hanging with our new friends

Yesterday and the day before were great fun. On Wed morning Lin was wiped out, so she slept while I ran errands, then we switched hotels (to a much nicer place) and she went back to sleep. I went out with our new Nepalese and Indian friends. We rented bikes and biked over to Devi Falls - a combination of cave, religious site, and waterfall. It was beautiful - almost reminded me of the ocean. After this trip we all went out to lunch (it's wonderful how seriously vegetarian dietary restrictions are taken here - everything is cooked separately!) which was great fun.

Yesterday we got up early, grabbed some lassis (yogurt shakes) and mango juice. Then went with our friends to rent a boat. We visited an island with some sort of shrine and then proceeded to cross the lake. At the other end we had a brief swim and then climbed a couple of thousand feet to the top where the World Peace Pagoda awaited us. Unfortunately some leeches attacked both Linda and I, but it turns out they aren't very fond of DEET. Our legs did get rather bloody though (it didn't hurt).

Anyway the trip up and down was exhausting so we hung out at the summit for awhile and had some Dal Bhat (rice, lentils, and potatos) the official staple (and only) dish of Nepal - they don't really have much in the way of cuisine around here. Afterwards Linda and I took a nap at the hotel and then met a Spanish couple (the husband is the current director of the Cervantes Institute in Dehli and a Professor of Sanskrit) for dinner. Finally home and a major lightning storm, but we slept soundly!

Today's just been chilling out. Shabbat should be restful - there's actually a veg indian restaraunt with a hebrew sign in front (almost every tourist shop/restaruant has one claiming the wonderfulness of the place and inviting Israeli tourists) that not only recommends the food, but also noted that "for the religious you can eat here on the sabbath and pay after the sabbath" so it looks like we will be well fed this shabbat :-)

Shabbat Shalom