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 Mt. Everest 2004: Mountain Madness Expedition 2004 Dispatch Three | ||||||
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| Day 3: March 29th 2004 This is Sarah Henley reporting from Kathmandu for one last time before we begin our trek up to Everest Base Camp. Today the group had the opportunity to visit different city sites and learn about some of the traditions, here in Nepal. After we dropped off the clothes some of the clients brought for the IMEC, the organization I wrote about yesterday, we visited three different spots throughout the day. First, we visited the Riverbanks of the Bagmati and the Pashupatinath Temple. This temple is the most important Temple in Nepal for the Hindu religion. Below this temple is the Bagmati, a holy river, a popular place to be cremated. While we were there we saw five different cremations. After one is cremated their ashes are swept into the Bagmati River. The second spot we visited, Bodnath, is a Buddhist religious structure called a Stupa. This is the largest Stupa in the world. In the past these were domed burial mounds, but over centuries have become huge structures that represent the Buddha and Buddhist philosophy. At the top of the Stupa are "Buddha Eyes" on all four sides, which is believed to represent the all-seeing nature of the Buddha. Lastly we visited the Buddhist Temple of Swayambhunath also known as the "Monkey Temple". This name is a result of the many monkeys that hang around steeling food and goods from the vendors. The group had the opportunity to train some for the trek while walking up 365 stairs to get to the temple. The amount of stairs represents the days of the year. Everyone really enjoyed seeing some of the religious sites of Kathmandu; however, they are anxiously awaiting tomorrow. Now folks are finishing up last minute packing to be ready for an early morning hair-raising flight to Lukla at 9300ft. This is where it all begins...
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