NEPAL!

Nepal 6-4-12 As soon as we flew in landed and I got in the cab I knew I was going to love this place! It’s green, there are mountains, lots of water and very happy people. A relaxing break from India. But saying that now that I’ve traveled for a bit more after leaving India I really do miss Incredible India. As hot and crazy as it was I loved India! I can’t wait to go back again and explore more. I was easily picked up from the airport and taxied to the hotel I would be staying in. met up with a mutual friend of my cousins and explored Kathmandu. Less trash on the main streets, but apparently very dusty (I don’t think so because I feel like I can breath deep clean air). Have I mentioned that I really like motorbikes? We went to a pool/ apartment building and then moseyed our way back to the hotel. Saying hello of course to my cousin’s good friend Shailendra, whom has hooked me up with a guy who is normally a guide for people passing through Nepal. The group dinner was entertaining as it had a cultural dance and culturally sensitive food. Very touristy, but an experience worth having. I even jumped up at the end and danced a little, once invited. Stayed up late having drinks with some of the group members. A lot of people from Australia travel Asia. A lot of people! Morning Krish and I are off to Pokahara, via plane. This small village is filled with a lot of western people and I think a jumping off point for some smaller treks. There is a lake in between the village and the mountains that have a stupa and many farming houses. Krish and I got a colorful wooden canoe to take to the other side and hike to the stupa. The hike wound around the hills leaving me with breath taking views of the water and town bellow. Once we reached the top my face was red as a tomato. The stupa had large stairs to climb and a beautiful story of Buddha around the center. We got some black tea at the top to relax and take in what we were seeing and back down we went. Whistling all the way down. We had a late dinner in the afternoon and another really late dinner around eleven at night. I got to practice my utensils eating skills. I wasn’t too bad… 7-4-12 I’m going paragliding!! …but the clouds look a little too shabby today. So no go. We try tomorrow and hope it rains today. We met up with a friend of Krish and joined a local bus to get to the end of the lake for a new experience. I got to experience eating some Nepalese bbq with popcorn rice. AND IT FINALLY RAINED!! I was so excited I ran around a little bit to celebrate. This rain meant that it would be clear tomorrow. And so it was beautiful! Plus I haven’t seen rain in a month and I was very happy to feel the coolness that comes with rain. We eat dinner with the friends group and drinks afterwards.

8-4-12 PARAGLIDING today! No ifs, whats, or nos about it. I am leaving today from Pokahara so this is my last chance to go paragliding. I wake up really early and look outside to be amazed by the blue blue sky that meets my gaze. I’m going flying today. We were like a kite. Strapped to someone who knew what he was doing we took off in a run straight off a cliff and tugged backwards I tried to continue running forward and off my feet no longer touched the ground and the air was breezing past my face. I was sitting on air. Such an amazing feeling. Weightless with the birds. Circling to gain height we followed the lead of the birds as we climbed higher and higher in the sky. Passing over the tops of ridges. I couldn’t stop taking pictures. I finally put my camera away because I knew no picture could capture this and just enjoyed the peacefulness of gliding in the air everything at my feet. Quietness, stillness, everything was beautiful. A feeling of peacefulness passed through me, knowing I had accomplished what I had come here to do and gratitude to my cousin for putting the idea and contacts into my hands. I know I will come back to this place. Have to make it back to Kathmandu today. The only way left to get there now is to take a local bus. The tourist bus, which is a lot safer and less hazardous left before paragliding. Life’s an adventure right. Just have to have confidence you will make it to the other side. Everyone thus far has given us strange looks and funny comments when we told them we were taking the tourist bus, my friend even said he wouldn’t do it for anyone else. So yes this will be an adventure! Very small space, bumpy and loud. Thankfully the gods were on our side for we didn’t loose a wheel or break down at all. We made lots of stops to try and shove as many people as we could into the small van. Anytime we stopped people, or kids would walk around the van offering cucumbers, waters, chips, anything and everything hoping someone is hunger. 8 hours later we were in Kathmandu. See not so bad just like driving up to Tahoe and back in one day.

9-4-12 OK so I have a chance to fly around Everest this morning, but I have to get up super early! Totally ok with anything that gets me in a small plane to fly around the tallest mountain in the world. We get a map as we take off to see the different peaks leading up to Everest. We even get to walk into the pilots cockpit to see the pilots view. Seeing this mountain range is spiritual. Its grand nature demands attention. White capped mountains stand and face this world strong with no compromising. I wish to be like these mountains someday. Strong and magnificent. And back to the hotel to collect my things say goodbye to my new friend and go back to the international section of the airport to fly away. Beijing here I come. I sat next to the coolest people on my flight from Changdu to Beijing. These guys are from Argentina traveling the world to the most spiritual places. I talked to this guy the entire flight and the people behind us got made because we were talking too loudly. I told them when they come to California, to see Shasta, I would be more than happy to fly them there. I hope I get to see these guys again. They have such a beautiful perspective of life. The world has a life force a spirit that connects the entire world into one being. These guys are traveling the world to places they have researched and understood to be powerful spiritual places for the world’s existence. The simplest way for me to describe what these guys are doing will not do them justice, but I will try. They are the face, they are trying to show the world, what is happening spiritually to the youth and what we believe. I can explain better in person please ask me, I’ll tell you all about it. This year is special, the energy in the earth is shifting changing to be something new. Please feel free to check out their blog www.harwitum.org (it’s in Spanish so you may need a translator). But they touched a part of my faith that I’ve been needed someone to explain and help fill in the gaps. Ok so in Beijing at 11:30 at night there is a massive line to get a taxi. I stand in it and get to the taxi driver and he waves me off telling me he doesn’t understand English. I end up following a guy who says he knows where I need to go and off we go down a creepy stairwell and into a car park where his private car is there and off we go to my hotel…stop outside and he rips me off with the price about 4 times as much. Too tired and frustrated to fight it. Try and barging, but my stuff is in the back and I don’t want him to drive away with it so in the hotel I go. Wait for a dude to show up to give me my key and get to my room. My room is huge! And clean with a big shower, with a door on it and a very very comfortable bed. Fluffy white duve and blinds that are electronically controlled. This will be a very different experience to traveling then what I have been doing for the past month. I pass out into blissful sleep. In the darkness, in silence.