Boudhanath

Dharma talks are held occasionally for Westerners. Today there was a talk in the Sheto (white) Gompa from Chokyi Nyima Rinpoche. It was about 2 hours long and after the rigorous yoga sessions, a few more hours of sitting on a hard floor was kind of hard on the back. It was very interesting though. The Gompa is beautiful as you see in the pictures. I then went on to Kopan Monastery, but no dharma talks there as there is a very large retreat happening. From Kopan, though, you can see Boudha, the airport and much of the Kathmandu valley.

Impressions of Kathmandu to consider:

- the pollution - the dust and exhaust is bad - motorcyles, taxis, lorries, tuk-tuks

- the beggars - women, men, kids with stumps from some unknown cause begging for alms, the poverty overwhelming

- the aggressive SADHU's wanting to place a tikka on your forehead, don't look at them, ignore them or wave them away!

- the hash sellers, quietly offering a smoke!

- the crush of traffic - bikes, motorbikes, cars, people walking, trucks, army jeeps, etc.

- the sticky heat +28 in the day, 80-90% humidity

- the tiger balm sellers, chess sets, flutes, beads, mini violins, carvings all for barter on the street, BUT don't make eye contact or you are in for a sales pitch

- the police and military everywhere but not doing much, although traffic control is better than 2 years ago.

- the local talk about the plane crash 7 days ago - close to the time I was to fly to Lukla on my original itinerary to Imja Tse (good decision there!)

- the wonderful greeting NAMASTE, everyone offers with palms in prayer position - "the light within me greets the light within you"

- the plethora of little shops most about 8 feet wide by 12-20 foot deep chock ablock full of everything from incense, Thangkas, carvings, black market CD's, books, gray market North Face and Mountain Hardware clothing, pashmina shawls, and tons of jewellry, ghurka knives and well, plain old junk.

- polluted rivers, smell like sewers, filled with plastic bags, garbage, birds, people, dogs

Well, that is a small look into this interesting city. This will be my last post before heading into the Langtang on Monday for 2 weeks of trekking. I meet my guide tomorrow, need to pack, bank, etc. get ready. More later.

Namaste, Neil

The wonder of KATHMANDU

After nearly 36 hours of flying, I finally arrived in KTM at 9:30 at night Tuesday. I found this time that I could not watch the little screens as I kept falling asleep. The twelve hour layover in Hong Kong gave me an opportunity to take the train into downtown. HK reminds me of Bangkok. I walked around, ate Dim Sum and headed back to the airport. The smell of Kathmandu city hits you as soon as you step off the plane, heat, humidity, pollution! The crush of taxi drivers and porters anxious for your business provides an interesting greeting at the airport. Lok met me and took me to Hotel Tibet where I quickly fell asleep.

I have spent the past 2 days in yoga classes with Akhil Bhattacharya at Patanjali yoga centre. There were a fun couple from Spain (he is Spanish, she is Mexican!) Patanjali is the one Lyle invited me to visit 2 years ago. Akhil is a very outgoing Indian Yogi who delivered some great yoga sessions. My hips are aching, but it was great learning with the Eastern influence. I can't wait to bring some new things to my students back home. We were given lunch each day - rice, dahl, curry potato, goat weed, chapatis and a wonderful fruit in curd (home made yogurt) healthy and delicious.

Yesterday was my 3rd day in KTM and after yoga the Spanish couple and I walked back to Thamel and I headed out to Boudha, the Tibetan quarter with the huge stupa. Went to the Tibetan carpet showroom and now have a couple of beautiful meditation mats. Walked the kora, had some dinner and headed back to the hotel. My plan is to go to Kopan, the monastery on the edge of town. There may be some Dharma talks there.

Just want to say thanks to everyone for supporting me in this adventure, especially Gloria and my family.