Our impressions of Kathmandu reflect our experiences traveling in 3rd world countries. What was startling and exotic eleven years ago, is now expected and subject to comparison with other countries. When we were in Kathmandu 11 years ago, it was cold and rainy. This time it was a pleasant 75 degrees and sunny. However the increase in noise and air pollution make us wish that we were back in the rain.

Through the internet, we booked a delightful room at the Nirvana Garden Hotel in the heart of Thamel district. For $30 we have a large room with sitting area and balcony that overlooks the garden. The hotel is at the end of an alley off of the main road which eliminates the Thamel noise and craziness. The funny part for us is that we are next door to an elementary school. We can watch the kids in the playground and we hear the bells announcing the change of classes. The sounds are the same as home.

We did the usual sightseeing in Kathmandu: Swayambunath, Patan's Durbar Square, Boudhanath and Pashupatinath. At each place, hundreds of Tibetans and Nepalese carry out the rituals of their religion and daily life in a very public way. The following pictures are a glimpse into their lives.

We had the pleasure of meeting the owner of the Hacienda Garden Apartments, a Nepalese woman whose daughter rides in David's vanpool in Maryland. Mrs. Rana shared her views of Nepal over coffee. We learned that her daughter has a degree in Sanscript from Oxford - not something that Stanford would offer! Mrs. Rana also helped to shape our itinerary for when we return to Nepal after Bhutan. And, to make Jane's day, she gave us directions to her friend's shop to purchase pashima shawls and scarves.

Getting the address for the pashima shop was the easy part; getting there was another matter. There are neither street names nor address numbers on buildings in Kathmandu. Addresses list neighborhoods which take their names from squares, temples or important buildings. Finding an address involves going to the general neighborhood and asking shopkeepers if they know were to find the business you are looking for. Our taxi driver spoke no English, so our communication was solely by hand signals. After 15 minutes of backing down alleys, asking for directions and driving on what seemed like lanes that cars should not go down, Tim was ready for lunch. However, Jane was determined to continue. We ended up parking the car and walking - almost directly to the shop! Fortunately, the shop was well worth the trouble. We were able to look at sample pashima scarves and shawls and then select the color, size and percentage of pashima and have our order custom made - ready in ten days. Now all we have to do is find the shop again in a few weeks!

RETURN TO NEPAL

We returned to Kathmandu on March 27, greeted by a general strike organized by the Communist National Party. The only way to get from the airport to our hotel was on a rickety local bus, guarded by military police in riot gear. We were dropped off on the main street in the picture above, a five minute walk from the hotel. The police gave us vague directions and drove off with the bus. There we were, in the midst of a strange neighborhood, walking down the street with the locals, pulling 2 Travelpro suitcases, wearing backpacks. We got our share of stares! We safely arrived at the hotel only to find out that we were actually booked at a hotel back on the main street. Another walk through the streets emptied of cars got us to the Everest Hotel . Minutes later we were sitting in our room, watching a live broadcast of the Oscars on a color TV, looking at the demonstrations on the street below and reflecting on the suggestion from the hotel staff - "Don't go outside today!"

It actually was a great day. After nonstop sightseeing, it was a treat to spend the day in a terry cloth robe watching TV, doing laundry, snacking on ginger sunflower seeds and catching up on our e-mails. We didn't leave the hotel room until dinner when we walked to our first hotel whose chef was trained in Japan and makes incredible soba noodles!

Tuesday morning Kathmandu was back to its normal noisy, busy self. We flew Cosmic Air to Pokhara and then to Bharatpur. Cosmic Air was a trip. The Dornier 228, 18 seat plane, had seen better days.



Tim's window had cracked and was repaired with tape.

The flight attendant came down the aisle with a tray on which there were bags of peanuts and wads of cotton. We figured out that both were necessary - one to eat and one to stuff into our ears! There were no safety instructions and no overhead luggage area so we kept our bags in the aisle by our feet. The 30 minute flight was beautiful, following the Himalayan mountain range to Annapurna. The highlight of the 20 minute flight into Bharatpur was landing in the dirt field after the people scattered out of the way.

We were met at the airport and driven to the bank of the Narayani River within the Royal Chitwan National Park. A canoe took us across the river where a landrover drove us to our hotel - Temple Tiger Jungle Lodge. The Royal Chitwan National Park is Nepal's premier wildlife-viewing area and is one of the few places on earth where you can still see a Bengal tiger in the wild.

Our few days at Temple Tiger was outstanding. Our cottage was great - in the midst of the jungle looking out to the river, high off the ground (so the snakes wouldn't come in!), lots of screened windows, soft beds, big towels and the best shower we had seen in weeks.



Due to the strike the previous day, there were only 4 other guests at Temple Tiger. The staff outnumbered us by 10 to 1.

At 4 PM the six of us settled onto our elephants and took off for a sunset game viewing.



The site of three giant elephants lumbering through the 20 foot tall grasses, across streams and up hills with the sun setting in the distance was unforgettable. We were all silent, listening to the hundreds of birds and the strange barking calls of the deer. The seating platforms were nicely padded and our rides were not only comfortable but being atop such a huge animal gave us a vantage point that was unbeatable. Within minutes we saw rhinos - a rhino alone, a mother rhino bathing with its baby, three rhinos wading in the water. The elephants are not afraid of the rhinos and so we were able to get within feet of those strange animals - they look like pudgy unicorns wearing armor.

After a continental dinner served by 6 waiters, we were escorted back to our rooms. We took that to mean that since we were in the midst of the jungle, we shouldn't walk around by ourselves at night! We fell asleep quickly knowing that we had a 5:30 AM wake up call.

Sure enough, at 5:30 there was a knock at the door, "Sir, Madame. Wake up. Would you like tea or coffee? With cream or sugar?" A wake up call with room service! By 6:00 AM we were back on our elephants, walking through the mist, listening to the jungle wake up.

After a spectacular sunrise, many rhinos, deer, monkeys, crocodiles and birds we were ready for breakfast. A jeep and boat ride filled our morning before lunch and our afternoon elephant lecture. All of the resident elephants participated in our afternoon class, demonstrating how they kneel to be "saddled", how they bath in the stream and allowing us to feed and pet them.

Our goal for the evening elephant ride was to see a Royal Bengal Tiger. We had seen fresh tracks of a mother tiger on the morning ride, but no sighting. We were going to take 6 elephants that evening to fan out and flush out the tiger. We each rode our own elephant, with our guide riding with me. We headed west from camp, back to where we had seen the tracks. We were told not to break our silence since the tiger would be spooked by human sounds but would ignore those the elephants made. After many sightings of rhino and deer, we rode on in silence. Suddenly the elephant driver in front of me, pointed to the right and we saw a flash of orange. The guide behind me stood up and yelled, "TIGER!" We all charged up the hill to the right. The tiger doubled back and I saw her again. She stopped and then ran right by my elephant, allowing me a tremendous view of her entire 5 foot + body. Seconds later she had disappeared into the trees. Our drivers were determined to find the tiger again. We crashed through the brush, flattening trees, charging up and down hills, splashing through streams, while my elephant made a repeated rumbling sound and Tim's elephant trumpeted. Sadly, no further sightings of the tiger. It was an exhilarating ride. I had no idea that elephants could move that fast. I was covered in leaves and limbs and pieces of the tall grass. But, I was the lucky one. I had seen the tiger all three times. The other elephants had been further away and only Judy had a single quick glimpse of the tiger. Of all times for Tim to be on a different elephant. We divided up in our search for the tiger and Tim spotted a rare sloth bear. The bear hung around long enough for two of the other elephants to see him, but my driver and the guide were still determined to track the tiger so we missed the bear. When it was finally getting dark, we turned back to camp. Tim and all of the other guests had long been back before we returned. What a ride!

Our last morning was also greeted with "Sir, Madame. Tea or coffee?" at 5:30 AM and our final elephant ride. No more tiger or sloth bear sitings, but we startled a rhino taking a bath and a few dozen deer grazing in the mist.

From Temple Tiger we hired a driver to take us five hours north to Pokhara. We drove through rural farm areas where the fields were being worked by hand with the assist of water buffalo. What a nice change from the crowded, noisy, polluted view of Nepal that we had from Kathmandu. The road started to climb as we neared Pokhara. Pokhara is known for its unequaled Himalayan panorama dominated by some of the tallest mountains in the world (26,000 feet).

We are staying at Fishtail Lodge, located on the far side of the lake and reached by a barge that is pulled, by hand, between the two docks.

Once again we started our day with a wake up call at 5:30 AM. This time it was by phone and the voice said - "The mountain is clear!" We quickly dressed and joined the other guests on the lawn to watch as the massive snow-covered peaks were touched by the morning sun. Thoughtfully, the hotel had brought out pots of hot coffee and tea so we had everything we needed to keep our mountain watch until the sun was fully up.

Although the mountains were tugging at Tim, we changed our exercise routine and rented a rowboat on the lake. With books, water and snacks in our backpacks, we spent three hours on the lake mixing exercise with laziness.

Pokhara is the starting and ending point for most treks, bringing together people from all over the world. As a result there is a constant swirl of twentysomething backpackers and fortysomething luxury hotel connoisseurs. The wide variety and quality of restaurants also reflect the clientele. We needed a change from our diet of Indian/Nepali/Bhutanese food, which all tastes about the same. Our dinners in Pokhara were at Mike's on the lake - classical music, BBQ chicken, pasta, salad from organically grown lettuce and tomatoes, espresso; and Caffe Concerto - jazz, San Miguel beer with popcorn, pizza with olives and mushrooms, organically grown lettuce and tomatoes with red wine vinegar dressing. At both restaurants we were easily twice the average age of the customers!

We return to Kathmandu this morning on another airline - Buddha Airlines. In this land of Buddhists and hippies, it was hard to decide between flying an airline called Buddha or Cosmic!