I LOVE YOU flower

When I saw these flowers, I really liked them, so I decided to take some pictures of them. They reminded me of the California poppies ...I didn't really noticed that all of them had 8 petals. A couple of friends made me noticed it. And because of that it has this funny name. It is the "I love you" flower. I really like the name. So I took also one of them for my Nene.

The PEOPLE of PALPA

The people. Aaahh, the people. The people is the real treasure of Nepal. And here are more pictures of the people of Palpa. The pictures are hard to describe how well I felt when I met this people. It could have been just for the time of a smile or for 5 minutes chit chat or for hours of philosophical discussions. All of them old men, kids, women really left me with the feeling that they really want to spend some time with me and they really enjoyed with company as much as I did enjoy to be with them. All of them have sweet words for you. But most important, they really have time to spend with you. So different from our Western society, where we are all busy doing something else. And where we have, maybe, lost our mind behind just money ...

PALPA, Nepal

I am again on the move. From Lumpini I have decided to go north. Next stop is Palpa. A small little town in the middle of the hills. Not the most impressive village I have seen in my life ... ... bust still pretty interesting. At the same time my holidays are running out, so I can't really stop more than one day. So, what is in Palpa? What I liked the most are some local street food sellers. And because the restaurants were closed, for the Dashain festival, this is where I had my lunch and afternoon snack...The main attraction of Palpa is a small temple with kamasutra tiles on the wall. These are the tiles, and these are some pigeons inside the temple. They have definitely learned the lesson ...And these are my two new Indian friends, Amar and Vibha. They are from Varanasi, India. And they are here for few days of vacation. We took a short walk on top of a hill. I loved to spend some time with them. I think that meeting new friends is the best thing about travelling ...and who knows. Maybe I will meet them again during my next India trip ... :D

BUS RIDES in NEPAL

One of the things that I like the most, when I am travelling, is to use the public transportation. I really thing that is the best way to know both locals and backpackers. An of course I did the same also here in Nepal. But here it is all different. In the Dashain festival period, the bus are really overcrowded and of course the roads are really bumpy and the trips are really long. You can really make good friends on the bus, but forget about relaxing and enjoying the landscape. Actually the bus are so crowded that most of the time, you can't even see the landscape. Here are some pictures that I took during my Nepal trip. Let's start for the boarding ...And of course the people is going on the rooftop because inside it is way too busy. The funny thing is that, as far as I can tell, these bus don't move their butt unless all the bus is full. Way too full. So you will always find people who have to stay on the rooftop. And that is true also for very long trips. And this is the inside of a bus. Still not full enough to leave ...And of course, because we are in a Hindu country, the cows are holy. And free to roam in the bus station. Thanks G-D ... they don't have any right to travel without a proper ticket ...And here is when almost full, but not quite, we are ready to go ...But of course the great thing about the bus is that you can really meet the real people. Even the tourist that you meet here are more interesting, than the one that you meet in the classical touristic spots. Or maybe it is just the same people who has a different attitude when they are are mixed with all the local people. And an other thing not to forget, is that at every stop there is always some snack to eat ...In conclusion, if I can suggest ... if you are going to Nepal, don't ride the "tourist bus". Get into a crowded and slow local bus ... I am pretty sure that you will love it ... :D

I AM A RISHO DRIVER

After spending all day riding my mighty rented bicycle in Lumpini, I tried also to ride a Risho ...... but believe me, it looks hard and it is in fact pretty hard. Especially when you try to pull a couple of fat western tourists. So if you really want to go change your job look somewhere else, unless you really want to work hard ...

BICYCLING in LUMPINI, Nepal

I really like here in Lumpini. One of the things that I like the most is that there are very few tourists. And the other great thing here is that here the best mean of transportation is the bicycle, I had a look to the locals ...... and I decided to copy them, so I rented a bicycle myself. This is me in front of the Chinese Buddhist temple ...... a realy nice feeling. I love bicycling, especially when I am not in a rush. Just enjoying the temples ...

BUDDHA was BORH HERE

After too many days spent in the Kathmandu valley visiting Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan I finally decided to leave and go West. Actually South West. Almost at the border with India. It took me almost 14 hours to get there. But I guess it was worthwhile. I got to Lumpini, Nepal. This is where 2600 years ago lord Buddha was born. When he was born his name was Siddhārtha Gautama, but because of his teachings he became Lord Buddha. The founder of Buddhism, a religion who doesn't even have a G-D. According to the Western standard, I think it is in fact more like a philosophy rather than a religion. Anyways, Lord Buddha was born here. It is an interesting place. Nothing to do with other holy places like Lourdes, Vatican or Mecca. This is a sleepy Nepali village surrounded by rice fields and where it is really difficult to find a restaurant open and where I counted less than 10 tourists in 1 day. A record! Really a nice feeling. If you are curious to see how Lumpini looks like here are some pictures. This is the holy site, where Buddha was born and all around you can find people praying and small and big Buddhist temples. There are temple in all the styles. Every country with an interest in Buddhist has been invited to build here a temple, and the styles, of course, are very different. And the nice thing is that this place is not crowded at all ...

And these temples there are all these rice fields and people working them. Very very nice and very relaxing ...If you have the chance stop here for one day, but be ready ... Lumpini is a religious holy site like you have never seen before ...