Lumbini was.. peaceful. There is no other way to properly describe it. Maybe if you added sun and took out the piles of garbage and perpetual construction, it could be beautiful. Maybe if town had more than one restaurant and three meters of main street, it could be exciting.
But the way that it is now, the huge expansive lake, mysterious birds lazily flapping their wings, spread out monasteries with vague labels, it was very peaceful.
I can't say I would wish for a sunnier Lumbini experience, because the fog gave it a mythical air that hinted at something ancient, poorly understood, and somewhat removed from the everyday sphere of the typical tourist's experience.
What I CAN say is that I would never wish for a Lumbini experience without Judith. When you arrive somewhere at 4 starving and are finished dinner by 5, there is absolutely nowhere to go, it is freezing, empty, and getting dark, what can you possibly do except get drunk off Chai and whiskey, consume ridiculous amounts of desserts, do Sudoku and Dutch word searches, and get in "ha ha moods" to tell jokes?
And how quickly can a peaceful isolated bike ride around a sleepy lake turn into a creepy empty journey if you are not with a friend?
Anyway, I can't complain about my Lumbini experience. I met up with an older couple from Oregon there, and we ended up splurging $33 each to take a private cab, not a public bus, back to Pokhara. The seven hour drive was much more pleasant without people trying to put crates of eggs in your lap, without fear of being puked on, and with unlimited stops for photo ops and bathroom breaks (and you know what an expert I am on road trip bathroom breaks.) So that was a fabulous Christmas present!
My transportation options for heading back to Kathmandu is a 20 dollar or 400 rupee tourist bus. Apparently both are nicer than the 600 rupee tourist bus we took to Lumbini (by "tourist" read: free cultural experience thrown in), but I am slightly skeptical. In any case, I am not flying.
This morning I got up at 4:40 to call a professor about potential for grad school research. Oh, excuse me, I got up at 4:40 yesterday morning and was staring at his number at 5:15 with the phone in my hand, JUST about to dial the digits, when I had a funny feeling. So I called my mother instead and asked her what day it was. YEAH, fun fact for you - when it's 5:15 AM on Thursday in Nepal, it is 4:30 PM on WEDNESDAY in Colorado in America. If you're still unclear about the definition of a time difference, waking up at 4:40 AM two days in a row will really help you understand it.
You know me and my masochistic love for mornings, so I am only a tiny bit better. How many hours there are in the day to read, stretch, meditate, and go for a walk while everyone else is asleep, the stars are bright, and the sky is fresh!
But now that is done and knock on air, wood, and your helmet, it went well. I briefly considered doing the Annapurna 50K on New Year's Day (yes, that K stands for kilometer.) The thing that will stop me is paying 150 Euros to do a run in shitty shoes without my Camelbak backpack and favorite technical clothes. If I am going to break the bank to do something miserable, at least I want to be well prepared in terms of gear etc. for it. And maybe train? A little? A tiny bit?
So.. next year? New Year's in Nepal with me anyway? The street festival and parades are really quite lovely!
I am even trying to get my mom to come out here for Christmas. As usual, there is something about leaving here that will break my heart, so I have to come back. And since I am never spending another Christmas without my family, my mother has to come. Just wait until I show her the photos of the handmade Tibetan rugs, and I think it's a done deal.
Happy 8AM here on Friday morning, enjoy your Thursday, silly time-different West people!
But the way that it is now, the huge expansive lake, mysterious birds lazily flapping their wings, spread out monasteries with vague labels, it was very peaceful.
I can't say I would wish for a sunnier Lumbini experience, because the fog gave it a mythical air that hinted at something ancient, poorly understood, and somewhat removed from the everyday sphere of the typical tourist's experience.
What I CAN say is that I would never wish for a Lumbini experience without Judith. When you arrive somewhere at 4 starving and are finished dinner by 5, there is absolutely nowhere to go, it is freezing, empty, and getting dark, what can you possibly do except get drunk off Chai and whiskey, consume ridiculous amounts of desserts, do Sudoku and Dutch word searches, and get in "ha ha moods" to tell jokes?
And how quickly can a peaceful isolated bike ride around a sleepy lake turn into a creepy empty journey if you are not with a friend?
Anyway, I can't complain about my Lumbini experience. I met up with an older couple from Oregon there, and we ended up splurging $33 each to take a private cab, not a public bus, back to Pokhara. The seven hour drive was much more pleasant without people trying to put crates of eggs in your lap, without fear of being puked on, and with unlimited stops for photo ops and bathroom breaks (and you know what an expert I am on road trip bathroom breaks.) So that was a fabulous Christmas present!
My transportation options for heading back to Kathmandu is a 20 dollar or 400 rupee tourist bus. Apparently both are nicer than the 600 rupee tourist bus we took to Lumbini (by "tourist" read: free cultural experience thrown in), but I am slightly skeptical. In any case, I am not flying.
This morning I got up at 4:40 to call a professor about potential for grad school research. Oh, excuse me, I got up at 4:40 yesterday morning and was staring at his number at 5:15 with the phone in my hand, JUST about to dial the digits, when I had a funny feeling. So I called my mother instead and asked her what day it was. YEAH, fun fact for you - when it's 5:15 AM on Thursday in Nepal, it is 4:30 PM on WEDNESDAY in Colorado in America. If you're still unclear about the definition of a time difference, waking up at 4:40 AM two days in a row will really help you understand it.
You know me and my masochistic love for mornings, so I am only a tiny bit better. How many hours there are in the day to read, stretch, meditate, and go for a walk while everyone else is asleep, the stars are bright, and the sky is fresh!
But now that is done and knock on air, wood, and your helmet, it went well. I briefly considered doing the Annapurna 50K on New Year's Day (yes, that K stands for kilometer.) The thing that will stop me is paying 150 Euros to do a run in shitty shoes without my Camelbak backpack and favorite technical clothes. If I am going to break the bank to do something miserable, at least I want to be well prepared in terms of gear etc. for it. And maybe train? A little? A tiny bit?
So.. next year? New Year's in Nepal with me anyway? The street festival and parades are really quite lovely!
I am even trying to get my mom to come out here for Christmas. As usual, there is something about leaving here that will break my heart, so I have to come back. And since I am never spending another Christmas without my family, my mother has to come. Just wait until I show her the photos of the handmade Tibetan rugs, and I think it's a done deal.
Happy 8AM here on Friday morning, enjoy your Thursday, silly time-different West people!
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