Swim, Work, Travel, Live Healthy, Live Single, Live Christian....Oh Jeah!: Adventures In Nepal and Hong Kong

Click here to see Nepal

Click here to see Hong Kong....it's all about color, costumes, harbors, clothes, technology, and people...Hong Kong!

Arrived in Nepal International Airport midnight April 17, 2011, I was bit surprised by the standard of the airport..I guess in was "pampered" by the advancement of Hong Kong International Airport where the plane left to Dhaka, Bangladesh (1 hour stopover) to Kathmandu. Plane landed safely in Kathmandu after a 45-min delay due to weather condition in Dhaka. Visa on arrival was fast but it took a bit extra for me due to couple of questions of the immigration officer about the several entry and exit stamps from 24 different countries in my passport, and I can see why. He affixed the visa sticker with multiple entry after a direct and smart answer...hehehehe. No secrets! It was all good! Jeah!

The airport started shutting it's light since it was the last arrival that day. Guess what? My hotel airport pick up service was not there and a dozen of taxi drivers speaking Nepalese came to me as I was the only one left outside the arrival area...dark! I always decline to take a taxi in going to the hotel each time I travel specially in late arrival for safety reason. I always have the hotel pick me up or reserve an airport transfer. The hotel pick up finally arrived after 15-min of "not worry-free" waiting. All went well after all. Adjustment with was pretty good despite of the long flight. I was greeted politely "Nemaste" and the check in was hassle-free, as always. I went directly to my huge hotel room and slept tight to regain energy for the next day's first tour of the city of Kathmandu and Thamel.

On my first full day, I took an extra slow phase in the hotel room, warm shower, tried to get to my workout routine with the stretch bands and 2-liter drinking water bottle as weights and good breakfast. Afternoon of that day when the "exploration" started. First trip was the drive in the city of Kathmandu. Traffic was like in Hanoi's motorcycle-filled streets and like Cairo's "no traffic" rule streets and highways as well as resembling Beijing's congested and packed public transportation. I was fortunate to have a private-air-conditioned transportation with a driver and a local tour guide. I did not inhale much of the pollution.

The adventure has began! On my first day I had a tour of Kathmandu Valley also called the "City of Glory". Visit includes Durbar Square, Kasthamandap - said to be constructed from a single piece wood, Kumari Ghar - Home to the world's only Living Goddess and Hanuman Dhoka Palace. Once a year, during Indra Jatra festival, the King of Nepal seeks the Kumari's blessing. I was fortunate to see the Kumari when she showed herself through the window. Pictures were nit allowed. A short visit to Kal Bhairab, the Gold of destruction andTaleju Temple, built in 1549 AD. That same day, with my private driver and private tour guide I visited the Swayanbunath stupa, said to be one of the oldest Buddhist Stupas in the world, which is majestically set high on a hill overlooking Kathmandu Valley. It is nicknamed as the monkey temple after the tribe of monkeys that look after the hill and often amuses the visitors. I was fortunate to see the "monkey festival" that day.

Below are photos taken in one of entrances of many temples dating back 16 th century in Kathmandu Durbur Square, A UNESCO World Heritage.

Durbur Square, A UNESCO World Heritage. At the top of the temple are local Nepalese.

Durbur Square in Kathmandu---On my way to return to the hotel after a half day exploring the square.

Swayanbunath stupa. It was a time of "pilgrimage" among Hindus that day. Olderly, young adults, children were there to celebrate.

Durbur Square in Kathmandu. This young Nepalese man kept on following my tour guide Rohini and I while I take photos. He was curious on how the iPhone camera works. I asked him if he wants to be part of picture and he just posed without hesitation. What a curious and nice young Nepalese person in the bazaar!

Durbur Square in Kathmandu. Behind are two Nepalese women wearing their local costumes.

In the early morning of April 19 I flew with a 19-seater plane Buhhda Air for a mountain flight to the the Himalayas mountain ranges and Mt. EVEREST. I was fortunate that day because the clouds started to clear up and I saw the majestic iced-caps Himalayas mountain ranges, including the Mount Everest, of course...the main reason I took the time to fly up in the sky. It's an amazing creation! I felt a different spirit as the plane passes eye level with the Mt. EVEREST. Nepalese consider this mountain as very holy!

The picture below was taken from the mountain flight (Buddha Air- B1900D - 19 seat aircraft) in the Himalayas mountain ranges in Nepal. Where in the photo? The Mt. EVEREST (29,029 ft) is the triangular-shaped top close to the left side of the photo. To the right of Mt. EVEREST is Mt. Lhotse (27,940 ft) and to the left of Mt. EVEREST is Mt.Nuptse (flat in appearance) (25,771 ft).

Mount Everest, also known as Mount Chomolungma or Sagarmatha, is the world's highest mountain above the mean sea level at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). It is located in the Himalayas on the Nepal (Sagarmatha Zone)-China (Tibet) border.

The 19-seater Buddha aircraft B1900D that took me to a mountain flight in the Himalayas mountain ranges to see Mt. EVEREST, the highest peak in the world.

Next was a sightseeing tour of Pashupatinath, a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. This massive temple complex sits alongside the banks of the holy Bagmati River. Only Hindus are allowed to enter the courtyard of the temple, whereas tourists can see the temple from the eastern side of the Bagmati River. Afterwards, visit Boudhanath, a Buddhist Stupa said to be one of the largest in the world. This massive structure stands tall with four pairs of eyes each facing the four cardinal directions, watching for righteous behaviour mankind and for human prosperity.

Picture taken in the Pashupatinath. In front is the Bagmati River considered as "holy river" by Hindus and Buddhists in Nepal. The ashes of cremated bodies (which was being done the day I visited and I smelled the smoke and gave me a slight headache) is being poured into the Bagmati river which is very polluted. This river connects to Ganges River in India. I cannot imagine how much pollution the great Ganges river gets from Nepal plus the pollution originating from India.

Below was an open "courtyard" with tons of doves around and bull in the BOUDHANATH STUPA CITY.

Hahahaha...Do I look like "afraid" to touch it? I was! Chicken! Hehehe

A rare photo with the Indigenous "mountain" people in the
BOUDHANATH STUPA CITY. A small stupa in the background.

Full Day TOUR OF BUNGAMATI AND KHOKANA
Tour of Bungamati Village which is an abode of Red Machendranath Bungamati is famous as the winter home of the Red Machindra of Patan. The temple dating back from 16 century. Shikhar style temple. Its spacious courtyard is often used for spreading grain to dry in the sun as this area is mainly covered up by farmers. On return from Bungamati visit another Newari farmers typical village called Khokana. This village is famous in the Kathmandu valley for its mustard oil, here one can see how the villagers extract oil from the mustard seeds in the age-old traditional style.

Sitting next to a typical old-fashioned Nepalese in Bhaktapur, UNESCO World Heritage

Getting water from well...my first time to get water from a real well!

A Nepalese washing clothes by hand...I got a bucket of water from well for her. What an experience!

The young Nepalese child looks like a walking doll.

A Buddha poses in Bhaktapur

Click here to see Nagarkot, Nepal

After a hike in Nagarkot.

If not cloudy one can visibly see the Himalayan mountain ranges here in Nagarkot including the tip of Mt. EVEREST.

A good Nepalese friend Krisna Pahari who served daily breakfast in the hotel in Thamel where I stayed. This was taken in the garden the Ambassador Garden Hotel..with wonderful staff and unparalleled service to tourists. Thumbs up! Thanks Krisna for the wonderful breakfast you served in the hotel.

With Bakash Gautam who works in the hotel who picked me up from the airport in Nepal in the middle of the night. Thanks Bakash!

Namaste....Nepalese respectful greeting with hands together with a bow! I love Asian culture, very respectful and sophisticated!

I could be a Nepalese, too!

With very friendly Nepalese staffs in the hotel...I felt like home! Jeah!

A Nepalese mandala in the background

The plane that flew me to see Mt. EVEREST! Wonderful and once in a lifetime experience!

A Nepalese cat. This cat was always in the garden breakfast area of the hotel!

Portrait of the former ambassador of Nepal to China..."The Ambassador Garden Hotel"

Like my other trips, Nepal is another country that I visited with the feeling of enthusiasm of coming back sometime. It was a very unforgettable and awesome experience! As I see it, Nepalese are happy people regardless of their status in the society and it looks like that they are not as materialistic as compared to other places, specially in the western world...of course! In my experience during the few days here, I believe, Nepal deserves a place in the world where people from other countries will look up to because of their "positive outlook" in life in the midst of their "struggles" to keep life goes on joyfully (Of course, there is always someone who I can describe as people with "full of inertia" - I mean lazy, similar to other countries), not to forget their "close family ties" that bonds them and preserves their heritage. Nepal, aside from Thailand, is one of the few countries in the United Nation that has not been colonized by other country.

Thank you Nepal for a wonderful experience! There is really a "magic" in you....as the welcome banner in one the roads leading to the Kathmandu International Airport says, NEPAL - "Magic of Mysticism," I will return! Nemaste!

A big "JEAH!"

Nepal: General Information (From Wikipedia)

In a chain of highest and the youngest mountain on earth, Nepal is a country of apparent diversity, amazingly rich culture with varied complex compassing a region of deep religion with subtle and spectacular traditional culture. What in now a Nepal was a collection of feudal principalities sandwiched between the Mogul India and Tibet. Land locked and with an area of only 800 km long and 200 km wide, the terrain changes from its highest altitude of 8848 meters and glaciers along the Tibetan border to the flat jungles of Terai, barely 150 meters above sea level in it. s 200 km longitude. The country does not ascend gradually from the plains. Rather, it raises from several chains of the hills that lie's in an east. west direction, finally terminating in the youngest and the highest range in the world . the HIMALAYAS.

Nepal, today offers much more than superb mountain scenery. It provides an opportunity to step back in time and meet people who like our ancestors many centuries ago lived free of complications, social economic and political which beset the developed world.

Facts

Population: 26.3 million (UN, 2005)
Capital: Kathmandu
Area: 147,181 sq km (56,827 sq miles)
Major language: Nepali
Major religions: Hinduism & Buddhism
Monetary unit: 1 Nepalese rupee = 100 paisa
Main exports: Carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain
GNI per capita: US $260 (World Bank, 2005)
Internet domain: .np
International dialling code: +977

///////////////////////////////////////////. Hong Kong Trip ./////////////////////////////////////////////////

Click here to see Hong Kong...Live It, Love It!

Hong Kong trip.......

While waiting for my connecting flight in Hong Kong to Kathmandu, I took a short Hong Kong city tour and I got a "preview" of what Hong Kong is like. I like it!

Hong Kong skyline along the Hong Kong Harbor. It was cloudy that day.