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November
3, 1999
This is
another message from team Around the World. This is Todd with the journal
entry of November 3rd. We are in Kathmandu and it's a Wednesday.
This is our
second day in Kathmandu and we need to work on the Rovers again. Although
we always try to select one day as a car day when we have two rest days,
there is always more than we have time to do. As mentioned earlier, we
hooked up with the Rover mechanics from the Department Fund of Internal
Development. (NOTE: Todd's actually referring to United Kingdon's
Department for International Development) They fixed us up well. They
know their Land Rovers and they are a pleasure to work with.
Today I
bowed out of the Rover work to see the town with Chanda and left Nick and
Earle, because Nick likes to do that stuff. We strolled around locally in
Tamal, the tourist section, to see what was available in local shops. We
were looking for Yak sweaters, as we didn't have a chance to get them in
Tibet, and religious icons. Chanda and I have this religious fascination.
In Tibet we learned that Buddhism has icons that symbolize different
qualities or different facets of life. I guess an analogous situation
would be the Catholic Church and the Saints. You pray to St. Christopher
for safe travel, and different things. Anyway, Buddhism has a whole host
of these things. There was one I was terribly fascinated with. It is
called Sitipathi. The story of Sitipathi is as follows. He was in deep
meditation one day and a highway thief came up to him, robbed him, and
slit his throat without him even realizing that he was in such deep
meditation. And now he is eternally after those who did this to him. I
guess the best translation is Sitipathi is the defender of those people
who are unknowingly taken advantage of.
I don't
know how to describe my impression of Nepal, nor Kathmandu. Historically,
it was never colonized by a western power, but it has had a large British
influence. It is nestled between India and Tibet and has been influenced
by both. It is not uncommon to see the Tibetan greeting, Tashdaley? Also
we were served mutton burgers in reverence to the Hindus. But most
commonly you would see Buddhist icons and temples. "No-mas-dey"
is the common greeting here. It means hello and goodbye. Most everybody
seems to be friendly. In fact, the Nepalese seem to be more friendly to
us than our fellow westerners who have been out in great numbers this
time of year in Kathmandu, everybody taking treks. It's kind of the
popular place to go.
Anyway,
unfortunately we had the serious "jones" for western food so I
never really figured out exactly what Nepalese food is. In Kathmandu you
get almost anything you can imagine. However, what we deem as Indian food
was the most common thing in our diet. Temples seem to be scattered
throughout the city, although they are not as prominent as big churches
back in America or the cathedrals in Europe. You would just see them if
you were looking for them. Chanda and I looked for the Temple of the
Three Goddesses. As a matter of fact we walked by it twice before finding
it. It was tucked away between structures. It was just a quiet little
place and had small buildings in it.
All these
small reminders of Buddhism are found all over the city. They seem to
serve as nice reminders to stay on the Buddhist path. I need to return to
the city to find out more about Kathmandu and Nepal. Unfortunately, I
haven't been able to spend much time here. I fear I haven't even scratched
the surface. But it has wet my appetite to read more and find out more
about Nepalese culture and Nepalese history. The scenery was truly
beautiful and it is really inviting to come back again, which I will. And
I encourage anybody who has the desire to go to Nepal, to go.
Well, this
is Todd signing off again. I will greet you next time in probably Delhi
or Agra. Bye.
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