For the last two days I've been enjoying a break from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu,NGO work and visiting schools scouting for needy scholarship applicants by trying my best to do nothing at the Yoga In Nepal retreat center. Let me describe just a little of what this unique place is like. First, you journey via taxi up a rocky and rutty gravel path that seems impossible for the little Suzuki taxis here to travel on (yet they do by the grace of Shiva or some other powerful god that adorns their dash). Through tall iron gates, you are let into a garden of eden-beautiful landscaped garden, butterflies and birds chirping, a background of forested green hills. There are four large safari tents you stay in,each with two beds with nice,soft comforters and your own small stone porch with chairs. Because the tiny retreat center is on a hillside, you have amazing views of the city below and one of the most sacred Buddhist holy sites in the world- Swayambhunath-a hill from where some mighty things were said to have originated, including the Kathmandu Valley, when the god Manjushri cut the lake that once filled the valley in half with his sword, freeing the water, and a lotus island that is Swayambhu today (nath means place of worship). Maybe that's what brought Buddha here a few thousand years ago, along with a long line of other holy prophets and saints, to preach on this revered hilltop, that is now revered by countless vendors as a chance to sell their assortment of mallas, Tibetan singing bowls and Nepali handicrafts. Oh, and monkeys have also claimed the holy site. They are walking in and around the prayer wheels here, and sacred statues have to be enclosed in cages so monkeys don't rob them of the offerings left -- still I saw monkey after monkey reach as far inside a shrine as the cage would allow to snatch at rice or flowers or anything edible that might have been stuffed at the feet of a Buddha or Tara. A sight that had me double-over in laughter was a monkey who had snatched an article of monk clothing-a red robe, and was playing with pulling it over his head, and wrapping it around and around his little primate body-hilarious! The way to the top of Swayambu is enough to make any one believe they are on a sacred pilgrimage, despite the vendors and monkeys plying you for anything you have to offer-there are some 365 stone steps that lead up to the main stuppa at the top, but half way up, sweat running down my face, I felt it was more like 3,365..at the top, you run smack into a chock-a-block of ancient statues and carvings, inscriptions in stone that date back to who knows and amazing small temples who's walls are covered in soot from millions of incense burnings. It is truly a historic and I do believe a UNESCO World Heritage Site-there are even Buddha's footprints carved in stone (I'd say he wore the same size sandal as Danny!) But if you tire of all the historic and religious artifacts, there's the monkey show! One thing I so enjoy around Buddhist sites is the "live and let live" philosophy that enshrouds all the sites here-I've seen doves nesting inside buildings and a huge hornet's nest hanging from the outer eves of a monastery. Monkeys here enjoy the same freedom and lack of bother from anyone. In fact there's a "monkey swimming pool" at the base of one of the levels of the shrine area-complete with tree branches to swing and drop into the water, and nice runways to get a good start to your swan (monkey?) dive. I was having a good time watching all the monkey shennigans, and decided to pull out a bag of potato chips I had brought with me-oh boy-BIG MISTAKE!! Monkeys seem to be honed in to noticing anything edible being pulled from a bag (they barely glanced at my wallet when I'd pull it out) as soon as they saw the Lay's bag they were on me like a dog after a hotdog! I screamed "Nay Nay" (NO!) and had the bag AND my other bag which contained a wooden sculpture of Ganesh that I had just bargained long and hard for, robbed by little monkey claws-one a MOTHER with her tiny baby holding on for dear life. I didn't care about the chips but that statue was something I had already had envisoned near the entry way for home, and I was determined to chase that monkey down and get it back! I took after the little scoundrel but it was like our rascal terrier Turbo who chases things only to realize he has no back up-as soon as I got off the footpath, more monkeys than I cared to deal with rushed me, chattering in what I can only imagine were monkey curses! These are red-bottomed Reshus (sp?) monkeys-quite large-and furious looking when they bare their large canines. I soon went running backwards to the cement area, with many Nepalis laughing hysterically. I wasn't about to give up. I could see my bag with Ganesh statue discarded in the shrubs after they realized it was unedible, so I opened my umbrella, secured by shoulder bag around me tightly, and entered their primate habitat opening and closing my umbrella and yelling as bravely as I could "Bad Monkey!" This just about drove the Nepalis who had gathered to watch this show into tearful hysterics. I had my own cheering section of little Nepali boys who couldn't believe this "Farangi" had the nerve to confront the monkey gods, and for what? This old, worn out wooden head of a Ganesh?? (I had actually retrieved this carving from a shop keeper's trash pile and loved it so much I offered him 100 rupees (about $2) for it. The monkeys' to my surprise, retreated-and I snatched my Ganesh head and fled backwards (not about to turn my back on a troop of monkey's who own the area) to the "people" area.
I thought of future projects-a kid's book about the monkey's of Swayambu, wondering if they had been there during Buddha's time. Were they just as crafty? Or did that extra craftiness come with the invention of ice cream and Lays'? On our way back down the thousands of steps, I saw a little boy about to bite into his newly purchased ice cream cone-first stopping to admire the drips and heaps of vanilla,like a tiny version of Mt. Everest. and yep-before he could take one bite of the delicious confection, a monkey leaped, snatched, and took off, leaving the kid stunned and confused for a good minute before bursting into wails. I knew just how he felt!
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