We all relish the comforts of civilization, but everyone does R&R in their own way.
A final day in Kathmandu…for shopping the dazzling array of wares in absurdly small stores packed with all they can hold…for gazing up at 17th century pagoda temples stretching into the sky of the palace square…for lazing by the pool with a beer.
All that happened, but not as expected. We returned to an unfortunately typical situation in Nepal: a nationwide shutdown in political protest. The Maoist party is trying to reassert control, and the current government refuses to step down without exacting some concessions and commitments. While some feared violence, the first two days of protest marches were peaceful.
Video: Peaceful Maoist Protest March in Kathmandu
As for our group…we spent an easy day by the pool, in the garden, and watching Everest climbing movies. Then I called shopkeeper friends and restaurant owners who opened their shuttered gates long enough to allow us in. After a delicious dinner, I arranged a nighttime rickshaw tour of pagoda temples and sacred courtyards–magic in the dark and quiet peace of the city at rest.
Now we part, we return to other lives and other countries, and we carry new visions…of Nepal, of each other, and of ourselves.