We chose the rocky path. Halfway up, under a relentless sun, three of us decided to turn back. I was disappointed our stamina had waned. I didn’t want to miss the Rimpoche’s blessing. We had come this far, but Jim assured us, “Save your energy for tomorrow’s ceremonial dances.” I demurred. The following day we [...]
Few people stumble into Nepal by accident. Jim had an ongoing love affair with the mountains and its Sherpa inhabitants. Susan had begun a jewelry business in California. Rick was Buddhist so for him coming to Nepal was a pilgrimage. My husband, Chris, and I were just plain curious. I had one problem (aside from [...]
We hiked along a wide, well-trodden path connecting Phaplu to Saleri (about forty minutes at a leisurely pace). On Saturday market day, the thoroughfare would swell with a flow of porters, merchants carrying produce, monks riding horseback, and local townsfolk, but this day, we had most of the road to ourselves. We followed its dips [...]
The Hotel del Sherpa, our home base for the next six days, brought eclecticism to new heights of grandeur. A cross between a four star Swiss ski resort and a painstakingly frescoed Buddhist monastery, this lodge embraced the best of spiritual aura and creature comforts – woodburning stoves and a fireplace in the main living/dining [...]
First Impressions My first time in Assan, the shopping district I have been here for two weeks now and have not yet ventured out of Kathmandu. I am trying to learn the language a little better before I set out anywhere. Anyone who tells you it is an easy language to pick up is lying. [...]
First Impressions My first time in Assan, the shopping district I have been here for two weeks now and have not yet ventured out of Kathmandu. I am trying to learn the language a little better before I set out anywhere. Anyone who tells you it is an easy language to pick up is lying. [...]
Namaste everyone, I love Kathmandu. I am sorry, but I do. Without doubt it has been the most tourist-orientated city so far, unquestionably the most expensive. Despite all this, despite myself, I have been seduced by it’s filter coffees, it’s sit-down loos and it’s supermarkets selling Gillette shaving blades and Werther’s Original sweets. Yesterday evening [...]
Namaste All, Like an infection, I seemed to pick up some bad karma in India. In Agra, while walking around the Taj Mahal in the 43°C heat, I caught bronchitis. The following morning I woke early and took a cycle rickshaw to the station in time to catch my 1st Class air-conditioned – with free [...]
