Bhaktapur

Visited the third of the big three cities in the Kathmandu valley today - Bhaktapur.  Yes, it is also a World Heritage City as there are too many incredible, ancient structures to name any one of them a site.

I found a guide who was willing to give me a full 3 hour tour for $2.00 - needless to say, I paid him more at the end as it was a fascinating glimpse into the history of this city.  Much more peaceful than Kathmandu and Patan, Bhaktapur does not allow cars through its gates, only scooters, so it feels much more relaxed here.  There are too many squares and temples to count. It is characterized by narrow brick roads and unusual medieval ponds constructed to store water for drinking.  Some still work and people line up to get water from them (natural springs) - particularly at the end of the dry season when water is not plentiful.  The Monsoon season starts in a couple of weeks and the rain Nepal gets for the next 2.5 months is critical for the rest of the year, whether it be for human consumption or agriculture.  The wheat harvest is going on right now, so it is everywhere!!

After Bhaktapur, we drove to the Changu Narayan Temple about 6 km away, but high on a hill - it is also a World heritage site and rightly so, as the statues and the temple are true historic works of art from the Licchavi period - somewhere around the 5th century I believe......more picture to follow......

PATAN!!

The day started early today as usual for me - jet lag is still lingering - I'm not surprised.  It starts getting light here around 4:45 AM and somehow my body senses it even though the room is dark.

Amar picked me up at 7 AM and we headed to the squash courts - we found out when we got there that there was no clean water running in the bathrooms, only grey water, so that nixed the notion of a nice shower after.  I had a good run on court with the son of the coach.  Beat him 3-1 with the final game being 22-20 to me for the match!!  Met Kiram there - a good friend of Amar, who is in the travel business - he arranged a tour guide for me for Patan, so we headed out there and had some breakfast at the Durbar Square.  Patan is a World Heritage CITY - not just one site - there are so many temples, stupas, relics, etc. from the 6th century to the 17th century - truly impossible to grasp.  You actually pay to enter the city!  Here's the view from breakfast:

We walked the city for about 4 hours and saw everything under the sun.  My guide, Raj, was tremendous.  We even had a brief thunderstorm with some light rain, which was very refreshing toward the end.  Highlights - preparation for the Chariot festival, the Golden Temple, healing bowl demo, Thanka art school and the many little alleyways.  So many signts, sounds and smells - a sensory overload for sure!!

Headed to dinner with Amar and another gentleman, so I'll have to post more pics later!

Another day in Kathmandu!!

Namaste'!!

After a nice breakfast with Amar Simha, President of the Nepal Squash Association, I took taxis to Bodhnath and Swayambhunath, two incredible world heritage sites.  Bodhnath is the largest ancient Stupa in all of Asia!  It was quite a powerful experience with the confluence of Tibetan monks and many hindu temples.  Swayambhunath was high on a hill (375 steps!) and provided views of the whole lazy valley.  It is also known as the Monkey temple because they are EVERYWHERE.  I ended up hiring a guide on the spot who gave me a crash course on all the hindu gods and religious practices in 30 minutes - my brain was fried by the end, but I certainly have a better understanding why there is no crime here to speak of and why everyone has a warm heart and soul.

Bodhnath

Swayambhunath

I just heard from Rebecca - they are currently doing a table read of the script and plan to start filming tomorrow!  All good.

Kathmandu - another day

Every day in Kathmandu is certainly a day to remember.  Today certainly is high up on the list for two reasons.  First - at 10:30 AM this morning, I said goodbye to Rebecca as she hopped in the van with the director, cinematographer, art director, several production crew and the main actors as they headed off to Chitwan National Park for 1 day of prep and 3 days of filming "Beast".  We hung out in the lobby for an hour and I had the pleasure of getting to know the cinematographer and lead actor, Barry Sloane (look him up) - very cool people.  Rebecca will be working directly with the cinematographer and he was very keen to bring her under his wing - he is from South Africa, plays squash (he brought his racquet!) and we hit it off immediately with him.  She is definitely in good hands and is giddy with excitement.  Yesterday afternoon, she spent time with two of the younger actors and the director rehearsing their lines.  She even made some suggestions that the director may use!!  She seems to be taking the bull by the horns and getting as much as she can out of the experience and also bonding very well with everyone - I am mighty impressed by her confidence and maturity - everyone thinks she is much older.  She did text me a while ago to let me know they arrived safely, so all is well.

Second - I was picked up this afternoon by Amar Simha, President of the Nepal Squash Association.  He had a driver, so we hopped in the car and drove 1/2 hour to the Nepal National Sports Complex where there are 4 squash courts - I got to hit with the #1 player/coach there - a gentleman about my age who also coaches about 30 kids after school.  It was about 85 degrees on court - no A/C or lights (the electricity in the city is dependent on hydroelectric and we are at the end of the dry season, so the power cycles on and off throughout the city).  Also, we are at 4,500 feet, so the ball was flying around the court at 200 MPH.  It was a different game than what I was used to for sure, but I got a good workout and had some fun with the kids as well.  Amar is very well connected in the city and is arranging a tour for me with some friends in the travel business - all gratis.  He has a squash playing son who is presently at a boarding school in England on a squash scholarship and wants to get into the Ivy's and play on a team. so I am going to help Amar connect with some of the coaches.  Amar is a very warm and interesting man who is also in the film business!

In between dropping Bex off and squash, I went to the Garden of Dreams, which was only a 5 minute walk from the Hotel - an oasis of gorgeous gardens with a nice cafe where I had lunch

more to come!!  Gotta meet a friend of my cousin for dinner!

Back to Kathmandu

Namaste' again.  It's been a whirlwind couple of days as we journeyed to The Royal Chitwan National Park taking a 15 minute flight (instead of the harrowing 4 hour drive) via Buddha Air.  We stayed on the edge of the park at the Sapana Lodge.  Our room was next to the elephants, including a 3 month old that was as playful as any puppy we've seen - we could have rolled around with him in his pen, but we opted to give his mom a bath in the river, and then she gave us a bath!!

We also took a 5 hour jeep safari and encountered the native wildlife to the region, including a very large one-horned rhino that passed right in front of our vehicle after slowing heading straight for Rebecca.  I definitely heard her heart skip some beats, but she took some great photos to be shared later.  Along for the ride were some nice people that were shooting a documentary, so we learned quite a bit as they were asking good questions.  The Lodge was rustic and idyllic along the banks of a river at the edge of the park, surrounded by rice fields

We are now at the Kathmandu Guest House in the Thamel region of Kathmandu (also known as the ghetto!) - it is a non-stop Indiana Jones ride outside of the hotel, but peaceful in the garden here

More to come!!

First Day In Kathmandu!

Namaste'!!  Flew from Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu yesterday - 5 hour flight.  Had a one second of clear air turbulence event that saw water bottles go flying and infrequent flyers getting spooked.  Captain said a large plane passed overhead and left a wake of bad air. We took it in stride.

Arrived at Dwarika's and basically chilled the rest of the afternoon to shake off some jet lag.  The people here are warm and relaxed.  Time almost feels like it is standing still - maybe it is the fog of our jetlag!

While Rebecca relaxed, I hit the streets to try and get our two old unlocked Iphones set up with Nepal sim cards.  Found the local Ncell distributor - he barely spoke any english, but he understood what I wanted.  thankfully, I had two extra passport size photos, which he required - I filled out some forms including father's and grandfather's first names and then had to go to copy shop two doors down and get copies of Visa and Passport made for him.  Luckily a woman walked in who spoke some english and gave me the numbers of our two phones by typing in *903* (who would have known?) - we now have two local phones with 350 rupees credit on each one.  It costs about 2 rupees a minute to call and talk.  The total cost for both sim cards and getting them "charged" with rupees was a whopping $9, including his fee to put the sim cards in.  I kept asking him if he was charging me correctly - he assured me he was!!!

We then toured the hotel and enjoyed the ancient artifacts built into the design.

We also enjoyed a 6 course Napalese dinner and promptly passed out very soon thereafter.  The food was incredible and we look forward to using the local spices in out cooking when we get home!

We head to The Royal Chitwan National Park this morning.  Catch up soon!

Kuala Lumpur stopver

Sala6m from Malaysia!!

a 7 hour flight from Tokyo found us sleeping for most of it as it was 6 AM California time by the time we took off!  We lounge hopped in Narita airport and sampled international foods in the Admirals Club, the Japan Airlines lounge and the Qantas Lounge.  By the time we boarded the flight, we were fed and watered quite well and ready to crash.  Arrived in Kuala Lumpur at 3:45 AM Malysian time - took us a whopping 20 minutes to collect bags and go through immigration control - NICE!!  Hopped in a taxi - about a 40 minute drive with most of it on empty roads going about 90-100 MPH - FUN!!  Arrived at hotel and snuck in another hour of sleep while it was dark.  Woke up to quite the few from our room of the Patronas Towers!

Grabbed some breakfast at the hotel lounge and headed off by taxi to the famed Batu Caves!  Many Hindu shrines in the caves after a 272 step hike up - quite extraordinary!!