Yesterday was our last bus day...which is probably a good thing because my bus pants need to be washed. We went from Chitwan back to Kathmandu on a nice air conditioned bus, and even got to stop for a lovely buffet lunch. After arriving back in Kathmandu, we went straight back to our hostel - Sanu's House. It was good to be back and we were so excited about eating the food here after our experience with food in Chitwan. Before our dinner, we went for a walk and to do some shopping, though, which meant we were all very dusty and grimy once we arrived back for dinner. Dinner was not a let down; it was delicious and the tea was also just as delicious as we had all remembered it to be.
Today we explored a little more of Kathmandu. We had a nice breakfast, complete with tea, then went to the Bauddha Stupa. This Stupa is one of the largest in the world and one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu. According to our hostel mother, you are supposed to walk around it 108 times in a clockwise direction. We walked around it once, which was enough for me, and I am pretty sure 108 times would take all day and make for some sore muscles.
After visiting the Stupa, we walked around in search of some of the nearby monasteries. We found a couple before we decided to eat lunch instead. We had lunch at a rooftop cafe overlooking the Stupa, a view in Kathmandu that's hard to beat.
After lunch we took a taxi to Pashupanith Temple. We made a friend at the hostel, Eric, who came with us today. He's a 6 foot something guy, so getting all 5 of us into a tiny Suzuki car from the mid-80's was interesting. Pashupanith is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world, and since none of us were Hindu we didn't have access to many of the really cool parts of the complex.
We hadn't done much research on Pashupanith before we went, so we went in the back entrance (like our hostel mom told us to do) walked around for a bit, then were surprised to find cremation ghats right next to the front entrance. There were a couple cremations taking place, which startled us a little, so we didn't stay too long.
We also learned today about the festival of the living goddess and all about the living goddess from our hostel mother. There are apparently 9 goddesses around Kathmandu area. These are real girls that are chosen to be "goddess" when they are between 4 and 7 and then are no longer the goddess once they hit puberty. They are considered to be an actual goddess and some of these 9 goddesses are not even allowed to touch their feet to the ground outside of the monastery they live in. If this is the case, they are carried everywhere by monks. Right now, something called "the pulling" is about to happen in Patan and Kathmandu. This is related to the harvest season; the living goddess will be out during the entire day. We also learned that once the living goddess has aged out of being a goddess, she will still be called by "goddess" and her name, and that she is thought to have special powers if people make her angry. Men don't want to marry a former living goddess, since whenever they mess up they will be cursed.
After all of this learning about history and sightseeing, we ended our day with shopping. Since tomorrow is our last day in Nepal, we had a lot of Nepalese Rupees to get rid of. I can't think of any better way to do that than by shopping.
On our agenda for tomorrow is packing, more shopping, and our first two flights (out of four, eh). For now it's our last night in Nepal and we're enjoying the tea and company at Sanu's House.
Today we explored a little more of Kathmandu. We had a nice breakfast, complete with tea, then went to the Bauddha Stupa. This Stupa is one of the largest in the world and one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu. According to our hostel mother, you are supposed to walk around it 108 times in a clockwise direction. We walked around it once, which was enough for me, and I am pretty sure 108 times would take all day and make for some sore muscles.
After lunch we took a taxi to Pashupanith Temple. We made a friend at the hostel, Eric, who came with us today. He's a 6 foot something guy, so getting all 5 of us into a tiny Suzuki car from the mid-80's was interesting. Pashupanith is one of the most significant Hindu temples of Lord Shiva in the world, and since none of us were Hindu we didn't have access to many of the really cool parts of the complex.
We hadn't done much research on Pashupanith before we went, so we went in the back entrance (like our hostel mom told us to do) walked around for a bit, then were surprised to find cremation ghats right next to the front entrance. There were a couple cremations taking place, which startled us a little, so we didn't stay too long.
We also learned today about the festival of the living goddess and all about the living goddess from our hostel mother. There are apparently 9 goddesses around Kathmandu area. These are real girls that are chosen to be "goddess" when they are between 4 and 7 and then are no longer the goddess once they hit puberty. They are considered to be an actual goddess and some of these 9 goddesses are not even allowed to touch their feet to the ground outside of the monastery they live in. If this is the case, they are carried everywhere by monks. Right now, something called "the pulling" is about to happen in Patan and Kathmandu. This is related to the harvest season; the living goddess will be out during the entire day. We also learned that once the living goddess has aged out of being a goddess, she will still be called by "goddess" and her name, and that she is thought to have special powers if people make her angry. Men don't want to marry a former living goddess, since whenever they mess up they will be cursed.
After all of this learning about history and sightseeing, we ended our day with shopping. Since tomorrow is our last day in Nepal, we had a lot of Nepalese Rupees to get rid of. I can't think of any better way to do that than by shopping.
On our agenda for tomorrow is packing, more shopping, and our first two flights (out of four, eh). For now it's our last night in Nepal and we're enjoying the tea and company at Sanu's House.
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