Late Late Late I'm Sorry! (Phora Durbar)

So, Phora Durbar is basically an extension of the US Embassy located about a block away from Thamel, which is the tourist part of Kathmandu.

Basically only Americans are let in and it's an exclusive complex for Green Card and US Citizen use.
It has a full size baseball diamond and accompanying field, a swimming pool, basketball court, very nice landscaping, two tennis courts, a cafe, and spa.

What the eff.

No other embassy in the country has something like this.

Pictures to come, I'm sorry! I just got back from Chitwan National Park and I'm super busy so I haven't been able to post as much. I've only got 14 more days in Nepal.


:[

Part of the set up for the 4th of July stuff, the fence is part of the baseball diamond

The baseball diamond and accompanying field

Landscaping and a park 

The tennis courts are on the left and the swimming pool is on the right

This is the terrace for the cafe

Oh hello, Mr Ambassador.

So, I scored a meeting with the United States Ambassador to Nepal on Saturday. Hell yeah.
Talked with his secretary and we'll be setting up a meeting soon.

More about "Phora Durbar" AKA American Pleasure Park in Kathmandu soon.

On the 4th in Kathmandu

So quick update before I head out.

This past Tuesday I went to a book release hosted by my friend Yuyutsu RD Sharma's book shop. It was attended by the Israeli Ambassador and several other distinguished poets and writers. Met some interesting people, and made a fool of myself by reading one of the poems in Nepali in front of an audience, whatevs.

Today I'm going to what I like to call the "American Pleasure Park". It's basically an extension of the US Embassy accessible for only US Citizens, and it's essentially a park with recreational facilities located in the middle of the city inside of a WALLED, ARMED guarded complex. I think its the most hilarious thing ever. No other embassy in Kathmandu has a freakin' "pleasure park" for its citizens. 

I woudl show you a picture, but I'd probably be arrested, or at very least hauled in an interrogated for taking a picture of the WALL surrounding the complex. 

The only reason I'm going today is because they are having 4th of July festivities, and the ambassador is opening the ceremony, so I'm gonna try and talk to him... yeah. more on that later

Why do they build temples on hills?

Sunday, June

So I've been wanting to go to Bajrayogni Mandir (temple) for a while now. It is located in the sleepy town of Saakhu, which is about 45 minutes northeast of Kathmandu. It always amazes me how quickly the landscape turns a million shades of green as soon as you leave the city limits.

The countryside here is a magnificent tapestry of greens and browns contrasted with the blues of the sky and the most beautiful clouds that you will see anywhere. Seriously, the clouds in Nepal are amazing. They are bigger, brighter, sharper, more magnificent than any clouds I've ever seen before. Whether they are flying high over the hills of the Kathmandu Valley or lying low along the houses on top of those very hills, they come out perfect in photos.

Once we reach Saakhu, I'm traveling with Grace, Katherine, Ryan, and Jasmine today, we begin our trek through the town's one main road. Saakhu is a historical town along the trade route between Tibet and India, so there are a lot of old relics of the past in this once bustling town. A quick 15 minute walk brings us to the other side where a long dirt road winds through the rice paddies passing by old Hindu and Buddhist shrines and places of offering.

As the road begins to slope upward, the landscape becomes more forested, and every other turn beckons us to continue as the golden three-tiered Newari-style pagoda of Bajrayogini peeks out beyond the branches.

Another liter of sweat, and a million steps later, we reached the temple complex. Bajrayogini temple is one of the best examples I have seen yet of the syncratic nature of Buddhism and Hinduism in Nepal. An extreme mixture of iconography from both religions take center stage inside this temple complex, and the details in all the pieces in this temple are amazing.

Eventually we make it back down the hill and into Saakhu once again for a quick lunch at a cute little canteen of sorts where the sodas were actually cheaper than the meal for once (25 rupees!!!!). Delicious meal of Buff Chili Momo and a soda.

Afterward we catch a bus to a neighboring town because we had no idea how to get to the next temple, which is called Changu Naryan. We could see the temple on the opposite side of the valley we were in on the top of an opposing hill, which wasn't the sight we exactly wanted to see. The bus we got on ended us dropping us off in front of someones house, which was in front of a huge expanse of rice paddies, in the middle of nowhere. the eff.

Consulting with some locals, they instruct us to go through the rice paddies to the base of the hill and then up the tiny dirt path that we can see from our point on the opposite side. Trudging through muddy paths surrounded by flooded patties, I felt like I was really taking a pilgrimage of sorts that one in Nepal might have taken years ago. This was the Nepal that I imagined in my mind.

There were no stairs on this hike. At one point we met some locals, and asked if we were going the right way. We had reached a crossroad. They told us, risky way (but faster) or easy way. Of course we took the risky way, and whatever the eff that meant, haha, but I think it was the right way. It led us up the hill in a hasty fashion up rock faces, along grazing goats, and friendly children, what more could one ask for?

At the top of the hill was, of course, stairs that reached the temple complex itself. Once inside the temple square we were greeted by the sight of...scaffolding. In a bittersweet acceptance, we realized that the temple was undergoing a multt-year restoration. Whatever.

Changu Naryan is one of the oldest temples in the Kathmandu Valley, if not the oldest. It is dedicated to Vishnu, and it seeped in Hindu iconography, but is still a revered site for both Buddhists and Hindus, who see Vishnu by different names. I still enjoyed Bajrayogini better, but I enjoyed both temples a lot. Pictures and captions to come.

Oh, and the way that we got to the temple? The freakin' back way. The busses that reach the top of the temple are on the other side of the hill.

After purchasing a reward for myself for making it up the hill, and a 2 hour bus ride later, we were back in Kathmandu.

Saturday, June 26th

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