Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on December 21, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
December 13, 2009
Nepali wedding In Lumbini, Nepal
Monks at tree Buddha was born under (a sapling from the original the story goes)
I woke at 6am after a great rest following a long day of overland travel and a somewhat stressful situation in finding lodging after dark when all the electricity was out….again.
Indian Buddhist spinning giant prayer [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on December 18, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Tibetan friends, Pokhora, Nepal
Welcome to Pokhora
Boatman before sunrise
Before sunrise I hired a boatman to row me across the lake so I could hike the alternate route up to the World Peace Pagoda overlooking the lake side town of Pokhora, Nepal. I arrived at the monument just after sunrise as the Himalayas came into view [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on December 16, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Monasteries on Annapurna
Buddha eye
Another advantage of a good guide is access. The Buddhist monasteries along the trek are truly spectacular but they are often locked during the time that is convent for your visit. For Angin, being a Buddhist himself, this posed no problems. He invariably started talking to someone, often an ancient women spinning [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on December 12, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Annapurna Circuit
After some pretty marginal tea houses at the beginning of our trek we came to what looked like a really nice place and Angin had informed me that they had nice private cottages. When we arrived the place was indeed nice and we headed to the back area that did indeed contain several private [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on December 10, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Annapurna Circuit
Sunrise at Poon Hill
Without a doubt the Annapurna circuit is the most diverse trek I completed in Nepal. Certainly the scenery on Gokyo and Everest base camp were more spectacular, certainly the jungle areas and crops of Langtang were more varied but for a single trek that captures the diversity of Nepal – Annapurna [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on December 5, 2009 | 2 Comments »
November 10, 2009,
I thought Ronald Regan, Casper Weinberger, and I put an end to Communism back in the 1980s? Hell, Ron was the President, Cap was the Secretary of Defense, and I was a young Marine convinced I was saving the world from tyranny with my “service and duty”. When I started to see red [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Oh, maybe “Viva” is not Nepali. Anyway, signing off again for a while as I am heading for the Annapurna masiff in the morning. I will be trekking the classic Annapurna Circuit, with some modifications. They have build a road over part of the trail, so I may take a jeep in those areas and then [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on November 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Bhaktapur, Nepal
Hired a car and went to Bhaktapur first thing this morning. I am finding this is the best times to see the sacred sites as this is when the locals come to prayer, and is before of the souvenir vendors look for westerners. Bhaktapur is an amazing ancient city with a high history between the 14 [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal on November 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Chitwan National Park
I went to Chitwan as a complete after thought; it was cheap ($130 USD for 3 nights, four days, all inclusive “adventure” package), and sounded like a good place for some R&R. I figured the higher humidity would be good for my cough as well. Wow, was I surprised. LOVED IT. I saw [...]
Posted in 2009 Asia, Nepal, Uncategorized on November 6, 2009 | 4 Comments »
Pashupatinath, October 29, 2009
“What are the men, the ones in the river, below the cremation platforms doing with the fine toothed rakes and other garden tools” I asked my very knowledgeable and passionate Hindu guide. “They are looking for the jewelry and gold teeth of those who have been released from this earth” he said [...]
