A slow day today. Breakfast at 8, massage for Judy and archery for me at 9. Then time for settling the bill and getting on the bus at 11:30 to the Chitwan airport. No big delays although we were cordoned off in a section of the departures waiting room to make a corridor for the former prime minister of Sri Lanka. A dozen or two uniformed officers formed a passage way from the front door to the VIP lounge – a distance of maybe 100 feet.

My Sri Lankan politics is a bit shaky but there was a popular uprising in 2022 that forced the president and prime minister to quit and go into self-imposed exile for a few months. The new guy got sworn in today, it turns out. His party holds three seats out of 200-odd so he’s dissolved parliament and they’re holding snap elections soon. The former PM walked right by us. That’s our brush with fame for today.

We’re back home at the Marriott. We had a 3 PM lunch and are chilling for a few hours when some of us will leave for the Himalayan Children’s .Charity It’s a place Reagan and Carter visited six years ago and to which we donate money each year. Zach has visited too.

While waiting, I took a few pictures looking out our hotel room – buildings and houses within easy range. I’m always curious to see how people live. And while this is a small snapshot, I find it interesting. And besides, I don’t have many pictures to post tonight.

The Himalayan Children’s Charities is an organization aimed at kids without a home. Here’s their mission statement:

“Himalayan Children’s Charities creates paths out of poverty for vulnerable children and at-risk youth. Through investment in quality education, innovative mentorship and a loving family environment, we help build lives of leadership.”

HCC focuses on youth in Nepal who have lost homes and families. We met upwards of 20 kids tonight at their home. All were studying at university and many had called HCC home for 10 to 15 years. It was clear that they were living in a happy family environment, albeit a large family. There are two facilities in the area; a third is under development. Currently there are 40-some kids in the program. HCC has supported over 500 children. A truly effective program.

Jeff and I spent some time talking with Beena, a girl who tomorrow will complete her university program, graduating with a degree in tourism. Her final research paper was on rafting. She has lots of interests. She’d like to be a professional tour guide but is also interested in owning and Airbnb. She also mentioned some sort of police work. Someone as outgoing and enthusiastic as Beena will go far no matter what she decides to do.

Beena is also a poet. She told me that sometimes she has an experience or thought that she simply must put on paper in the form of a poem. In one poem she shared with me she expressed her desire to be free, something she finds hard to do in the face of societal norms. Here is an excerpt from one she wrote:

            That little place inside me

            Where I can feel free

 

            Without the wall

            Without the chain

            Without the gate

 

            Holding me back in this deep rooted culture

            Where men’s fruits are preferred

She goes on to talk about the caste system in marriage:

            Parents want their daughter to be married early

            So she can’t elope with someone from a lower caste

            It matters your caste

            A lot

            If you marry a lower caste, your parents abandon you

            They want to keep their prestige in society

            If you marry a higher caste, your in law control you

Several of the kids are studying Information Technology. Jeff and Julie are interested in potential internships with those near graduation. They plan to have them come to Miatri for a tour next time they are in town.

So what started as a slow day ended with a real eye opening and rewarding experience.

A busy day in the jungle today: another jeep safari in the morning, an elephant encounter mid day and a river boat trip in the afternoon. Unfortunately, that generated a whole ton of photos that, miracle of miracles, downloaded flawlessly while we slept.

There was a steady drizzle for the jeep ride but clear weather for the rest of the day.  But hot? I never saw a thermometer, but it must have been well north of 90 and humidity readings to match. The ride in the rain wasn’t quite as hot but when the sun came out you could fry an egg. . . Maybe poach an egg.

Animal wise, we encountered a mother jackle and her baby wandering down the road. I’d always thought of jackles as being fierce, but they looked like something you’d want to take home as a pet.

We saw another species of deer – the hog deer, so named because they like to crawl under things rather than jump over them. The big treat was to watch a male rhino first munch his lunch in an open area and then see him swim across the Rapti River. He actually waded since the river isn’t very deep. Did I mention that this river becomes the Ganges River when it crosses into India  

Later, back at our room, I looked out our window to see a rhino floating in the river, not going anywhere, just floating. Some say I’m crazy (multiple reasons are cited) but I swear it was floating on his back  Center of gravity issues may make it tough for a rhino to stay inverted but there was no question in my mind that the animal was there to chill, both thermally and relaxologically 

Someone asked our guide, Mehesh, what his favorite animal is. He said, “I really prefer birds.” His lifetime list is almost 1,000 species.

He’s another local boy made good. Mehesh was born, raised and educated here, went away to university, spent 11 years working in a tiger reserved in India and came back home to guide tourists in his boyhood playground.  Much of what he knows he learned from his father and older brothers as they spent time in the jungle.

Actually, we didn’t travel in Chitwan National Park – it won’t open for another week or two when the monsoon season has passed and things have dried out. Rather, we were in a buffer area surrounding the park that is a mixed use area. People are allowed to gather wood, pick fruit, etc. and animals are free to travel back and forth to the park per se. Hunting, of course, is strictly prohibited.
Mehesh is not married and, since he’s over 40 is unlikely to become so. All the women his age have been married off my anxious mothers by now.

You can see in the pictures what the elephant encounter entailed. Suffice it to say you needed to wear a bathing suit. We actually ran across the elephants in our jungle safari as they walked to our lodge. Riding elephants through the jungle as a tourist activity is no longer allowed. It’s too hard on the elephants and too dangerous to the handler and tourists. Judy and I did such a trip 10 years ago.

The canoe ride was a four o’clock affair. Very pleasant float down the river. We spotted the back side of a couple of crocks but I didn’t get the money shot: full monty crock with its mouth wide open. Maybe next time.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner are gourmet affairs, delicious and varied. It’s a set menu and included in the room price. But last night all but a few opted for the Jeff Special pasta dish rather than the exotic fare.

So now it’s an afternoon flight back home to the Marriott in Kathmandu. Judy has a massage scheduled at nine and I’m going for archery practice I need the practice since I haven’t hefted a bow in anger for well over 50 years.

Talk about your nail biter. Rebecca and her boyfriend Sammy were scheduled to fly Chicago-Doha-Kathmandu, arriving 2 AM today, Tuesday. (Rebecca was at the American Diabetes Association meeting.) Our flight to the Chitwan National Park was scheduled to leave Kathmandu at 10:15 AM. Plan was, they would come to the hotel, catch a few Zs and we’d all head out for two days in the jungle at Chitwan. Safari, Elephants, Canoe Ride, more Safari.

Problem was, their flight to Doha was late and the connection to Kathmandu was on time so they missed the flight. No problem, they could hang out in the Qatar lounge, get a shower, some food, some Zs. Not a bad way to spend 8 hours. Second problem: their flight got to Kathmandu OK but then circled again and again, probably due to weather in the area. Finally they landed. Jeff met the plane, discussed the situation with the Buddha Air folks (diplomatic relations may need a few days to heal) and at the last minute, onto the transfer bus they came. All’s well and we’re all ten of us in Chitwan at the Taj Safari resort.

This Taj hotel is part of the Taj group, which is largely owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur, India, where we visited just last week.

The resort is magnificent. Individual cabana-style cabins complete with outside shower and an individual front-porch infinity pool. Our unit overlooks the Rapti River where crocodiles will appear in the late afternoon. There’s a rather flimsy looking wire fence between us and the river to keep the rhinos where they belong.

Lunch was a four-course sit down affair – soup, fish, chicken noodles, rice, vegetables in a curry sauce and a bunch of stuff I enjoyed but can’t remember.

The big event today was a 4 PM safari by jeep. Our naturalist gave us a thirty-minute slide presentation of what we might see. The big deal here is the tiger. One with two cubs has been spotted recently in front of the lodge but they are rare. Rhinoceroses are more common. Spotted deer are just about everywhere. But of course there are no guarantees.

In the end, we did see lots of spotted deer. We saw a peacock and several other birds, including a red headed ibis, similar in shape to the ibis we see every day in Florida. We saw the head of a crocodile floating in the Ripta Rive. And, at the very end of our journey, sure enough, we found a rhino and her baby. Quite a thrill.

Dinner tonight was outside and included entertainment by a troupe of dancers from the local community. I didn’t follow all of the explanation but the gist of it seems that the local tribe, the Tharu people, dance these dances to keep their culture alive. Some seemed to be stylized war dances. The grand finale had us all up dancing a variety of moves, all to the beat of drummers and a chorus of women singers chanting who-knows-what. The dancing was inserted between an elaborate appetizer course (multiple items served individually) and the main course that had something to do with chicken and a lot of other items served with little illumination. But it tasted good and will hold us to breakfast.

Breakfast will be served in the jungle. We report for another round of safari tomorrow at 7:30 AM

For the past 10 years, Judy and I have said to each other, “Someday we need to go back to Nepal and see our friend Paras.” He was our guide back then and for the past 10 years our Facebook friend. And today, our wish came true. Paras was our group’s guide to two locations in Kathmandu.

First stop: The Chandragiri Hills, an entertainment complex reached by cable car. There they have lots of fun things to do. Some in our group did the zip line.

This site is also thought to be a place of historical significance. Prithvi Narayan Shah became king of the Gurkha Kingdom in 1743 at age 20 and went on to be the first king of a united country of Nepal. One of his critical moves in this endeavor was to conquer the Kathmandu valley. The valley at the time was divided into three kingdoms. The three kings were brothers

King Prithvi Narayan climbed a hill to reconnoiter and hatch a plan. That spot was the same spot where we stood today, looking out over the Kathmandu Valley. Long story short, he eventually succeeded and, after numerous other battles, the 54 kingdoms became united as one Nepal. He was coronated on September 25, 1768, just 8 years before our Declaration of Independence.

Incidentally, the Gurkha Kingdom is Paras’s home district. Prithvi Narayan’s strategy included building a strong, well-trained army. His army was not only successful at home, but Gurkha soldiers kept the British out of Nepal, unlike India where the Brits took over the place. The British were so impressed that they hired Gurkhas to serve in the British army. The Gurkha Guards remain part of the British armed forces to this day.

 We descended by van to a restaurant partway down the hill for an enjoyable poolside snacks and drinks followed by lunch. Some of us had the Nepalese “set meal,” a plate with rice in the center surrounded by pickles, lentils, chicken and a vegetable. See the picture to see what I mean.

Back down in the valley, our driver took us, following a circuitous route, to  Kirpitur, a town just south of Kathmandu and home to many Narwari people. The Narwaris speak a unique  ancient language and maintain a distinct culture.

The streets through which we walked featured numerous Buddhist stupas, many dating back to the 15th century, give or take a few. One in particular is thought to be the site of a stupa dating from much earlier times, although reconstruction in the 15th century seems to have eliminated archeological evidence.

Frequently, we came across women and sometimes men sitting (separately) in doorways, some of the women tending babies. Kids coming home from school were playing in the streets.

We saw an example of an open street-side platform which served back in the day as a place of rest for visitors coming to town. Those platforms are now used for communal gatherings of local residents.

Lots of sleeping dogs in the street, too. Paras said some might call them strays, but he prefers to think of them as guardians of that particular place.

We went to the Kirtipur Stupa built on the site where our friend King Prithvi Narayan fought two unsuccessful battles in his effort to take control of the Kathmandu valley before finally succeeding.

And, lucky travelers that we are, clouds lifted enough for us to get a good look at some of the Himalayan Mountains. Mt Dorje Lakpa was the main one we saw.

Dinner tonight was at the hotel where the rooftop restaurant had been converted into an Arabian Knights theme, complete with a chef brought in from Saudi Arabia.

Tomorrow we’re off to Chitwan for some safari action. Rebecca and Sammy’s flight into Doha was late so they won’t get to Kathmandu until 8:40 AM, hopefully in enough time to join us on the 20-minute flight to Chitwan.

I’ve booked a lot of flights in my day, but I’ve never messed one up as bad as I did our flight from Delhi to Kathmandu. I chose the wrong airline (Air India has first class and permits carry on luggage; Indigo doesn’t); I chose the wrong flight (I missed the 11 AM flight and went with the 1:30 PM instead); I didn’t get us the right seats (seats on the left get a better view of Kathmandu than the right); I missed a step in the on-line visa process and had to get us visa-on-arrival visas. I couldn’t even buy soda from a soda dispenser because it wouldn’t take a Visa card and I didn’t have exact change in rupees.

But you know what? We had a nice view of Kathmandu and the mountains. It only took a few minutes to get the visa and we waited no more than 10 minutes for our bags. And we’re hear, safe and sound.

Our main purpose for being in Kathmandu, you may recall, is to celebrate the one year anniversary of Matri, the company our son Jeff formed with his long-time friends Julie and Rob. We were met at the airport by Jeff, Julie, Julie’s husband Dino, her son Zach and Zach’s girlfriend Peyton. With Reagan, Judy and me, that makes eight in a commodious van.

The rest of the crowd arrived from the U.S. today, so they’re jet lagged. The three of us are too, having to adjust to the 15 minute time change from India to Nepal. But you can’t just crash upon arrival; you have to keep awake and active.

So, first stop: the Pashupatinath Temple complex, a few miles from the airport. It’s a sprawling complex of Hindu temples along the sacred Bagamati River. It’s considered the most sacred temple in all of Hinduism. It is also the site of a dozen or more cremation facilities. When someone dies, their loved ones, led by the eldest son, prepare the body for cremation. The body is placed on a pier at the edge of the Bagmati and covered with wood and burned. Hindus believe in reincarnation, so the ceremony marks another birth in the soul’s next life.

Next, our driver took us to the Bhouda Stupa, a Buddhist temple some say is the largest stupa in the world. People walk clockwise around the stupa to meditate and beseech help from above. There were a lot of people out on this pleasant (80 degree) evening. The sun was setting as we made our way around the stupa.

Buddhism, while not a religion in that it doesn’t have a god, per se, but is rather a way of living one’s life to remove the shackles and suffering of normal life. Hindu practitioners (and, in our experience, some U.S. Christians) mix the two together.

The inscription on our Bhouda Stupa ticket reads:

After visiting this holy Pashapati area, your soul, body and

Wealth have become more holy and sacred

May your footsteps always be forward towards human well being.

We had dinner at a pizza restaurant on the walk path around the stupa. Good pizza and quenched our hunger.