We were up at 6:30 am this morning and in the dining room just after 7:00 a.m. The sun was already out, and warm air caressed our bodies as we ate breakfast on the “mountain view” dining terrace. We were ready to leave just after 8 but our packed lunches weren’t ready. So…., we chilled…..You get used to that!! We set off around 9:30 am and the plan was to catch a local bus, so we walked up to the bus stance. We had at least an hour of “people watching” while waiting for the bus. We watched a bunch of guys trying to get an old station wagon to work. In the end they were successful, but the amount of pollution they spilled into the atmosphere was immoral. A little baby boy – maybe 2 ½ came and gave me a present of a small piece of cellophane he had picked up off the road. I accepted it graciously. We watched the roof of a bus empty of people leaving one poor goat on a tight tether so he wouldn’t strangle. The look of fear and loneliness on its face was quite heart breaking. We watched locals carting huge weights of produce on their backs with straps that tie around their foreheads. And we generally just watched.
All in a flurry our bus arrived, we grabbed our backpacks and ran to catch it. I guess I was the bright spark that said, “let’s ride on the roof”, and innocently we scrambled up the some-what ladder at the back of the bus. We sat on what you can imagine as a metal luggage rack secured to the bus roof. There were sheets of galvanized steel, some piping, and some eavestroughing we had to maneuver around as well as about 10 other people sitting in the lotus position. The chap I squeezed in beside was a Tibetan living in New York and just visiting. Half way along the ride, we suddenly had an extra passenger, a young boy, who appeared from nowhere – I think he was running along beside the bus and then hopped on the ladder and made it to the top. If yesterday’s ride was tame, today’s ride was madness. It was a beautiful ride up the mountainside. The road deteriorated from a narrow paved road, complete with potholes, to a dirt road complete with big boulders. We climbed most of the way with a few downhill segments and of course we maneuvered through countless bends, met a few vehicles coming the opposite way, and generally shuddered our way up. The worst was the “S” bends when you hoped and prayed the driver didn’t mis-judge the corner and end up with one or two wheels suspended in mid-air. Other nerve racking parts were when you suddenly lurched sideways and felt as if the bus would topple over either down hundreds of feet drop on one side of the mountain or straight into the steep bank on the inside of the turn. When Ray and I eventually spoke about it, we agreed it was one of those “out there” moments. We put all our faith into the driver and the equipment in circumstances where neither warranted it! We have heard enough stories, and seen enough accidents to prompt some really serious “what are we doing” thoughts on the trip. But….we were on the way to a Buddhist monastery and temple, and it was a pilgrimmage for others on the bus, so, I prayed along with them and trusted in Buddha which was obviously the right thing to do, as we made it safely to the top. We jumped down and hugged each other with relief. Then we walked the last 5 minutes up to the Thrangu Tahi Yangtse Temple set high on the mountaintop and surrounded by forest. The monastery/temple was only opened in December 2008 and houses over 200 monks. It is splendid. The colours and decorations were vivid and depicted life in the world of Buddha. The large temple was still being worked on by the artists painting various scenes on the walls with paints mixed by the monks. I knelt on one of the monk’s meditation stools and for the first time on our trip felt the “reverence” of the religion around me. It was another of those “special” moments in life that urge you to stop, and reflect. We wandered all over the monastery grounds seeing the various shrines and places of worship. Anthony and I spent a few reverent moments among the prayer flags at the very top point of the monastery. Prayer flags come in red, yellow, blue, green and white depicting the 5 elements of the universe, earth water sun, moon and air. They are written all over with mantras. Devotees buy the flags and pay something for the specially trained people at the temples to mount them. When they blow in the wind, the concept is that they spread their good “karma”.
When our guide called us away from the monastery, we wound our way slowly down the mountain path stopping for lunch on the way and visiting the original Namo Buddha Temple. We emerged out of the forest to over look the valley richly cultivated with corn, potatoes, wheat, and all sorts of vegetables. Once on the valley floor we wandered past hay stooks, bags of potatoes, small villages, dogs barking, baby lambs, and people working in the fields or on the terraces. It was simply beautiful. After reaching the town of Namo Buddha, we had about a 1 ½ hour’s walk through the countryside to Panauti where we saw the burning ghats on the river’s edge before visiting the temple which many say is the oldest temple in Nepal. Panauti is a small, quiet, hamlet, which with French help has recently had much of its traditional architecture restored. Our driver met us in the middle of the small town and we crawled into the van exhausted, but happy. We made it back into Kathmandu just after 6, then after a refreshing shave and change of clothes, we grabbed dinner and were in bed by 10. Sleep came easy!
All in a flurry our bus arrived, we grabbed our backpacks and ran to catch it. I guess I was the bright spark that said, “let’s ride on the roof”, and innocently we scrambled up the some-what ladder at the back of the bus. We sat on what you can imagine as a metal luggage rack secured to the bus roof. There were sheets of galvanized steel, some piping, and some eavestroughing we had to maneuver around as well as about 10 other people sitting in the lotus position. The chap I squeezed in beside was a Tibetan living in New York and just visiting. Half way along the ride, we suddenly had an extra passenger, a young boy, who appeared from nowhere – I think he was running along beside the bus and then hopped on the ladder and made it to the top. If yesterday’s ride was tame, today’s ride was madness. It was a beautiful ride up the mountainside. The road deteriorated from a narrow paved road, complete with potholes, to a dirt road complete with big boulders. We climbed most of the way with a few downhill segments and of course we maneuvered through countless bends, met a few vehicles coming the opposite way, and generally shuddered our way up. The worst was the “S” bends when you hoped and prayed the driver didn’t mis-judge the corner and end up with one or two wheels suspended in mid-air. Other nerve racking parts were when you suddenly lurched sideways and felt as if the bus would topple over either down hundreds of feet drop on one side of the mountain or straight into the steep bank on the inside of the turn. When Ray and I eventually spoke about it, we agreed it was one of those “out there” moments. We put all our faith into the driver and the equipment in circumstances where neither warranted it! We have heard enough stories, and seen enough accidents to prompt some really serious “what are we doing” thoughts on the trip. But….we were on the way to a Buddhist monastery and temple, and it was a pilgrimmage for others on the bus, so, I prayed along with them and trusted in Buddha which was obviously the right thing to do, as we made it safely to the top. We jumped down and hugged each other with relief. Then we walked the last 5 minutes up to the Thrangu Tahi Yangtse Temple set high on the mountaintop and surrounded by forest. The monastery/temple was only opened in December 2008 and houses over 200 monks. It is splendid. The colours and decorations were vivid and depicted life in the world of Buddha. The large temple was still being worked on by the artists painting various scenes on the walls with paints mixed by the monks. I knelt on one of the monk’s meditation stools and for the first time on our trip felt the “reverence” of the religion around me. It was another of those “special” moments in life that urge you to stop, and reflect. We wandered all over the monastery grounds seeing the various shrines and places of worship. Anthony and I spent a few reverent moments among the prayer flags at the very top point of the monastery. Prayer flags come in red, yellow, blue, green and white depicting the 5 elements of the universe, earth water sun, moon and air. They are written all over with mantras. Devotees buy the flags and pay something for the specially trained people at the temples to mount them. When they blow in the wind, the concept is that they spread their good “karma”.
When our guide called us away from the monastery, we wound our way slowly down the mountain path stopping for lunch on the way and visiting the original Namo Buddha Temple. We emerged out of the forest to over look the valley richly cultivated with corn, potatoes, wheat, and all sorts of vegetables. Once on the valley floor we wandered past hay stooks, bags of potatoes, small villages, dogs barking, baby lambs, and people working in the fields or on the terraces. It was simply beautiful. After reaching the town of Namo Buddha, we had about a 1 ½ hour’s walk through the countryside to Panauti where we saw the burning ghats on the river’s edge before visiting the temple which many say is the oldest temple in Nepal. Panauti is a small, quiet, hamlet, which with French help has recently had much of its traditional architecture restored. Our driver met us in the middle of the small town and we crawled into the van exhausted, but happy. We made it back into Kathmandu just after 6, then after a refreshing shave and change of clothes, we grabbed dinner and were in bed by 10. Sleep came easy!
1 comment:
I, for one, shall never ride atop bus after reading your account. However, I imagine being trapped inside the bus would also have been frightening. Often, as I am reading your blog, I find myself wishing I were one of your fellow travellers. This time, not so much.
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