Thamel has a lot of motorcycles. The roads are very narrow yet cars, people, bikes, and motorcycles squeeze past each other and somehow I never saw anyone get hurt. Lauren, Heather, and I found out that we could rent bikes for a day and we were absolutely thrilled. We found a bike hire place and got three mountain bikes and just started peddling. We dogged the people and cars like we had been living in a third world country for three months (wait a minute.. we have)! We had no real directions and so we eventually stopped by this temple looking thing to figure out the game plan. In the middle of our struggles an old man came up to us. He pointed in three different directions and told us what lay in each direction. We decided that we would go in the direction that led toward the monkey temple. Unsure if we were taking the right roads we just kept peddling and dodging until we eventually could see the large hill in the distant that had the beautiful stupa nestled on top.
We finally reached the base of the hill and found a way to lock our three bikes up with two little bike locks and made our way to the staircase. The monkey temple is actually called the Swayambhuanth but because I don’t know how to pronounce that (and neither do all the tourists) it is just called the monkey temple. The name makes sense once you begin the long journey up the staircase. I can not tell you how excited I was to just be going up a hill. Bangladesh is the flattest place I have ever been to and I love hiking.
Along the way up the stairs there were all sorts of little shops and even the little street kids playing. They were absolutely hilarious. There was about three of them who had found plastic bottles that they were using to put under their bums as they slid down the concrete sides by the stairs. I have a soft spot for the street children and I try to spoil them every chance I get. I even try to spoil the beggar kids. Most of them don’t really want to beg but they have just been forced to do it. Money doesn’t mean much to them (all of it goes to whoever is forcing them to beg) so I try to sneak out a cookie to them. You should see how their faces light up when they realize that they finally get a treat of their own.
When we reached the top of the monkey temple we could see the whole Kathmandu valley and the mountain range that lay on the other side. Although the place was for Buddhist I focused on all the wonderful things that God had done. He had made the mountain range that lay in the distance, He made the people who walked around and marveled at the stupa that was pathetic compared to the things that God himself had made.
After we rode our bike rides we decided that it was time for dinner. In all honesty the food was one of my favorite parts about Nepal. It was about $2 to go to a nice restaurant and get ethnic Nepalese, Indian, Thai, Tibetan, or even American food. Every night we would get a plate of Momo’s and some other type of curry or Nepalese Dhal (it is completely different than Bengali Dahl and I might like it more than the Bengali Dhal). Momo’s are these Tibetan dumplings that can either be filled with veggies or meat. They had a sauce that went with them called pickle, it didn’t taste anything like American pickle but it was really spicy. I could write all day about the amazing food that we ate or my favorite restaurant in the world but I don’t want to upset my hungry readers.
The rest of our trip was absolutely amazing as well. On Sabbath we went for a walking tour of the places surrounding the Thamel district. We celebrated the New Year dancing around on the balcony with the expensive sparkling apple juice that we had bought on the corner market. New Years was very loud because there was about 5 live bands playing at the pubs that are scattered throughout Thamel. We went down to Chitwan National Park and went on a Safari while riding an elephant. I got really sick while on a 5-hour bus ride but thankfully after praying about it I got better and was able to enjoy OR2k (favorite restaurant) that night. Overall it was so nice to experience Nepal and have time to be a tourist that got to go out to eat every night. However, I am so glad that I am back in Bangla Hope. There is no place like Bangla Hope!
I posted more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2393352084597.122212.1574787470&type=1&l=9e86cdbdbe
Sorry I always post the pictures on my facebook. The Internet is so horrible here and it is easier for me to post them on my facebook rather than my blog.
We finally reached the base of the hill and found a way to lock our three bikes up with two little bike locks and made our way to the staircase. The monkey temple is actually called the Swayambhuanth but because I don’t know how to pronounce that (and neither do all the tourists) it is just called the monkey temple. The name makes sense once you begin the long journey up the staircase. I can not tell you how excited I was to just be going up a hill. Bangladesh is the flattest place I have ever been to and I love hiking.
Along the way up the stairs there were all sorts of little shops and even the little street kids playing. They were absolutely hilarious. There was about three of them who had found plastic bottles that they were using to put under their bums as they slid down the concrete sides by the stairs. I have a soft spot for the street children and I try to spoil them every chance I get. I even try to spoil the beggar kids. Most of them don’t really want to beg but they have just been forced to do it. Money doesn’t mean much to them (all of it goes to whoever is forcing them to beg) so I try to sneak out a cookie to them. You should see how their faces light up when they realize that they finally get a treat of their own.
When we reached the top of the monkey temple we could see the whole Kathmandu valley and the mountain range that lay on the other side. Although the place was for Buddhist I focused on all the wonderful things that God had done. He had made the mountain range that lay in the distance, He made the people who walked around and marveled at the stupa that was pathetic compared to the things that God himself had made.
After we rode our bike rides we decided that it was time for dinner. In all honesty the food was one of my favorite parts about Nepal. It was about $2 to go to a nice restaurant and get ethnic Nepalese, Indian, Thai, Tibetan, or even American food. Every night we would get a plate of Momo’s and some other type of curry or Nepalese Dhal (it is completely different than Bengali Dahl and I might like it more than the Bengali Dhal). Momo’s are these Tibetan dumplings that can either be filled with veggies or meat. They had a sauce that went with them called pickle, it didn’t taste anything like American pickle but it was really spicy. I could write all day about the amazing food that we ate or my favorite restaurant in the world but I don’t want to upset my hungry readers.
The rest of our trip was absolutely amazing as well. On Sabbath we went for a walking tour of the places surrounding the Thamel district. We celebrated the New Year dancing around on the balcony with the expensive sparkling apple juice that we had bought on the corner market. New Years was very loud because there was about 5 live bands playing at the pubs that are scattered throughout Thamel. We went down to Chitwan National Park and went on a Safari while riding an elephant. I got really sick while on a 5-hour bus ride but thankfully after praying about it I got better and was able to enjoy OR2k (favorite restaurant) that night. Overall it was so nice to experience Nepal and have time to be a tourist that got to go out to eat every night. However, I am so glad that I am back in Bangla Hope. There is no place like Bangla Hope!
I posted more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2393352084597.122212.1574787470&type=1&l=9e86cdbdbe
Sorry I always post the pictures on my facebook. The Internet is so horrible here and it is easier for me to post them on my facebook rather than my blog.
Fun break! Curry sounds really good right now.
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