Temples of the Kathmandu Valley.

Happy belated Easter, which we do not celebrate here, and at the orphanage they do not celebrate anything really anyway, so save some easter eggs for me, preferable dark chocolate.Thank you lol...No Easter lunch no lamb roast instead I really had nothing since I guess the inevitable and my biggest fear had to happen sooner or later, that I got sick to my stomach I'm really surprised it didn't happen sooner rather than now considering that I do eat different things at lots of different places and as they say back home if you are going to eat at new places, go check the bathroom out first, the way that is kept is usually a good indication on how the kitchen looks for cleanliness, if going for that little rule I would starve to death, there would be nowhere to eat, I don't even want to think how their kitchens look and have no ideas if there are any regulations on that here. I have been feeling great up to now apart from the short time on my trek, but it was a little different as you will still hear later when I one day eventually will get back to that chapter of my life one of these days, so I thought I would be an exception from all other volunteers who have all gotten sick, at one point. So I started feeling a little sick in the morning of a day that Kaji had said he would take me to The Pashupatinath Temple, which is said to be one of the Holiest temples of the world, revered and worshiped by both Hindus and Buddhists, it has set a shining example of religious harmony. It is located on the western bank of the Bagmati River in Kathmandu, the river was almost dried out at the time of my visit though. In its sanctum is placed a Jyotirlinga ( believed to have self appeared) the like of this is not found anywhere else in the world. It is believed that Pashupatinath is the Lord of the entire living beings and the source of eternal bliss and peace, Hmmm I could go for that-:) It is a glory of Nepal. It is surrounded by many other temples spread out over 264 hectares. Along the river are all these stone ledges where they would do cremation of the dead where I seized the opportunity to view a Hindu funeral performed with their established long customary rituals followed by the cremation that takes place without a coffin, the body placed atop a woodpile wrapped in just cloth with the head visible they then add some hay on top and set the body on fire, the day I went, there were numerous cremations performed and me not feeling the best and the smell of human flesh being burned, the smoke everywhere and the temperature being 32C, which by the way is the temperature everyday now, didn't help my illness one bit. After a few hours of the cremations the remainder of the unburned wood is collected and sold to restaurants who use it to BBQ their meat, apparently a delicacy, knowing that now, will no doubt put a dampener on the purchase of any further BBQ-ed meat for me. The rest is washed into the almost dried out river where little boys were roaming around digging through the disgusting filthy water looking for any gold there perhaps had been on the body at cremation. This was a very interesting experience indeed. After that riding through the smelly traffic on the back of Kaji's motorbike darting through traffic half the time in the wrong side of the road, my condition worsened slightly. Next another very interesting site, the great Buddhist Stupa, of Boudhanath. Nepal is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of bio-diversity due to it's unique geographical position and altitudinal variation, ( otherwise I would say the poorest country)The elevation of the country ranges from 60m above sea level to the highest point on earth Mt. Everest at 8848m, all within a distance of 150km resulting into climate conditions from sub-tropical to Arctic.There are 4 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Nepal 2 are in cultural and 2 are in Natural categories. The cultural are Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddha, and seven monuments of Kathmandu Valley within a radius of 20 km ( all counted as one heritage site) The Natural sites are Chitwan and Sargarmatha National Parks. Kathmandu Valley World Heritage site comprises of 4 historical palaces- Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur Durbar Squares; two Hindu Temples- Pashupatinath ( which is the one I just visited) and Changu Narayan,( where I just went 6 days ago when I had my first 2 days off after I started work), and two Buddhist Stupas – Swayambhunath and Boudhanath ( which I went to with Kaji) it is one of the most important places for pilgrimage for the Buddhist, it is the principle centre of the Himalayan,Tibetan, Asian Buddhist worshipers and one of the largest and most significant Buddhist monuments in the world, I must say it was a pretty spectacular sight. I got to go inside a smaller temple where I was lucky enough to witness the prayer of the Tibetan monks, a very unique experience. After that Kaji drove me back to Thamel where my very late lunch consisted of curd and a cinnamon bun which was my last meal in a while, just became pretty sick after that and still not a 100% and I have a rash all over my body now. The smell of smoke from burning garbage is getting to me that is the only thing that I can't handle here and the only thing I can't get away from, all the other things are only temporary, when I walk around town, the constant spitting of people, I think I forgot to mention, and the smell of sewage that runs along some roads in a trench, is even becoming normal not to say it is pleasant though but part of living here, that with an open mind, I can handle. Thanks Malou for the BD card!!! Kaji gave it to me today and said he hadn't checked his PO Box for 2 month so it had probably been there for a while.. I will light the candle tonight, and I got the letter from you too Andy thanks. Enough for now, miss everybody lots... Namaste  Inger