Today was our day off and Geff had a great idea to follow a hike that
is recommended in the Lonely Planet Nepal book (the same one I had and
photocopied). Josh, Tiffany, Dennie, Geff and I started from
our lodge around 9 am and very quickly got off track since we were heading down
a road that did not lead us to where we wanted to go. So we asked some men on the side of the road
who owned a chicken coop (with a pile of dead chickens in the corner, yuck) and
then hiked back up through Duhlikel and got on the right path. In town, I ended up buying a fish ‘homemade’
key chain from an older man while Geff was looking at maps in a shop. He ended up walking with us for a while and
then we realized, he was going to walk with us and end up being our ‘guide’ for
the whole trip. But he was really sweet,
put up with our slow pace (lots of photos to be taken along the way) and
actually used to be a guide and spoke many languages as we later ended up
speaking some German to each other. We
found a high school dance party along the way (I got asked if I wanted to dance
but kindly turned them down). The hike
up to a big Buddha statue involved a lot of steps and climbing but it was a
beautiful Buddha and had great views.
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| Dennie and I at the entrance to the Buddha |
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| Nepali families picnicking and playing |
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| Giving a suntala to a young girl |
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| Trekking through the villages |
From there, we kept going up to Tika Temple which wasn't the most pretty
structure but did offer commanding views since it was on top of an even bigger
hill. As it was Saturday, the day off
for workers in this country, there were lots of people hiking as well and we
met a group of 5 Nepalis, two couples and one of the boys brothers, who were
all very well educated students and workers in Kathmandu. They spoke English very well and were fun to
talk to. The two women probably didn't
speak English very well and were a little shyer so I ended up speaking to the
guys a lot which was not intentional or preferred but just ended up being the
way it worked out. I did get a few
photos of us girls hiking which was fun.
It also didn't help that one of the girls was in flats, clearly not good
hiking attire, and her knee started hurting her. We ended up giving her Motrin at Namo Buddha
later. Anyhow, it was fun to talk to
them more about their Hindu weddings (they showed us some amazing pics) and I
showed them some from Amol and Tara’s wedding.
We also learned more about their schools, what it is like to work in
Kathmandu and some other fun things.
They definitely seemed like they were more well-off than your typical
Nepali families but also said they didn't have money to travel to the US or to
other places. So there we were, five
Americans, five young Nepali’s and one older Nepali… hiking up to a monastery.
We took a lot of photos along the way, ate a
lot of orange’s (suntala) and some of their curry potatoes which they had for
lunch (this starts the theme of lots of carbs!). It was still a considerable hike up to
Namobuddha (about 5-6 hours total). Once
there, we got some awesome group pics of all of us. Our ‘guide’ then took us
down to the older part which dates back thousands of years and we had tea. The Nepalis paid for it before we could even
offer which was very nice. We all had
some biscuits and cookies too to share. We exchanged info and then parted ways
so we could walk back up to meet with the rest of the group and so they could
catch the bus back.
Our ‘guide’ came
with us enough for us to pay him and we gave him just over 1000 rupees ($10)
which is probably a good amount for him but I felt that I could have given
more. Anyhow, we made our way back up
and found the truck in which we somehow fit 10 people for the bumpy ride back
down to our hotel. It was an amazing day! I really appreciated the local hospitality
and getting to see the kids and families living alongside the path.
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