Noticing Nepal

Greetings, we are back home in Singapore after a wonderful summer of travel, food, good friends and fun.  We left the day after school got out and spent a relaxing week in Phuket, Thailand (unfortunately it was the rainy season so we read a lot of books, played cards and unwound).  We then headed off to the US and home for friends, shopping and good food and wine.  We managed to connect with lots of people we hadn't seen in many years (thank you tricky Simon) and between Las Vegas and Tahoe we weren't really ready to come back to Asia.

But come back we did and before school started we had one last get away to Kathmandu, Nepal.  It was quite an adventure - we did a time share trade and it was monsoon season.  That being said we had a wonderful time and it was really good to be back in the third world (with some comforts of course!)

Our lodgings were about 8 kilometers out of Kathmandu proper (Gokarna Forest Resort if you are interested) and is a world away from the hustle and honking that is Kathmandu.  The area is one large forest preserve that was set aside by a king 300 years ago so there are monkeys, deer, leopards (they say) and all types of birds, squirrels and rabbits.  A golf course has been created there and we played a round complete with caddies and armed guards (see picture below for more detail).

We toured the palace (where a prince went crazy in 2001 and killed off the entire family -well, except an uncle and his children/wife - intrigue abounds), saw many beautiful temples, took an amazing mountain bike ride through the foothills of the Himalayas, visited old cities and of course had the round of golf.

Pictures tell so much so I will end with some shots - we have plenty more to share when we next see you.  Thanks to those of you who patiently sat through some of our photos this summer!

A typical street in Kathmandu - actually a really "good" street - no pot holes and not torn up on both sides.  Notice the cows in the middle of the road, you see that a lot.  At the moment the government has decided to widen 90% of the roads, all at the same time.  So people are tearing down walls and houses with hammers while the traffic goes around in the mud and slop,  It took 40-60 minutes to travel the 8K from Thamel (center of town) to our hotel.

Another typical street scene  - this one in Bhaktapur - a lovely nearby city that is not as torn up and maniac as Kathmandu. 

A lovely panoramic view from the top of Swayambhunath (the monkey temple so called because of the holy monkeys that live there.  You can barely see the mountains beginning in the background - that is about as much as we saw... never did see Everest - Simon is now 0-2 on Everest sightings. 

One scene from the mountain bike ride - look I am actually on the bike!  There was a lot of mud, rocks and technical riding.  We found a guide who didn't really do day trips, he usually does 2-3 week trips in Tibet and places like that. So he took us out to one of his favorite places around Kathmandu - 8 hours later we made it back to our hotel, muddy, wet and a bit saddle sore.  I think I actually did a bike and a trek whilst Simon and our guide rode.  (I think I got to enjoy the views more rather than staring at the trail and rocks!)

The sign on our window at the hotel.  The monkeys were everywhere and barbed wire, sharp metal spikes as well as security guards with slingshots barely kept them at bay.  We would see them working in teams trying to get in various rooms and heard from other guests that their room had been ransacked!

This is hole #14 on the course - the caddies nip out the little stone gate to the village to buy cheap drinks for us.  While waiting Simon couldn't resist asking the guard if he wanted to hit.  He had never hit before so after he put his AK47 down in the grass he gave it a try with his utility belt full of grenades and bullets dangling around his waist.  He whiffed about 5 times and finally hit the ball 3-4 feet into a muddy river.  The guy behind Simon took off his shoes and went wading for it but no luck.  Our solider friend then left us standing there (with his AK47 still on the ground) and went to his little hut.  He returned with a ball he had found and made sure we took it with us.  I kept that one and gave the rest of our leftovers to the caddies.  We didn't have many leftovers actually as we lost many in the dense jungle and the leeches made it not too pleasant searching for the strays.

We have been duly chastised for slacking off on the blog (life in Singapore just didn't seem as interesting as life in Cambodia and there certainly isn't nearly as much to complain about as there was in China).  We will try to be better and more regular with our posts - let us know if they put you to sleep.

More later - come see these things for yourselves - your invitation is always open.
Marilu and Simon