so i write this, sweating more than climbing mountains, in the town of lumbini. lumbini, a place of pilgrimage for buddhists from all over the world as it is the birthplace of siddhartha, the buddha.
here i am, 942pm, a sultry 100+ degree night. this has all the potential hallmarks of a bad decision. an over-extended bus ride of 8 hours, a tired guest house, a town that has a 17 hour blackout everyday and the transition from pokhara, lakeside wonderland to the sauna i now find myself in.
but, in making a pilgrimage, one is meant to suffer a bit, no? and the short vignettes that have played out in the short time that i have been here have, regardless of the amount of water that i am losing out of my skin, made me rethink my first reaction to the place (how i wanted, immediately upon arrival) to take that same bus ride all the way back to pokhara and call it a day). but luck, as it does, has shines bright on my meeting of people. had a nice chat with a nice older japanese woman, breaking out my rusty nihongo and having a go. she recalled tales of nepal in the 80's, and her experience as a not-quite japanese hippie.
and the sweet younger and surprising chinese couple. the girl giving me a list of underground chinese films that i must see and the guy, the owner of a secret guest house in lhasa. then of course, my haste in judging the well worn guest house erased as a lovely chat with three generations of the family that owned it reminded me that while ac is nice, its worth trading a bit of comfort for an exchange of communication with people that are so different from yourself.
and buoying my positive outlook is the three minutes i am away from having light and a fan. simple things in life, isn't it?
so tomorrow i get to span space and visit temples from many of the buddhist countries of the world, in all their origin-styled splendor. i do sense kitsch, but maybe if i hold to this positive, i can overcome it.
hurray for fans.
here i am, 942pm, a sultry 100+ degree night. this has all the potential hallmarks of a bad decision. an over-extended bus ride of 8 hours, a tired guest house, a town that has a 17 hour blackout everyday and the transition from pokhara, lakeside wonderland to the sauna i now find myself in.
but, in making a pilgrimage, one is meant to suffer a bit, no? and the short vignettes that have played out in the short time that i have been here have, regardless of the amount of water that i am losing out of my skin, made me rethink my first reaction to the place (how i wanted, immediately upon arrival) to take that same bus ride all the way back to pokhara and call it a day). but luck, as it does, has shines bright on my meeting of people. had a nice chat with a nice older japanese woman, breaking out my rusty nihongo and having a go. she recalled tales of nepal in the 80's, and her experience as a not-quite japanese hippie.
and the sweet younger and surprising chinese couple. the girl giving me a list of underground chinese films that i must see and the guy, the owner of a secret guest house in lhasa. then of course, my haste in judging the well worn guest house erased as a lovely chat with three generations of the family that owned it reminded me that while ac is nice, its worth trading a bit of comfort for an exchange of communication with people that are so different from yourself.
and buoying my positive outlook is the three minutes i am away from having light and a fan. simple things in life, isn't it?
so tomorrow i get to span space and visit temples from many of the buddhist countries of the world, in all their origin-styled splendor. i do sense kitsch, but maybe if i hold to this positive, i can overcome it.
hurray for fans.
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