Alrighty, so, Saturday morning, I met up with a couple of other volunteers and we headed out to Boudhanath, Kathmandu, which is the site of one of the world's largest Buddhist Stupa, which according to Wikipedia is,
" a mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics, typically the remains of a Buddha or saint, used by Buddhists as a place of worship."
It is quite and amazing feature of Nepal. It is a few levels more grand than the Swayambhunath Stupa (monkey temple), I believe. The whole area is one of the major areas of settlement for Tibetan refugees looking for a place where they can practice their religion freely, and as such, over fifty monasteries have grown in this area scattered around the back alleys or in the central area itself. For several hours, as a group, we explored the area. There were a couple of monasteries that we specifically wanted to visit, and then a couple that we stumbled upon. My favorite, however, was definitely Shechen Monastery. It was one of the largest ones that we visited, yet it was the quietest of them all. It was really nice. I will post pictures later.
Shechen Monastery
We headed back to Thamel to get lunch and relax for a moment before a couple of us headed out to Shivapuri National Park on the outskirts of Kathmandu.
We proceeded to climb a road and staircase to nowhere up the mountain before giving up and coming back down, but I got some great shots of the valley from the mountain. Pictures to come.
After that, I headed out to Kupondole to have dinner with Yuyutsu Sharma, and his son and daughter. For those of you who don't know, Yuyu is a Nepalese writer/poet, who has had many works translated into other languages and translates other works into Nepali. He came to UC Davis a couple of months ago to conduct a poetry reading and a workshop. I luckily saw his flyer one day going up the elevator at Sproul Hall, and jumped at the opportunity to meet the guy. He is an amazing friend and resource.
Because of him, I have a lot of amazing things planned for my trip. Some of which include:
1. Staying an evening with a Swami, who lived at the top of one of the mountains in Shivapuri National Park for several years, and now teaches in the village at the bottom of the mountain.
2. Meeting with a Tamang Shaman who runs a shaman clinic in Boudhnath.
3. A Walk through the slums along the Bagmati River in Kathmandu.
4. Attending a book release this coming week, where I will also be reading one of Yuyu's poems in Nepali and English as part of the program, where the Israeli Ambassador will be attending.
Well that's it for Saturday. New post for Sunday will be up soon. Took a day to trek to a couple of the most beautiful temples in the Kathmandu Valley.
Hermes
