October 22, 2011 

We have returned home from taking the kids to the airport. I didn’t think I would be sad to see them go, but I found I had a tear in my eye as we hugged them good-bye. We have had a great time the past couple of weeks.

Brent, Clay, Alison and Jason arrived here in Kathmandu on Monday, October 10 about 12:30 pm. It was a long flight for them. Jet lag caught up with them pretty fast and by 5:30 or 6:00 pm, they were ready for bed. And the beds here aren’t as comfy as their used too. You can imagine, they were awake at 2:00 or so and nowhere to go YET! 

We started out with a bang on Tuesday morning. Dipak, the Nepali we had hired to transport us around Nepal while the kids are here, picked us up and we went to the airport and boarded a small aircraft and did the ‘Mountain Flight.’ The plane holds about 30 people, each person having a window seat. This is a flight seeing the Himalayas. They really are incredible. (I think I’ve said that before) The flight was a great experience. It’s a little pricey and I’m glad we went, but it’s something I don’t think we would do again.

Our Mountain Flight over the Himalayas

We also went to the ‘Monkey Temple’, walking up about 300 steps to get to the top. There were quite a few monkeys around and the Temple is quite impressive. It sits on the top of a high hill and you have a great view of the Kathmandu valley.

At the Monkey Temple

We’ve certainly seen a lot of ‘temples’ this past 12 days. There are many different temples and many different gods – a god for this and a god for that. I kept thinking of the commandment that says, “Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” I know after a few days of temples, the kids had seen enough.

At Bhaktapur

At the Boudhanath Stupa

Bhakputar

We did go to Bhaktapur one day and there again are many temples. We quite enjoyed our time there. It was a lot cleaner and it’s a very old part of Nepal – some temples dating back to the 12^th century. There is a lot of architecture and just many interesting buildings and things to see.

We did drive to Dhulikhel. . Dipak said it was a great place to see the Himalayas and we also wanted to show the kids the overhead water tank that Latter-day Saint Charities is building with the help of CHOICE Humanitarian. Gene had called the CHOICE office for a contact name, wanting someone who could tell Dipak how to get there. When we got there, we were met by three members of the VDC (Village Development Committee). They were very nice and wanted to show us what was going on. The kids and Gene all climbed up the structure to the top of the tank. I stayed on the ground and took pictures. It was pretty impressive. We really hope it is done before we leave.

Another one of our favorite places was the Tibetan Refugee Camp. We watched women weave rugs and in fact, we contributed to the economy of those people with several of us buying a beautiful rug.

Brent looking for just the right one

So many to choose from. . .

Another highlight was the Pashupatinath Temple. This is a place the Hindi’s go to cremate their dead. The cremations take place on the river Bagmati. It was really quite interesting. I had previously talked to several people and they said we shouldn’t leave Nepal without visiting there. I was glad we went. Actually, there was quite a reverent feeling there. I have copied a little information off the internet that explains a bit about their culture here:

 In America, when someone dies, people believe ashes to ashes, earth to earth. But in Nepal we believe the person comes naked to the world, so they must go backwards naked. So before the cremation the body is made completely naked, and it is colored by two types of colors, white and orange.

White is the color of mourning. Orange is the color  of peace. Red is a holy color. This helps people reach heaven, and come back as a better reincarnation.

If the father dies, the eldest son starts the fire and puts it in the mouth. If the mother dies, the youngest son puts the first fire in the mouth. The mouth is the most important part of the body — where the person speaks truth, lies, good or bad. They put holy water and then butter and camphor in the mouth, and light it with a wick, or fire from a rope.

Cremation starts within few hours in Hinduism. In Buddhism, the body spends 48 hours in a monastery or home where rituals are observed, and then three hours of cremation. In Hinduism, the ritual takes place after cremation over the next 13 days. There are special dietary restrictions for the sons, who must prepare their own food. They have to wear white clothes, no alcohol or meat for one year. If the mother dies, no alcohol, meat, or milk. The daughter is not considered part of the family (especially if she is married.)

Preparing for a Cremation

There were quite a few bodies there to be cremated. We did see one man standing in the river (which was filthy). It looked like he was washing his clothes. After a bit, we noticed that he was dressing, all in white. We do understand they stay dressed all in white for one year. Interesting!

Lots of 'Holy Men' hanging out - you have to pay to have their photo taken

Our first week was spent seeing sights around the Kathmandu valley. We all went to church on Saturday.  The Branch members were anxious to meet our family and made a fuss over them. Church here is a bit different in that the meetings are a mixture of two languages. There is always a wonderful spirit there. Saturday evening we had dinner with the Patch Family. He’s the one who works at the Embassy. We had a wonderful evening with them.

Beginning to harvest the rice crop

The next morning Dipak picked us up and we headed over the mountain toward Chitwan National Park. It’s a long, long drive, over roads that are narrow and windy. I had so hoped that when we got over the mountain, the air would be clear so we could see the countryside. It didn’t happen. It’s still hazy and lots of inversion but still fun to see because it’s so different from home.

We did stop on the way because we had been talking about suspension bridges. Dipak pulled over and asked if we would like to walk across the bridge. We did. Walking down to the bridge, we saw a monkey sitting on a four foot wall. He was tied up. There was a man leaning on the wall and the monkey was picking something out of his hair. We suppose it was lice. Anyway it was quite interesting.

That's one way to get rid of lice

We stayed near Chitwan National Park. That is where we to rode elephants. When we saw them, I thought they looked quite small. I was reminded they are Asian elephants and are smaller than the African Elephants. What an adventure!

All Aboard

Out through the jungle

That's one way to get aboard-He's the driver

The elephant was backed up to a platform that had stairs leading up to it..The guy taking us indicated it was our turn.  I said, “I’ll go.” And I bounded up the steps. He said to step right on the elephants back and then step into the  cage which I did and found a corner post which I straddled. Alison was right behind me and then Brent and Gene. Gene has such long legs we should have put him on first. He had a little bit of a hard time getting his legs in and straightened out. Those seats aren’t any too large. Then we were ready to go. Clay and Jason were on the elephant behind us, with a couple of people from a different party.

I don’t know how to explain the ride. I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was a bit of a rock and roll gait. I know it was hard to get many good pictures. I thought it was interesting to watch the elephant handler.  He used his feet, barefoot, to put pressure, little kicks, right behind the elephants ear. After a little while, I had a hard time getting comfortable but heck, this is a once in a lifetime thing and it was fun.

We also spent a couple of days in Pokhara at a nice hotel. The kids were in heaven, having hot water for a shower and bathroom facilities more like they are used to. And the beds were a lot better than they had been sleeping on.

Alison enjoying the ride

Pokhara is a real tourist spot. We got up early the next morning and joined lots of other tourists on the mountain to watch the sunrise on the Himalayas. It was still a bit hazy but we could see the mountains. Fishtail is especially impressive. Of course, everywhere there are lots of vendors, wanting you to buy stuff. Brent, Clay and Alison all signed up for acrobat paragliding which they did the next day. Alison was a little nervous, but said the ride up the mountain to get to the paragliding spot was a lot scarier than the paragliding. They said the taxi driver was very aggressive and they were glad they didn’t have to return down the mountain with him.

By this time, we were all tired of seeing temples and told Dipak we didn’t want to hike up a mountain to see yet another one. Instead we rented a boat (and a boatman) and spent an hour out on Fewa Lake. It was very relaxing. We rowed across the lake and watched monkeys play in the trees. Pretty fun!

We returned to Kathmandu Thursday afternoon. Another long drive. Everyone was glad when we arrived.  Clay had told us we would be eating a lot of Nepali food, but by the time we got back, they were looking for peanut butter and jam. They are starting to understand why we have a hard time knowing what to eat. We just aren’t crazy about the Nepali food and now they agree.

Dinner one night with Rakesh's family - also his sister and family.

Friday was a day to wash clothes and think about packing the suitcases. We did find time to play a few games and that was also a nice break.

The kids went with us to READ Nepal Friday at 12:00 PM for their celebration ceremony. We had bought them a very nice surgical light and some computers and a printer. These were so they could give computer training to some of the people with leprosy so they might be able to find employment. Here it’s hard to find a job anyway, but when you have leprosy, it’s really hard to find a job. Computer training will help their chances.

 Dr Lama, Undersecretary for the Social Welfare Council was there (after arriving about an hour late) He had good things to say about Latter-day Saint Charities. I was able to present Raj with 36 leper bandages that my sister Allene’s ward and my sister Lenore had made and sent to Nepal with our children. Raj was so happy. They had run out of bandages. The smile on his face truly showed his appreciation. 

Presenting 36 leper bandages to the leprosy clinic

We did meet the doctor there who volunteers his time twice a week to do surgeries there. The light he was using wasn’t working at all and he was so excited to have a NICE BIG surgical light. It was very nice and the doctor expressed his appreciation and said nice things about LDS Charities as well.

After the ceremony we all went to The Lazy Gringo, an Arizona style Mexican restaurant. Deppongs went with us. The food tasted good and the kids enjoyed something beside rice and dahl. We caught taxi’s and returned home. The kids started putting their things together. I gathered some stuff and they packed it to take home with them. That will make it nice when we get ready to go home.

One interesting thing this week has been our tour guide. He is a Hindu man, married with one daughter. He is very nice and we have been on trips before where he has been our driver. As we’ve spend almost two weeks with him, he has observed our lifestyle. At dinner the other night he made the comment that we were not like other people. He hasn’t had too many customers that don’t drink tea, coffee or alcohol or that don’t smoke cigarettes. We tried to explain to him that we try to keep our bodies healthy and know that stuff is not really good for you. I think he’s been impressed with our family. I know we are forbidden to proselyte, but we would like to mention our religion. As we were talking, I thought we are a peculiar people. We do know that. 

This morning the kids finished packing their suitcases. We talked a little about Dipak and his comments that we are different. The kids wrote him a note (it can come from them – they don’t have an agreement not to proselyte with the Social Welfare Council), thanking him for his time and showing us around Nepal. Then they told him we are Christians and are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and if he would like to know more, to look at: mormon.org.

Dipak picked us up and they loaded up the suitcases. Then Gene and I rode with them to the airport. As the kids got out of the vehicle, they put the note on his car seat. He did see it and thanked them. We hugged them goodbye and I felt a tear start to form. It’s going to be really quiet around here this week. 

Dipak brought us home and again mentioned that he had taken hundreds of people on tours of Nepal but he has never meet people like us. He said, you don’t smoke, drink tea or coffee or alcohol and you don’t say bad words. Gene did tell him it was because of our church. I don’t know if he will look up mormon.org or not but it’s like I told Alison – someday, when the missionaries are allowed in and the Book of Mormon is in Nepali, perhaps he will remember us and want to learn more about the church and its people.

He did ask that we call him again if we ever need a driver. I think he liked our family. And why not? The kids were teaching him to play games with them.

When we got back from the airport, we went to the church. Today is the day we are hearing General Conference via a DVD. They were serving pot luck lunch when we got there. Then a lot of people went home. We stayed for the afternoon session – along with about 12 other people. The session was good and those that stayed – most of them spoke English, so they didn’t stop to translate. That was nice.  Again, it’s been great having the kids here. Now it’s time to get back in the grove and resume our missionary work. This week will be a little quiet as another Festival season is coming up the later part of the week. But soon we will be very busy with lots of fun, exciting things happening. Stay tuned!