Paro, Bhutan, Sunday October 23, 2016

This was our day to travel back to Paro so that we could try to hike up to the Tiger’s Nest. But first we would stop at the archery field in Thimphu to see more of the national archery competition. Two teams were competing – Bhutan Nexen Tyres and Karma Auto. Interestingly, a squad of eight cheerleaders in traditional Bhutanese attire would stand next to the competitors. When someone from the losing team was shooting, the cheerleaders would sing a quiet, soothing song. On the other hand, when someone from the winning team was shooting, the cheerleaders would sing a harsh, heckling tune and would wave their scarves in his direction. A referee would stand nearby to make sure their scarves did not actually touch the archer. It took a lot of concentration for the archer to get off a good shot with the cheerleaders in his face. After about 15 minutes of this, we hopped on the bus and drove toward Paro.

The route was familiar from three days earlier, but we drove at a more leisurely pace. The crew was no longer clearing the landslide, although the path through the slide was only one lane wide. We stopped at the confluence of the Paro and Thimphu rivers, where three stupas had been built, one in Nepali style, one in Tibetan style, and one in Bhutanese style. It was a beautiful spot with pay toilets and handicrafts for sale. A plaque announced that the modern bridge had been completed in 1990.

Next we drove to an old chain pedestrian bridge over the Paro River. The bridge, now closed, had substantial gate houses on either end and was bedecked with prayer flags. A new concrete and steel pedestrian suspension bridge led to a monastery on a hill on the other side of the river. In front of the monastery, the monks were leading a ceremony that included monks and others.

Our driver took us through downtown Paro and across the river to the National Museum of Bhutan. The museum had been located in a watchtower built in 1649 by the first governor of Paro valley. Its architectural style is the same as the Paro dzong located just downhill and closer to town. The watchtower was damaged in a recent earthquake and was still undergoing reconstruction. The museum exhibits were confined to a modern building located next door.

The museum included exhibits about the geology, flora and fauna of Bhutan. Abby pointed out the skin of a crocodilian reptile that hung on the wall. Like Nepal, southern Bhutan is subtropical, while in the north are the Himalayas. There’s quite a range of different biomes. No photographs were allowed. There were also some historical artifacts such as masks, thangka paintings, religious statuary and clothing. It was an interesting museum, though necessarily smaller than it would have been if the watchtower were open.

We at lunch at Lhayabling Restaurant on the second floor of a building in downtown Paro. It was the usual buffet of stir-fried chicken and stir-fried vegetables. The chilies and cheese concoction used to flavor the rice included potatoes, which was different from what we had had in Thimphu. Below the restaurant, on the ground floor, was a gift shop where Abby found a set of sandalwood prayer beads that she liked. The shop’s clerk added the seven metallic counters to the prayer beads that seem to be unique to Bhutan.

We checked in at the Tashi Namgay Resort, where we stayed in semi-detached villas along the river. John and Pauline were in the other half of the villa we were in. The sound of the rushing water was a soothing relief after the nocturnal barking dogs of Thimphu. We gathered at 5:45 p.m., just before supper, for a briefing about tomorrow’s attempt to hike to the Tiger’s Nest, which is more formally known as the Taktsang monastery. Guru Rimpoche, who brought Buddhism to Tibet, is said to have landed there on the back of a flying tigress in the 8^th century. The monastery, built on the edge of a cliff that drops straight down for 3000 feet, was built in the 17^th century. The monastery lies at 10,000 feet above sea level, and the hike starts at 8,000 feet. As hikers, we would attempt to hike three miles up the mountain over the 2000-foot change in elevation and then back down again. It would be challenging.

Gross National Happiness, Saturday, October 22, 2016

We started the day with a presentation on Gross National Happiness (GNH) by Mr. Norbu Wangchuk. GNH seeks to measure not momentary happiness, but deep, enduring and abiding happiness that comes from multi-dimensional life experiences. The policy goal is a harmonious balance among material well-being and the spiritual, emotional and cultural needs of society.

The four pillars of GNH are as follows:

1.       Sustainable and equitable socio-economic development

2.       Preservation and promotion of culture

a.       Strengthen family ties

b.       Promote mediation

3.       Conservation of the environment

a.       60% of the country under forest cover

b.       Carbon neutral

4.       Good governance

a.       Trust in media

b.       Fighting corruption

A GNH index is created based on 124 variables in the following categories:

1.       Psychological well-being

2.       Health

3.       Time use – work, leisure, sleep

4.       Education

5.       Cultural diversity and resilience

6.       Good governance

7.       Community vitality

8.       Ecological diversity and resilience

9.       Living standards – assets, housing, household income

A survey is conducted every 2-4 years and the resulting GNH index is used for planning and policy development.

A four-point scale is used to evaluate whether a proposed policy will increase or reduce stress. The scale is as follows:

1.       Will increase stress

2.       Do not know the effect on stress

3.       Stress-neutral

4.       Will reduce stress

The first two are viewed as unfavorable and the latter two are viewed as favorable. The result is a comprehensive measure of progress.

“All joy in this world comes from wanting others to be happy. All suffering comes from wanting only oneself to be happy.” – Shanti Deva

My weather app called for a 60% chance of rain in the afternoon, and apparently Raaz’s did, too. We boarded the bus for the world’s largest, outdoor seated Buddha. We wanted to see the Buddha before it rained. This statue has eclipsed the one in Hong Kong that Abby and I had seen in 2003.

We walked up the stairs and entered the temple inside the Buddha’s “throne,” after removing our hats and shoes. No photographs were allowed inside. The temple is designed to contain thousands of small statues of Buddha; dozens of them were in place already, even though the site is still under construction. There was a throne inside, on which a picture of the head abbot of the Bhutanese Buddhist religion rested.

Back outside, we walked around the base of the  Buddha's throne. Buddhist images in high relief projected from the walls – horses, peacocks, elephants, and a man with cymbals. The temple was surrounded by golden statues of female attendants. From the road outside the temple was a great view of the city of Thimphu. In the distance we could see the Tashicho Dzong, the great fortress built in the 17^th century to defend the city. This is one of a chain of dzongs built by Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel to secure the country.

Our next stop was the farmers’ market, where a vast variety of grains, vegetables, and dried fish are sold. To my amazement, the vendors spoke good English. We asked one about a large fruit that looked like a cross between a squash and a cucumber. The vendor said it was more like a cucumber, though not exactly. I took photographs of various squashes and peppers that did not look like those we see in the United States.

We then stopped by the national archery competition, but only in time to see one arrow be shot before the competition ended for the day. We would stop by again the next day to see more of the Bhutanese national sport.

We then drove to a restaurant and gift shop called Simply Bhutan. Here we would have lunch and be treated to a dance concert of various types of Bhutanese traditional dance. But first we passed a rather startling display of male fertility symbols. We were served bowls of Ara, the traditional Bhutanese liquor. Raaz described it as similar to the Japanese drink, sake, and I was inclined to agree. The beverage carries a reddish-orange color that comes from being cured in sandalwood. We ended with a dance not unlike the hora, where we stood in a circle and danced in and out with a kick at the end. It was great fun.

We drove to the Tashicho Dzong, the fortress that is both monastery and seat of government. Sonam and Kun demonstrated the additional garment, a kind of beige shawl, that they are required to wear with their traditional Bhutanese attire while inside the dzong. We did see monks walking around inside the dzong, and could hear monks chanting and playing horns in one of the buildings we were not allowed to enter. The younger monks walked by carrying buckets and doing chores.

We took our shoes and hats off to enter the main temple. No photos allowed. We proceeded in a clockwise fashion around the inside. We came up on three monks making a decoration for the altar out of different colors of paste made from flour. A young monk who looked to be about 11 years old wandered around. We admired the large statue of the Buddha in the front of the temple. In front of the Buddha was a throne for the chief abbot, and a similarly majestic seat for the king. On either side were lesser seats for the various ministers. There is little separation between state and religion in this country. We took a brief tour of the courtyard and then headed back to the hotel. 

Ganzu Choeten, Friday, October 21, 2016

Our first stop in Thimphu, Bhutan, was the Ganzu Choeten, or National Memorial Stupa, built in 1974 in memory of the third king of Bhutan, who had died in 1972. We listened to live chants over the loud speaker system, calling for world peace. People walked clockwise around the choeten, accumulating religious merit for each time around. After we walked around one time, Sonam told us that we could enter the temple inside the choeten, as long as we removed our hats and shoes, so we did. No photography is allowed inside the temple, where people were worshiping an image of an enthroned Buddha.

Outside again, an Indian couple from Dallas, TX, offered to take our picture in front of a golden temple attendant. In turn, we took their pictures by using their iPad. Abby and Darlene sat in front of giant prayer wheels next to some Bhutanese women, and Raaz took their picture.

We then drove to a school where students are taught traditional crafts such a woodworking, embroidery, sculpture, silver smithing, and painting. We were encouraged to interact with the students, all of whom could speak English. In practice, some of them are more eager to speak English than others. Abby bought a necklace for herself in the gift shop.

We then drove to the national textile museum, where there was a temporary exhibit about Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel, 1594-1651, who unified Bhutan in 1616. He had fled Tibet for religious reasons, and then battled the Bhutanese warlords to establish a unified nation for the first time. After he died in 1651, his death was not revealed to the public for another 50 years. Each region of Bhutan has its own distinctive style of textiles. Various brooches and pins are used hold the draped textiles around the body. In modern times, Velcro seems to be the preferred method of holding traditional clothing in place. No photographs were allowed inside the museum.

We then drove to the General Post Office, where we could have actual postage stamps made with our photographs on them. I bought a couple of post cards and sent them to Mom and Dad, and Tom, with my personal postage stamp on it.

Len and I went for a walk along the main drag in Thimphu. A traffic cop stood in a gazebo in the middle of the main intersection. Thimphu is the only national capital that does not have a traffic light; it has this traffic cop instead. He directed traffic with stylized moves of his white-gloved hands. We dined at the hotel on rice, stir-fried chicken, and vegetables. 

Flying to Bhutan, Thursday, October 20, 2016

We left the hotel at 10:00 a.m. for our flight to Paro, Bhutan. A landslide delayed our one-hour drive to Thimphu. Laborers from India were using a backhoe to clear the rocks and dirt that blocked the road. Our local guides, Sonam and Kun, fed us a light lunch of meat pies, water and bananas. There is no shortage of food on this trip – we had also been fed a light lunch on the flight from Kathmandu to Paro.

Our only activity was an afternoon presentation by Ugyen Dorji, a former member of the Bhutan parliament. Bhutan became a democracy in 2008, after the fourth king abdicated in 2006 in favor of his son.

Bhutan has been inhabited for about 4000 years. Its written history began in the 8^th century when the Guru Rinpoche introduced Buddhism at the invitation of a sick king, who hoped that the religion would heal him. According to legend, Guru Rinpoche flew from Tibet on the back of a tigress, landing at the site of the “Tiger’s Nest” monastery, which we will visit in a few days.

Bhutan became unified nation 400 years ago in 1616, when Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyel arrived from Tibet and defeated the regional warlords. In 1636 he established the dual system of governance, the Choesid.

Ugyen Wangchuk became the first king of Bhutan in 1907. He introduced the western system of education in the country. He was succeeded by his son, Jigme, who signed a treaty of perpetual peace and friendship with India in 1947. That treaty was not revised until 2007.

The third king, Dorji Wangchuk, was born in 1928 and ascended to the throne in 1952. He abolished slavery and serfdom and established a National Assembly and a High Court. Under his leadership, Bhutan joined the United Nations in 1971. He died on July 21, 1972.

The fourth king, Jigme Singye Wangchuk, was born in 1955. He established diplomatic relations with 21 countries. He abdicated in favor of his son in 2006 and set the stage for a transition to democracy in 2008. In Bhutan, the National Council, National Assembly and King constitute the Legislative Branch. The National Assembly has 47 democratically elected members. The National Council has 25 members, five of whom are appointed by the king. The Executive Branch of government has 10 ministers.

Bhutan has an independent media. During the cold war, it was in the coalition of non-aligned countries, which in my memory was led by India. Kerosene for cooking is subsidized. The major economic sectors are agriculture, which employs 70% of the population; hydropower, most of which (3000 MW) is sold to India; tourism; and manufacturing (in the south). 

Patan, Nepal, Wednesday, October 19, 2016

After breakfast, our bus took us to Patan, to the house of the Patan kumari, the living goddess. Unlike the Kathmandu kumari, this goddess’s family would allow us to enter the house to see her, and be blessed by her. After a brief wait, we removed our hats and shoes and walked up the narrow stairs to her audience chamber. She was eight years old, wearing heavy makeup, and seated on a low throne. Her older sister sprinkled our hands with water as we entered the room. We then each took turns kneeling before her as she placed a tika, a small red dot, on our foreheads. Abby and I each put a dollar in the offering plate as we did so. Then we left the building and put our shoes back on.

We walked single file to the Patan Durbar Square. Our first sight of the square was the octagonal stone Krishna Temple that stands next to the ticket office. Yes, as with the other Durbar Squares, tourists must purchase a ticket to enter the square. The Krishna Temple was built in 1723 and survived the earthquake with little damage. Lonely Planet says that its style is influenced by the stone temples of northern India.

The Royal Palace forms the eastern side of the square. The palace was first built in the 14^th century and greatly expanded in the 17^th and 18^th centuries, making it older than the royal palaces in either Bhaktapur or Kathmandu. According to Lonely Planet, “The closed external Bhairab gateway leading to the central Mul Chowk courtyard is flanked by two stone lions and colorful murals of Shiva in his wrathful incarnation as Bhairab.” Strings of buffalo intestine hang above the door in his honor.

We walked through Durbar Square to the Golden Temple, a Buddhist monastery founded in the 12^th century that has existed in its current form since 1409. Once inside, we were flanked by two gilded elephants whose golden riders have their palms pressed together in greeting. On the west side of the temple, we could see a representation of Buddha being born from his mother’s armpit – another version of the virgin birth. We saw some gilded flags that look like a medieval version of the current Nepali flag – double pendants. On the way out, I looked up at the Dharmadhatu Mandala, embossed in the ceiling above the vestibule.

One of the best preserved temples in the square is the Bhimsen Temple, dedicated to the god of trade and business. Business people like to worship at this temple, and apparently like to take good care of it, too. The temple was completely rebuilt in 1682 after a fire and later restored after the 1934 earthquake. It seems to have come through the 2015 quake in good shape.

We walked to a fair trade zone, an area where more of the revenue is shared with the craft people. While everyone else went to a presentation about “singing” bowls, Abby and I went into a neighboring pashmina shop and Abby bought a couple of shawls. Then we watched the end of the singing bowl presentation. George had bowl therapy. With a bowl on his head, the salesman gently tapped the edge of the bowl with a mallet. Then John had bowl therapy. While standing in a larger bowl, the salesman rapped the edges of the bowl with a mallet. Both reported that the therapy felt good. We went upstairs and purchased a necklace. The salesman agreed to make the necklace longer by stringing two necklaces together. He delivered it to the hotel that evening.

Our last stop in the Patan Durbar Square was the Patan Museum in the former palace of the Malla kings of Patan. Lonely Planet calls this one of the finest collections of religious art in Asia. We had lunch in the museum café, and then had about an hour to tour the museum. The cobra-backed throne of the Patan kings is displayed. Placards next to the objects on display explained the pre-Hindu religion based on the god, Indra, and dating to 3000 years ago. Placards also explained the basics of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Tantrism (an aspect – in different forms - of both Hinduism and Buddhism). The popular Buddhist god, Tara, was in evidence. Visiting the museum was a tutorial in south Asian religions.

We had dinner at the home of the owner of Venture Travel, the local travel agency that subcontracts with Road Scholar. Over hors d’oeuvres, we heard a presentation on the role of women in Nepal. A lot of young Nepalese women are drawn to other countries for jobs, often without proper work permits. Once there, without proper documents, they can become victimized into sex slavery. Our speaker talked about the efforts of her NGO to prevent that from happening and to rescue women who are trapped in that way. After the presentation we had a buffet dinner in a dining room on the lower level. Afterwards we walked down a dark alley, lit by smartphone lights, to our bus. 

Mount Everest, Tuesday, October 18, 2016

We had a 5:30 wake-up call and a 6:00 a.m. departure for a special flight to see the Himalayas, including Mt. Everest. Raaz to us to the airport on the bus, not to the large international terminal, but to the much smaller domestic terminal instead. Raaz would not be flying with us, so he turned us over to another man who led us through security. The list of departures for our flight simply listed “Mountain” as our destination. We boarded a Yeti Airlines Jetstream 41 turboprop for our one-hour flight to the roof of the world and back. Our flight attendant was bundled up against the cool October air as she greeted by the side of the steps.

The flight did not disappoint us. We got a good look at the dual peaks of Everest and Lohtse, and the other peaks of the Himalayas that are near Kathmandu. We were each invited to the cockpit to see them from the pilots’ point of view. We saw them first from the left side of the plane, then a bit closer from the right side. As the plane turned to head back to the airport, the flight attendant produced champagne, courtesy of Raaz, with which to toast our close look at the mountains. It was a lot easier than climbing!

After breakfast, Raaz took us to the Pashupatinath area along the sacred Bagmati River, sacred in part because it is a tributary of the Ganges. Pashupati is a manifestation of Shiva in which he is the Lord of the Beasts, which perhaps explains the cattle and rhesus macaques that roam freely along the river. Aside from its important temple, this area is best known for its funeral ghats, or steps, next to the river where the deceased are cremated. Raaz explained that not everyone is cremated in Nepal, but for those who are, this is the most sacred site. There were five fires burning when we got there, and an additional cremation that had just finished. We stood on the other side of the river from the cremations, so as to be less intrusive on the bereaved.

We watched one of the fire attendants push ashes into the river. At the ghat where the cremation had just finished, shirtless men with shaved heads got into the river and washed the ghat with a buckets of water. Their heads were shaved except for a small patch of hair at the back on top. The men, some of them dressed only in black underpants, then washed themselves in the river. Raaz said that it is traditional, though not required, for the sons of the deceased to do this.

We then drove past more semi-permanent housing for earthquake refugees to the Bouddhanath Stupa, referred to as Bodhnath or Boudha by Lonely Planet. To my surprise, Lonely Planet describes this as Asia’s largest stupa. I would have thought that Swayambunath was larger, perhaps because it sits on such a large hill. Bouddhanath is on flat ground. We noticed right away the scaffolding around the golden pinnacle. Buddhist faithful in Nepal and beyond had donated over 30 kilograms of gold to have the pinnacle repaired restored after the earthquake. The repairs are proceeding beautifully.

Raaz led us first into the Tushita Heaven Handicrafts Cooperative, a studio for Thangka painting, the traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting we had first learned about in Lhasa. The master stood next to a beautiful mandala and explained a bit of Buddhist philosophy to us in good English. In the Buddhist view of the world, daily life is called Samsara, a seemingly endless cycle in which we are born, suffer and die, only to be reborn and begin the process all over again. The only relief from this cycle of suffering is to achieve enlightenment, at which time a person can become a Buddha and enter Nirvana. A few of those in Nirvana come back to Samsara as Bodhisatvas to help others. Every one of us has Buddha within and can become a Bodhisatva.

The Thangka master then explained the mandala that he stood next to. A mandala is meant to be a microcosm of the universe and is full of symbolic meaning. This particular mandala is a representation of the Bouddhanath stupa when viewed from the air. A mandala is a sacred area that serves as a receptacle for deities and a collection point for universal forces. The four levels within the mandala represent loving-kindness, compassion, sympathy and equanimity. At the center of the mandala is the jewel that is within the lotus. Because it has no dimension, the very center of the mandala represents the seed or center of the universe.

We purchased a thangka painting of the mandala based on viewing the Bouddhanath stupa from the air. Our new purchase was tucked into a sturdy cardboard tube, and then we began to walk – clockwise – around the stupa. We passed monks talking next to a ceremonial bell. We passed a large, ornate balcony that faced the main entrance to the stupa.

After we had made it around the stupa one time, we met our group, crossed a very busy street to get to the bus, and then drove to the Kathmandu Hyatt Regency for a buffet lunch down a couple of flights of stairs from the lobby level. Abby and I both thought that the braised mutton was delicious. We sat at a four-top table with Dave and Shirley, and had a nice talk about things Minnesotan. On the way out of the hotel, we passed a traditional Nepali band that played a few bars for us before the hotel management asked them to pipe down.

In the evening we heard a presentation on the recent political history of Nepal. The country has been without an elected government for eight or nine years because the constitutional convention failed in its first attempt to draft a constitution. The three main political parties are the Congress party, the Communist party and the United Maoist party. However, so many additional factions were added to the convention that it had over 600 members and was unable to reach consensus, so the process had to be started over again. In the interim the government has been run by 82,000 bureaucrats and the police force. The earthquake of 2015 convinced the constitutional convention that it needed to conclude its business, and an election has at last been scheduled for April of next year. That will be one to watch.

We were then joined by four young people and we broke into four subgroups so that we could speak with them about the future of Nepal. In our group was a 22-year-old who hopes to take over her father’s clothing business based in the Kathmandu neighborhood of Thamel. She has three sisters and no brothers; none of her sisters are interested in the business. She had some ideas about how to expand the business into other parts of the region. It was good to see her interest and enthusiasm for being successful in the business world. 

Kathmandu, Monday, October 17, 2016

We drove past the parliament building to the Durbar (Palace) Square of Kathmandu. In 1768 Prithvi Narayan Shah invaded, conquered and unified the Kathmandu valley and made Kathmandu the capital, which it has been ever since. We were about the visit the seat of government for all of Nepal that was established at that time.

Our entrance to Durbar Square was dominated by Nau Talle Durbar, the nine-storied palace, in classic Newari architecture. Unfortunately, many of its stories collapsed during last year’s earthquake, and it is no longer as tall. Attached to it is a newer, neo-colonial palace built in 1908 that was a museum but is now closed because of earthquake damage.

Across from Nau Talle Durbar is the once-famous “Freak Street,” named after the hippies, or “freaks,” that hung out there in the 60’s and 70’s. It turns out that our fellow traveler, George, was one of them 48 years ago! His wife, Kay, was here 36 years ago to learn about gold jewelry-making from the local craft people. They are the two Nepal veterans on our trip. In Basantapur Square, adjacent to Durbar Square, we watched some school kids play a game similar to jump-rope, but with strings stretched between the ankles of two girls, rather than an actual jump rope.

We walked west to the house of the Kathmandu Kumari, the living goddess. Many Nepali cities, including also Patan, have a pre-pubescent girl from a Buddhist family who has been selected to be the Kumari, or living goddess, for the Hindu families in town. The Kumari is selected as a little girl, and then retires to receive a pension once she reaches puberty. We walked between two brightly-painted stone lions into the Newari-architecture courtyard where we waited for the Kumari to make her appearance at a second-story window. After a few minutes she appeared and looked out the window without acknowledging us. After a couple of minutes she went back inside. No pictures of the Kumari are allowed.

We walked out of the Kumari’s house into the heart of Durbar Square. On the west side of the square are two temples that were completely demolished by the earthquake; all that remains are their plinths. To their north the Shiva-Parvati Temple remains. White images of Shiva and his consort peer out from an upstairs window. This temple was built in the late 1700s by Bahadur Shah in classic Newari style.

On the north side of the square is the ferocious figure of the Kala (black) Bhairab, a manifestation of Shiva. Bhairab has six arms, wears a necklace of skulls and tramples a corpse, symbolic of human ignorance. Suspected criminals used to be brought in front of the Kala Bhairab to make their confessions, because it was felt that lying in front of the Bhairab would cause immediate death by vomiting blood.

We walked past a statue of the monkey god, Hanuman, whose face has been covered by orange paste applied by decades of devotees. We turned and walked into the west wing of the Hanuman palace into what’s left (after the earthquake) of the Tribhuvan Museum. Beyond the door is a representation of Narsingha, Vishnu as half man and half lion, disemboweling the demon Hiranyakashipu. Behind glass we could see the cobra-backed thrones of the kings of the Kathmandu Valley. Above we could see the five circular roofs of the Panch Mukhi Hanuman Temple, which only priests may enter. According to Lonely Planet, each of the cities in the valley has a five-story temple; the great Nyatapola Temple in Bhaktapur is more famous.

We did not enter the Taleju Temple in the northeastern corner of the square, but we were able to take photos of the kneeling Garuda statue next to it. We left Durbar Square and walked southwest to Paropakar school. Some pre-teen boys were playing soccer in the school yard. We met the school’s vice-principal and gave him some school supplies courtesy of Road Scholar. The classrooms seemed bare to me. The students looked nice in their uniforms, and the teachers we saw seemed sincere and dedicated.

We rode the bus to a westernized restaurant called the Red Carpet Restro & Bar. We sat at a long table where each course was served to us individually in very elegant fashion. The food was similar to what we have had before – stir-fry and grilled chicken. There was a vegetable cake that had been stir-fried in a sauce and was quite delicious.

Our next stop was the great Buddhist stupa at Swayambhunath. Raaz said that the base of the stupa is 2500 years old. The emperor Ashoka allegedly visited the site 2000 years ago, but Lonely Planet reports that the earliest confirmed activity here was in 460 AD. This is sometimes called the “Monkey Temple” because of the rhesus macaques the roam the site.

We entered the site from the west, where there was room for the bus to let us off. We stopped at a pool where a smiling golden Buddha presided with one hand raised. People tried to toss small coins into a bronze bucket at the Bhudda’s feet. George got a three-pointer. This was the pool Raaz had told us about with a crooked “p” in the phrase, “May peace prevail on earth.” The number of prayer flags, and the height from which they were suspended, was astonishing.

Raaz led us up the western steps and stopped by the great thunderbolt, a symbol of enlightenment – it destroys ignorance, but is itself indestructible. In Buddhist symbolism, the thunderbolt indicates male power, and a ceremonial bell indicates female power.

The golden pinnacle of the stupa has four faces of the Buddha that stare out in the four directions. The nose is represented by the Nepali number ek (one), which signifies unity. The third eye signifies the all-seeing insight of the Buddha. The white dome of the stupa represents the earth, while the 13-tier structure at the top symbolizes the 13 stages that humans pass through to achieve Nirvana. There were some signs of earthquake damage around the stupa, but the stupa itself received only superficial damage.

Northwest of the stupa, but still at the top of the hill, is the golden Hariti (Ajima) Temple, dedicated to Hariti, the Hindu goddess of smallpox, but also a goddess of fertility. Although this is a Buddhist stupa, the Hindu temple onsite illustrates the assimilation of Hindu and Buddhist religious traditions in Nepal. There is a sea of small stupas and monuments around the base of the main stupa. Because the previous night had included a full moon, a group of worshipers, with the men dressed in black and the women in red, were singing and dancing in a clockwise direction around the stupa. To my delight, an ensemble of monks was playing musical instruments, including the long, bass horns that sound to me quintessentially Tibetan Buddhist.

From the stupa, we drove to the Kathmandu Crowne Plaza hotel and checked in. We had dinner at the hotel and went to bed early after a satisfying day. 

Dhulikel town, Sunday, October 16, 2015

After breakfast we took a hike up the hill to where the Himalayas could be seen, if it weren’t so hazy. The trail was steep and narrow, with a drop off one side and a hill of lush vegetation on the other. We came to a small farmstead where we saw an old wooden plow and some goats. A family was shucking dried ears of corn and then shelling the corn. Raaz explained that the farm house had been damaged by last year’s earthquake; what was once a two-story house was now only one story. A semi-permanent shelter similar to a Quonset hut had been built to house some of the family members. We would see many such semi-permanent shelters around Nepal.

We climbed higher to visit a small Hindu shrine and then a school. The views were beautiful, even though the haze prevented us from seeing the Himalayas. Two men followed us, offering a hand-made bird for sale, which Raaz said was either a cuckoo or a magpie. After some negotiation, Abby purchased one for 1000 rupees, about 10 dollars.

We came to a small three-room rural school. School was not in session, so we were able to look at the classrooms. Judging from what was on the walls, the main topic of instruction is the English language. Raaz said that school that provide instruction in English advertise themselves as “English boarding schools” even if there is no “board” involved. A lizard crawled across the blue wall above an English-language poster.

We passed a cow tethered to a clump of weeds. The tether ran through her nose so that she would not pull on it. On the way down the valley to the hotel, we passed the security post for the hotel grounds. Toothbrushes in cut-off water bottles hung from the eaves, and we could see bedding inside. The uniformed guard had spent the night here.

We piled into the bus and took a tour of Dhulikel town. The earthquake mostly spa

red Dhulikel, but we still saw a lot of cracked and leaning buildings. Most of them seemed to be still occupied, but it would make me quite nervous to live in them. We saw a three-roofed Vishnu Temple flanked by two Garudas, the manifestation of Vishnu that is half-bird and half-man. These two Garudas were quite different in style.

We saw a large “chariot” or sedan chair that is used during festivals, and another three-roofed temple dedicated to Shiva. We stopped at an upscale hotel for lunch overlooking the valley. We watched kites (the type of bird) soaring overhead. After lunch, we headed back to the Dhulikel Mountain Resort for a relaxed afternoon and evening. 

Bhaktapur, Saturday, October 15, 2016

We said goodbye to Hu and Nima and boarded our flight to Kathmandu. About halfway through the flight, there was excitement on the plane as we could see Mount Everest out the left windows. Abby and I had aisle seats across from each other, so we were not able to take a picture. Later, we would have an unexpected opportunity for a close-up look at the huge mountain.

On the ground in Kathmandu, a very nice young lady helped us figure out which immigration forms to fill out. We had to stand in line to pay for a 15-day tourist visa, and then stand in a shorter line to actually receive the visa and be admitted to the country. While in the longer line we stood behind a retired dental hygienist from Shoreview, MN, who was on her way to provide dental care to a remote Buddhist area in northern Nepal. She was traveling with her older daughter, who appeared to be in her late teens.

as three main religions, Hinduism, Buddhism and tourism. Hindus are 80% of the population, Buddhists are 12% of the population, and tourism is 25% of the economy.  We had a delicious lunch of braised chicken breast, green beans, carrots and a potato cake. Some thin cheese sticks and mint leaves provided the garnish.

After lunch we walked into Bhaktapur, the capital of one of the three medieval city-states in the Kathmandu valley. I was shocked at the state of the electric infrastructure, and took pictures of the tangled and looped electric distribution and cable TV conductors. At one point we saw a boy playing with a dangling power cable.

We passed small Hindu shrines, shops of various things for sale to the locals, and men playing cards until we came to Nyatapola Square, the home of Nyatapola Temple. This is the tallest building in all of Nepal, and rises five storieRoad Scholar had arranged for three men with luggage carts to collect our luggage and cart it to the bus. On the way we met our guide Rajesh, or Raaz for short. Our bus drove to lunch at the Hotel Heritage, an upscale hotel, but one with a Nepali feel to it. During the bus ride, Raaz gave us a brief orientation to Nepal, telling us that Nepal hs above the square. King Bhupatindra Malla built the temple in 1702. The temple’s stairs are flanked by stone figures of the temple’s guardians. At the base of the stairs are statues of two legendary wrestlers, Jayamel and Phattu. The Malla kings were selected by their wrestling ability, so good wrestlers were revered. Up the steps behind them are statues successively, of elephants, lions, beaked griffons with rams’ horns and two goddesses – Baghini and Singhini. Each row of statues represents creatures that are 10 times stronger than the row below it. The temple is dedicated to Siddhi Lakshmi, an incarnation of the goddess Durga.

Across the square is the triple-roofed Bhairabnath Temple, dedicated to Bhairab, an incarnation of Shiva whose consort is Siddhi Lakschmi, featured in the Nyatapola temple. Raaz explained to us that the word “pagoda” means “layers,” and that pagodas, or buildings with layered roofs, originated in Nepal. The architectural style was transferred from Nepal to Tibet, thence to China, Japan and Korea. We were looking at some early examples of Nepali pagodas.

We walked from Nyatapola Square to Durbar Square, where we were greeted by the three-story Dattatreya Temple. Raaz pointed out wooden roof struts with kama sutra scenes carved into them. In one of those scenes, a woman was multi-tasking by washing her hair while being pleasured by her husband. I borrow my description from page 159 of the 10^th edition of Lonely Planet – Nepal. The kama sutra scenes were quite a sight, and caused a ripple of comments to travel through our group.

Atop a column on the north side of Durbar square is a bronze statue of King Bhupatindra Malla with his hands pressed palms-together as if greeting someone. The statue was created in 1699 and is now the only surviving royal pillar in the Kathmandu valley. According to Lonely Planet, Bhupatindra is the best-known of the Malla kings and contributed much to Bhaktapur’s architecture.

In front of the ruined Vatsala Durga Temple is a large bell constructed by King Jaya Ranjit Malla in 1737. It was used to herald the morning and evening prayers at the temple, which was destroyed in last year’s earthquake.

According to Lonely Planet, the Golden Gate is the visual highlight of Durbar Square. “Durbar” means “palace” and the Golden Gate is its main entrance. Above the doorway, Garuda wrestles with snakes, while below that is a four-headed, ten-armed goddess, Taleju Bhawani, the favorite deity of the Malla kings. Construction of the gate was completed in 1754 during the reign of King Ranjit Malla, the last king of the Malla dynasty. With him died the golden age of Newari architecture in Nepal.

The royal palace once had 99 courtyards, most of which were destroyed in the 1934 earthquake. More damage was done by last year’s temblor. Inside the gate, sitting on the sidewalk, are pieces of statuary salvaged from the two earthquakes. We paused in front of the Teleju Temple, one of the most sacred temples in Bhaktapur, which only Hindus are allowed to enter, and they must first remove belts and shoes. I didn’t see any belts being removed, but everyone’s shoes came off. We were not even allowed to photograph the entrance to the temple.

Near the temple is the Naga Pokhari, a 17^th-century pool of water used for the ritual immersion of the idol of Taleju. The pool is encircled by a stone cobra and more cobras rise up in the middle and end of the tank. The bronze spout at the end of the tank consists of a goat being eaten by a Makara, a mythical Hindu sea creature.

Back in Durbar Square, the National Art Gallery was closed, presumably because it was Saturday, the only day off for many Nepalis. Raaz informed us that Israel is the only other country in which Saturday is the only day off during the week. The entrance to the Gallery is guarded by large stone lions, and also by 17^th-century statues of Hanuman, the monkey god, and Vishnu in the form of Narsingha, ripping someone’s guts out. Hinduism can be a bit gory at times.

On the way out of the square we could see a temple scaffolded after last year’s earthquake, although there was no sign that repairs had started yet. The entrance to the square’s metropolitan police station was swathed in bougainvillea, making it one of the prettiest police stations I have seen.

After leaving Durbar Square, we passed more signs of earthquake damage – buildings that are cracked and leaning, and a temporary camp for the homeless. We walked by a Hindu religious service that was taking place under a canopy. Those who wished could receive a “tikka,” a blessing represented by a vermillion dot in the middle of the forehead.

We boarded the bus and drove over a winding mountain road to the Dhulikel Mountain Resort. Raaz

told us that we were on the main road to Tibet, and that it would take four and a half hours on the narrow, heavily-trafficked road to travel the 80 miles to Tibet. Presiding over the road was a large statue Shiva. We ate a buffet supper at the resort, accompanied by a chilled bottle of Jacobs Creek unoaked Australian chardonnay.

Not the Potala Palace, Friday, October 14, 2016

I got travelers’ diarrhea at about 1:00 a.m., maybe from the unpasteurized yak butter and cheese that we had had on Thursday morning, or maybe from an uncooked salad I had eaten at lunch. After she ate breakfast, Abby reported that about a half dozen of us had come down with it. I decided that it was not part of my Karma to climb the steps of the Potala Palace, or even to go to the palace. When Abby left at 10:00 a.m., I went back to bed and slept until 12:30 p.m. For lunch I had a banana and some rice soup that Abby had left for me. It was by far the best banana I have ever had – sweet, delicious and full of electrolytes.

Abby got back from the palace at about 2:00 p.m. She and two others had walked around the base of the palace, while everyone else who wasn’t too sick to do so climbed the 500 steps. Afterwards Len stopped by to see how I was doing and said that the steps were not too bad. No photos were allowed of the inside of the palace, so a couple of our comrades had purchased a book that included photographs of the interior. Len said that the palace contains opulent tombs of the 5^th through 13th Dalai Lamas. According to Fodors, the Potala Palace was the tallest building in the world until modern skyscrapers were constructed. Fortunately, we had driven past the Potala Palace the day before, so I have a shot of the exterior taken from our tour bus.

At 6:30 we gathered in a special room where we were treated to a farewell banquet and a series of traditional Tibetan dances, complete with traditional costumes. The soup was a salty onion soup that helped to restore my electrolytes. The only meat I could eat was a few bites of tandoori chicken, which was pretty good.  After we ate a dance troup presented dances from Western, Eastern, Northern, and Central Tibet. There was also a yak dance, which I’m pretty sure is not traditional. I gave the “yak” some hugs and kisses, which it seemed to appreciate. Someone else gave the yak a bottle of water, which it danced around with for a while. It was a fun way to end our stay in Tibet.