Kathmandu

In Kathmandu, we stayed in the Thamel district which was hectic and crowded but close to many points of interest. We took a day tour of the sites: Swayambhunath, Durbar Square in Patan, Pashupatinath Temple, and Boudhanath. There are at least half a dozen other cultural sites that we didn't get around to visiting - we just wish we had time to see them all! We really enjoyed observing the peaceful nature of the monks and pilgrims at the religious sites. Perhaps the most moving experience for us was witnessing a Hindu cremation ceremony at Pashupatinath Temple.

Thali meal:


Street by Thamel:


Fruit stand:


Vasubandhu Chaitya with prayer flags surrounding:


Inside a temple at Swayambhunath:


Buddha statue:


Swayambhunath stupa with a Hindu temple close by:


Durbar Square:


Water well in Durbar Square:


Cremation ceremony - mourners at Pashupatinath Temple:






Dyes outside Pashupatinath:


Boudhanath Stupa:


Monks:

Agra

We got out of Delhi for one day, on a bus trip to see the sights of Agra. The highlight of this trip was the Taj Mahal, and we also visited Agra Fort and Sikandra (Akbar's tomb). While on this tour, we met a new friend from Afghanistan named Ajmal and now we have an open invitation to visit his country anytime! Maybe one day we can take Ajmal up on his offer. The tour ended up turning into quite a day. Seeing the sights to and from Agra is definitely an experience that cannot be missed, however there were also some heart wrenching moments while there and en route. It is difficult to know what else to say without trivializing the the lives of these remarkable people, so instead we recommend anyone with the desire to experience this country to do so for themselves and formulate their own impressions of this fascinating and deeply rich culture.

Main gate entrance to the Tomb of Akbar the Great:


Ajmal (our new friend from Afghanistan) at Agra Fort:


The Taj Mahal:


CBS Sunday Morning Show reporter asking about visiting the Taj Mahal:

Delhi

First, we have to thank our good friend Dietz for all of his help during our visit to Delhi. When Jesse mentioned our trip, Dietz insisted on playing host while we were in India (anyone who knows him understands that this is classic Dietz). After living in both London and the U.S., Dietz now lives with his wife Shivani in his hometown of Delhi. Aside from entertaining us on more than one evening, he set up a place to stay, transportation, and even a sightseeing list for us which we later dubbed the "Folder of Fun". As a result, our stay was made much easier with all of these things already arranged. Thanks Dietz!!

In Delhi, we saw as many sights as we could (considering the heat usually knocked us out sometime around mid afternoon). Some of the sights included the Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb, Qutub Minar, India Gate, Raj Ghat, Baha'i Lotus Temple, and Gandhi Smriti. All were very interesting and impressive, but there's not enough space here to describe them for you, so check them out on the interweb! I had a somewhat strange experience at the Lotus Temple...about a dozen children surrounded me in a mob and wanted to shake my hand and have their picture taken with me. I felt like a celebrity!

The Folder of Fun:


Isa Khan's Tomb:


Humayun's Tomb:


Baha'i House of Worship (aka Lotus Temple):


Making new friends:


A street:


Street market - bicycle rickshaw perspective:


At Dietz's:


Qutub Minar:


Martyr's Column at the Gandhi Smriti:


Simplicity was one of Gandhi's life principles. This is reflected in Gandhi's room at the Gandhi Smriti:

Singapore

We only had a one night layover in Singapore before heading to India, but what we realized is that we could have easily spent many more nights here. The feel of the city is that of a cosmopolitan lifestyle, but also accessible to those on a budget. We made our way to the hostel and checked in to our bare bones room without any trouble. So, we headed out to explore the city. Incidentally, the hostel happened to be in the Little India area. First, we made it to a sidewalk cafe for an inexpensive bowl of noodle soup. Next, we found our way to a mall for a 2nd dinner of dumplings and bok choy (food was so cheap in Singapore). Finally, we took the subway to Chinatown and ended up getting even more food - this time it was dessert. Overall, the city was very clean, and easy to navigate. We would love to come back and spend more time here.

A Hindu temple by our hostel:


The Sidewalk cafe:


A cheetah statue:


The streets are busy with markets in the evening:


Feeling grand in Chinatown, onlookers are confused:


Dessert concoction from Chinatown - almond jello, shaved ice, condensed milk, fruit, bubbles:

Kuta

After a few days in peaceful and quiet Ubud, we made our way to Kuta which is definitely geared more towards catering to tourists. In Kuta, there was easy access to beaches, resorts, and many nice restaurants. Of course there was also the constant barrage from street vendors selling cheap goods. We were glad to have experienced both aspects of the island.

Sunset at the beach:


By a gate, and a statue:


Jesse by a statue:


An interesting looking house:

Ubud

Our visit to Bali, Indonesia got off to a bit of a rough start when we arrived to the island on the eve of Nyepi. Nyepi is a day of silence, fasting and meditation, but the night before is a big party. Essentially, this was like arriving at Times Square on New Year's Eve. This created a bit of a problem for us. We needed to get cash out of an ATM in order to pay for our tourist visas into the country (no credit card payment allowed). Due to the holiday, all ATMs in the airport were completely out of cash. Likewise, in order to leave the airport to get cash, we needed to have valid visas. As you can see, this was a real win-win situation for us. Luckily, there were a few other people in our same situation, but that didn't matter to the security guards. After some confusion and deliberation, we "snuck" past immigration (is that frowned upon?) and got a cab to drive us around the town during mid-celebration. It turned out to be a pretty thrilling experience riding around on Nyepi Eve, without valid visas, and desperately looking for a place to trade credit card charges for cold hard cash. Eventually, we headed back into the airport through the exit doors to wait in line for over an hour to finally get our visas. Yikes! We were ready to call it quits right there, but luckily, things improved pretty quickly after that.

In Ubud, we stayed at a 'homestay' - there were a few little cottages for guests, but the people who ran the homestay also lived there with their families. It was a nice way to see how families live in Bali, which we wouldn't have seen if we had stayed at a more traditional tourist resort. It was especially nice on Nyepi - all tourists are confined to their hotels that day, but we had the family to take care of us and bring us food.

Ubud is in the central portion of the Bali Island and is regarded as the cultural center of the island and is home to many artists and craftspeople. It's also home to Monkey Forest, where we saw lots of temples, ancient looking statues, and yes, monkeys. They were pretty aggressive little things too. The signs posted in the area said that feeding the monkeys was okay. Jesse attempted to give one a piece of fruit out of a plastic bag and ended up having to quickly throw the whole bag down to avoid attack. Oops!

The visa "line":


Hanging out on the front porch at our homestay:


Monkeys:


Cute!

Monkey 1, Jesse 0:

Cool bridge in Monkey Forest:

At a pretty rice paddy near our homestay:

A delicious dinner of roast duck with accompaniments:

Bali is a very religious place - nearly every store and house had an offering similar to this one in front of it at all times: