Back from our 7 day adventure across Nepal!

Sorry for the lack of updates over the past few weeks, its been Dashain, a big festival here and crazyness! I will start writing what I've been up to as soon as I can but until then you should all check out the pictures of our trip I just uploaded to facebook :]

White Water Bus Top Elephant Riding

Love you all <3

Garden Secrets

Pictures of the Garden of Dreams :]

All photo creds go to Stephen and his amazing photography skillz

 The restuarant

Nestled lovers

Elephant Stephen!

A game we played at the Cafe

It was similar to checkers

a sphinx statue by the main entrance

Kathmandu's Biggest Secret

It was a hot, sunny day in the city, like many days here, making a short walk feel like an hour in the sauna. Stephen had read about this mystical garden escape in the center of Kathmandu called “the Garden of Dreams” in a guidebook and we were determined to find it. He had also heard of a restaurant nearby the garden that had dal bhat for only something like 60 rupees, practically unheard of in Thamel. We decided we needed an escape from the city and its crowded streets and went on a mission to find this fanciful dreamland. We set off down the streets of Thamel, guided towards our destination by the directions of rickshaw drivers and street peddlers. Upon finding it we decided to go get lunch then come back, diving head first into the crowded tourist shopping district of Thamel.

            We eventually found the restaurant, nestled in above the shops, only a few of its many tables inhabited by foreign tourists. We were disappointed to find the supposed cheap dal bhat was a bit more expensive than rumored, but still cheap for the all-you-can-eat service they provide, refilling your rice, dal, and assorted sides as you finish them. I decided to go with some fried veg momos, which are Nepali dumplings and one of my favorites next to popart and samosas. After eating our fill we decided it was time to return to the garden, standing once more at its front gates. High cement walls, wrapping around the entire expanse, keep in the garden’s serenity the sound of the outside busy street bouncing back and transporting you away from the city inside its safe barriers. The one main entrance was guarded by a ticket counter and a beautiful fountain and after paying the small fee of 200 rupees we wandered in.

The narrow walkway opened up to a large estate, similar to that of a palace, beautiful sculpted bushes framing clean white stone gazebos. On one side a terraced field was laid out, foam mattresses scattered here and there, all covered in the draped forms of relaxing Nepalis and tourists alike. The other side held a large fountain, beautiful lotuses and cattails sprouting up out of the water, koi swimming lazily in its depths. A large open restaurant stood just behind the fountain, its large white pillars supporting a rounded stone roof, palms casting shade on its outer-set tables. Lively stone elephants stood playfully on the steps leading up to the restaurant, perfect for a posed snap of Stephen. 

Wandering along the stone paths, we realized the true intent of the garden, what it had been repurposed into by the new generation. It was basically the established PDA spot for all of Kathmandu. A place where all of the couples came to be together, masses of them hidden in every alcove of the garden, behind every tree, on every bench, in every crevice. It is strange here, but in Nepali custom there is no public display of affection at all. Rarely do a man and a woman hold hands, and I’ve never seen anyone kiss in public before. It made sense though, its beauty and serenity was the perfect place for a date, making me miss Jake even more than normal.

One building in the garden held a gallery, showing pictures of what the garden looked like in the early 1900s, before its renovations. The difference was astounding. The buildings and statues crumbling and overgrown weeds running rampant. When they redid it they rearranged some things, expanding the terrace in one part, adding more secret love cubbies, repairing statues, one in particular from a Greek goddess to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and fortune. We relaxed in the garden for quite a while, talking in the shade of a great willow about the lives we would return to, and the trips we dream of taking in the future, and our time here. I left feeling revived and at peace, knowing that I would return to this place someday with someone I love, finding a cool corner to relax and unwind in.

May I Have Some Hand Wash Mam?

The teachers and Didis laugh at me through their dark teeth, 

as I give the children hand sanitizer. 

They look at me like its just a game I am playing with the children, 

a little puddle of play water in their hands.

The children look to them, putting dirty sticks in their mouths like untrained dogs, 

diving their unwashed hands into their unbalanced meals of rice and bread.

How are the children supposed to learn and grow by such incorrect examples?

How is such sickness and poverty supposed to be resolved 

when corrections are not being made, therefore advancement is minimal?

How are the undereducated supposed to teach the uneducated?

This is the strife of the 3rd world.

The imbalance is astounding.

Lack of education, of infrastructure, of leadership.

No way up, no way out

but us and our hand wash, 

our play water. 

(note from author: none of this poem is supposed to be offensive, and if it is I apologize greatly. Was written out of frustration, but not anger, out of care.)

Narayanhiti Palace Museum

More on the Narayanhiti Tragedy

The palace itself, outside of the gates of course, we weren't allowed to take cameras inside, we were made to check our bags at the gate. 

An article on the occurance: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepalese_royal_massacre

Rita's Oasis

Here are some pictures of Rita's Cafe Cheeno and a group picture of us :]

Here is the post Oasis about that day.

 Cafe Cheeno :]

{Photo Cred to Stephen Lau}

The beautiful mural on the side of the building

All of us together :] (Cara, me, Rita, Stephen)

So I may be bad at keeping this up to date but here are more pictures! :D

This is the view of the Himalayas we have from our flat that we can enjoy on clear days :]

{Photo cred: Stephen Lau}

The entrance to the Boudha Stupa (you have to pay if you go in this way so we go in a back way with the locals :] shh don't tell!)

{Photo cred: Stephen Lau}

Me on the roof of our flat :] I have alot of extra time on my hands :P

Jhorjina the Great

This is Jhorjina, the little girl that lives with our Didi and hangs out at the hostel with us. She is the cutest and the one I wrote My Mummy's In Pokhara about :]

Good bye Stephen, I'm glad you are home safe and sound!

Stephen left to go home to England two days ago now, theres gonna be one less laugh around the table now. Just me and Cara at the moment, though we're getting a new roommate from Germany on the 8th!

me, Cara, Garret, and Stephen

This is just the best of the best, pretty much explained our time together in one picture. Stephen, pretty obvious haha, then Cara and her headlamp adventures, Garret never understanding our jokes or why we are always laughing, and me just crying-laughing constantly.