My trip was less than a week but so much seemed to happen. It was a mixture of adventure and family-- starting with Trishna's where we visited in Kathmandu. In a beautiful, tall brick house surrounded by flowers and greenery in the heart of the city we met her mom, grandparents, her thoroughly charming nine year old cousin Abhishek and her dog Doodle. It was like being at home-- all the things we miss about family. Her grandmother patting our cheeks and insisting we eat. Joking with her grandfather about cricket. Watching Doodle flop over on his back to insist on a belly rub.
(me and Abhishek at Bhaktapur)
Kathmandu is a city of rooftops and terraces. And it is a city of ancient temples and palaces. The day after we arrived Trishna and Abhishek showed Calynn and I around town. We visited Darbur Square, a series of old palaces and temples in the main part of Kathmandu. I love old buildings and ruins so this was incredible for me. The most fascinating part was the mixture of ancient history and current daily life: teenagers lounged on the steps of the temples. Old men chatted and ate lunch. Women and children sat under umbrellas selling peanuts. One of the squares we visited called Bhaktapur was slightly outside of Kathmandu. Trishna's mom showed us around in the late afternoon and as the sun began to set the temples awoke with those visiting for prayer, another indication that the shrines are not simply old relics of the past but alive in the present. Seeing these spaces that have been gathering spots for 800 years still a part of every day, back and forth, life gave me a new perspective on how the artifacts a culture cherishes and remembers don't have to simply fade to appreciation. They can be remembered and treasured through simple enjoyment.
(pigeons at Darbur Square)
After a few days in Kathmandu Calynn and I headed off to Pokhara, a tourist town sitting beneath the Anapurna Himalayan mountain range. Before you ask, no friends I did not see Mt. Everest although I certainly feel as if I have. The first day of our trek we walked straight up for about three hours. Up and up and UP until we finally arrived at a tiny village called Dhampus. The village was nestled on the side of a mountain and in front of us were the Himalayas. I've put off writing this update mostly because I don't have words to describe the mountains we saw and how it feels to see them. It's a bit how I imagine standing on the edge of space must be or plummeting to the ocean floor in a submarine-- almost surreal and a little terrifying. I never knew the earth was so tall and having them just there, right there as you drink tea and eat breakfast, right there as a storm blows in full of cold thunder, right there at night underneath bright stars is breathtaking and otherworldly.
(Annapurna II (around 7937m/26,040ft)
(Annapurna II and Machapuchare or FishTail 6993m/22,943)
I have seen so many amazing things. Watching the sunrise over the Himalayas and hiking back down through the forest of Nepal. The monkey temple in Kathmandu, an ancient Buddhist stupa with a mile long stair case and giant stone carved Buddhas standing guard- the entire valley below. Adolescent Nepali boys spontaneously handing us red rhododendrons as we passed by on the trail. This trip to Nepal, like my travels through southern Africa, will remain at the top of my list for a very long time.
(monkey temple)
The morning we left to head back to Bangladesh I couldn't sleep. I climbed up to Trishna's rooftop to sit and watched the city wake up. The mountains around the valley were hazy-- barely visible-- a long way from the village of Dhampus. I wore a turtleneck and scarf in the chilly morning air. I could hear the bell from Trishna's grandmother's prayers and imagined the smear of the red tikka on her forehead. The car was being washed. The plants watered. People bathed. The world was content in itself. All I wanted to do was stay.
