An ordination a loooong bus trip and Kathmandu

Today was the last day of work for me with the archaeological team. Scrubbed a few more pieces of old pots this morning then finished off sharing a farewell cuppa with four of the team at the local tea shop accompanied by some cake I had brought along from the centre. I was hoping to score a lift in their bus to Kathmandu – have planned a trip there to deliver some documents, including my one-year visa application. I’m not sure how long I will end up staying but the current visa I have expires mid February – it’s nearly been 3 months I will have been in Nepal – time has flown by and in some ways I’m only just settling into life here.

My days are fairly leisurely in a meditation centre sort of way. This morning I woke up at 2 am and sat up to meditate for a couple of hours before then doing some lying practice. As often happens in this position I dropped off after some time and work up at 6,30 just in time to get over to the dining room for breakfast – buffulo yogurt with apple, home made wholemeal bread with buffalo cheese and tea. This is my regular morning fare but occasionally I get special treatment from the Burmese ‘nieces’ and a bowl of Mohinga or Kow Shwey (fish soup/coconut broth) appears at my place at the dining table. I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve this and many other little treats but it is very pleasant. I also seem to be able to do what I like – come and go, stay in my room and meditate or do yoga, go to Kathmandu etc etc.

In the few days before heading to Kathmandu there was an ordination ceremony at the Burmese temple. A Burmese Australian man from Coffs Harbour – on a pilgrimage to the Buddhist sites in India and Nepal - took robes temporarily, and also a Burmese woman pilgrim became a nun. The monk’s ceremony was much more elaborate and formal, with monks coming from India to make up the required numbers - while the nun had her head shaved, slipped into her robes and that was it (I missed that bit as I was on my bike chasing up the water filter man who had just arrived in Lumbini from Kathmandu by bus and was lost.) After the ceremony it was photo time –many still and video cameras were in action an Westerners are such a novelty. I think thee are more photos of me floating around in strangers cameras than there are in all the family albums. Then I was invited to stay on for lunch where I had a chat with the Aussie monk and with a Finnish woman Taria who was the guest of some people attending. She was taken for my sister - had pale skin, blue eyes, light hair, comparable facial features – relative to Nepalis - and was around the same age (do all Westerners look the same?!!!!)

Have I am now  in Kathmandu - been here for four nights – and leaving tomorrow morning back to Lumbini. It’s been good to have a bit of time to myself as well as do some useful tasks for the centre. I took a “mini” bus to Kanthmandu and was assured  - twice - that it would take 8 hours max. that it would leave at 7 am (“arrive by 6.30”) and that there would be only two passenger stops and a lunch break. Mmm – a bit of an interesting interpretation of the situation. The “mini” bus (as compared to a “micro” bus which wouldn’t come to Lumbini as I was only purchasing one ticket) was an old rattler with many seats but these only made for very short and skinny people. I was packed in with a large Argentinian tourist although there were many empty seats at this stage. We finally headed off about 7.30 – fortunately I had decided that 6.45 was early enough to arrive . We then proceeded to Kathmandu – yes there were two big stops at bus depots, but also  stops at any place along the road where there were potential passengers, and a stop for lunch and two tea stops. There were two bus “conductors” – young guys who hung out the door of the bus attempting to entice people to come to Kathmandu with us. We were a mixed bunch – me the only Western woman, the Argentinian, two South African guys, families of holidaying Nepalis returning home, various locals hitching a short leg of the trip and three Indian Sadhus with tridents (Shaivites)– one who refused to sit down for the whole journey. This was quite an accomplishment as the trip actually took 11 hours (admittedly that included the stops). I had a really pleasant Nepali woman sitting next to me  for most of the time– the man moved  - who could speak a little English and shared a few snacks. There was also a sweet young girl about 13, with her mum, who chatted with me at lunch to practice her English – a favourite subject at school. The road was pretty narrow once we headed up into the hills from the plains, and it is the main route between India and Kathmandu – so plenty of traffic. For quite a time we looked from the bus down into the Trisuli River – a steep drop off the edge of the road – where a number of vehicles are known to have dropped off

The bus finally ended up at the city bus park after dark around 6pm and then I had another 30 minutes in a taxi to get to my guest house – food and bed – heaven. The trip was something not to be repeated again too soon but it was interesting to see the country in this way – usually I go to Lumbini by plane – which is how I’m returning even though it’s a lot more costly ($109 compared with 430 rupees for the bus – about $6.30).

The main reasons for the trip were to deliver visa applications and to meet up with a lawyer who is working on a brief for the protection of the Lumbini environment.  I spent three hours in his office the day after landing In Kathmandu discussing the issue and presenting him and 2 colleagues with a range of hard copy documents and downloading more into his computer from a portable hard drive I had brought from Lumbini. He kindly got his staff to cook lunch – a traditional Nepali meal, which I don’t get to eat that often.

I then had a long walk from his office into Thamel the main tourist area of Kathmandu to buy myself a few new clothes. Having packed so many extra “needs “ in my pack from Oz I realised that I didn’t have so much to wear. Clothes shopping is really not my forte –so  I ended up with a few things that I’m not sure I really will use courtesy of two vey smooth sales men – but will wait and see.

The next day I had two meditation centres to visit. The first stop was Venerable Nyanaponika’s monastery, a Nepali monk I had met in Oz 26 years ago when he accompanied the senior monk and meditation teacher Sayadaw U Pandita as his translator.  This centre was where the Venerable Mahacara – the monk who had had pneumonia was staying. He was flying back to Malaysia that day and I had a few things to pas on to him before he left. It was great to see him so recovered  - he was effusive with his thanks, to me and all others who had some part in supporting him during his illness. He really was pretty lucky to be alive. Then off to another centre to drop off the three visa applications  - one mine – that have to do the rounds of three Government ministries before final approval. My tourist visa expires on Feb 15 and it’s unlikely the new visa will be ready by then. I have been assured I won’t be thrown into prison for overstaying my visa – hope this is right! I met a journalist in a tea shop the other day who invited me to visit the women’s prison to see how appalling the conditions were – an invitation I considered taking up but in the end it didn’t work out.

Next chore was chasing up a spirometer.  I think I can safely say that a new one does not exist anywhere within Nepal, because I’m sure I went to every medical supply store in the capital, also dropped into two local hospitals and asked medical staff and rang a few other suppliers. This piece of equipment is needed in Lumbini to conduct some tests on school children to see if their lung function has been affected by pollution – (the longer version of what this is about I will leave for another time).

So with the main chores accomplished I have been lying in – have had internet access in my room so can sit up in bed and check emails, indulged in a few treats – found fresh strawberries in a street stall in central Kathmandu 2 days ago   - a luxury I was hoping to repeat and share with Lumbini-ites but not another strawberry to be seen since then, a cappuccino and bread and butter pudding in a roof top café overlooking Boudhanath stupa, breakfast in the garden in the sun at the guest house and some hot showers!!!!!! My first hot shower  for  6 weeks was the morning after the bus trip (and yes, I have washed in the interim but out of a bucket).

Today I took a taxi (actually 2 – as the first one broke down half way) to Patan, a World Heritage Listed area in greater Kathmandu, took a look at the museum and walked around the old section where there are some beautiful old buildings. Now I am sitting upon my bed my last night on the loose before the flight in the morning. It’s been hectics and pleasant but enough for the while. If other adventures are to be had I will hope to head up into the hills rather than to the city. But in the meantime there are busy times ahead as the centre is getting ready for and then having Sayadaw U Pandita visiting from Burma  for a few weeks. Then soon after that Sayadaw Vivekananda is off for two months on his annual teaching tour. Not sure how this will be for me and what I will do over this time.

Another thing I have been doing here is having a bit of a look at Oz real estate on the internet.  It was a bit of an unnerving experience I have to say -  I realise I am no closer to knowing what to do – perhaps even less so as it has been out of my mind for the last few months. But I’ll have to sort it out sooner than later I reckon – Lil needs a home and so do I – at least as a base to take off from and might be good for others in the family to use too. Send good real estate vibes to me and I’ll trust that when I get back it will all be fine.