text

A scene along the roadside near Tibet. As we get nearer to Tibet, the road gets progressively worse.

Day two of the bike trip, we headed north towards Tibet, leaving Greg to get back to work. It is a beautiful day, and many take advantage of the warm weather to have a picnic by the river.

This is Ian Sanderson. For Ian's 40th birthday we rented motorcycles and headed out for a road trip. Clich? perhaps, but fun nonetheless.

Merry Christmas!

Two images of daily prayer in Nepal. The first one is Hindu. On a hillside above Lamatar, on the edge of the Kathmadu valley, there is a small cave that is known as a holy place.

Today the stupa here in Boudhanath was lit up with one hundred thousand butter lamps in honor of World Peace Day. A powerful prayer for peace, and I can't think of a better thing to pray for.

Finally getting out more to see what goes on in the valley, I visited Loyola House, a home for about 35 boys who study at local schools.

Weddings: in some sense, the same the world over. But here in Nepal, even more so.

Winter has come, such as it does here.
Trees are still green but the sunlight has a pale coolness

Today is Thanksgiving in America, and I have so much to be thankful for. More than I can say, more than I can carry in my heart, my life and time here in Nepal are incredible blessings.

One of the things that I originally thought would be very hard to adjust to in Nepal is the lack of hot water. My family, like most people, doesn't have a water heater.

As I leave India, I realize that I have so many incredible experiences in such a short time, that it would be impossible to share them or even to understand them.

The Buddha first began teaching at Sarnath, near Varanasi. This image was in the temple there, one of the best Buddha images I have ever seen. His face. His joy. His knowing.

On the banks of the sacred Ganges River before dawn, pilgrims quietly shuffle about. Small circles of women drip oil and flower petals over images of gods they have just made out of the clay.

Today we went to Vulture Peak, the place where the Buddha first taught about emptiness: All things come to be in dependence upon other things.

Pilgrims passing
so many open hearts.
Open minds,
searching.
Smiles,
bows to the place
where the Buddha attained enlightenment.

Arriving in Bodh Gaya we come to the place where the Sidhartha Gautama became the Buddha (the enlightened one). I have many, many thoughts, and no thoughts as well. Just experiences.

On a train, on the way to Bodh Gaya, the place where the Buddha was enlightened.

I am back home in Boudhanath. Funny how quickly a place can become home. I have been gone a week, but it felt much longer. It is good to be back and see my family and friends here.

On the way back from Pokhara, Greg and I stop to visit his friend. Maila Praja is his name. He is Chepang.

In the back of a monastery behind the main shrine room in a Tibetan refugee camp in Chorepatan, Nepal, an old woman attends the butter lamps.

Most of Nepal is still very rural, and village life seems to dominates the collective imagination, even of those who now live in large cities such as Kathmandu.

Dashain is the time in Nepal for families to come together, sharing food, and gifts, and all sorts of traditional activities. One of these is swinging on huge bamboo swings.

Though I have been here for only a month, it seemed time for a road trip.