Trek Dispatches
Satellite phone updates from Todd Burleson's Alpine Ascents Khumbu Trek



Janow
Sights & Sounds of Kathmandu
Tuesday, March 31, 1998 — Kathmandu
I return to Kathmandu with great trepidation and fear that all has changed. I walk the quiet streets of Kathmandu my first evening and am again seduced by the soft moonlight, passing the great hand carved doorways in subtle brilliance. The great Newari architecture still breathes life into this town and with passing moments I am again lured to the ancient and my love for Nepal is some how rekindled.

When the sunlight breaks through the window, I quickly jut out and am reminded of the present. I try desperately to link the world of modern commodities to the trading posts of years past. I realize it is not my place to say, but I don't want this modernity part to be here. Finding a side street, I return to Nepal and venture out on Durbar square, between the dust and sewage, the great Shiva temple beckons me. And I am lost the in Kath, as entranced by Kathmandu... yet again.

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Sights & Sounds of Kathmandu
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Even sitting here, it is difficult to write and concentrate, there is much to take care of. Climbers and trekkers are filing in for the 3:30 briefing.

later...
 What a pleasure to watch first-time eyes travel the streets of Kathmandu to the monkey temple. Impressed and confused by the great religions of the East they prod the culture for understanding and relevance. We are indeed blessed with a group of wonderful people... warm, curious, bright and intrigued. We wander through this place, from the calm peace of Buddhist temples to the wildest of Shivas great temples, Pashupati.

At the Shiva temple, well it was the scene... filled with Sadhus (Hindu ascetics). We visited a life so foreign. One man has lived only on milk for 14 years... and he didn't have no mustache. Kathy, one of the trekkers, did the snake deal, boas around the neck. Not on the itinerary.

Tomorrow we leave for the Khumbu and begin with slow steps to the roof of the world.

— Gordon Janow, Alpine Ascents International Program Director

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