Do Kathmandu

I arrived back in crazy Kathmandu yesterday from peaceful and tranquil Bhutan. Druk air (The only airline that flys to Bhutan) is an experience in itself, and the flight across the Himalaya where you can see Everest is really something. Upon arrival in Kathmandu however all calm is dispelled with the traffic, people, and mish mash of colours, smells, dirt and bumpy roads. The amount of cars, mopeds, bikes, motorbikes, minivans with people hanging out the sides, bikes with 2 kids and mum and dad, all beeping and swerving is quite a blast when coming in from Paro. Its also a lot hotter here in Kathmandu than in the Kingdom of the Dragon. Anyway, we arrive at the airport and have our passports collected by Sunil our Nepali tour guide to sort the Tibet visa out. Then we head back to Dwarika's hotel to dump stuff and get sorted.
Dwarikas is the crazy posh hotel made with bits of old buildings in an Indiana Jones style.
We were due a "free afternoon" yesterday but decided to all go to Bhaktapur with a guide instead. Bhaktapur is a world heritage site and i'm very glad we had a guide, not only to explain but because the place is like a maze and it would have been easy to get lost. Everywhere here seems so full of bustle and people and colour. You have to dodge motobikes and bikes laden with bananas or unknown items in baskets on your way through the streets whilst also taking in the amazing carvings and architecture. The mixture of Hinduism and Buddhism is very interesting to me, and i bought an (expensive) book at the Peacock book shop that had been totally hand made and hand printed about Nepali Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism.
There is a lot of dust everywhere, but some of the colourful dust in the temples is this Tika powder paint that's all over the statues. I'm trying to learn the different Hindu Gods and their manifestations. I've read the Mahabarata, and some of the Gita and i remember the stories of Rama and Sita and Hanuman, but it's all very confusing. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and all their manifestations... And the "spiritual consorts"... all covered in red powder and topped with bits of grass from the festival last week. Not to mention the animal blood you find in some places from where male animals have been offered as they represent demons. (They're eaten afterwards, its just their blood that's offered)
Last night we went out to Ramdoodles which is the place where all the trekkers go before going up Everest, and its covered in these big cardboard feet signed by different expeditions. I ate a tuna and sweetcorn pizza, which was a highlight, as i've been living off of rice and vegetables for quite a while now, and it was nice to have something i'm more used to (even though i don't actually eat pizza at home!)
On the subject of food, i should mention that there's not many people on my trip who haven't had some kind of dodgy tummy, and i am no exception. Although, it hasn't really been a hinderance so far, and i'm just taking it easy. I haven't eaten any meat really since i go here, as i'm hoping to do a Kora (have i spelt this right?) in Tibet, and i want to be "pure".
Talking of purity, i didn't finish telling you about Tiger's nest in Bhutan, It was truly magnificent, i think i mentioned that, and we took poneys half the way up, but from that point you have to get to the top of the mountain, its really quite steep, but a lot of it is steps and no problem. Along the way i saw a small lady coming out of this hole in the cliff, and i was informed that if you managed to get through the hole in the cave/cliff there you were absolved of all sin. As i have rather a hoard of sin, i thought i would try it, and i came through no problem (apart from Mum's hiking boots that got a bit stuck) I just kinda launched myself head first through this crack in the cliff from the cave behind. Peter (one of the chaps on this adventure, who used to be a banker) and i decided i should go into the cave again and pop out at the right time to scare all the rest of the slow-coach party on their way down the hill. Which i did, whilst doing my best tiger impression to shock and appaul. Win.
I should also mention the 16yr old monk i made friends with at Tigers Nest. I asked him if he was good at meditating and he said no. I said i was total crap and we had a laugh. He was very interested in London and my life. He's been a monk for 11yrs and posted at Tigers nest for 2months. He has to get up at 3am and he goes to bed at 6pm. I wish i could remember his name. Dammit. He was very sweet and when i left Tigers nest and was on the side of the mountain facing the monastery, he was outside waving at me.

Anyway, back to Kathmandu. Today we went to the Monkey temple (Swayambhunath) and Bodnath. Both of which are world heritage sites. There are really lots of monkeys at Swayambhunath, but i didn't spend a lot of time looking at the Stupa as i went into the Buddhist temple and lit a candle for poor Uncle Brain who passed away a week ago (who used to guest on my show and was the bassist in 3 inches of blood) and then i met a monk called Jigme who was interested to why i like Manjushri. I got nervous and couldn't explain why i thought Manjushri is so interesting (Manjushri, slayer of ignorance). Anyway, he sat me down and started teaching me, but then our group leader showed up and i had to go. Jigme has my email address, so i hope we'll stay in contact.
Bodnath is a bigger Stupa than Swayambhunath, and its where a lot of the Tibetan refugees live. There are a lot of Tibetan ladies and gents doing laps clockwise round the Stupa, and even some Tibetans doing full prostrations in front of the Buddha's all seeing eyes. I visited a Thangka painting school and got taught about singing bowls, and spun lots of prayer wheels, with good reason, and i need to go and find out if my lighting butter lamps and spinning prayer wheels worked now.
So i'll write again soon.

Bhutan update

So let me tell you how this holiday works. There's 13 of us. We have a planned route of things to see and places to go. We have limited time in Bhutan (6 days), we have an English tour guide (David) and a Bhutanese tour guide (Thimley) (he's only in the Bhutan part of this trip of course). We are staying in hotels, we have buffet food breakfast, lunch and dinner. We go round in a little bus driven by my new buddy Uygen who's very smiley and i think he thinks i'm hilarious.
I seem to be one of the youngest tourists in Bhutan at the moment. Bhutan likes tourists, but not too many.
You can't get in to Bhutan as a tourist unless you go as part of a group.
I don't care about your backpacking bravado, i'm a girl on my own and i'm safe and sleeping well, and i have limited time. This suits me fine.
I'm the youngest in our group by 10 years. I dont mind at all. Infact i love it, I have many adopted mums. There's a zoologist and 2 vets in our group, they're very interesting. We stopped and saw wild monkeys in the trees, and birds of prey in the air, and i get to hear all about them from experts. We went to the "zoo" which was actually a nature reserve with 2 animals in enclosures, deer and Takin. The old King once let the Takin out thinking it was mean to keep animals behind bars, but they wouldn't leave and created a nuisance in the roads, so now there's about 10-15 Takin in the park and they're very odd and interesting, and i got a detailed explanation from 3 experts. Interesting!! ;-)
No. Really. I love looking at animals.

Bhutan has exceptionally beautiful countryside, so unspoilt. And because all houses have to adhere to these traditional styles, everywhere looks so picturesque. Traditional dress, traditional houses, traditional deities and guardians in the temples too. Which get very confusing. I can spot Manjushri, Avaloketishvara, Buddha (of course), Tara (even some of her 21 manifestations) but then i come a bit unstuck. I can now tell Guru Rinpoche too, and the "Divine Madman" (normally cause he has a big phallus near him) - but the other 100's... i'm still stuck.
I have visited many of the places i was hoping to in Bhutan that are in the earlier blog's photos. But tomorrow we go up to the Tiger's nest monastery. It's about a 2.5 hr trek. I'm going to do some of it on a horse, just because i want to ride.
We travelled back from Punaka today to Paro where we started in Bhutan. Tomorrow is our last day (Saturday) as Sunday morning we're back to Kathmandu, and then hopefully Tuesday morning we're into Tibet. Fingers crossed.
It's 9.15pm here and we leave at 7.30am so i'm going to get going.

Bhutan, Thimphu and Punakha

Bhutan is like waking up in a fairytale. The weather has been so clear and warm and beautiful, and the countryside is mostly untouched. The rice fields are a great yellow/green and the view of the mountains is fantastic. Its like a dream, i didn't really think a place like this of such beauty could exist in our day and age. Of course, it doesn't feel like our day and age. Not because of the national dress everyone wears, or because of the beautiful dzongs, stupas, temples, and buildings with the same (regimented) gorgeous style but because of the politness, the clean air and the general relaxed atmosphere, both to machinery, technology but also people.
I've been up to the temple by the river today and a monastery on a hill, we drove from Thimphu across the mountains and i got my binoculars (thanks mum) out and looked at the snow capped peaks on the border of Bhutan and Tibet. I walked round 108 stupas, i bowed infront of Buddha. I made a group of monks laugh.
I'm relaxed and happy.
I'll have to tell you in more detail when there isn't a queue for the computer (as this is the only one)

Land of the Thunder Dragon. Land of Studio Ghibli.

Bhutan. Its like stepping back in time as well as going half a world away, but with a kind of modern outlook and modern day appreciation of old traditions. Most of the country is national park, there is a great respect for natural resources and the traditional way of life. It is so picturesque, if anywhere in the world was like walking into a Studio Ghibli movie, visiting Bhutan is. I half expect the racoons (of which i've seen none) to talk and Laputa to appear in the sky. The fields of rice are yellow like The Golden fields of Nausicaa, and the clouds roll in over the mountains and the mist covers the prayer flags in the morning. I've never been anywhere like it. So peaceful and... happy.
YET Heavy metal still lives! Our tour guide Thimley loves Metallica and i saw a kid in a Cradle of Filth t-shirt today. I threw him the horns from our bus.
We're now in Thimphu, 2 hour drive from Paro. Along the drive the landscape is just so majestic and beautiful, buildings like the bath house in Spirited Away, but all in White and red, sometimes with gold on the roofs. The people are so smiley, although i think slightly bewildered, and maybe even nonchalant about tourists now and again. The Bhutanese policy towards tourists is low number, high value.
Talking of value, i bought my "national dress" (which everyone has to wear in Bhutan to work or school or they get thrown out the building, but it does actually seem to be the preferred dress of most people anyway). It set me back $85 for the skirt, jacket and belt. But we bought it from the place where the skirts were being weaved, and i wanted to dress for the Tsechu tomorrow. Some of those skirts take 4 months to weave so i can't say that my plain one was bad value.
High value. Low number.
The weather is alpine, beautiful sun, refreshing rain, and everything is so green. I tried momo's today ( think that's how they're spelt) - Cheese dumplings! Yum!
Talking of food, its nearly 7pm here and i'm really hungry - so i'm gonna go eat. Food prediction: Rice, chillis, Vegtables.

Pashupatinath Temple, Kathmandu, Everest and arrival in Bhutan

*n.b. Before reading this you must understand that there should have been a blog from Kathmandu yesterday, and although i wrote it, i could not send it because o2 doesn't seem to have any service here in the Himalayas, so my good plans of keeping my online diary and letting you know about my travels have already reached a large impediment. I will post the first blog at a later date when i have coverage.

So here i am sitting in the hotel in Paro, Bhutan typing this blog from the hotel computer behind reception where i've made friends with the 3 girls who would on the desk. One of them is called Nobru and is 23 and married with a son who is 1 year old. One of the girls is my age. She has 2 children. The girls are asking why my family isn't with me. I have explained i have no children, so i think they mean you Mum and Dad!
I have gone from very hot this morning in Kathmandu to rainy cool and alpine here this evening in Paro. But let me tell you about my day.
Our hotel in Kathmandu, Dwarikas, was very "premium" and constituted from pieces of older buildings and temples. Its really quite enchanting, but maybe 20mins out of the centre of Kathmandu, that i have yet to visit.
It was however rather near the river where the Nepalese conduct funeral rites by the Pashupatinath Temple.
So nearly all the group left Kathmandu for Bhutan at about 6am this morning, apart from 3 of us who were booked on a later flight. This may seem very odd, but The Royal Bhutan Druk air (I keep wanting to call it Drudkh air) do as they please. They are the only airline that fly to Bhutan, and you will fly when they say you will fly. So Tessa, Jayne and i flew out from Kathmandu this afternoon, which enabled us to have a bit of a sleep in, which was much needed, and to visit the Pashupatinath temple this morning.
The sun was really scorching this morning as we walked out of our hotel past ramshackle buildings and hoards of electric/communication cables stringing along the streets, cows, kids, beeping mopeds and buses with people hanging off the sides. It took us a little while to find our way, but it wasn't far and we made it down to the river where the bodies are burnt. It costs money to get in for tourists. I assume they tell who are tourists by looking at the colour of skin. We were accosted by a few people wanting to guide us before we got there, then once were paid of a ticket we kinda picked up a chap named Krisna who had been working there for 25 years (i assume he must have started there pretty young) who talked us through everything, Hinduism, Shiva, Kali, Sacrifice, Burning bodies, His personal social/political views, how many monkeys there are in Kathmandu (2000), Gurus, Sidhus etc. Pashupatinath was bigger than we expected and we didn't have all the time in the world, as you have to be at the airport 3 hours early for flights to Bhutan, by order of Drudkh air. Sorry, Druk air.
Monkey run wild, bodies are burnt, (i saw just the toes left) important people get burnt to the left of the bridge, more ordinary people to the right, but everyone can reach Nirvana if they have a funeral pyre at Pashupatinath. Its such a well desired end that there are several old people's homes in the complex, one of them run by the nuns of Mother Theresa. We went to meet some of the old people, bless 'em. I said Namaste and got some toothless grins, but mainly i dont think they noticed us at all until we made a somewhat compulsory donation.
Because it was a Monday, it was sacrifice day apparently, but we arrived too late to see the duck/chicken (not dog, monkey, or cow - if you eat/kill one of them you'll be reborn a women!! No!!!) being killed, we only saw it's pooled blood.
It was a festival day today in Kathmandu too, celebrating overcoming demons. Everyone had a tiki, and i didn't realise this until later that this was to make you lucky in love. I didn't get one. Ugh! Fail!
Anyway, after wandering round the temple with our guide Krisna and watching some bodies burn, and some kids and mothers bathe in the river opposite the bodies as the ashes fell into the water, we had to get back to the hotel to meet our lift to the airport. It was really pretty hot, and i was sweaty and tired. When we got to the airport Drudkh air was not ready to check us in yet, so we waited around for a while. I tried to get reception on my blackberry from the airport WIFI (wifey) no luck.
Anyway, after more forms, more paperwork and multiple frisking and bag searches, and a delay of about an hour during which i dropped off to sleep we were off! To Bhutan!
We managed to get a window seat on the right hand side of the plane, and not only were we afforded a fantastic view of Kathmandu as we flew away, but magnificent view of Everest! Awesome! Its almost level with the plane as you fly past peeking above the clouds. Everest! The highest mountain in the world! Quite spectaculour! And i've seen the top!
Then landing in Bhutan, only a 50 minute flight, but what a flight. Coming into Bhutan (Paro) airport is jaw dropping. You wind inbetween mountains all green and forested with the odd red and white house or temple dotted into the landscape and then you land at what looks like a temple. The airport is infact designed like a temple, and the immigration is like an altar! Not to mention the chap that goes round measuring your temperature to see if you have swine flu and whether you're allowed in or not. Everyone (working) wears national dress in Bhutan. Men in tunics to the knee and knee high socks, and women in long straight skirts and jackets. I've never been anywhere like it in my life. Its straight out of a studio Ghibli movie. Really enchanting. So now i've just had dinner and found a computer, and i'm going to go and crash out. We go to the capital Thimphu tomorrow and i want to get rid of a bit of jetlag and be on top form for choosing my national dress and finding out more about this amazing, isolated place.
So i hope i'll be able to find another computer soon.
Tashi delek!

Where am i going exactly?

Whilst i sip on my mint and camomile tea in my comfy bed safe(!) in London and think on what i've forgotten to do before i leave on holiday, i thought i might take 5 mins to post some pictures of things i might see over the next couple of weeks.


I will be updating this blog from my travels by email, and i may be able to drop in a photo or two on http://www.talitatwoshoes.tumblr.com/ but really i just want to keep a travel diary so that i can remember the adventures.

So as a prelude:

KATHMANDU in NEPAL

PARO in BHUTAN

THIMPHU in BHUTAN

A TSECHU in BHUTAN

PUNAKHA in BHUTAN

THE POTALA PALACE in TIBET

TSEDANG in TIBET

THE YARLUNG VALLEY in TIBET

SAMYE MONASTERY in TIBET

THE JOKHANG TEMPLE in TIBET
And The NORBULINGKA in TIBET

If i ever ever think that life is unfair or that i have a rough deal, i am very foolish.

I can only hope its even a tenth of how amazing it looks in these photos.

I am a very lucky girl.

QUAKE!

So it's the Monday before the trip. 5 days to go, and an earthquake has just hit Bhutan. Apparently the epicentre was 110 miles east of Thimphu where i will be going next week.

It measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, and apparently has caused damage to temples and blocked roads, but there are no reports of large-scale damage, so at the moment i'm still heading to Bhutan next week.

Strangely enough, there was an earthquake the day before i arrived in L.A. this year too. I'm beginning to feel like a harbinger of doom.

Shangri-La

Its recently occured to me that i'm visiting the area that has mythically been called Shangri-La. Shangri-La. A fictional place? Like a Utopia.


I remember studying Thomas Moore's Utopia at school. Utopia meaning No place. An ideal.
I'm not an idealist. I've never thought of going to Tibet as some ideal, perfect forbidden city. It's a long way from that these days. I think i even expect to be saddened by how unlike the garden of eden it once was painted like it is in present day.
Thomas Moore's Utopia depicted his ideal political system and state, the best kind of republic.
I'm not sure Shangri-La had the same connotations, but its ironic if it did, as apparently Tibet (Tibet Autonomous region) , China and Pakistan have all claimed that Shangri-La was within their geographical boundaries.
Shangri-La was described in the 1933 novel 'Lost Horizon' by James Hilton, a book which i intend to read on holiday! The phrase "Shangri-La" most probably comes from the Tibetan ཞང་,"Shang - a district of Tsang, north of Tashilhunpo" + རི, pronounced "ri", "Mountain" = "Shang Mountain" + ལ, Mountain Pass, which suggests that the area is accessed to, or is named by, "Shang Mountain Pass".

Some think Bhutan is the last 'Shangri-La' now because of its unspoilt nature.

Some think Shangri-La is a state of mind.

I never thought i was going on a search for Shangri-La, i've heard of people doing that. I'm sure it was something that was really popular in the 1970's! But in some ways that's exactly what this is!

One week to go. I can still hadly think about it for being so moved.

Its nice to dream, some say its one of the things that differenciates humans from animals. But i think cats dream, and dogs dream, and orangutangs dream... animals dream.

But i dont think any of them are so stupid or naieve to dream of a Utopia. Wishful thinking. It's beautiful.

So much of my current life is taken up with thinking of 'the fall' and the temptation rather than the idea of the Garden of Eden.

Sex, drugs and rock n roll - i'm sure its some people's ideal, but it wasn't the Utopian place that has been dreamt of in this literature, and in sober moments i'm sure its not what metalheads would really want.

I'm a pretty sober person, who's practical, not so much a dreamer as a do-er.

So here i am going to the mythical Shangri-La. Will i dispell a myth? Or will i find out how what came before 'the fall' was so much better than the aftermath.

In terms of the myth of the Garden of Eden, the innocence Adam and Eve were supposed to have before Eve bit into the apple from the tree of knowledge... that kind of innocence of being un-aware - that doesn't seem like paradise to me. Ignorance, one of the 3 major poisons in Buddhism (Ignorance, Hatred and Lust). Ignorance, something we were meant to aspire to when wanting to return to a Garden of Eden like state.

The apple Eve took - from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil - that made (hu)man aware of lust, sin etc.

I have most surely partaken in that most dichordant apple as a daughter of Eve, but surely its only when you've seen that can you appreciate Utopia/Shangri-La - i dunno, do people in Bhutan think that they're in paradise?

And is it true that once you've partaken in the apple you can never return? And would you really want to if you could?

Well i'm getting on a plane in a week, i'm not ....returning! I'm just visiting.

And i can't wait.

Jab jab poke poke 5 weeks to go!!

So i now have 5 weeks to go until i leave for Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet. Even though I'm only away for just over 2 weeks i still have to have some jabs. Trying to work out which ones isn't so easy "consult your doctor" it says.
So i can tell you i definitely don't need the Yellow Fever jab - as that only occurs in South America and Africa.

I've had 2 jabs so far which are handily combined vaccines - Hepatitis A, & Typhoid fever and Diphtheria (which my Nan once collapsed of on the stairs when she was a kid), Tetanus and Polio.

Now i have to decide whether i want the Meningitis jab - The travel Meningitis jab isn't the same as the immunisation you get just for the UK - Here in the UK you get a meningitis C jab which lasts for life - the travel vaccine is A,C, U or something.
All this jab business is very complicated. You have to do your homework it seems.
Rabies is another one that takes a decision.


Its endemic in Asia, but it is in most places, even in Europe.If you get the jabs you need to get to a hospital within 24hours for a top up. If you don't get the jabs you need to get to a hospital within 24hours for jabs. I like animals and will probably want to stroke a cat or hug a monkey whilst I'm away... but do i need 3 jabs in advance... ugh i dunno. Can i not just control myself and not hug a bat?

Ahhh Malaria. Not a jab but tablets. Tablets that can make you sick. Bhutan has malaria, but only in the lower areas of the country that I'm not going to. Same with Kathmandu. So I've decided I'm not taking anti-malarials.



Oh jabs! What a lot of fun they are! There's still loads more disease-related stuff i have to read up on, and work out what precautions I'm meant to take against altitude sickness etc.
5 weeks to go, and I'm trying to be organised. I went to the docs too to get a repeat prescription for my inhalers - he said "5 weeks ahead! you're very organised!"
But i was there planning jabs anyway...
Now i look like a hypochondriac! I've never had jabs for travelling before. I've never bothered. But because I'm going by myself I'm just trying to be safe... cause although there's a hospital in Kathmandu and Thimphu there isn't anywhere else.
And at least if i get this out the way asap, then i can think about all the fun stuff to do with the trip!
I have no fear of needles, and jabs don't scare me at all, in fact i hardly felt them, just felt a bit weird for a few hours after but nothing major. I really want to be able to enjoy my trip as best i can. That's why i don't want to take anti-malarials!

26th September - Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet

So 26th September i leave for Nepal, then Bhutan and Tibet. I have now paid 1/2 of the trip. 3 months to go.

How exciting!!

I'll turn 29 in the Potala Palace, Lhasa, Tibet. Entering my 30th year in one the of the highest places on Earth. Yes!

Booked for Bhutan!!!

I have reserved...

not paid for yet...

reserved

My September / October trip.


Since my first plans, when i was thinking i might be able to take a month off, take the Trans-Siberian, go from Russia, all the way through Mongolia (on a poney), through China, to Tibet... things have changed.

Because i have a lot of work to do for the new Municipal Waste album, and the new Evile album, i can't really afford to take a month out of work.

Also, just the amount of planning it takes, especially when there are two of you, Birgit and I, trying to plan our dreams together... i dont have the time!

I am not looking at this as any kind of defeat, because i'm going to Tibet, and to Bhutan, and to Nepal. This year. But i can't do the Trans-Siberian this year. That's now next year.

So now, i am travelling alone - to meet up with a group - that is probably mostly consisted of people over the age of 40...

And i'm flying to Kathmandu on 26th September.

Nepal, Bhutan and Tibet.

Bhutan is apparently the happiest country on earth.

I just need to find the money and get it together.

Every night i dream of the Potala. When i have stress at work i think what it will be like to see the Keshav Pradhan


When i look at this photo it makes me want to cry. How amazing!!!