You can take the girl out of social work but...

You can't take the social work out of the girl. It's true I actually miss working from time to time. It started with me sleep talking about the Alberta Works online policy manual and financial benefits codes. Poor J.

The next day I went to a local shop to get a sim card for data on my cell phone. After filling out the extensive paperwork which includes a photo, copy of passport, address, occupation, finger prints etc. The shop owner asked me about being a social worker. I explained that I worked for a long time in HIV he excitedly exclaimed that his sister is studying social work and specializing in HIV. We had a good conversation and he asked me for any recommended resources. I restrained myself and only provided one, the comprehensive Catie website. He also asked for my email, which I provided (after all he already has my finger prints), for his sister as he was sure she would like to talk to me. I hope she emails!

Other than that we spent some time wandering several kilometers through central Kathmandu. We visited many small and medium sized temples, looked at shops, lounged in the peaceful Garden of Dreams park and just took in the sights. We also went up to Swayambhunath temple, otherwise known as monkey temple, that overlooks Kathmandu. The temple winds up a large hill and is covered with Buddhas, stupas, and other Buddhist symbols and statues. There are, as the nickname suggests, monkeys. I accidentally scared one and he charged at me and growled. Dodgy little fellas.

Change of plans

There is a concept in Buddhism of Impermanence, essentially that everything changes and nothing stays the same. According to the Four Noble Truths we suffer when expect life to not be impermanent; when we are attached to things, ideas, craving/desire, and when we yearn for things to be different than they are. We are experiencing a bit of this right now. We had booked the Mount Everest base camp trek. However, on reviewing the length, elevation (over 5000 metres at base camp), weather, and level of difficulty I knew it would prove to be to arduous for me. I am sad that J does not get to complete the trek. (I did offer to stay behind in Kathmandu but it did not seem like the best idea).

So instead we turned our Everest trek into a seven day trek in the Annapurna foothills plus a sightseeing flight near Everest to get a glimpse. We completed the flight early this morning. The mountains are quite majestic, but Mount Everest does not seem so big among the many giants. In the photo it is, obviously, the tallest most pointed one.



The Annapurna trek is very scenic and will pass sections of rhododendron blooms. We trek for about four hours or so every day and stay in tea houses (small hotel/lodges) at night. A porter hauls our gear and a guide leads us. A highlight of the trek is the view from poon hill.

But first things first. We have decided we need a little break. (I know, I know, we are traveling for a year, isn't that break enough?) The chaotic, dusty, noisy, ramshackle streets of Thamel, (central Kathmandu) are fun, exciting and full of quaint shops and great places to eat, but they are also tiring. I have started wearing a breathing mask, as the locals do, when on long walks. It seems to help my lungs a bit. For our break we are moving to the Hyatt for a week. It's on the edge of Kathmandu on several park like acres. It is also near the many Buddhist temples and the great Boudhanath Stupa, which we want to spend more time exploring. Thamel remains a short taxi ride away should we miss the chaos. I admit I am looking forward to consistent electricity and wifi, a tub, real pillows, maybe on occasion an elevator (although I am grateful for the exercise on the four flights of stairs to our current room), a pool, outdoor space, and less noise (I assume the generator will not be outside our window as it is now).






After a week at the Hyatt we will head to Bhutan for a one week tour. All travelers to Bhutan must be on an escorted tour. Closer to our departure I will share more of our itinerary. After Bhutan we return to Kathmandu for 2 nights before embarking on our Annapurna trek and then back to Kathmandu for about 2 nights. Then we will head to Europe somewhere, around mid-April.




- All photos are shot by me using my iPhone 4s and edited using instagram.
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Chaos in the mountains

As we disembarked the plane we started the visa on arrival process. A word to the wise, ensure you have the correct visa amount in approved foreign currency such as USD, Canadian, Euros etc, as they do not accept Nepalese rupees, their own currency! Luckily after lessons learned from past trips, such as the stranding in India which resulted in J's parents having to wire us money, we keep an emergency reserve of USD on us. You need to have 2 passport size photos, which luckily there is a photo booth inside and the cost was 200 rupees about $2.50 Canadian (they only take rupees, which we were able to get from the onside money exchanger). However, there is no ATM in this visa area and you cannot proceed with out your visa. For a 90 day, multiple entry visa (we always go for multiple entry after the mishap in China. Who knew going from main land china to hong kong counted as an exit?), it costs $100.00 USD per person. Trekking permits are separate.

After clearing the visa process we took a taxi to our hotel. We drove along dusty streets, lined with ramshackle buildings, past dogs, cows, and kids frolicking along the edges. We noticed people playfully tossing homemade water balloons (made from tied plastic bags) at each other, while covered in fluorescent colors of dusty paint. Apparently it is a holiday here, we've become accustomed to never really knowing for sure whats going on as we travel. The current holiday is the Holi Festival. "The ancient Hindu festival of Holi falls on late February or on early March. Allegedly named after the mythical demoness Holika, it is a day when the feast of colours is celebrated. The festival is of a week. However it's only the last day that is observed by all with colours. Phagu is another name for Holi where Phagu means the sacred red powder and Pune is the full moon day, on which the festival ends. People can be seen wandering through the streets either on foot or on some vehicle, with a variety of colours smeared over them." source: http://www.nepalhomepage.com/society/festivals/fagupurnima.html From reading the local news apparently there is a crack down on men throwing balloons of dirty water at unsuspecting women. But it seems that everyone we have observed is actively participating, and thankfully I remain balloon and paint free.

Things here seem to pulsate, but yet nothing moves along very fast, except the motorcycles darting in and out. Restaurants are a leisurely process (as is the wifi). Electricity is intermittent and there is not always a generator backup. (We always travel with flashlights). The streets are quite dark, the blackness interrupted by small fires in the gutters. When the grinding of the hotel generator ceases you realize it is covering the noise of the barking dogs, honking horns, an occasional alarm, and the far off pounding of techno music.

Our hotel is quaint and comfortable. We have a clean room and clean linens, (inconsistent) wifi, satellite tv, locking cabinet, bathroom and a kitchenette (fridge, cupboard, and sink). With the intermittent electricity the fridge is less of an ice box and more of a bug vault, keeping any food items safe-ish from any unseen ants and the like.

We took a short walk to get orientated. Looking up to the top of a six story apartment building, it is interesting to see a flock of chickens on the roof. The streets are filled with travel agencies, trekking stores, restaurants and everything a traveller could need. We ventured over to a hippie hangout, a bookstore and vegetarian restaurant called Pilgrims, where we ate the yummy traditional Nepalese momo. It's like a steamed (or fried) dumpling filled with curried vegetables. The bookstore is amazing, packed with antique books, Buddhist books, travel books and everything else! Plus a lovely assortment of souvenirs (textiles, carvings, statues, jewelry,etc) and post cards. This establishment shall figure heavily in our stay in Kathmandu. I will have to restrain myself from purchasing copious amounts of Buddhist books and knick knacks. We also located a grocery store which seems specify all for trekkers. It's articles with camping foods, instant soups, all kinds of chocolate, nuts, beverages etc. I found some vegan dark chocolate as well. I noticed one poor traveller, with severely swollen red hands, which appears to be from frostbite. It's a good reminder for us to be very prepared before heading out on any hikes. (The temperature in the actual Kathmandu area is pleasant, around 18 degrees.)

We plan on being in Nepal for a while. It is quite inexpensive and there're is a variety of adventures to be had. We will be looking into trekking, wildlife preserves, temples, and perhaps some rafting.

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Turtles!

We went down to the main kuta beach area today to visit the Bali Sea Turtle Society (BSTS) (BSTS facebook page). The centre finds the turtle eggs laid on the beach and transfers them to the protected turtle hatchery, that looks like a giant turtle. This gives the little guys a better chance of surviving until they hatch and can be released to the sea.





This is not the regular nesting season for turtles but a clutch of Olive Ridley turtles just hatched this week. This turtle grows to an average adult length of 70 cms.


As a way to build awareness, solicit conservation donations and generally entertain tourists, you can release your own turtle. J and I of course decided to release two turtles. I named mine Tony and J named his lazy. True to his name, Lazy was the last to make it to the water when we released all the turtles. A total of 79 baby turtles were safely released into the ocean.






These little ones face a dangerous journey to adulthood. This journey is compounded by human pollution and garbage. As I stroll the beach much of the garbage I see is plastic bags, cigarette butts and straws. Please reduce plastic use, recycle, don't litter and invest in reusable shopping bags and straws such as these lovely stainless steel straws.




“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.” ― Chief Seattle

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Ants in the pants

Yesterday we had a very full itinerary. We hired a driver and went to Uluwatu temple, Uluwatu cave and Padang Padang beach. The Uluwatu temple is full of macaque monkeys, much like the ones in Ubud forest. The Uluwatu monkeys seem a little more mischievous than the ones in Ubud. Almost immediately one jumped up on J's shoulder and another grabbed my shorts and bit the hem. However, they are undeniably adorable.


We trekked down the sketchiest stairs ever to get the cave that opens out to Uluwatu beach area. The area is mostly full of people surfing further off shore but the cave area itself was beautiful to view. The stairs were stone and concrete and one narrow section was elevated in mid air with no rails on either side. There are the extra obstacles of avoiding the little Hindu basket offerings, called Canang Sarileft here and there (stairs, sidewalks, entrances etc). "Canang Sari is one of Daily Balinese hindus people offerings. Canang Sari is made from young yellow palm leafs, Flowers, and foodstuff an art form assosiated with every ritual in Bali. Balinese believe in the forces of the invisible worlds dictates that offerings be created with a spirit of thankfulness and loving attention to detail. Balinese always offering Canang sari every day, except there are some one death around village." quote source: http://www.nakbali.com/canang-sari-daily-ritual-offering/

Check out this video of Uluwatu Cave to see the amazing cave and dodgy stairs. As J says the best stuff is often at the end of a lot of stairs. We enjoyed lunch over looking the ocean on the cliff on the other side of the cave.


We stopped off at Padang Padang Beach. The sheltered cove was amazing and we just had to swim in it. Unfortunately there were no changing rooms so we ducked into the bush and changed into our swimsuits. Thankfully no people, or monkeys, stumbled upon us.

After our full day we spent the evening watching some tv and eating almonds. As we were eating I noticed an ant on the duvet, and then another, and then a whole troupe. The almonds that J was feeding to me we're out of a bag completely full of ants. It's really our fault since we broke the rule of no food storage in the room. Last time we broke the rule in a hut in the Andaman's in India we had a cockroach invasion. So we dumped the almonds into the garbage out side our room, in the attached outdoor shower. I watched them march out of the bin, thousands in single file, each one with a tiny almond crumb. This morning J dried off with the towel after his shower. Unfortunately it was covered in ants, one of which bit him. I call it ants in the pants but really there were no pants at all.

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The streets of Bali

I've been slacking on the blogging for a while. I call it running on island time. That and being horrendously sick. Some call it Bali Belly (Bali Butt might be more appropriate) but what ever it was it came with reinforcements of a sinus cold. After three days we broke down and used a course of our emergency antibiotics, and within 24 hours we started to feel better. I just have the last bit of a cough hanging on.

So to be honest we've basically accomplished nothing the last little while. Finding lunch each day was the biggest accomplishment. We have been enjoying the terrific food at the 2nd Bali Buddha restaurant located much closer to us (in Kerobokan) than the one in Ubud. I love their vegan Nasi Campur. They also have a little health food store attached where we get snacks and fresh coconut water.


We have also survived the the uniqueness of Bali streets. There are sidewalks but as soon as it is congested, which is most often, they fill with speeding scooters which some how manage to dodge the pedestrians. There are about 20 scooters to each car. Tourists can easily rent them, which only adds the the chaos. We've seen everything transported on them. One scooter had 10 full water cooler bottles, another a family of mom, dad, toddler and a crib mattress! Then there are the taxis. Many are with out incident but some make you feel like you must be on candid camera. The one we took yesterday was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic like nothing I have ever seen. (and I've seen a lot of crazy taxis). At a red light he jumped forward as a kid as crossing just to make her jump. They both laughed though. Somehow the dogs seem to know how to navigate these roads (most times). In fact I once saw a dog wait until 2 tourists were crossing and then he ran along side them to cross. The open sewers are also another hazard. Most of them are covered but then there will be a surprise one missing when you least expect it. Neither of us has fell in, yet.


On one of our walks we came across a very enthusiastic fellow who assured us we could win fantastic prizes hidden within the free promotional material for a new hotel. We had nothing else to do so we obliged. Of course when I opened mine I was absolutely guaranteed to win one of the following; week of free hotel, $500.00 or a digital camcorder. We just needed to get in their company car and go down for a tour of the hotel (time share) and we would get one of these prizes (the scratch off area would be revealed after sitting through the presentation). We declined.

Today we found a Mexican place and had decent chips and salsa. We had a nice chat with the waitress about being vegan. She brought us out our bean tacos and as usual J bides his time until someone else tries it first, of course that's usually me. I bit into a gross cow taco. I wish "beef" and "bean"did not look so similar when scribbled down on an order pad.

I did however finish an enjoyable book, Peace is Every Breathwhich is quite an easy read on incorporating mindfulness into every day life. It also had a nice explanation of the Buddhist notions of emptiness and non-self:
There is no entity separate and apart from everything else; what we call our "self" is made entirely of "non-self" elements. Emptiness likewise refers to the absence of a self that exists apart from everything else - the way a flower, for example, cannot "be" by itself alone, but rather is made of non-flower elements such as the seed, fertilizer, rain, and sunlight. If you take non-flower elements out of the flower, the flower no longer can exist. Emptiness does not mean nothingness of nonexistence; it only means there is no such thing as a separate "self" entity. All phenomenon rely on all other phenomena to manifest. This is, because that is; this is not, because that is not. To contemplate emptiness is also to contemplate interbeing (sometimes called "interdependent co-arising").


(photo above is from the same book)


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Mostly monkey business

A recent highlight was today's trip to the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary which is home to tons of Long tailed macaque monkeys They are absolutely spell binding with their adorable antics. We spent a few hours just watching them eat, play, bathe, argue, and tease the tourists. They are not really afraid of people and I'm quite sure they'd quickly gain the upper hand in any human/monkey altercation. One reached right into my purse pocket, which was empty as I alway remember the cardinal rule; never, ever trust a monkey. One little monkey, who was being chased by a large one, flung himself onto my lap while shooting the chasing monkey a smug "nah nah a boo boo" look. Then he scampered off. Out of no where a bunch of monkeys just starting jumping into the little cement pond all at once, as if they had planned it. They tumbled down on each other, leapt from the overhanging branches, swam under the water and generally created monkey business. Here are a few photos of one the monkeys sweet on J










After the monkey forest we ate at the tranquil and delicious Bali Buddha. I had a great raw vegan lunch of salad rolls, pate and crackers, mint lemonade and a chocolate tart. At the attached heath food store, we picked up some all natural shampoo made from coconut and scented with frangipani flowers.

Last night we went back to the large grocery store near by. We found some mystery white juice at the fresh juice bar. When we inquired about what it was, they pointed out a fruit I'd never seen before and called it "Indonesian fruit". We bought it. All I can say is the taste is best described as highly objectionable. Speaking of objectionable fruit, I also detest Snake fruit, which gets its name from the scaly skin, which also should have served as warning to me not to eat it. It tastes like a creamy onion apple, and it smells. On the other hand I adore the succulent Mangosteens.

The other exciting news is that J and I were accepted to attend the three week Sciences of the Buddha meditation retreat. "In the beautiful setting of Plum Village, from the 1st until the 21st of June 2012, with Thich Nhat Hanh and the Plum Village Sangha, scientists and Buddhists will practice sitting together, walking together, and sharing their experience and insight with each other. The practices of mindfulness and concentration can help scientists to be better scientists and in this way, Buddhism can act as a source of inspiration, suggesting directions for future investigation and discovery. Conversely, we will explore how insights from science can be useful, not only to develop technology and improve our material comfort, but to reduce the suffering of individuals, families, and society. This retreat will bring a lot of joy and confidence in both traditions as we find out that good science and good Buddhism can be much and do much for the wellbeing of the world." Thich Nhat Hanh is one of my favorite Buddhist authors and he wrote the amazing book Being Peace It's an accessible for read for Buddhists and NonBuddhists. I love it so much I've purchased many copies for family, friends and for the prisoner book program.
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