"Rickshaw?"
"You want to smoke brother?"
"Taxi?"
"You want to go Trekking?"
Welcome to my first 7 seconds in Thamelt, the tourist hub of downtown Kathmandu. It is impossible to walk for more then 3 seconds without someone offering you to sell you one of the above. Truthfully, I wish I could say that Kathmandu is an exciting metropolis bustling with life and energy; in reality, it is a discombobulating, dizzying mess of a city where the air quality, combined with the noise pollution, immense litter, and depressing poverty, make it very difficult for one to find peace of mind. Especially after an amazing week trekking into the Nepali mountains (I now feel compelled to share a few more of my favorite shots from that week)...
I find myself wanting out from the madness of Kathmandu.
Nevertheless, I tried to make the most of my time in Kathmandu. I took the first day to connect back with the real world after not having Internet for a week (amazing how much relaxation this added).
The next day, our mountain guide and now my good friend, Lakpa, took me rock climbing. We had plans to climb natural rock but the monsoon season brings rain almost every day to Nepal so we diverted our plans to an manmade wall that, while still outside, was covered by a roof and remained dry.
I then spent the next two days strolling around Thamelt, getting gifts for friends and family. I also took a day trip to Patan, a town about 1/2 hour outside of Kathmandu, particularly known for its rich cultural heritage.
Swastika next to Star of David: apparently, the swastika was an ancient Hindi symbol meaning good luck. Leave it to the Nazis to screw that one up.The next day, it was time for some adventure. I embarked on a 2-day trek into the mountains again where I had one of the greatest, most adrenaline-filled experiences of my life: bungy jumping.
It was a 160m drop, the second highest in the world. As you can tell from the video, I sort of couldn't wait to jump. This was something I'd been anticipating for a long, long time and am glad I got to cross off the list of "Things to do before I die." Next up - base jumping. Here's the group of us - from Holland, Denmark, Nepal, US - that all bungied together.
The next day, four of us went canyoning, another extreme adventure sport I'd never done. While I wish I had some photos to offer, canyoning involves repelling down waterfalls so, for obvious reasons, I did not bring my camera. From there, we enjoyed a nice 3-hour ride back into Kathmandu, the majority of which I spent on the roof of the bus:
One of the guys on the bungy trip named Pippin owns and manages a bar/nightclub in Thamelt named Lhasa. After hearing some beatboxing at our night at the Last Resort, he invited me to come to Lhasa on Friday night and perform. Here is a (shotty picture, yet decent sounding) video of me doing a beatbox cover of The Beatles' "Come Together."
Unfortunately, on my last night in Nepal, I caught some nasty virus and, while I'll spare you the details, will simply say I was up the entire night before flying to Amman. I owe a very special thanks to Emily, my friend I was visiting in Amman, whose door I arrived to sick as a dog. She went out of her way to give me meds, allow me to relax, and help me back to health as soon as possible.
In spite of being sick and out of my element the entire time I was there, Amman was fun. Not feeling my best, we took it easy and went to see the Dark Knight the first night I arrived. Next day, we baked in the sun at the Dead Sea...
and then went to Mt. Nebo, where Moses apparently led the Jews after 40 years in the desert before, at the ripe old age of 120, saw the Promised Land before dying at this spot.
After 3 days in Amman, it was time to head to Tel-Aviv for my last 3 nights of the journey. I got to spend some quality time recording some music with Yuval, the guitarist for Coolooloosh. Much thanks to him for opening his home to me for the last part of my trip.
After three days of relaxation on Tel-Aviv beach, it was time to head home, where I find myself now...currently in Washington, DC still reeling from the adventurous 7 weeks that precede. Sometime in the coming weeks, I plan to blog about some interesting life revelations this trip afforded me, so until then...safe travels in your own journey.
It was a 160m drop, the second highest in the world. As you can tell from the video, I sort of couldn't wait to jump. This was something I'd been anticipating for a long, long time and am glad I got to cross off the list of "Things to do before I die." Next up - base jumping. Here's the group of us - from Holland, Denmark, Nepal, US - that all bungied together.
The next day, four of us went canyoning, another extreme adventure sport I'd never done. While I wish I had some photos to offer, canyoning involves repelling down waterfalls so, for obvious reasons, I did not bring my camera. From there, we enjoyed a nice 3-hour ride back into Kathmandu, the majority of which I spent on the roof of the bus:
One of the guys on the bungy trip named Pippin owns and manages a bar/nightclub in Thamelt named Lhasa. After hearing some beatboxing at our night at the Last Resort, he invited me to come to Lhasa on Friday night and perform. Here is a (shotty picture, yet decent sounding) video of me doing a beatbox cover of The Beatles' "Come Together."
Unfortunately, on my last night in Nepal, I caught some nasty virus and, while I'll spare you the details, will simply say I was up the entire night before flying to Amman. I owe a very special thanks to Emily, my friend I was visiting in Amman, whose door I arrived to sick as a dog. She went out of her way to give me meds, allow me to relax, and help me back to health as soon as possible.
In spite of being sick and out of my element the entire time I was there, Amman was fun. Not feeling my best, we took it easy and went to see the Dark Knight the first night I arrived. Next day, we baked in the sun at the Dead Sea...
and then went to Mt. Nebo, where Moses apparently led the Jews after 40 years in the desert before, at the ripe old age of 120, saw the Promised Land before dying at this spot.
After 3 days in Amman, it was time to head to Tel-Aviv for my last 3 nights of the journey. I got to spend some quality time recording some music with Yuval, the guitarist for Coolooloosh. Much thanks to him for opening his home to me for the last part of my trip.
After three days of relaxation on Tel-Aviv beach, it was time to head home, where I find myself now...currently in Washington, DC still reeling from the adventurous 7 weeks that precede. Sometime in the coming weeks, I plan to blog about some interesting life revelations this trip afforded me, so until then...safe travels in your own journey.
2 comments:
Nice Jump! My heart was racing as I sit behind my work computer at exciting Wells Fargo! My oh My I can not wait to travel again! besos sophia
OMG! Jay floats in water. See, it can happen :-)
Glad you are safe and sound from your nasty virus. Turkish dinner coming soon chez Ayse's!
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