Bo...Bo...Bodhnath!

Today I ventured out to see the big Buddhist Stupa in Bodhnath. Instead of doing the typical tourist thing and take a taxi there, I took the adventurous route and caught a public bus there. What an experience. There are no normal North American style buses save for the tourist only buses, which I declined to take. Instead, they are more like travel style vans, and those are the big ones. The ones I didn't get to take. Instead I was crammed in the back of this mini-mini-van with ten other Nepali's, and two more in the front seat. It was probably big enough to fit four American-sized people. At one point one passenger was hanging off the side of the bus along with the fare collector. It was pretty comical.

The Bodhnath Stupa was very impressive, it stands about six or so stories tall and is draped with prayer flags. The best part of the day was when I stumbled upon a Tibetan Monastery and was invited in to watch their prayer ritual. And they actually let me take pictures! I consider this a major stroke of luck since I read everywhere that you're not supposed to. The prayer ritual was incredible, seeing the young Buddhist monks in the flesh doing what they devote their life to is something I will never forget. Hearing the the three foot long Tibetan horns and the deep sounding drums played in movies does not come close to doing them justice to what they sound like in real life.