Nargarkot to Bhaktapur

With every intention of escaping Kathmandu ASAP we decided to head up to Nargarkot, a mountain about a two hour drive outside the city with supposed views of distant snow capped mountains. A woman I worked with at the British Council suggested a place to stay called the Fort Resort and it really was a superb stay. Both Luhan and I are incredibly picky about our hotel choices as those that have traveled with us before probably know. Both of us have had our days of roughin' it, but it's comfort we seek now. The Fort has a one main building and stone cottages spread out over the mountain side. Anyway, the Fort turned out to be the best place we stayed during the whole trip. Set up about 7,000 ft both the sunrise and sunset are something to be seen as you actually look down on the clouds and mountains. We stayed there for two days and basically just read books and relaxed in the sun.

Heading out of Nargarkot we wanted to check out the ancient city of Bhaktapur. I thought it was within striking distance by foot, after a grueling 6 hour hot, sun baked walk we gave up and hitched a ride. The people of Bhaktapur still lead an almost pure indigenous lifestyle, in this city built in the 15th century. It really is a pleasant place, but the motorcycles just kill it. Back to Kathmandu, then off to Pokhara.

Back in the dust covered, glue sniffing Kathmandu

Quick, how many things are wrong with this picture to the right? I saw this beauty on the wall of a restaurant.

My friend J sent me an email a few days ago with a link about the glue sniffing gangs in Kathmandu. Now, I've seen this in person on my way to pick up Luhan at the airport, but the kids were like 8 - 10 years old, max. From the window of my taxi I saw a few young kids fighting over what I thought was candy. Then I saw one of them huffing a brown paper bag in and out. Another kid quickly grabbed it and frantically tried to inhale some more fun and the cab driver pointed and said they were bad boys. The most disturbing part about it was how many people were around not giving a flying fart. I guess these kids grow up to become the ones in the article and the ones that design the above wall hanging.

So, in the past few weeks we've been spoiled like the rich, shit on like the poor and at one point stranded for two days. The temperature has been so hot and cold so quickly it's hard to figure out what to wear. I must say that the world that exists within the Himalayan mountains should be seen before you die. I'm going to make three more short posts just to break it up a little, that way it won't be so boring and there will be more pictures, because after all everyone just looks at the pictures anyway.

MIKO Noodles

I kept seeing this commercial for MIKO Noodles on TV, it kept repeating over and over again. The advert was at least a minute long. It was basically a story involving this old Japanese guy slurping noodles. When I went out to get some things at the little store near us I discovered the MIKO noodles and was easily sold by the advertisement. They cost 15 Nepalise Rupees, .02 USD. They were worth each penny, let me tell you. They claim to use Japanese technology...impressive.

Monkey temple

Headed out to the Monkey Temple a few days ago. My Colleague Zak and I hired one of the hundreds of rickshaw drivers to haul us out there. After bargaining for a fair price we settled on this tiny little guy, though at the time we didn't think much of his size. On two occasions we had to get out because he got stuck in some mud. It was actually quite a terrible ride because there was so much dust you basically had to close your eyes and try and cover your mouth. In total it took about 40 minutes or so before he let us off at the bottom of a steep hill and near the entrance of the temple.

On the way there I saw some pretty horrific scenes of poverty and pollution mingling together in ways I never thought was possible. I photographed a couple of things that stuck out, but it would be quite rude and uncomfortable to take pictures of many of the other things I saw.

Soon after the rickshaw let us off we walked over a small bridge with a stagnant river passing underneath it. I could smell the water from above and it wasn't a pleasant smell to say the least. Never have I seen so much garbage, all piled on the banks of the river and in the river itself. What's more, looking down the river a bit I could see women and children swimming or bathing in the water. A picture of this is in the post as well as one from another account on the way back in which a giant cow decided to lay down in a pile of garbage and mud causing a traffic jam.

Now, the temple (Swayambhunath) was quite interesting being one of the oldest holy sites in Nepal. What I found most interesting was the fact that monkeys, stray dogs, pigeons, homeless people, orphans and monks could all live together and only fight a little.

First impressions: Kathmandu

Kathmandu, a city of about a million and a half people. Traffic lights and traffic rules for that matter are apparently absent, cows and yaks roam the streets in competition with stray dogs for a few measly scraps left in piles of colorful garbage brushed up against the side of street curbs. And the cars, bicycles and motorcycles scream by in clouds of exhaust fumes that just about make you gag. All this with a beautiful back drop of the picturesque, often cloud covered Himalaya mountains endlessly stretching, slicing clouds at the edges of the valley hinting at some notion of nature, fresh air and cleanliness.

When we exited the plane into Kathmandu airport it reminded me a bit of south America, minimal, dire need of remodeling and stale. As we walked through a long hall to where I presumed the VISA processing station would be a small peculiar looking Nepali man waited anxiously with a bouquet of flowers. He was sweating and I could tell he was nervous, even from far away because he seemed to be almost shaking. As I got closer he suddenly shouted, "Your Excellence!" and forced the flowers into, no not me, but the chest of what I think was a Korean man decked out in an over sized conservative suit, the kind republicans wear. The whole thing scared the shit out of me because as this happened a security guard stuck out his arm and stopped me and a few others from moving forward and possibly disrupting this incredibly awkward scene. I looked for the Korean man who was probably some sort of government official while I waited in line for my VISA, but he mysteriously disappeared most likely through some secret exit. 'Your Excellence' is easily my new favorite way to great someone, absolutely astounding.

From here on I haven't been out too much because I'm working. But I snapped a few pictures, one from my apartment and some random street shots. I heard there is a casino in the hotel beside my apartment building with free drinks and dinner. I'm quite tempted by this. I'll be out and about soon enough as I have about six weeks here, so rest assured you can look forward to some more posts.

Plenty of things to do in Beijing

As of a few months ago LuHan has been working for a British NGO as a translator, interpreter, and project developer. One of the projects they have is called "One Plus One." To make a long story short, it's basically a full fledged radio station operated entirely by blind people.

One of the things they were working on was finding a theme song for their radio station. They contacted some studios and it was quite expensive. So, LuHan told them that I could probably write, record and produce it for half the price. You guys know I get quite a kick out of doing stuff like this, so I couldn't pass it up. In the end, I made three versions. You can listen to one here.

Disabled Dog

I snapped this with my phone today on my way to get lunch. This dog actually ran up beside me and I gave it some lovin'. I don't think it was able to really understand the fact that it's hind legs were turned into wheels. The dog had full mobility, turning, running, stopping, sniffing...