Cavorting with Catie and Jon

The last few days, I've been sightseeing with Catie and Jon. It's pretty exciting and really really fun. On Wednesday, we went to Pashpatinath, one of the most sacred Hindu sights. It's this huge temple complex on the Bagmati river where they cremate the dead. We saw some bodies being prepared and burned. It was a very culturally rich experience, but also rather creepy. The temple itself was quite beautiful. There were holy men all over the temple. They cover themselves in the ashes of the dead and have dread locks.

Yesterday, we went to Nagarkot. I'd been there before, but the view last time was rather cloudy and the visibility not ideal. Yesterday was cloudy as well, but this morning we got the full himalayan panorama as the sun rose. It was a powerful sight. We stayed in this little rustic cabin that was part of "The Hotel at the End of the Universe." We also ate at the Restaurant at the end of the universe. Sweet! Last night, after a bit of hiking and dinner, we lay on a hill and looked up at the stars. We saw a bunch of shooting stars and it was incredibly beautiful. I slept okay, but Catie and Jon didn't sleep so well. We got up at 5am and saw the sunrise I just described. Gorgeous.

After breakfast, I suddenly remembered that I was supposed to renew my visa today. I had gotten confused about the days. We took an early bus back to Kathmandu, and I went to the visa office. As with all visas, it was a bit of a pain. The bigger pain was getting to and from the visa office. Still, I have my new 15 day visa (I have 12 days left) and only had to pay $30 instead of $60. The really dumb thing is that despite the fact that all the visa prices are in US $, you have to pay in Nepali rupees. So the visa is US $30, but then you pay whatever that is in Nepali rupees, which changes every day. Silly. But I have my new visa, so all is well.

Tomorrow is Jon's birthday. He really likes monkeys, so we are going to go to Swamybodnath, the monkey temple. It's a surprise. In the evening, we are going to go see a movie. I'm pretty excited!

On an unrelated note, my camera sort of broke. It's still usable, but the screen is cracked. I may try to get that fixed here. Also, my uploader chord is also non-functional. I need a new one. :( No pics for a little while, sorry.