We started the day early, our jetlag woke us up around six a.m. in Nepalese time (around 6 p.m. in US time). We got ourselves ready for the day feeling energetic and excited. We walked down the wooden stairs of our hotel (Hotel Courtyard), to grab breakfast in the buffet room. They had a surprising (or rather unsurprising, seeing as the co-owner is American) amount of American type foods, including French Toast, Pancakes, eggs, and toast. The food was good, if not decidedly different. The pancakes were a little less than an inch thick, the French toast was more of a triangular pancake, and the toast was not white or whole wheat bread, but some sort of other grain. It was very good, despite being different than the normal American breakfast meal. After our simple breakfast we went back to our room, which was a medium sized room with comfortable beds. We planned to go to Swayambhunath (or The Monkey Temple, due to large amounts of monkeys in the area around the temple). After an hour or so of planning, we called a car to come and pick us up and drive us to the temple. There are no real street names in Kathmandu so if you want get around with any kind of ease while walking you really need to know the area. The cars in Nepal are tiny, like Smart cars, so many people have motorcycles. The roads are bumpy and narrow in most parts, the streets are filled with people, cars and motorcycles. There were sidewalks, but they came so infrequently that people opted to walk around in the street, many stores were filled to the brim with food or other products, stray dogs, friendly as they were patrolled the streets. The dust in Kathmandu clothed everything, the nicer buildings with real glass windows had enough dust on the glass to make it difficult to see through the windows. The pollution is very high in Nepal, so some people covered their noses and faces to keep from breathing in too much pollution. We arrived at the temple around ten a.m. (ten at night US time). We climbed up the first few stairs and encountered a few monkeys. They were small, with cloudy brown eyes and soft looking hazel brown fur. The baby monkeys were adorable, about as small as a couple of books, the larger ones were the sizes of small encyclopedias. We took a few pictures and continued on. There were a lot of stairs, possibly over 200. The temple at the top was a white dome with a huge golden spike at the top. It had eyes painted on four sides of the golden spire. People were all around preparing for Holi, a festival of color. A few men stood on top of the dome and threw yellow paint down the side. Men and Women were burning rice, candles and other things. We walked around for a bit, until we got to tired and then we got back into the taxi and drove to our hotel. Upon arrival we saw the hotel’s co-owner Michelle. Our parents left to go shop, but we stayed and talked to Michelle and her friend Allie, an Australian who had summited Mount Everest. After talking, our parents came back and we headed inside for a nap (we weren’t used to the jetlag). Then we had a delicious steak dinner with Michelle, her husband, Allie, Nancy (an American woman), and a German couple. We soon returned to bed. – Sigourney
To learn more about the Kopila Valley Children’s School go to blinknow.org
Next: The trip/arrival to Kopila Valley
Pouring color in preparation for Holi, the celebration of colors. Yellow circle represents the buddhas third eye.
