A day w few plans turned out to be amazing 12/1
Awake at 3, I guess we really didn't conquer jet lag after all. Relaxed until 6 then it was coffee time on the rooftop to watch the city come alive (and see dog fights). We headed for Helenas for breakfast, 8 floors up to the highest rooftop restaurant. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. I had the double croissant breakfast (don't judge) and Andy stayed true to the local cuisine and had the Aloo Parathna.
We broke out the Annapurna map and a dude came over and asked about if we were going to hike. Turns out Evan (from Portland by way of Ohio) has been to Nepal 4 times and Annapurna twice. He gave us great advice and made us feel very comfortable hiking it alone. Just what we needed! Now we have a couple side hikes planned and the DL on where to stay. Unfortunately for me Evan got Andy stoked about using the bivies so I may have that in my future. Evan is trying to start microlending in Nepal and help out some kids get to college along the way.
We headed out to pick up our Tibet visas before 11. The weather was cooler than previous days which was so nice. Then we start walking and warm up. I have no idea how the Nepalese are wearing heavy winter jackets when it's 70 out. I guess this is their winter. We got out Tibet visas (yay!) and stopped by a travel agency to see if we could get the flight to Tibet cheaper than online- nope. I guess $675 each round trip is the best we can do (for an hour flight WTF!). No stamp on our passports for Tibet, only the entry/exit papers.
Next we walk an hour or so to the Sree Pashupatinath Temple and paid our foreigner fee of 1000 Rupees (~$10). Andy tried to walk in the Hindu nationalists only temple but was turned away. We ran into a lady from the Netherlands (a practicing Buddist) who just signed up for the guide and offered for us to join. I was hesitant, Andy said yes, so we went. After a quick tour of the temple from the outside, we went down to the river. This isn't any river, this is a holy river. Just as we walked up, a family was prepping their beloved to be cremated. We were just 20 feet away and saw the three sons change the corpse's clothes from white to orange, walk around the bed that was fully covered in orange carnations 3 times, then the eldest son placed a flame in the corpse's mouth to start the cremation. We saw the body, the head, and it all catch on fire right in front of us. It was pretty intense for me, not so much for everyone else who's seen it many times. After the body burns for 3 hours for males, 4 for females (because females have "a spine that takes longer to burn", the ashes are placed in the river. Once the body covered in wood and hay was fully ablaze, we headed for the cave while quickly walking rough the black smoke.
Between that, the garbage on fire, and walking to the temple in the smog, I was wasn't feeling well. We walked to the top of the hill that had a great view of the temple, hospice building, and another buidling that's open to the poor and sick of 60 and older (Mother Teresa lived there for a bit). We passed some Holy Men and the woman we were w really wanted her pic taken w them. No thanks I said. She said it was an amazing experience. Ok fine then. I saw next to one and he took his dreads down and draped the over me. They surprisingly didn't smell. He blessed me and then it was Andy's turn. Our littl tour group drank some Nepalses tea (black tea w milk and cinnamon), getting to know our new friend and guide a little better.
Next we headed out for Boudhanath Stupa Temple. This is a large dome temple that lost the top during the earthquake, they were building "stairs" on the roof to start the reconstruction. We walked around clockwise and toured the town. It was 3 and time for food. We stopped at a restaurant that advertised a ton of food, but only had momo's which was cool because that's all we wanted. The wifi password was "nofoodnogas" so they were obviously feeling the effects of the India blockade. I had the potato and cheese momo's and Andy had to beef "buff" ones. Not quite perogies but delish.
Headed back to Thamel, I was tired and the fumes were killing me so we took a taxi back during rush hour. Our last stop was to drop off the school supplies. The tracking agency was open. The guy responsible for the connection to packforapurpose.com sat us down and asked us about ourselves as Andy showed them the prints and school supplies we brought. The people were stoked and we felt awesome knowing it would go to use for a middle grade school.
It's been another long day. It was great, and I'm happy to exit this city tomorrow as we head out to start Annapurna- after a 6 hour bus ride for $12.
Walked 24k steps; 13 miles; 21 floors