- D.H. Lawrence, quoted in Ian Baker, The Heart of the World
I had my doubts about going to Kathmandu, since I was enjoying the nature and peace of Nepal, but how could I ould to Nepal and not see Kathmandu? Plus, I could buy all my gifts in Thamel, in its streets lined with stores, guesthouses, money changers, shops, and full of wares spilling out, people-crowded lanes, bicycle rickshaws, bright shawls, Thangka paintings, outdoorsy tourists, potholes, with signs and powerlines filling the sky. I prepard to shop the next day, first finding dinner.
Dinner, however, changed everything. I was violently sick all night (will I ever eat falafel and hummus again?), and so horrbily weak and nauseaus the next two days I though I was going to die. Luckily, I ran into Richard, the Tibetan language scholar at a cafe and had a nice conversation, and then later I ran into Katherine, of Tennessee, who was at Sadhana Yoga. We shared a hotel room and she brought me aspirin and crackers. Familiar and kind faces are a blessing when y
ou are feeling ill in a foreign place! I was able to go out to dinner and eat a few veggie mumus (like potstickers), and meet a Texan who travels the world fighting child labor and child prostitution.
Dinner, however, changed everything. I was violently sick all night (will I ever eat falafel and hummus again?), and so horrbily weak and nauseaus the next two days I though I was going to die. Luckily, I ran into Richard, the Tibetan language scholar at a cafe and had a nice conversation, and then later I ran into Katherine, of Tennessee, who was at Sadhana Yoga. We shared a hotel room and she brought me aspirin and crackers. Familiar and kind faces are a blessing when y
ou are feeling ill in a foreign place! I was able to go out to dinner and eat a few veggie mumus (like potstickers), and meet a Texan who travels the world fighting child labor and child prostitution.I got no shopping done, but I did at least see one of the main Buddhist stupas in Kathmandu (Bhodaneth), and witness hundreds of Tibetans and Tibetan Buddhist monks conduct circumambulations of the holy place. Incense and "Om Mani Padme Oms" filled the air. Around the temple are dozens of monasteries, and one of the 
biggest populations of Tibetans outside Tibet. I was fascinated by the Tibetans, their clothing, their strength, their art, their religion. My own mortality danced between my eyes and the world, and I grasped at Buddhist teachings for comfort. Reincarnation and eternal peace are very appealing when it comes to speaking with Death...
biggest populations of Tibetans outside Tibet. I was fascinated by the Tibetans, their clothing, their strength, their art, their religion. My own mortality danced between my eyes and the world, and I grasped at Buddhist teachings for comfort. Reincarnation and eternal peace are very appealing when it comes to speaking with Death...I returned to Sadhana-Yoga, to gather my things and have two nights of recovery. New people had come to visit, and I had an interesting, though not comforting, conversation about diseases you can get in third world countries and the number of tourist deaths in Nepal. It is so easy for us to travel the world and go into extreme conditions. So I made it through the crazy driving, the bus rides above cliffs, the possibility of terrorist attacks, extreme illness... but I had become very aware of the potential for situations to change from fun to scary, and of the common lack of responsibility and consciousness among many tourists.
I readied myself for the border crossing back to India, and looked forward to returning to a modern country.
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