Kathmandu, Nepal...

I wanted to get some more pictures up from China before I wrote here again but the internet speed in Nepal has been pretty poor and it takes about 10mins to upload one picture. That being said, I arrived in Kathmandu two days ago and it has been an amazing adventure so far full of a few surprises! I got in Monday night at 10pm and had a ride conveniently set up through the hostel I stayed at the first night which was awesome and made my arrival very smooth. The next day they drove me to the main tourist hub here in Kathmandu called Thamel and dropped me off at this hostel I thought was going to be awesome that I found through hostelworld.com. It turns out the guy tried to cheat me and make me rent a room for $15 dollars a night. I almost got sucked in but I realized what was happening and walked next door to a place called Hotel Red Planet which was just as nice as the place I was going to stay if not even better and the guy at the front desk offered me a room for 5oo rupees which comes to just under $8, so I got my stuff and walked it over here.

The first day I was here I went out exploring the streets. This area of town is geared towards tourists and trekkers and so there are a million and one small shops selling all kinds of cool things. I keep having to put myself in check and make sure that I do not spend too much money! I only have a limited amount to last me until I get back to China but in terms of Nepali standards I still have quite a bit of cash. As you walk up and down the roads there are a lot of people trying to sell you just about anything you can think of. Lately I have had so many scary looking dudes come up to me and ask if I want to buy hash and other drugs. The first day I was here I kind of got lured into a little money making skeem but it was mild and actually worked out to be pretty good for me. These two young Nepali guys came up to me and started talking and asking me questions, they were very friendly and seemed excited to be talking to a foreigner. I did not think this was too strange because it happened to me often in China and the people were all very kind and treated me like a guest in their country without an agenda. It turns out that it was a special festival day that only happens once a year honoring a Hindu God. I cannot remember the name of it in Napali but they offered to show me a temple where they were giving out special blessings and they took me to the Big Temple honoring Shiva. It was really awesome and there were a lot of people. I got some great pictures.

At this point they started talking about other temples because I said that my main interest being in Nepal was to visit temples and my teachers Monastery. They mentioned Monkey Temple which is a temple I had already heard about from a Latvian woman I met in Chengdu who is studying Tibetan Medicine here in Kathmandu. They offered to take me there so we got in the taxi and headed in that direction. When we were in the taxi one of them was asking me a bunch of questions and this is when I started to get a little bit suspicious. Then he mentioned that in their free time they like to meet foreigners and help show them around Kathmandu and that the foreigners often give them a tip for this service. So while I am in the taxi this is the first point that I become aware that these guys are not just being super friendly and hospitable but that they are expecting to get a fee out of me once we are done. I really wanted to see Monkey Temple anyway and so I just go along with it. Monkey Temple was really neat but they kind of rushed me through it a bit it felt like. I took a lot of amazing pictures that I will try and post as soon as possible.

Anyways we get through Monkey Temple and get in a cab headed back to where I met these guys and the one that has been talking to me the most says to me so people usually give us a tip of about 100 euros but you can give whatever you would like. I am a little baffled because initially I did not know when I met these guys that I was in essence hiring a tour guide. It cost me 400 rupees for the taxi to the temple and back, and 200 rupees to get into the temple. I wasn't sure what to do so I was just going to offer them 100 rupees because I felt like I had been tricked and that their interaction with me had not been very honest. The guy got upset and said that they were not beggars. So considering the situation and that I had gotten to do something I wanted to anyway I offered them $10 which is 745 rupees (more than it cost me to get to and into the temple). The guys kept trying to persuade me in giving them each $20 at least. At this point I was getting pretty annoyed because I had not gone into this knowing I was going to have to pay these guys and so I stalled him until we got back to the place I had met them and then I gave him the $10 and walked away. While I was walking away he wanted to offer to show me something else which I thought was hilarious. I just kept walking. In the end it did not turn out to be a terrible loss to me and I learned a very valuable lesson about the reality of what it means when someone walks up on the street here and starts talking to you which has saved me any further confusion. Every few minutes on the streets here there is someone coming up trying to sell you something or get something from you. I can understand it from their perspective because most people here are so poor and there is not a lot of work available so they have to try and make money anyway they can. I just wasn't expecting that I guess, I am not sure what I expected. I think I expected more people trying to beg for money maybe.

Today was another festival that I cannot remember the name of that also happens only once a year. I got up this morning and had a nice breakfast and then headed out again but this time in search of a famous square in the middle of town called Durbar Square that is said to be home to over 50 temples. It was quite a walk from my hostel but the walk was incredible because there was a huge parade going on with cows, costumes and music. It was quite a sight and again I got a ton of great pictures. One thing that is really different about being in China and being here is that where as I rarely saw another foreigner in China, except for in Guilin where there were hordes of them, here in Thamel there are so many white people on the streets that in moments I feel a little like I am in the West. Durbar Square was packed full of people because of the festival and it is a little confusing, I am not sure if I actually went into the square or if I was just around it but I saw a handful of temples and then headed back to my hostel.

Tomorrow I leave this tourist Mecca and head to Boudha which is where my teacher's Monastery is. I am really excited. I will be staying at a small little guesthouse that caters to Buddhist practitioners. I plan on spending the next 11 days going to the Monastery and practicing Chod with the monks and spending time at my guesthouse doing meditation and looking over some Chinese Medicine things. I would like this last part of my visit in Nepal to be focused on cultivation and growth.