tomorrow it will be the year 2064.  We are going to a "party" tonight at Rajesh's house; kinda wondering what exactly a party entails in a corner of the world where bars close at eleven pm and everything else is called "after hours".  Kenzie suggested we show them how Canadians party but something tells me that is not the best idea haha....
On thursday we went for a massive hike. It was seriously one of the hardest hikes I have ever done.  When they say up a mountain, they really mean up a mountain.  We climbed up to 7,000 feet! I couldn't believe it.  At the top there was this little buddhist monastary and people worshipping. It was very serene.  We saw the Monkey Temple, the one we had to walk up all the stairs to get to and it was just this tiny little dot way, way down there.  The view of Kathmandu valley were absolutley phenomenal, unfortunatly though it was too hazy to see any mountain peaks

Amelia, Radha and Rajesh

.  It's a bad time of year for it apparently and it seems a shame to travel all this way and not see one... I know we have a lot of mountains at home but still.... Oh well, I will just think positively and hope for the best.  On the way down the mountain Rajesh gave us all shopping bags and we picked up a lot of litter; this made me feel very eco-friendly, as well as knowing that my mum would be proud.  We came down a different path that we went up and walked thorugh a little village that had fields and fields of flowers and lots of little babies running around.  I again thought of how nice it is to have a permanent guide to take us places that we might not normally see. This program is so great! And Rajesh laughs a lot and sounds like Dr. Hibbert from the Simpsons.
The following day we went to Bouddanath which has one of the largest Buddhist stupas in the world, and Pashupathi which is a cluster of Hindu temples near a river where they burn the bodies of the deceased.  I steeled myself for a shock, I have never seen a real dead body before, but it was actually quite peaceful.  We saw all the fires but you can't really see limbs sticking out or anything, and the one dead body we did see was all covered up.  It actually seemed like a nice place to have your remains scattered...
Today was another day off (saturday is the main day off here, they only have one) so Amelia and I decided to do laundry

Cremation Fires at Pashupathi

.  I guess you really appreiate the cleanliness a lot more when you have to spend the better part of two hours hunched over a bucket of soapy water.  There I was sweating like a pig, flies all over my feet and swearing like a trucker in the burning sun.  I did bring two pairs of lululemons so I guess I am ensuring the longevity of my clothes by "hand washing in cold water" haha but man what I wouldn't have given for a washing machine in that moment!!
We have one more class tomorrow, then all the girls must go their seperate ways to our respective placement schools.  It will be strange to leave my roomie Amelia who I have grown so accustomed to but good for a change as well.  I have already met my new headmaster whose family I will be staying with on the school grounds.  He seems very nice and reassured me that they have had heaps of volunteers before, that the other teachers would help me and that "teaching is easy." So we shall see... I am excited though and ready for a new challenge.  The school is on the outskirts of Kathmandu city in a place called Koteshwor; apparently it is in a very tranquil grove, so it will be nice to get out of the city for awhile.  I will be there for the next five weeks or so with a break for our village trek, then I will finish with our rafting trip and jungle safari (yay!). I am thinking I will stay untill the end of June as Amelia and I have hatched a few plans to go Pokhara and a few other places on our own afterwards.  And then I will be heading directly to Portugal and Italy afterwards.  I plan to stay away as long as the money holds out and here it seems to last especially long...
I feel more contented then I have in awhile, its strange to be so far from the people that love you but knowing they are there, however far, is enough.  This life feels more comfortable then the one I was living the past year, so I know I am exactly where I should be.....

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Flower Fields

Saddhus at Pashupathi

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